Group 8-D 12 volt deep cycle marine batteries

[vlaka1972]

I was wondering if group 8-d batteries are good for solar power. I plan to get totally off grid by next year. I have 2 of these batteries now, Plan to get more soon. I plan to run my refrigerator, lights, computer with these batteries. Will this load fry them?? I fried my first 3 batteries, group 27. Lasted one month. Might been faulty batteries, might been when I powered my refrigerator with them.. So if I have 4 or 6 sets of group 8-d, will that fry them too?? I plan to get forklift batteries in two or three years.

[Sunking]

There is no such thing as a good battery to take anything off grid. Anything you take off grid is going to cost you 5 to 10 times more than buying it from the power company for the rest of your life in battery replacement cost. The cheaper the battery, the higher your cost will be.

[SunEagle]

I was wondering if group 8-d batteries are good for solar power. I plan to get totally off grid by next year. I have 2 of these batteries now, Plan to get more soon. I plan to run my refrigerator, lights, computer with these batteries. Will this load fry them?? I fried my first 3 batteries, group 27. Lasted one month. Might been faulty batteries, might been when I powered my refrigerator with them.. So if I have 4 or 6 sets of group 8-d, will that fry them too?? I plan to get forklift batteries in two or three years.

Besides telling you that running large electrical loads from batteries is expensive I can only guess why your first set of 3 group 27 "fried" and I would not be able to give you an accurate answer to know if the group 8-d will also fry.

You need to provide a little more detail on how your battery system is wired, and how you are providing power to your loads. Also how are you charging those batteries?

Too many variable to give you any guidance.

[vlaka1972]

Besides telling you that running large electrical loads from batteries is expensive I can only guess why your first set of 3 group 27 "fried" and I would not be able to give you an accurate answer to know if the group 8-d will also fry.

You need to provide a little more detail on how your battery system is wired, and how you are providing power to your loads. Also how are you charging those batteries?

Too many variable to give you any guidance.

12 volt paralell..

[SunEagle]

12 volt paralell..

OK. So the first 3 12volt batteries were wired in parallel.

What was their AH rating? Please provide some more information on the make and model of those group 27 and the new group 8-D.
What model inverter are you using to convert the 12volt battery voltage to run your refrigerator, lights, computer, etc.?
How are you charging your batteries and what is the make and model of that equipment?
When you say "fried" do you mean your batteries burned up or went dead?

I know I am asking for a lot of details but without that information there is no way to give you a good answer.

I can assume your batteries went dead. If so I would say your load is too big and you are not charging all 3 batteries back up to 100%. That could be caused by improper charging equipment or uneven charging due to the batteries wired in parallel. Wiring the new set of batteries the same way will most likely shorten their life and they too will die.

Like I said, there are just too many ways to answer your question without more information.

[vlaka1972]

OK. So the first 3 12volt batteries were wired in parallel.

What was their AH rating? Please provide some more information on the make and model of those group 27 and the new group 8-D.
What model inverter are you using to convert the 12volt battery voltage to run your refrigerator, lights, computer, etc.?
How are you charging your batteries and what is the make and model of that equipment?
When you say "fried" do you mean your batteries burned up or went dead?

I know I am asking for a lot of details but without that information there is no way to give you a good answer.

I can assume your batteries went dead. If so I would say your load is too big and you are not charging all 3 batteries back up to 100%. That could be caused by improper charging equipment or uneven charging due to the batteries wired in parallel. Wiring the new set of batteries the same way will most likely shorten their life and they too will die.

Like I said, there are just too many ways to answer your question without more information.

they was 12 volt, 900 cca each.. So I can now assume they was starting batteries, deep cycle marine.. I did run two times my refrigerator at night with them 3 batteries I had. As of now with what I have is 4 panels, monocrystaline, 100 watt 6 amp panels hooked up parallel to give me 12 - 21 volts, and up the amps. I have a windy nation 30 amp charge controller, which I am going to upgrade to a mttp controller,, I have my 5th panel ordered and on the way..
Now these 8-d batteries, the place said 360 amp hours.. I took the caps off the top and seen the plates inside.. They are NOT one solid plate, but several thin plates to make one giant plate..
So I assume I must go to forklift batteries since they have solid led plates..
As of now, I am just running my kitchen light, and living room light with my solar. Each having these florescent bulbs that are 14 watts each.. I have a cobra 1650 watt inverter, some other cheap 500 watt inverter for just lights,, the cobra would be used for a heavy load.. But I plan to get a pure sin wave inverter, so I do not take chances of frying my flat panel tv...
So now I have two 8-d abtteries hooked up parallel.. I am too afraid for now to try run my 3 year old 18 foot refrigerator off this small amount.. I can run everything in my house with what I have now... It is NOT hooked up to the electric of the house, or the power box... I have extensions running on my ceiling for now...
For as of now the system is good for a back up power source.. The panels keep my batteries charged each day.. I use not even one tenth of a volt the nights I use the lights.
I guess my theory is them batteries are good for a light load,, lights, tv, electronics,, But not heaters, water heaters, microwaves, or any kind of toaster oven or toaster..
But I plan to get better batteries and more as well as thirteen more panels soon so this way I can power a one ten volt hot water heater, refrigerator, and everything else.. I want to totally get rid of the power company..

[SunEagle]

they was 12 volt, 900 cca each.. So I can now assume they was starting batteries, deep cycle marine.. I did run two times my refrigerator at night with them 3 batteries I had. As of now with what I have is 4 panels, monocrystaline, 100 watt 6 amp panels hooked up parallel to give me 12 - 21 volts, and up the amps. I have a windy nation 30 amp charge controller, which I am going to upgrade to a mttp controller,, I have my 5th panel ordered and on the way..
Now these 8-d batteries, the place said 360 amp hours.. I took the caps off the top and seen the plates inside.. They are NOT one solid plate, but several thin plates to make one giant plate..
So I assume I must go to forklift batteries since they have solid led plates..
As of now, I am just running my kitchen light, and living room light with my solar. Each having these florescent bulbs that are 14 watts each.. I have a cobra 1650 watt inverter, some other cheap 500 watt inverter for just lights,, the cobra would be used for a heavy load.. But I plan to get a pure sin wave inverter, so I do not take chances of frying my flat panel tv...
So now I have two 8-d abtteries hooked up parallel.. I am too afraid for now to try run my 3 year old 18 foot refrigerator off this small amount.. I can run everything in my house with what I have now... It is NOT hooked up to the electric of the house, or the power box... I have extensions running on my ceiling for now...
For as of now the system is good for a back up power source.. The panels keep my batteries charged each day.. I use not even one tenth of a volt the nights I use the lights.
I guess my theory is them batteries are good for a light load,, lights, tv, electronics,, But not heaters, water heaters, microwaves, or any kind of toaster oven or toaster..
But I plan to get better batteries and more as well as thirteen more panels soon so this way I can power a one ten volt hot water heater, refrigerator, and everything else.. I want to totally get rid of the power company..

Thanks for providing me more details on your system.

You are correct that running heavy loads like microwaves, toaster, refrigerators or any type of electric heater from a battery is not a good idea and can easily drain those batteries.

I am not sure why you want to totally get off of the power company but whatever your reason it should not be based on saving money. Based on existing data the cost to generate a kWh from a solar battery system can be as much as 10 times what it would cost you to purchase that same kWh from your power company. Also there are other less expensive ways to have a back up power source then using batteries.

Before you start to purchase any additional panels, batteries or chargers you really need to first understand what your daily electrical load will be from that system. You need to find out what each load uses in watts and estimate how many hours a day you will run that load. Once you have every load identified you can total up all of the watt hours that you are using in a day. From there you can size your battery system and solar panel wattage. Just hooking up your loads to some batteries and charging them from some solar panels can (and apparently has) resulted in equipment failure like your first set of batteries.

[vlaka1972]

I do have another idea.. Get grid tie inverters. I think that is what they are called.. They are inverters that hook up directly to the solar panels and produce 120 volts ac.. I thought of buying a bigger deep freezer,, Put it on maximum power, let it run off the solar panels with the inverter during the day, get ice cold,, then when the sun goes down, the freezer stops.. Put all freezable foods in there..
Get more panels with inverters that hook directly to the panels, run a good size window a/c unit too keep the house cool in the summer during the day.. Or another idea is run some good size fans from a panel.. I live in a mobile home. under my house in summer its 60 degreese. Run 8 inch pvc pipe all over the bottom of my house make it like a radiator, Put a huge tank under the house, under ground 5 feet,, have the pvc pipe hooked onto that.. Suck the hot air from outside,, circulate it under my house and the pipe being from one side of the house to the other like a big radiator,, 80 feet long, then goes into the tank under ground, cools the air more,, then gets sucked into my house at a 60 degreese,, cooling my house, keeping it around 65 during the hot summer days..
Now I think I can have enough batteries where I can use a microwave, a small oven and not strain my battery bank
The price of electric is crazy, and going to get worse. for what little I use, i pay 72. a month. No a/c, no heat. Lights, oven, tv, computer.... I want no more electric bill. I am tired of feeding those companies my hard earned money.. I am capable of going total solar.. What I plan to do is have enough battery back up for 6 days no sun, and all rain. Also on cloudy, even rainy days the panels charge, just not as much. So I will get extra panels to conpensate for that.. They will still charge on rainy days.. Also I am going to buy or build two wind mills.. I do not want to use my generator for back up. I want the solar to work on its own completly.. I live in Anderson South Carolina..
And you see the price of gas going back up.. More people are buying electric cars.. Guess what... !.. The electric companies have their eyes on some charts watching who and how many people are buying electric cars.. So when a certain amount of people buy electric cars,, Guess whats going to happen.... The electric companies are going to jack their rates up even higher to rip us off even more.. Not me..
Ok. The cost of my system is nothing compaired how it was 5 years ago and beyond.. For one monocrystaline panel at ebay 100 watts, 6 amps 125.00 delivered.. Good charge controller 125.00.. I have a cheap one for NOW.. I get second hand batteries,, they are never used,, just some dings on the outside which consumers do not want.. So I get the batteries at 1/3 of the price...
I can buy me a rv hot water heater 110 volts,, have the battery power,, or on sunny days, keep that hot water heater full throttle, and not use any battery power for that.. Cut the power before the sun goes down.. The water will stay warm for days.. I limit my shower times now... I heard of people going totally off grid and doing good.. With what little I have,, It will power everything in my house.. Except for a/c, heater, and 240 volts. these 8-d batteries,, one is equal to 3 batteries,, so if I have 6 of these batteries,, Pulling a load like a fridge should not hurt them. I think running the fridge uses 330 watts.. I guess even with a huge battery bank, I should not go over 600 watts continuos.... Im impressed with what little I have, and how it runs this tv, computer, lights, electronics like its nothing.. Yes it is good for back up,, But I want total off grid. Electric is a luxury..

[Sunking]

I do have another idea.. Get grid tie inverters. I think that is what they are called.. They are inverters that hook up directly to the solar panels and produce 120 volts ac...

Grid tied systems have to be connected to the grid. Otherwise they shut down and disconnect.