Thread: Anyone used Gel batteries?

Originally Posted by drivesafe

Hi Pat, how long is the cable run between your cranking battery and your isolator, because that is way to much of a voltage drop.

I've had the same isolator in the the same spot for 12 years,only the wires were replaced.I originally had an odyssey battery that gave 8 years service then I changed to the GEL and re-wired the system and just made it neater.I ran my fridge overnight and flatterned the battery and it has been flat since.The wire size I used was the same size as the original alternator supply wire. Pat

I’m only guessing but I’d say your battery is stuffed but I think your wire is a bit on the thin side and thats taking into account that it’s the same size as your alternator wire because it’s only been in the last few years that vehicles have been fitted with decent size alternator to cranking battery cable. Thats’ just a guess.

See if the auto elec can bring your battery back and take it from there.

Also, if you get a chance get a ruler and measure the diameter of the cable including the plastic insulation and post up the size here.

Soon tell you the size of your cable.

I think I know whats killed your battery.

best you might get out of it from this point in will be 11.something volts.

if you dropped it below about 8V and then dumped a full load of alternator at it (80 amps or more) its boiled the gel and buckled a plate.

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

I think I know whats killed your battery.

best you might get out of it from this point in will be 11.something volts.

if you dropped it below about 8V and then dumped a full load of alternator at it (80 amps or more) its boiled the gel and buckled a plate.

So can someone tell me why I paid $400 for a battery that is crap?.I only paid that amount because I wanted the best,instead I got ****. Pat

Originally Posted by drivesafe

I’m only guessing but I’d say your battery is stuffed but I think your wire is a bit on the thin side and thats taking into account that it’s the same size as your alternator wire because it’s only been in the last few years that vehicles have been fitted with decent size alternator to cranking battery cable. Thats’ just a guess.

See if the auto elec can bring your battery back and take it from there.

Also, if you get a chance get a ruler and measure the diameter of the cable including the plastic insulation and post up the size here.

Soon tell you the size of your cable.

It's 6mm multi strand. Pat

Originally Posted by PAT303

So can someone tell me why I paid $400 for a battery that is crap?.I only paid that amount because I wanted the best,instead I got ****. Pat

best is speculative.

you cant treat a gel battery like an old one...

itd be a bit like me buying a audi 8 diesel and then complaining because it wouldnt run on chip fat.

however, take faith. so far every baked gel battery that Ive diagnosed on the work gear as having a buckled plate or boiled gel has been accepted by the manufacturer or provider as a defect and has replaced it under warranty along with specific instuctions on how they should be looked after, charged and discharged for maximum life.

try it on with your place of purchase that the suspected diagnosis is a plate buckle thats caused a local hot spot which has boiled the gel and can they please hook it up to an appropriately rated charger to see whats what.

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

best is speculative.

you cant treat a gel battery like an old one...

itd be a bit like me buying a audi 8 diesel and then complaining because it wouldnt run on chip fat.

however, take faith. so far every baked gel battery that Ive diagnosed on the work gear as having a buckled plate or boiled gel has been accepted by the manufacturer or provider as a defect and has replaced it under warranty along with specific instuctions on how they should be looked after, charged and discharged for maximum life.

try it on with your place of purchase that the suspected diagnosis is a plate buckle thats caused a local hot spot which has boiled the gel and can they please hook it up to an appropriately rated charger to see whats what.

Idle speculation my friend, would the use of a solar panel 20 amp regulator in line with the charge line keep the charging to a sensible voltage? Proper solar regs also have low voltage disconnect on the load. I am sure you can get the design life out of a gel cell by not treating it like a bucket.

you're on the right track but generically no (there are some solar regulators to which the following caveat doesnt apply and in their case the answer is an unequivical yes)

In most solar regulators the rated Amps indicate the maximum amps the unit can handle IE if you put 40 amps worth of panels onto a 20 amp regulator it would have a short and unhappy life.

The regulator I use at work is a home brew bastardized thing that consists of 4 main parts

1. a small calcium type flooded wet cell battery its a starting battery and its rated to about 300CCA. (the actual size of the battery isnt important its just acting like a big capacitor to protect the charger at work Consider this battery to be your vehicles primary battery)
2. A 15 Amp resettable circuit breaker
3. a 5 amp bi-metallic type self resetting circuit breaker
4. a 55/60W headlight.

Its wired up so the main charger (your cars alternator) hooks up to the positive terminal of the small battery (your main battery) then the 15Amp circuit breaker followed by the 5 amp self resetting breaker wired in parrallel to the headlight bulb and then that heads to the Positive terminal of the gel battery

The charger at work is a constant voltage, variable amps (out to 200amps) charger much like an alternator in a vehicle. When the battery wants to suck a lot of amps the 5 amp circuit breaker trips out and the only path for the voltage to follow is through the headlight bulb which is acting like a resistor limiting the current flow. The self resetting circuit breaker resets after it cools down, the reset process is slowed by virtue of its proximity to the bulb which heats the breaker. Eventually a point of balance is achieved and about equal flow goes through both the bulb and the 5amp breaker. As the battery voltage rises the flow through the bulb reduces and the 5 amp breaker carries the trickle voltage to top the battery off. The 15 amp manual reset breaker is only there in case the self resetting breaker decides to fuse closed (hasnt happened yet)

Of course its not a very efficient setup there is a lot of waste heat coming off of the bulb but it does an adequate job of charging almost all batteries, I just dial in the required max charging voltage on the charger and leave it go when the bulb is cool to the touch then I know its nearly fully charged. I'm happy to leave them unattended knowing that the maximum average amp flow into a battery thats dead wont be much over 5 amps the maximum charge rate wont be much over 8 or 9 amps and the float charge will generally be less than 5 amps and maximum voltage is limited by the charger.

For charging a battery that's also got a load hooked up to it it would be woefully inefficient especially if the draw of the load exceeded the current rating of the self resetting breaker. And there lies the crux of the design. Make it big enough to handle charging the battery at a reasonable rate (the breaker and the bulb need to be near the same current rating) and drive the load of the battery at the same time and its potentially got enough amps flow to kill the battery if the load is off and the charging supply is at full tilt.