Jackery 500 or new group 31?

[john61ct]

If at least a couple hundred watts of panels were included then **maybe** call it a "solar generator", but still. . .

 

[shade]

Calling a battery box a generator makes as much sense to me as calling my truck a gas pump.
They'll probably start calling them electron reactors or some such silliness before long.

Back to the OP, can you mount a pair of GC2 flooded lead acid batteries somewhere?

 

[john61ct]

Odyssey 50A chargers

I'd be interested, sounds perfect for a little single 100Ah unit.

Lifeline or Northstar are the other good deep cycling AGM, but

yes all AGM are shorter-lived than FLA all things being equal, **and**

need more precise charging over 7+ hours to get to 100% regularly **and**

are poor value compared to the Duracell GCs.

 

[Rbertalotto]

You need to do a search on you tube for Will Prowse. This fellowvhas some amazing info on batteries and portable battery packs. He just did a review on a new crowd funded products that looks great. But hevusvthecexpert on lithium batteries. Very informative forum he sponsors also. Forget about lead acid golf cart batteries. Very old technology with added weight and maintenance. AGM or lithium is the only thing to consider today.

 

[calicamper]

Get another group 31. I revisit this every 8 yrs on my boat. LOL Truthfully the old boring Lead battery is hard to beat if it fits and does the job. The J500 is just barely big enough to cover small stuff. I looked at it as a PG&E backup power for my basic small house stuff. And decided to skip it. Block ice and AAA batteries got us through 3 days with zero issues.

My boat use basically ignored till its not is better suited to the more tolerant Lead battery.

 

[4runnerteq]

I think another group 31 is best for me. Simple and mostly effective. Haven't been out past 4 days since we got the camper. I like simple, easy, low maintenance. May add a second 31 at some point. Thanks for the info.

 

[mep1811]

43 amps on the Jackery vs 100 amps for a GP31 battery not much of a comparison. One could easily buy 10 years or more of Gp 31 batteries for the cost of one much less powered Jackery.

 

[shade]

43 amps on the Jackery vs 100 amps for a GP31 battery not much of a comparison. One could easily buy 10 years or more of Gp 31 batteries for the cost of one much less powered Jackery.

While I agree, it's not quite that clear cut.

The Jackery's Li-NMC battery:
Costs more per Ah
Weighs less
Can charge much faster
Doesn't suffer from partial charge cycles
Can deliver around 30Ah without harm

A Group 31 lead battery:
Costs less per Ah
Weighs more
Can take much longer to fully charge
Will be damaged by partial charge cycles
Can deliver around 50Ah without harm

From what the OP has said, a flooded lead acid Group 31 (sort of) deep cycle battery makes sense. Put it on a good mains charger to bring it to 100% at least once a month, and it should last for years.

Several excellent articles on batteries & other things electrical here: https://marinehowto.com/category/electrical/batteries/

 

[shade]

You need to do a search on you tube for Will Prowse. This fellowvhas some amazing info on batteries and portable battery packs. He just did a review on a new crowd funded products that looks great. But hevusvthecexpert on lithium batteries. Very informative forum he sponsors also. Forget about lead acid golf cart batteries. Very old technology with added weight and maintenance. AGM or lithium is the only thing to consider today.

Some people don't want to eat the up front cost of a lithium based system with enough capacity to meet their needs, or want to deal with the added complexity.

No matter how old the technology, flooded lead acid golf cart batteries work just fine, and can be a smart choice for some applications.

Unless there's a specific reason to choose AGM for a house battery, I wouldn't.