Elecsol Carbon Fibre Batteries

[Anonymous]

Background: I need to replace my large house battery bank. Presently I have two Exide Gel 220Ahr which would cost almost £1000 to replace. Out of the question given that I think they failed due to the previous owner of my boat having set his 80A Mastervolt battery charger to the 'diode splitter' setting, when there is no diode or remote sensing, resulting in a constant 0.5V overcharge. I suspect that with a wet cell battery one would notice excess water use and do something about it; in any case, excess water use isn't such a big problem if you use decent battery water (I use the condensate from our dehumidifiers; cheaper and better as it is effectively distilled water). Furthermore, we have a bowthruster and the Mastervolt charger behaves as a fast-charger - and these factors combined make me feel happier with wet cells.

The Elecsol 270 Ahr offers significantly greater Ahr capacity and is very slightly smaller than the Exides so they should fit in the same box without any problems. I have found two distributors - www.solarenergyalliance.com and merlin. SAE's long term price is £295 including VAT and delivery. Merlin have offered me £295 excluding delivery, incl. VAT but they say that this price is only good to the end of this month when it will revert to £295 plus VAT plus delivery. Delivery from merlin would be £45, they quoted.

That's where I am at right now - does anyone know of a better deal available for Elecsol batteries? Has anyone had any good or bad experience, worth remarking on, with either Solar Energy Alliance or Merlin?

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[Talbot]

Have you considered a bit of lateral thinking here, the elecsol 110 is much easier to lift, (I have one for my engine start and am very happy with it). 5x110( £485) is more amp hrs than 2x270 (£590), and costs £105 less.

I note that the Elecsol main site only lists 3 sizes of battery and have not heard of the 270 before.

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[Anonymous]

I'm grateful for the thought and hoping that this would work I've re-measured the battery compartment but the maximum space that we have for the house battery is 520x610x240 (h). These are absolute maximums unless I modify the battery compartment which would be quite a little project in itself, and would restrict access to the engine in any case.

So, regretably I seem to be stuck with the 270 Ahr versions which, as you say, are horribly heavy, indeed I am going to have to make up a handy billy to get the old ones out and the new ones in.

Many thanks for your input.

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[ShipsWoofy]

I am on my third season with Elecsol. I have been very pleased thus far, not even needing a top up. I have run them flat once (my fault entirely), but have not seen any problems since.

I use them as starter / domestics to keep the weight down on my cat.

I bought them at an excellent price from <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>Woof

 

[Anonymous]

That is a very kind offer. I looked on Elecsol's website earlier and found that they have removed (actually they seem to have defaced) their phone number and do not give an address. Very unusual. I sent an email earlier today but haven't had a reply. This is one of the reasons that I started this thread, hoping that if anything untoward was known about these people someone would come forward.

All we have heard is excellent comments. Maybe they are all too busy, sleeves rolled up, making excellent batteries, to answer questions from prospective customers? It's nice to hear of a British success, particularly in a technology and manufacturing field, and expecially in a field that is so relevant in today's energy-hungry environment.

Thanks again for your kind offer.

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[pvb]

Untoward signs...

That's interesting. Adverc used to promote Elecsol batteries quite strongly, but have now removed all mention of them from their website. Can't see why there should be a problem buying Elecsol batteries though, it's hardly rocket science.

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[Anonymous]

Re: Untoward signs...

I was wrong in saying that Elecsol do not put their address on their website - they do - but not any phone or fax number.

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