??????? GEL AND AGM BATTERIES www.victronenergy.com Victron Energy B.V. | De Paal 35 | 1351 JG Almere | The Netherlands E-mail: sales@victronenergy.com www.victronenergy.com 1. VRLA technology VRLA stands for Valve Regulated Lead Acid, which means that the batteries are sealed. Gas will escape through the safety valves only in case of overcharging or cell failure. VRLA batteries are maintenance free for life. 2. Sealed (VRLA) AGM Batteries AGM stands for Absorbent Glass Mat. In these batteries the electrolyte is absorbed into a glass-fibre mat between the plates by capillary action. As explained in our book ‘Energy Unlimited’, AGM batteries are more suitable for short-time delivery of high currents than gel batteries. 3. Sealed (VRLA) Gel Batteries Here the electrolyte is immobilized as gel. Gel batteries in general have a longer service life and better cycle capacity than AGM batteries. 4. Low Self-Discharge Because of the use of lead calcium grids and high purity materials, Victron VRLA batteries can be stored during long periods of time without recharge. The rate of self-discharge is less than 2% per month at 20°C. The self-discharge doubles for every increase in temperature by 10°C. Victron VRLA batteries can therefore be stored for up to a year without recharging, if kept under cool conditions. 5. Exceptional Deep Discharge Recovery Victron VRLA batteries have exceptional discharge recovery, even after deep or prolonged discharge. Nevertheless repeatedly deep and prolonged discharge has a very negative effect on the service life of all lead acid batteries, Victron batteries are no exception. 6. Battery Discharging Characteristics The rated capacity of Victron AGM and Gel Deep Cycle batteries refers to 20 hour discharge, in other words: a discharge current of 0,05 C. The rated capacity of Victron Tubular Plate Long Life batteries refers to 10 hours discharge. The effective capacity decreases with increasing discharge current (see table 1). Please note that the capacity reduction will be even faster in case of a constant power load, such as an inverter. Discharg time (constant current) End Voltage V AGM ‘Deep Cycle’ % Gel ‘Deep Cycle’ % Gel ‘Long Life’ % 20 hours 10,8 100 100 112 10 hours 10,8 92 87 100 5 hours 10,8 85 80 94 3 hours 10,8 78 73 79 1 hour 9,6 65 61 63 30 min. 9,6 55 51 45 15 min. 9,6 42 38 29 10 min. 9,6 38 34 21 5 min. 9,6 27 24 5 seconds 8 C 7 C Our AGM deep cycle batteries have excellent high current performance and are therefore recommended for high current applications such as engine starting. Due to their construction, Gel batteries have a lower effective capacity at high discharge currents. On the other hand, Gel batteries have a longer service life, both under float and cycling conditions. 7. Effect of temperature on service life High temperature has a very negative effect on service life. The service life of Victron batteries as a function of temperature is shown in table 2. Average Temperature AGM ‘Deep Cycle’ years Gel ‘Deep Cycle’ years Gel ‘Long Life’ years 20°C / 68°F 7 - 10 12 20 30°C / 86°F 4 6 10 40°C / 104°F 2 3 5 Gel and AGM Batteries Table 2: Design service life of Victron batteries under float service Table 1: Effective capacity as a function of discharge time (the lowest row gives the maximum allowable 5 seconds discharge current) AGM Battery 12V 90Ah
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