Battery Wars!
To hell with road rage - this is Battery Wars! Actually, it's not my intent to take on the combined AGM and Gel gangs but here is some added information. Battery Box: There are a number of types of battery boxes some of which have very large fluted sides and take up lots of space. The boxes I used for golf carts have flat sides and take up the minimum space possible and are made near Vancouver, Canada. They are sold localy by Dyno Batteries at 4248 23rd Ave in Seattle, WA, (206) 283-7450. Person in the front office is Kay. Model number is GC2B (Golf Cart 2 batteries). Dimensions are 15-3/4L x 11-7/8 x 12-1/8H and the wall thickenss is 1/4-inch plastic, and they come with a lid. The sides are not fluted like the typical battery boxes so instead they have a slightly thicker wall thickness but have a much smaller footprint. The plastic is a milk-white color. Kay said they can ship and their E-mail address is "dyno01@aol.com", she thinks. Life Cycle Cost comparison: Size Type Ah Cycles $/Ah- Cycle 4D AGM 200 300 0.01333 8D AGM 245 300 0.01279 GC Flooded 223 700 0.00122 8D Gel 225 500 0.00818 GC = golf cart. All information was from the 2001 West Marine catalog so they should be relative. The AGM is about 10x more expensive than the flooded and the gel about 6.5x more expensive. Bottom line: If one doesn't have a special condition to be concerned about there is a good cost saving with golf carts. Well, Colin, what did you think of the "battery war" you started???? And don't forget it's not good to mix battery types so you have to pick one type or the other!! Personal recommendation: Don't tell anyone what you finally selected or you'll allways have to be watching your back! And good luck in your decision.
