Thread: Anyone used Gel batteries?

IMHO I don't see why it should be so hard,as I posted the odyssey I had gave 8 years service and I never looked at it,the GEL stuffed up the first time I ran the fridge on it. Pat

its not so hard....

you just have to be able too look past the sales spiel and into the facts at hand.

If this was the first time that you had a prolonged load on it then theres also no discounting that yours wasnt just a bad battery waiting for you to discover it was shot.

was your odyssey battery one of the early box case ones (they had a real bad rep to start with with some entertaining casing problems) or the newer ones that look like an oversize 6 can pack with a flat plate and terminals?

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

actuallllyyyyyy.....

with your dual alternator setup thats just begging for a pair of gel batteries.

2 gel batteries in parallel for your 12V accessories supply (or just one depending on your budget)
120-180W worth of panels on the roof with an isolator/regulator that drops them off when the alternators running
and a 25-30 amp alternator in stead of whatever you have. (or wind back the wattage on the excite winding feed till you max out at whatever the rated max charge amps are on the gels)

if the alternator cant push the amps you cant cook the batteries.


best of all worlds but then you could also use traditional deep cycles to the same effect but you cant do a big draw on them.

Thats the calling card of the gel cel batteries BIg amps out for a little while or a few for a long time. The achillies being the way you have to charge them.

Deep cycle batteries offer the same draw back when it comes to charging you cant just dump a truckload of amps into them and expect a full life but they are more forgiving and usually will give you some warning before they collapse. (they are also about half the price and twice the weight of a gel)

I think having a current limiting device like you described could work well in conjunction with a suitable solar charge controller on a vehicle. That way any size alternator could be used. Leaving at least one solar panel connected would prevent over-discharge over longer periods of idleness.

So are there commercial regulators available you can install for charging Gel cells from your alternator? Or can some dual battery isolators sense the charge required?...Not that I would ever consider getting a Gel cell now!

yes there is, most of them are dc-dc type battery chargers.

Originally Posted by pawl

So are there commercial regulators available you can install for charging Gel cells from your alternator? Or can some dual battery isolators sense the charge required?...Not that I would ever consider getting a Gel cell now!

Hi pawl, the easiest way around the temperamental operating characteristics of Gel batteries, is don’t use them.

I’ve never been a fan of this type of battery and add to this the fact that most were never designed for automotive use, and the same goes with most AGMs, Flooded Wet Cell batteries are still by far the best battery for value.

Other than making sure their surrounds are protected from spillage, Flooded Wet Cell batteries are far more robust and because they tolerate higher charge voltages and currents, they don’t need any special operating requirements.

So, by "flooded wet cell" batteries you just mean the everyday common type of car battery? Lead plates and battery acid? I figured that's what you meant but wanted to make sure.

A flooded cell type battery is just that. the cell is flooded with acid and has a screw cap that you can remove to check and top up the acid

a SLAB battery is still a flooded type battery but it doesnt have the usual caps that allow you to top up the acid instead they have a pressure vent that allows excess pressure from overcharging to escape. Gel batteries also fall into the SLAB type construction but they use a thickened Gel form of the acid as opposed to a liquid.

An AGM battery uses an Absorbant Glass Mat to seperate the plates they come in standard flat plate and spiral wound constuction They are typically also a SLAB type construction but for very hevy duty applications are available as a traditional flooded cell setup.

Gel batteries are typically sealed like a SLAB but use a gel form of acid which makes them suitable for prolonged trickle charging and storage, odd orientations and arduous conditions use as the gel doesnt evaporate easily.

they all have various advantages and disadvantages and in they eyes of the sales man the order I have listed them in is from bad to good. flooded cells being the worst batteries and the gel being the ducks nuts.. My personal opinion is that the Flooded wet cell is your best value for money providing you want to look after it. A SLAB is a good battery for someone whose not in the habit of abusing their batteries but doesnt care about active maintenance

A good spiral wound AGM battery offers you your best bang for buck and the Gel battery has potential but is still a couple of steps away from where they need to before I start reccomending them for every day use