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I've just had my 270 Ah/hr Elecsol delivered via courier. Thanks Outdoorbits, fast service & no sign of any spillages.
When I picked up the battery to bring it indoors it felt lighter than the 62 Kg quoted on the Elecsol webby. Mrs Davesports extra HD bathroom scales have the weight at 42 KG. Something's not right then ?
A quick call to Elecsol reveals that they are now using "calcium calcium" which has effectively reduced the weight by a third ?
Can anyone shed any light on this battery technology? I can't find anything on the internet. Me being a skeptic am wondering if the price of lead has anything to do with the switch to calcium calcium. I assumed I the weight was a consequence of the amount of lead required in a lead acid battery.
Sorry Dave, I can't help, but as a fan of Elecsols, I too would be interested in the answer to your questions. A third less weight? That's a fair bit, especially where payload is crucial.
Cheers,
Jock.
______________________________________________________________ For "Our Mavis."
Just spoken to Elecsol because I am considering switching to them from Exide Gel. This is what they told me:
1. The new Calcium technology does not replace lead. It is to do with improving electrolyte recombination. So they are now completely sealed and you do not have to top them up - ever.
2. The Schaudt EBL 3-stage charging regime, which runs up to 14.3V and charges at up to 18A, before dropping to 13.8A float charge is fine.
3. The battery selector should be set to Lead-Acid (I think someone posted here recently that it should remain set to Gel) but that's not what Mr. Elecsol has just told me. He said the 1 hour second stage charge that the L/A setting provides is appropriate.
4. It is wise to vent the Elecsol batteries to the outside (via a tube in my case as they are under the floor and accessible from a trap beneath the L-shaped settee). Under normal circumstances there should be no hydrogen created, but there would be 'gassing' if one of the cells failed.
Just spoken to Elecsol because I am considering switching to them from Exide Gel. This is what they told me:
1. The new Calcium technology does not replace lead. It is to do with improving electrolyte recombination. So they are now completely sealed and you do not have to top them up - ever.
2. The Schaudt EBL 3-stage charging regime, which runs up to 14.3V and charges at up to 18A, before dropping to 13.8A float charge is fine.
3. The battery selector should be set to Lead-Acid (I think someone posted here recently that it should remain set to Gel) but that's not what Mr. Elecsol has just told me. He said the 1 hour second stage charge that the L/A setting provides is appropriate.
4. It is wise to vent the Elecsol batteries to the outside (via a tube in my case as they are under the floor and accessible from a trap beneath the L-shaped settee). Under normal circumstances there should be no hydrogen created, but there would be 'gassing' if one of the cells failed.
Hope this is of some use.
Philip
Hi Philip,
That is interesting. Thanks.
Jock.
______________________________________________________________ For "Our Mavis."
1. The new Calcium technology does not replace lead. It is to do with improving electrolyte recombination. So they are now completely sealed and you do not have to top them up - ever.
Lead HEAVY. Calcium light. Lead expensive.
Bottom line is that they are selling you less lead.
Now they may have perfected a manufacturing process and need less lead or the old sceptic says they may have sold you a battery that will not last as long or stand abuse.
Bottom line is that they are selling you less lead.
The bottom line only becomes apparent after deciding whether performance has been reduced. If it hasn't, then I'd suggest that this is a very good development.
20kg saving per battery is not insubstantial, and the reduced amount of lead requiring mining, refining, processing and disposal must be factored in.
If the technology means that we get similar or better performance, the "bottom line" of being sold "less lead" is not a bad thing.
Well, old skeptic me says I'm 20 Kg's short of lead. However I've no idea what makes a good battery IE suitable for use in a MH or not.
I've yet to compare results with the gels I've taken out. As for longevity only time will tell. Elecsols come with a 5 year warranty which is activated on return of a warranty card.
Squadron 260 Ah/hr battery's weigh a collossal 90 Kg's at around the same physical size. Double the weight of an Elecsol. There is mention on the Squadron webby of "calcium hybrid battery" on the Monbat page.
I'm just having a moan probably for no good reason. I'll be monitoring the performance of my new battery closely.
Elecsols come with a 5 year warranty which is activated on return of a warranty card.D.
Can't be bad. Depending, once again, on the small print and real world attitude. So if in 4 years you say you are down to half storage I wonder what happens ? To be fair to them they don't know if you've abused the battery.
We still have the original 5 YO battery in our Burstner. I must confess I've no idea what it's current capacity is.
Amongst other things I've had a look on t'internet for more information on Calcium Calcium batteries. I can't find any bad feedback & have copied & pasted the article below. I know it says "benefits" but I honestly can't find anything bad.....so far. D.
BENEFITS OF CALCIUM-CALCIUM MF BATTERIES
Completely maintenance free for its active life.
Extremely low self-discharge providing there is no electrical drain on the battery. It could stand for up to one year and then still have enough power to start the vehicle. Ideal for vehicles, boats, machinery, motor homes, standby generators etc that are not used on a regular basis.
High performance-Generally they are high performance batteries putting out high CCA’s (Cold Cranking Amps)
Vibration and impact resistant-High density pasted plates are used which improve life- cycle and are resistant to vibration
Resistant to thermal runaway-Conventional batteries being used in very hot applications, ie courier vans etc, are prone to a phenomenon called thermal runaway where the battery gets that hot that it just continues to accept charge that it eventually cooks itself. Calcium-Calcium are not prone to this phenomenon so that makes them ideal for this application.
Reduced failure due to sulphation-As a conventional battery discharges at roughly 1% per day a battery not being used on a regular basis needs to be recharged every two months to prevent sulphation. Briefly what happens is that you have your battery plates which are surrounded by sulphuric acid. When a battery discharges sulphuric acid is absorbed into the plates, by recharging it the battery acid is pushed out of the plates and no damage is done. However if a battery is left in a discharged state for a period of time (ie even a couple of weeks) the sulphuric acid turns in a crystal called sulphation, and once the plates are sulphated you can throw the battery away. Because Calcium-Calcium battery has an extremely low self-discharge the chances are that you will be using a vehicle/boat etc within a year and thus recharging the battery and therefore preventing sulphation occurring.
Increased life time- Because of high density plates, wrought calcium grids and reduced corrosion of the battery plates and the fact that it will never be run dry, we can expect a longer service life.
Calcium-Calcium batteries are extremely difficult batteries to produce and many a manufacturer have fallen by the wayside due to failure in their attempt to make a Calcium-Calcium Battery
We have every confidence in this product as the manufacturer has been producing the maintenance free battery since 1980 so have many years of experience and have thus perfected this technology
Well, old skeptic me says I'm 20 Kg's short of lead. However I've no idea what makes a good battery IE suitable for use in a MH or not.
I've yet to compare results with the gels I've taken out. As for longevity only time will tell. Elecsols come with a 5 year warranty which is activated on return of a warranty card.
Squadron 260 Ah/hr battery's weigh a collossal 90 Kg's at around the same physical size. Double the weight of an Elecsol. There is mention on the Squadron webby of "calcium hybrid battery" on the Monbat page.
I'm just having a moan probably for no good reason. I'll be monitoring the performance of my new battery closely.
Watch this space.
D.
A lighter battery, and you are complaining it has been the holy grail for battery designers for more years than I care to remember ...and then they do it and ........
______________________________________________________________ Regards Frank - - please follow me on twitter @FrankieBryant
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For "Our Mavis."
it has been the holy grail for battery designers for more years than I care to remember ...and then they do it and ........
Our thoughts are with you Chris and Graham. Fighting with Mavis and Ray 
