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    #61
    Originally posted by Texas Grown View Post
    Good info so far!

    As for battery life, I have heard that if a battery is partially drained without immediate recharging, it looses some recharge capacity, such as in a car battery. And batteries of such should be recharged every thirty days to maintain capacity. Is this true?
    To an extent, yes it is true. But it also depends on the type of battery.


    A standard deep cycle marine battery needs to be recharged pretty quickly after being partially discharged. Otherwise, over time they do in fact start to loose their capacity.

    A golf cart type of wet cell deep cycle battery on the other hand won't have as bad of a time loosing capacity if not fully recharged.

    I have seen mixed results from a sealed AGM type of battery. The Hawker batteries that I mentioned earlier in this thread for example, I bought them used in 2009. At that time, they were 9 years old and I was told by the previous owner that they had been sitting in storage for at least a year. I tested both batteries and they showed 11.2 and 11.5 volts. However, after charging them, both batteries have shown normal capacity and are still working fine today.

    With that said, the batteries used in mobility scooters are sealed AGM type batteries and quit often is the case that they go bad because they get partially drained and are never fully recharged.


    I strongly believe too that the quality of the battery has a lot to do with how well it performs over time. The cheaper batteries just won't last unless you baby them. The higher dollar batteries will pay off in the long run by not having to replace them every couple of years.

    So, unless you have the capability of really watching over the batteries and making sure they get recharged fully, a higher quality (not necessarily higher dollar) battery will work best.

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      #62
      In for future reference.

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        #63
        Originally posted by 91cavgt View Post
        Does anyone have any questions?
        I do.

        Why can you not have a hybrid system of sorts? For example, tied into the grid and off grid, so you can still have power when the commercial power goes out?

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          #64
          91cavgt, tell him about auto-transfer switches for secondary power sources.

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            #65
            In for future reading.

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              #66
              Subscribed

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                #67
                Originally posted by kry226 View Post
                I do.

                Why can you not have a hybrid system of sorts? For example, tied into the grid and off grid, so you can still have power when the commercial power goes out?

                Let me read up on it and I'll post up on here what I find.


                Thanks for the direction Roger Roger! My forte is off grid systems. I'm still learning about grid tie setups, but as I learn I'll pass that knowledge along.

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                  #68
                  Subscribed

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                    #69
                    Sorry for the delay guys. It appears as though nerves are connecting back up in my foot so I haven't been able to concentrate on anything over the last few days.

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                      #70
                      Hope all is well.

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                        #71
                        Originally posted by kry226 View Post
                        Hope all is well.


                        Thank you.


                        Yes, all is well. It's just the normal rehab process. This is the 4th foot surgery I've had so I expected it to happen. It's just hard to focus on learning something when you are in pain. It will subside though.

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                          #72
                          I have not forgotten about you guys. I just got out of a cast and am now in a walking boot so things are doing better. I have been looking into the hybrid solar setups and will be posting about them soon.

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                            #73
                            Originally posted by 91cavgt View Post
                            I have not forgotten about you guys. I just got out of a cast and am now in a walking boot so things are doing better. I have been looking into the hybrid solar setups and will be posting about them soon.

                            I have been doing a great deal of research on wind/solar hybrid and even order a couple of the components to fabricate our wind turbine.

                            I did finally setup our little solar system on the shop today. It consists 45 watts of panels, charge controller, two batteries, and a 200 watt inverter. Total investment is around $450. Now, for the $1M question, what can I power with this system as it sits? Well, a 12v fan, 12v LED lights, and an emergency two-way radio system. Not too much but if/when the power goes out, we will be glad we have it! Oh, the spot I chose to mount the panels is in the sun 75% of the time...







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                              #74
                              Great information. Following

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                                #75
                                Well, I bit the bullet and ordered two of the flexible 120 watt 24v panels as well as a small wind turbine. I need to read back through the posts to find the charge controller you are running (I already forgot from our phone call an hour ago. I guess I'm getting old). I will order another one or two panels on the 5th. Then I will be looking at expanding my battery storage capacity...

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