How deep of a discharge would be acceptable on a standard lead acid battery? My thinking is you probably wouldn't want to use more than about 30% of the capacity or you start to prematurely wear it out.
30% of a 40 amp hour battery is 12 Ah, which is still more than the 7 Ah I've got in there, but it's not too far off. Double the capacity probably would have been ideal.
Still much better than that dinky 4.2 Ah battery. The car could only sit maybe 6 days before it drained down enough that it wouldn't start. The parasitic drain takes about 0.5 Ah per day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by razordave
I have seen a few YouTube videos of this. Did you notice any improvements to fuel efficiency? Does it start quicker than with a lead acid?
I've been gathering up all my lead acid cores to sell to the local interstate dealer.
Considering something like this but between lacky soldering skills and diesel powerplant, I think I'm going to at least wait out the life of this battery.
Lastly,
Is this comparable to your super cap?
2.85V 700F Super Capacitor 6PCS/1Set, 17V 116F Double Row Farad Capacitor Automotive Super Farad Capacitor with Protective Board https://a.co/d/8eY1clh |
Car starts about as quickly as with a good battery. The supercaps you linked are twice the capacity as mine, so they would probably start the car faster. One important spec not mentioned there is internal resistance, because that can vary quite a lot and determines if they are capable of supplying the hundreds of amps needed to start a motor.
I don't notice any improvement in efficiency, but it has to be a little more efficient since a lead acid battery wastes about half the energy when it's nearly fully charged, which is what it normally is.
Supercaps are probably the wrong solution for most diesels if it has glow plugs or a grid heater. Those heaters will draw the voltage down before the engine is ready to start.