[BC] Favored UPS units

[Cowboy]

On Thursday 26 May 2005 20:13, Bernie Courtney wrote:
> I think i may have myself a little project here....especially since i
> think i have a fairly ballsy APC unit with no batts in storage
> somewhere.

 There ya go !
 DO NOT accidentally short a batt cable to the case.
 I did that, and 16 SCR's later.....

> Curious about your comment about the cal being bad for the batts, if
> your using deep cycle marine battery's then it should be that terrible
> for them since they are made to be drained all the way down and
> charged back up again when your running trawling motors, etc.

 Not really.

 The only real difference between a car battery and a so called deep cycle,
 or marine battery, is the thickness of the plates.
 Thicker lead means more capacity for a longer time, provided it's drawn
 at a fairly low rate.
 There are other minor differences, but they are not important here.
 What is important, is that these lead-acid type batteries will deliver
 ( again, depending on rate ) about 30 or so times their capacity over their
 entire life.
 The lower the rate, and the sooner they are recharged, the longer they will
 last before finally sulfating to the point where they won't charge at all.
 That means that a shallow discharge can be done many more times than 
 a deep discharge.
 It also means that any discharge at all, subtracts from the remaining life
 of the battery.
 True deep-cycle, such as golf cart and electric fork lift batteries might
 deliver 50 or 60 times their rated capacity over their life, as they have
 some additional internal differences, and are normally fully recharged
 each shift, or at least each day.
 A standard car battery might go 10 full cycles, but it's VERY unusual to see
 more than that.
 The cal run of the APC charger almost fully discharges the batteries, and
 reduces the battery life by at least one full cycle.

> thanks for the info!

 Never a problem !