The Battery Thread (Solar / Inverter)

Reposting from the Mecer 2400VA forum.

Anyone know Probe Batteries?
This is something someone told me few days ago.
They are deep cycle batteries, very good and good life cycles, 110ah.

I can search them online but not much on the cycle life. Apparently agm batteries and gel ( not sure if both )
 
djbrendan said:
Reposting from the Mecer 2400VA forum.

Anyone know Probe Batteries?
This is something someone told me few days ago.
They are deep cycle batteries, very good and good life cycles, 110ah.

I can search them online but not much on the cycle life. Apparently agm batteries and gel ( not sure if both )
Click to expand...
Makro stocks those for cars, I have never seen the deep cycle ones.
 
djbrendan said:
Reposting from the Mecer 2400VA forum.

Anyone know Probe Batteries?
This is something someone told me few days ago.
They are deep cycle batteries, very good and good life cycles, 110ah.

I can search them online but not much on the cycle life. Apparently agm batteries and gel ( not sure if both )
Click to expand...
I own 2 probe deep cycle batteries. Have been using them for about a year with my mecer inverter. No issues so far with the batteries
 
callen said:
I own 2 probe deep cycle batteries. Have been using them for about a year with my mecer inverter. No issues so far with the batteries
Click to expand...
Any idea on the cycles you should be getting?
As well, are those the 105ah or 110ah. Seems the 110ah is the extreme deep cycle variant ( what ever that means :D )
 
djbrendan said:
Reposting from the Mecer 2400VA forum.

Anyone know Probe Batteries?
This is something someone told me few days ago.
They are deep cycle batteries, very good and good life cycles, 110ah.

I can search them online but not much on the cycle life. Apparently agm batteries and gel ( not sure if both )
Click to expand...
Probe sell all kinds of batteries, most are for cars, so they are not made to cycle.
The probe 1150 is made to cycle and that can be used in this application. There are better batteries but for the price they are decent.

They are not deep cycle. Technically NONE of these LA batteries we use are deep cycle. Actual deep cycle batteries are about 1.2m high, weigh about 80kg each and are 2v cells.

The correct term for these batteries is CYCLING batteries. Normal car batteries are not meant to cycle. They are meant to give a burst of power and then be recharged immediately. Generally they should never be discharged more than 10% before recharging otherwise you lose substantial lifespan.
Cycling batteries can usually be discharged up to between 40 and 60% depending on the technology.

I know that some manufacturers put deep cycle on the label, and I suppose that 50% is deeper than 10% so I can see how they justify it, but an actual deep cycle battery can go as low as 10% without bad effects.
 
Last edited:
I hear you. So it's a no go then.

The Victrons are just to expensive :( R3820 per battery and 110ah units.

I guess i should just hold on and wait to get those omnipower 120ah units and wait for delivery ( apparently 4-5 days for shipping ) economy shipping
 
djbrendan said:
I hear you. So it's a no go then.

The Victrons are just to expensive :( R3820 per battery and 110ah units.

I guess i should just hold on and wait to get those omnipower 120ah units and wait for delivery ( apparently 4-5 days for shipping ) economy shipping
Click to expand...
No, I mean they're fine. In terms of ROI you will get what you pay for. You may just have to replace them a little sooner.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy them. Ive said in another thread. in terms of ROI the batteries all cost more or less the same. The cheaper ones dont last as long, but if they're 10% cheaper their life span is 10% less.
The only exceptions are the cheap chinese crap and the top brands (I'm lookin at you Victron) that you pay a brand levy.
 
If possible, one should check one's battery charging with a multimeter. I recently bought a "low cost" charger. It tried to charge my deep cycle battery at 15.6V (and climbing, I disconnected the charger at that point). I opened the charger up and looked inside. It appeared to be completely unregulated. Be wary of chargers on your expensive deep cycle batteries. Some are better than others.
 
BoxFish said:
If possible, one should check one's battery charging with a multimeter. I recently bought a "low cost" charger. It tried to charge my deep cycle battery at 15.6V (and climbing, I disconnected the charger at that point). I opened the charger up and looked inside. It appeared to be completely unregulated. Be wary of chargers on your expensive deep cycle batteries. Some are better than others.
Click to expand...
I have two of the cheap Chinese make, one gives out 11.62V, the other 15.6V.
 
Neuk_ said:
My girlfriend bought four OmniPower 12V 120Ah OPR Deep Cycle Rechargeable AGM / GEL Hybrid VRLA batteries for our home inverter/UPS setup but we only had them installed a few weeks back so I can't comment on their performance just yet. Had it been me making the purchase and I was looking at Gel or AGM type batteries I would look at the Enertec or Discover options as a good friend is one of the owners of Enertec.
Click to expand...
Those OmniPower batteries are rated at roughly 2000 cycles at 50% DoD, 3000 cycles at 40% DoD. They are hybrid AGM + Gel.

If real world performance matches the spec then I'd say that's pretty decent.
 
djbrendan said:
I hear you. So it's a no go then.

The Victrons are just to expensive :( R3820 per battery and 110ah units.

I guess i should just hold on and wait to get those omnipower 120ah units and wait for delivery ( apparently 4-5 days for shipping ) economy shipping
Click to expand...
Who sells the Victron batteries? I see they have Lithium as well, but I've never seen their lithium batteries in SA.
 
netstrider said:
Those OmniPower batteries are rated at roughly 2000 cycles at 50% DoD, 3000 cycles at 40% DoD. They are hybrid AGM + Gel.

If real world performance matches the spec then I'd say that's pretty decent.
Click to expand...

That should suit us as we are using them in a UPS setup with a Victron inverter so they are not being used often at all at the moment.
 
Neuk_ said:
That should suit us as we are using them in a UPS setup with a Victron inverter so they are not being used often at all at the moment.
Click to expand...
Yep, for reference, plain bare-bones lead acid are usually rated 500-800 cycles only.
 
Got a couple of Enertec EV 27 105 amp batteries about 2 months ago, seem to be doing pretty good so far, hooked up to a VM 1kva inverter, load at this stage is around 200 watts
 
djbrendan said:
I hear you. So it's a no go then.

The Victrons are just to expensive :( R3820 per battery and 110ah units.

I guess i should just hold on and wait to get those omnipower 120ah units and wait for delivery ( apparently 4-5 days for shipping ) economy shipping
Click to expand...

How much are the omni’s?
 
I am waiting for a 12, 100Ah Vision deep cycle battery from PC link. Can you parallel this battery with a 12V 100Ah battery from any other manufacturer (to increase the backup time), or is it recommended to only parallel batteries from the same manufacturer?
 
Azg said:
I am waiting for a 12, 100Ah Vision deep cycle battery from PC link. Can you parallel this battery with a 12V 100Ah battery from any other manufacturer (to increase the backup time), or is it recommended to only parallel batteries from the same manufacturer?
Click to expand...
It's recommended but no harm will come of it if they are both flooded lead acid, no mixing different types.
 
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