Hi,
I have to design a voltage source ( +/- 18volts, 13A ) using lead acid
batteries. My circuit draw is 700mA and requires plus minus 18 volts to
operate efficiently. I need batteries that can atleast run for 10 to 12
hours before the voltage drops to +/- 17 volts. I am thinking of adding
three 6 volts, 13AH ( rated for 20AH ) batteries in series to produce
+18 volts and adding three 6 volts to generate -18 volts. I choose the
battery ( BP13-6V ), http://www.zbattery.com/zbattery/ub13-6.html.
Can anybody advice me that am I doing the right thing that will these
six batteries last for 10 to 12 hours maintaining +/- 18 volts @
600mA.
Thanks
Regards
John
Greg Neill - 29 Mar 2006 20:53 GMT
> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> six batteries last for 10 to 12 hours maintaining +/- 18 volts @
> 600mA.
It looks as though these batteries are good for at least
12 AH in the current range you're looking at:
http://www.powerstream.com/bb/bp13-6S.pdf
The discharge rate curves show them staying above 6.0V for
over 12 hours at a discharge rate of 650mA.
So you should be okay.
John Fields - 29 Mar 2006 21:27 GMT
>Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>six batteries last for 10 to 12 hours maintaining +/- 18 volts @
>600mA.
---
The capacity of most lead acid batteries is defined by how long they
can deliver current into a load, at a particular rate, until the
voltage across the battery terminals falls to a particular value,
usually about 5.25V for a 6V battery.
the battery you've chosen has a capacity of 13 ampere hours at a 20
hour rate, which means that if you start off with a freshly charged
battery, the voltage across the battery's terminals will fall to
about 5.25V in 20 hours if you discharge the battery at 13 AH/20H =
0.65A.
Since you have six batteries in series, that corresponds to 31.5V,
and since you're using the center tap of the string as common, you
can expect that the voltages on the ends will decay to 15.75V after
20 hours.
Since I don't have the discharge curves for the batteries in front
of me, I can't say what the battery voltage will be after 12 hours
of discharge, but I'd guess that you're cutting it kind of thin.

Signature
John Fields
Professional Circuit Designer
john - 29 Mar 2006 22:15 GMT
Hi,
The charts for the battery is available at the following website
http://www.powerstream.com/bb/bp13-6S.pdf
Please advice!
John
John Fields - 30 Mar 2006 18:04 GMT
>Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
>John
---
From:
http://groups.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=12348&topic=250
"Summarize what you're following up.
When you click "Reply" under "show options" to follow up an existing
article, Google Groups includes the full article in quotes, with the
cursor at the top of the article. Tempting though it is to just
start
typing your message, please STOP and do two things first.
Look at the quoted text and remove parts that are irrelevant.
Then, go to the BOTTOM of the article and start typing there.
Doing this makes it much easier for your readers to get through your
post. They'll have a reminder of the relevant text before your
comment, but won't have to re-read the entire article.
And if your reply appears on a site before the original article
does,
they'll get the gist of what you're talking about."

Signature
John Fields
Professional Circuit Designer
James Thompson - 29 Mar 2006 21:56 GMT
> I have to design a voltage source ( +/- 18volts, 13A ) using lead acid
> batteries. My circuit draw is 700mA and requires plus minus 18 volts to
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> Regards
> John
Why dont you use 2 12 volt batteries, or rather 4 12 instead of 6 6volt.
Then use regulators to set your output to 18 + & -. If then your batt volts
drop a little, you still have some to spare. Would be cheaper that way
also.
Use the ldo still regulator or low power switching regulators to improve
efficiancy. Jim..
Rich Grise - 29 Mar 2006 22:53 GMT
> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> Can anybody advice me that am I doing the right thing that will these six
> batteries last for 10 to 12 hours maintaining +/- 18 volts @ 600mA.
You'd have to either ask the battery manufacturer for their discharge
curves, or get one and try it with a 700 mA load - about 8.5V ohms, at
least 10 watts, a meter, and a clock. :-)
Good Luck!
Rich
Ban - 30 Mar 2006 05:23 GMT
> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> Regards
> John
You won't have much fun with lead batteries, if you repeatedly discharge
them all the way down. Even if you choose deep cycle or gel cells. If you
have to depend on this kind of cheap technology, choose them to have at
least double the capacity needed, so you discharge never more than 50%. Then
you also don't need to worry about the voltage drop. Well maintained they
will
then last for 10yrs instead of 10 months.
The charger will be another challenge for you, I doubt you will find one for
36V. So you have to take them apart each time and charge them in parallel or
better one at a time, because otherwise you won't get them full. If you have
50% left, this will take 7h each, so you can set your alarm clock every
night. :-(
Ian suggested the right thing, take a single 12V battery with sufficient
capacity(60-70Ah) and operate a switching dual supply from that.

Signature
ciao Ban
Apricale, Italy