dutyfree 170 Posted August 29, 2018 Share Posted August 29, 2018 Hi, anyone have any experience with lead crystal batteries? They seem to have some pretty good characteristics and are way cheaper than Lithium. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tillsbury 5 Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 I'd be interested too, been looking at some of these. My house bank is pretty good at the moment but will need replacing one of these days, I'd love there to be a good solution if drop-in Lithium isn't fixed up properly soon. The Lead Crystal ones do look the best of the currently available. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AlastairW 15 Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 If you can wait a few months for more information, I'm going to be replacing my now ageing FLA's at home with a bank of Lead Crystals, and might be able to give you first hand experience. We're off grid, solar with back-up generator for occasional use in Winter. Pricing isn't bad, projected lifetime charge/discharge curves look pretty fair, and they will take a bit more abuse than an FLA. The distributor I work with down here is no longer stocking any other type of battery, his experience with them has been so positive, and I do actually trust this guy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DrWatson 374 Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 If you can wait a few months for more information, I'm going to be replacing my now ageing FLA's at home with a bank of Lead Crystals, and might be able to give you first hand experience. We're off grid, solar with back-up generator for occasional use in Winter. Pricing isn't bad, projected lifetime charge/discharge curves look pretty fair, and they will take a bit more abuse than an FLA. The distributor I work with down here is no longer stocking any other type of battery, his experience with them has been so positive, and I do actually trust this guy. Tell me more... I need to replace/boost our off-grid storage at the Rock Farm. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AlastairW 15 Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 Dr W, I can flick you through the data sheets if you want, but you'll no doubt find them on the net easily enough. Efficiency is good as compared to an FLA, they can regularly be discharged to 50% with no undue effect, can be taken down to 100% discharge and will recover well, and, important for a solar set-up, can be left at a less than full state of charge for some time without deteriorating. Not sure I would go mixing them with different types of batteries, that's never been a good idea. pricing will vary, but is about what you would pay for a good AGM of comparable size, but the lead crystal seems to be a lot more robust. They're not going to be the wonder battery that folk would like lithium to be, but to me they seem to be a very cost effective unit which fits nicely into the solar/irregular use area quite nicely Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DrWatson 374 Posted September 7, 2018 Share Posted September 7, 2018 Not sure I would go mixing them with different types of batteries, that's never been a good idea. pricing will vary, but is about what you would pay for a good AGM of comparable size, but the lead crystal seems to be a lot more robust. Definitely wouldn't mix. Only have 220Ah at 24V (Crown 6V series) at the moment. It was enough to get the systems working and set everything up. But use has been heavy in the last year, with some relatively high current discharge compared to what I originally spec'd - so I'll recycle them into some other use, and get a new bank entirely. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mcp 32 Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 I would be cautious of this battery chemistry due to its constant current requirements during charging. This is too variable with solar and wind Imho. Lead carbon would be a safer bet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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