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FS 12v 5ah gel cells

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Niel Skousen-2

FS 12v 5ah gel cells

Thanks to Wayne and Eric for letting me post this here !!

Good Morning Gang,

I have recently come into possession of several hundred 5ah gel
cells. So, as a summer job for my son, these are being charged, load
tested, and offered for sale here on the List. Amazon et al want
about $12 for similar cells new. Local battery stores want from
$16-28, depending on vendor etc.

These cell are out of a data center UPS (APC full rack size UPS).
All are tested to ensure they charge, deliver 10A (1min test), and
recover to 12.6v after the load test. 12.6v O.C. is over 95% state-of-
charge, or 'good battery' !!

We're using 10 of Mike Bryce's 'Gel Cell Charger's (QST Sept.'09, pg
30) in a gang-charger. Mike's agree'ed to let me offer a charger pcb
or charger kit (I have a complete parts list, Mouser PN's) if enough
are interested. I'll need to get a minimum of 25 charger pcb's for
a board run with Mike, so please let me know if you are interested,
I'll put together a bundled price, and let people know.

FWIW the test load is 8 ea Radio Shack 10 ohm / 10w ceramic resistors
in parallel, easy enough for anyone who wants to duplicate or test on
their own.

A flat rate box will fit up to 9 of these cells, so here is a price
break out for 5AH gell cells (4 lb ea) shipped via USPS FlatRate Box.
Price includes S&H:
2 cells, $23 (9lb ship weight)
4 cells, $30 (17lb ship weight)
6 cells, $38 (25lb ship weight)
9 cells, $50 (36lb ship weight)

PayPal, check, etc etc PayPal to nskousen (at) ecsecurityinc
(dot) com
Questions welcome, but there's not much more to it 8-)

Niel
WA7SSA (good in QRZ)
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Alan Bloom

Re: FS 12v 5ah gel cells

Hi Neil,

What size are they? Will they fit in a K2?

Al N1AL

On Tue, 2010-07-27 at 09:57 -0700, Niel Skousen wrote:

> Thanks to Wayne and Eric for letting me post this here !!
>
> Good Morning Gang,
>
> I have recently come into possession of several hundred 5ah gel
> cells. So, as a summer job for my son, these are being charged, load
> tested, and offered for sale here on the List. Amazon et al want
> about $12 for similar cells new. Local battery stores want from
> $16-28, depending on vendor etc.
>
> These cell are out of a data center UPS (APC full rack size UPS).
> All are tested to ensure they charge, deliver 10A (1min test), and
> recover to 12.6v after the load test. 12.6v O.C. is over 95% state-of-
> charge, or 'good battery' !!
>
> We're using 10 of Mike Bryce's 'Gel Cell Charger's (QST Sept.'09, pg
> 30) in a gang-charger. Mike's agree'ed to let me offer a charger pcb
> or charger kit (I have a complete parts list, Mouser PN's) if enough
> are interested. I'll need to get a minimum of 25 charger pcb's for
> a board run with Mike, so please let me know if you are interested,
> I'll put together a bundled price, and let people know.
>
> FWIW the test load is 8 ea Radio Shack 10 ohm / 10w ceramic resistors
> in parallel, easy enough for anyone who wants to duplicate or test on
> their own.
>
> A flat rate box will fit up to 9 of these cells, so here is a price
> break out for 5AH gell cells (4 lb ea) shipped via USPS FlatRate Box.
> Price includes S&H:
> 2 cells, $23 (9lb ship weight)
> 4 cells, $30 (17lb ship weight)
> 6 cells, $38 (25lb ship weight)
> 9 cells, $50 (36lb ship weight)
>
> PayPal, check, etc etc PayPal to nskousen (at) ecsecurityinc
> (dot) com
> Questions welcome, but there's not much more to it 8-)
>
> Niel
> WA7SSA (good in QRZ)
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

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K6LMP

Re: FS 12v 5ah gel cells

This is an outstanding price for such a battery. AllElectronics offers a Panasonic battery with 5ah capacity for $16 each plus shipping and taxes if you live in California. Even though I drive practically past their retail store in Van Nuys on my daily commute, and thus could avoid shipping costs, this is a great deal. And a great use of the USPS flat rate box!

The Panasonic battery measures 2.75" x 3.53" x 4" high with 0.1875" spade lug connectors. I assume Niel's batteries are similar size.

Neil, count me in for a charger PCB, and I will be sending payment for some batteries!

Lew K6LMP

On Jul 29, 2010, at 10:01 PM, Alan Bloom wrote:

> Hi Neil,
>
> What size are they? Will they fit in a K2?
>
> Al N1AL
>
>
> On Tue, 2010-07-27 at 09:57 -0700, Niel Skousen wrote:
>> Thanks to Wayne and Eric for letting me post this here !!
>>
>> Good Morning Gang,
>>
>> I have recently come into possession of several hundred 5ah gel
>> cells. So, as a summer job for my son, these are being charged, load
>> tested, and offered for sale here on the List. Amazon et al want
>> about $12 for similar cells new. Local battery stores want from
>> $16-28, depending on vendor etc.
>>
>> These cell are out of a data center UPS (APC full rack size UPS).
>> All are tested to ensure they charge, deliver 10A (1min test), and
>> recover to 12.6v after the load test. 12.6v O.C. is over 95% state-of-
>> charge, or 'good battery' !!
>>
>> We're using 10 of Mike Bryce's 'Gel Cell Charger's (QST Sept.'09, pg
>> 30) in a gang-charger. Mike's agree'ed to let me offer a charger pcb
>> or charger kit (I have a complete parts list, Mouser PN's) if enough
>> are interested. I'll need to get a minimum of 25 charger pcb's for
>> a board run with Mike, so please let me know if you are interested,
>> I'll put together a bundled price, and let people know.
>>
>> FWIW the test load is 8 ea Radio Shack 10 ohm / 10w ceramic resistors
>> in parallel, easy enough for anyone who wants to duplicate or test on
>> their own.
>>
>> A flat rate box will fit up to 9 of these cells, so here is a price
>> break out for 5AH gell cells (4 lb ea) shipped via USPS FlatRate Box.
>> Price includes S&H:
>> 2 cells, $23 (9lb ship weight)
>> 4 cells, $30 (17lb ship weight)
>> 6 cells, $38 (25lb ship weight)
>> 9 cells, $50 (36lb ship weight)
>>
>> PayPal, check, etc etc PayPal to nskousen (at) ecsecurityinc
>> (dot) com
>> Questions welcome, but there's not much more to it 8-)
>>
>> Niel
>> WA7SSA (good in QRZ)
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> Elecraft mailing list
>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>>
>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

K6LMP

Re: FS 12v 5ah gel cells

In reply to this post by Alan Bloom

This appears to be a very "standard form factor" product; you can find batteries with exactly the same physical and electrical specs online from a dozen or more different manufacturers. It is a standard battery for use in UPS systems.

While I don't know what brand Neil is providing, I found a spec sheet for one manufacturer's similar product, which I have posted to my web site in a folder where anyone can download it, at https://files.me.com/lewphelps/mxvahl. It's a 483kB PDF file.

What the power curves show is that it will run for just under 4 hours at a draw of 1 amp before it drops to 11.0 volts, which means you could run a K3 in receive only on one battery for that time (nominal 0.9 amp RX draw with no sub receiver). With a draw of 4 amps (TX nominal for K-10 is 3 to 4 amps) the battery drops to 12.0 volts in about 30 minutes (eyeball extrapolation of curves; use with caution). I think a reasonable way to think about battery life would be to run them in parallel but assume one battery is providing RX current and the other TX current; hence, you with a pair of batteries in parallel you could receive for 4 hours and transmit for half an hour before you dropped below 11.5 volts.

Each battery weighs 4.19 lbs. and measures 4.17" height (excluding connecting tabs) x 3.98 x 3.54 inches. These batteries are too big to put inside either a K2 or K3. (The "stock" K2 internal battery has 2.9 ah capacity.) If one were to build an external power supply box roughly the size of a K3 case, it could contain six batteries and the charger circuit, and would weigh about 28 lbs. Assuming a 20% transmit duty cycle, this "six pack" would keep a K3 running for about 8 hours. YMMV.

Lew K6LMP

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Niel Skousen-2

Re: FS 12v 5ah gel cells

Thanks very much for the nice clear explanations for the whole group ...

FWIW they are CSB, Long, and BB Battery( all APC standard vendors) -
the majority are CSB.

Niel

On Jul 30, 2010, at 8:38 AM, Lew Phelps K6LMP wrote:

> This appears to be a very "standard form factor" product; you can
> find batteries with exactly the same physical and electrical specs
> online from a dozen or more different manufacturers. It is a
> standard battery for use in UPS systems.
>
> While I don't know what brand Neil is providing, I found a spec
> sheet for one manufacturer's similar product, which I have posted to
> my web site in a folder where anyone can download it, at https://files.me.com/lewphelps/mxvahl
> . It's a 483kB PDF file.
>
> What the power curves show is that it will run for just under 4
> hours at a draw of 1 amp before it drops to 11.0 volts, which means
> you could run a K3 in receive only on one battery for that time
> (nominal 0.9 amp RX draw with no sub receiver). With a draw of 4
> amps (TX nominal for K-10 is 3 to 4 amps) the battery drops to 12.0
> volts in about 30 minutes (eyeball extrapolation of curves; use with
> caution). I think a reasonable way to think about battery life would
> be to run them in parallel but assume one battery is providing RX
> current and the other TX current; hence, you with a pair of
> batteries in parallel you could receive for 4 hours and transmit for
> half an hour before you dropped below 11.5 volts.
>
> Each battery weighs 4.19 lbs. and measures 4.17" height (excluding
> connecting tabs) x 3.98 x 3.54 inches. These batteries are too big
> to put inside either a K2 or K3. (The "stock" K2 internal battery
> has 2.9 ah capacity.) If one were to build an external power supply
> box roughly the size of a K3 case, it could contain six batteries
> and the charger circuit, and would weigh about 28 lbs. Assuming a
> 20% transmit duty cycle, this "six pack" would keep a K3 running for
> about 8 hours. YMMV.
>
> Lew K6LMP
>
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html