WHY DON’T DEEP CYCLE BATTERIES WORK?

We have heard it before, possibly numerous times *?+ Battery.  I paid good money for this heap of **** and now the fridge won’t go.  The Beers hot and the steaks are off!  This is not good at Fraser on a balmy summer evening or Kakadu in the summertime.  They should blow Battery Blokes up! —— Maybe!

Now even some people who know about 4x4’s and fridges and such are saying don’t waste your money just buy a big heavy duty battery the cheaper the better and replace it as it dies it’s cheaper.

Lets look at some facts—sure they don’t make as good a story as fiction but if they are analyzed we may even make things work properly.

 

FACT 1.  All Lead Acid Batteries must be recharged FULLY after Discharge

FACT 2.  Lead Acid Batteries DO NOT get a memory (Ever—No—Way)

FACT 3.  Wet Deep Cycle Batteries can be charged to a higher voltage than starting batteries

FACT 4.  Some Batteries are sold as deep cycle but DO NOT have Glass Matt Seperators to retard plate shedding

FACT 5.  Some Deep Cycle Batteries have much denser—more efficient pasted plates than other so called Deep Cycle Batteries

FACT 6.  Some Deep Cycle Batteries can be used for starting so long as their CCA rating is high enough for the task

FACT 7.  Deep Cycle Batteries have a much higher AMP Hour Rating that starting Batteries of similar size.  This can be double however, the CCA Rating is possibly less or only average for a battery of the same size.

FACT 8.  Deep Cycle Batteries are NOT Designed to be flattened fully recharged then flattened completely again. Deep Cycle Batteries should only be discharged to 50% depth of Discharge before recharge and will last much longer if the depth of discharge is less and recharged more often and slower.  However, this is usually controlled by the application.

FACT 9.  All batteries sulphate permanently if not fully recharged after use.  This condition occurs if the battery is left in a fully discharged state for a short period eg. 7-10 Days or is left partially discharged over a long period eg. 95% charged over 60-90 days.

Fact 10.  Deep Cycle batteries discharge differently to starting batteries