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. I just looked at your webpage. Everything looks good; excellent components, big-enough copper stranded, etc. The only area I can see that might be improved upon are the crimps of the 10 ga PV feed at the junction box and that I would have used an adhesive heat-shrink tubing to seal the crimps...

. Too, remember that "back in the day", consumers' options for deep-cycle batteries were limited. Good 12V deep-cycle batteries had yet to appear. AGM battery tech was in it's infancy just 30 years ago. What WAS available were, simply, electric-cart batteries. Golf cart batteries. Big, reliable...

. Just one of those VMax 310Ah AGM weigh 185 lbs. Discharging to 50% leaves you with 155Ah. . Two Group 31 100Ah Odyssey (weighing 75lbs ea, or, 150 lbs for the pair) discharged to 50% leaves you with 100Ah but for more money. Sears DieHard Platinum, if you can still find them, are $300 ea and...

. . This was my approach as well. I killed my first Odyssey AGM by not only undercharging it but also by inadvertently "dumping" it to lower than 7 volts! on more than one occasion. That was an expensive lesson. Lesson learned, glad to report. I too began listening to how the manufacturer...

. I'm with Hal... I think that any "boost" reference might come from what is a similar deal w/ MPPT technology in solar charge controllers. . I have a shore-power charger (when not using solar) that will deliver 50 amps to it's factory-intended AGM battery (EnerSys OMAX and...

. HandyBob's blog, if you are patient, take a couple of afternoons/evenings and read through the whole thing (easy to do when you find it interesting) will start you off on the correct foot for anything you might ever attempt with solar electric battery power. ...

. . Interesting stuff... was anyone aware of Odyssey/DieHard Platinum AGM's claim that their plates were made from "99.99% pure virgin lead"? Too, these particular AGM's require a long time (3 to 6 hours) in an absorption phase and at a voltage higher (14.7!) than what other makers recommend...

. I'd think first of the potential for delamination and moisture intrusion into the edges of the boundary silicon cells. Why not first take a small 45-degree chip off of each corner of the panel then examine the composition. That would be easier to re-seal if it were even necessary.

. That is an excellent panel. The charge controller should be sufficient. What you will have to mind, however, is the wire size from the controller to the battery. If you size this correctly and place the controller very near the battery, you may not need to tie into the vehicle's charging...

. .:coffeedrink:

. Perhaps not, if that Sears AGM was made by Odyssey. See here. I agree with the rest of your excellent post. :) . . . Well... a few years ago I managed to kill an expensive Odyssey/Die Hard Platinum Group 31 by accidentally taking it down to well below 7 volts and leaving it there for...

. ^ ^ ^ and quality construction costs more due to technique and materials. . . I with 4x4... can't have capacity without the lead... unless you'd like to spend $900 for a lithium-ferrous/ferrite/whatever-phosphate battery! Holy Schneike! those things are expensive... but I digress. . As...

. CaliMobber (as does unseenone) offers good advice, but since you mention that the battery will live in a box presumably with other electronic components, may I suggest an AGM battery type. Deka, Lifeline, Odyssey... They're still a lead-acid battery, but they're sealed. They do require a...

. . In all sincerity, I can't argue with that. However, the fact remains that even if you were given a "pass" to ignore the necessary battery-life 50% discharge guideline (one that experienced 12V users everywhere do their absolute best to adhere to), you still wouldn't have enough battery...

. . ^ ^ ^ Indeed. Unless, of course, you only want to use these batteries 10 or 12 times then scrap them for another set. . . . Forget about the kettle for a minute, forget about Peukert's Law and do some basic math. You have, effectively, 35Ah capacity and ONLY if you've completely charged...

. I should add that Shumacher has not in the past put their name on junk. They have a great reputation. They're smart about chargers, too, because they make smart chargers for other people. . Your idea of using these particular two 12V 35 Ah batteries in parallel producing 12V and 70 Ah, for...

. You're not listening. :ylsmoke: . Whatever battery you buy, you should learn from the manufacturer how it likes to be charged. Often times an engine alternator's output voltage is too low... yes, there may be plenty of charge current/amps, but the voltage needs to be high enough to get the...

. As long as you're not connecting these two batteries together, permanently, in a parallel- or series- configuration, you'll be fine. Obviously, you're looking for the highest amp-hour capacity rating you can physically fit into the mounting space. That's all Group sizes are, mostly; it's for...

. You're looking for a deep-cycle battery setup. There's no reason those Shumacher AGMs can't handle deep-cycle duty, but they're light on capacity. 35 amp hours isn't much. . Remember too that to preserve a deep-cycle battery (or battery bank)'s lifespan, we don't want to discharge them more...

. . Hahaha! That is funny stuff... I laugh because what we here in the States call 4/0, or #0000, is about the most-serious cable size-wise that is commonly available. It is used in high-voltage, high-amperage motion picture lighting too. . Thank you for your reply. I read some of your other...