Customizing UPSs

[Charles Steinkuehler]

Duane Attaway wrote:

> On Thu, 16 Dec 2004, Jonathan Hutchins wrote:
> 
>> Miatas and some other cares now use a battery that has a sponge-like 
>> fiberglass fill that gives some of the advantages of a gell cell while 
>> not having the problem of the gell shrinking away from the plates.
> 
> Hopefully, lithium and nickel hydroxide batteries will overtake lead acid. 
> Lead is so cheap to make batteries with, so it might be a while.  Lead 
> acid batteries go for about $1/pound.

If you're looking for a "beefy" sealed replacement for the gel cells common 
to most UPSs, and don't want to risk acid spills all over your floor, take a 
look at absorbed glass mat lead-acid batteries (which is what I think is 
being referred to above).

These have been sold for years as military batteries, made by folks such as 
Hawker Energy (http://www.hepi.com/).  These are also big on the combat 
robot circuit, where you have to have sealed, spill-proof batteries for when 
your 'bot gets chewed up by the opponent (or the floor saws, etc.).  The 
'Odyssey' line is pretty cost effective and used by many 'bot-heads, but 
those with bug bucks will sometimes use parts from the military line (ie: 
BioHazzard http://www.robotbooks.com/biohazard.htm).

You're beginning to see glass-mat technology in high-end automotive 
batteries (sometimes called "spiral cell", since the glass-mat electrolyte 
and the electrodes are frequently rolled together the same way as an 
electrolytic capacitor).  Look for "fully sealed" and "absorbed glass mat" 
in the battery specs to make sure you're buying more than some fancy 
marketing hype.

-- 
Charles Steinkuehler
charles at steinkuehler.net