Lead Crystal batteries.

[Beanyboy57]

Hi All
I have just recently heard about lead crystal batteries and read the 'data' presented on some websites which seems too good to be true. Claims of 7/800 cycles to 80% DOD. Does anyone have information on this type of battery or has used them for an extensive period?
Cheers
Jon

[daz]

Hi there Jon.
Lead Crystal batteries are also being marketed and sold as solar batteries here in SA. They are available in 2V and 12V, which is handy!
The data from the dealer/manufacturer does indeed look quite impressive, and I especially like the C/4 charge rate that they list. Over here they are quite a bit more expensive than Lead Acid (about 60-70% more) batteries, but calculating in the extra life and quicker charge time, they definitely look like an attractive option!

I have not personally had any experience with the Lead Crystal batteries, yet, but am definitely planning on trying them out next year. At the moment, the initial cost of the batteries is putting me off, but compared to Lead Acid, they might be the way to go!

[inetdog]

Hi there Jon.
Lead Crystal batteries are also being marketed and sold as solar batteries here in SA. They are available in 2V and 12V, which is handy!
The data from the dealer/manufacturer does indeed look quite impressive, and I especially like the C/4 charge rate that they list. Over here they are quite a bit more expensive than Lead Acid (about 60-70% more) batteries, but calculating in the extra life and quicker charge time, they definitely look like an attractive option!

I have not personally had any experience with the Lead Crystal batteries, yet, but am definitely planning on trying them out next year. At the moment, the initial cost of the batteries is putting me off, but compared to Lead Acid, they might be the way to go!

The closest thing to real world experience I have been able to find so far is this guy from South Africa who has done some reasonably set up abusive testing of the Lead Crystal batteries from ExSolar. He appears to have some confusion about how GEL batteries work, and leaves AGM out the picture completely, but his tests themselves have some useful data.

I have not found anything particularly useful about the actual cell chemistry though.

[PNjunction]

Patented already in 1979

Looks like lead-crystal has already been around the block as per the patent in 1979:

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4143216.html

I wonder why it hasn't caught on in over 34 years?

Specs for abuse, like taking a battery down to zero volts isn't impressive. I also wonder how much gear will actually operate well at the 80% DOD level other than holiday lighting? I'll hang on to my agm's and treat them like the manufacturer specifies.

[russ]

Looks like lead-crystal has already been around the block as per the patent in 1979: I wonder why it hasn't caught on in over 34 years?

Either all the battery manufacturers have been caught napping or the technology is a dog. I doubt that all the battery companies around the world are so foolish.

[inetdog]

Either all the battery manufacturers have been caught napping or the technology is a dog. I doubt that all the battery companies around the world are so foolish.

The patent discribes, but is not limited to, a flooded cell using the lead crystal construction. The battery in question seems to combine the lead crystal plate technology with a silica-containing electrolyte in AGM format. Maybe there is a synergy here which had escaped notice?
Or, as you say, maybe it is just a dog with a new marketing pitch.

The use of cadmium in a fairly complicated manufacturing process may be another reason the technology never caught on.

[ImpactBattery]

My first guess is that the battery is too expensive to manufacture and/or is not reliable. I remember a colleague of mine sharing a story about when they bought some battery technology from DuPont that would have revolutionized the industry. It was a fine hair like substance woven into a glass-matt that would allow the material to be built into clothing, for example. It worked great in the lab, but when they attempted to commercialize it they kept running into problems and had to abandon the idea. My second guess as to why it is not used is that crystals are a dense material and not conducive to electron passing.

[Hunter69]

The closest thing to real world experience I have been able to find so far is this guy from South Africa who has done some reasonably set up abusive testing of the Lead Crystal batteries from ExSolar. He appears to have some confusion about how GEL batteries work, and leaves AGM out the picture completely, but his tests themselves have some useful data.

I have not found anything particularly useful about the actual cell chemistry though.

Well lead crystal batteries is a variation of AGM teghnology .....

[Hunter69]

My first guess is that the battery is too expensive to manufacture and/or is not reliable. I remember a colleague of mine sharing a story about when they bought some battery technology from DuPont that would have revolutionized the industry. It was a fine hair like substance woven into a glass-matt that would allow the material to be built into clothing, for example. It worked great in the lab, but when they attempted to commercialize it they kept running into problems and had to abandon the idea. My second guess as to why it is not used is that crystals are a dense material and not conducive to electron passing.

Or that it wasn't invented in America ? The Chinese Military was one of the first users of this product and with the Western worlds (mostly justified) scepticism of Chinese products it didnt catch on?

The jury is out on the longevity of the product but most of the initial claims seem to hold up true....

[AfricaAndrew]

Real life example

Our family of 5 lived for the year last year on a boat with 600Ah of Lead Crystal batteries and by all accounts they lived up to expectations. The voltage did drop as low as 8v if we really spanked them hard (aircon etc) and then some of the electronics stopped working but the batteries came back up and kept going. I would definitely get them again and am curious as to why there is so little info out there.

[daz]

Our family of 5 lived for the year last year on a boat with 600Ah of Lead Crystal batteries and by all accounts they lived up to expectations. The voltage did drop as low as 8v if we really spanked them hard (aircon etc) and then some of the electronics stopped working but the batteries came back up and kept going. I would definitely get them again and am curious as to why there is so little info out there.

Very interesting!
Did you charge the batteries from solar/wind, or just from the yacht? What was your average daily DOD (depth of discharge) with those batteries?

[russ]

What manufacturer? Model numbers?

Our family of 5 lived for the year last year on a boat with 600Ah of Lead Crystal batteries and by all accounts they lived up to expectations. The voltage did drop as low as 8v if we really spanked them hard (aircon etc) and then some of the electronics stopped working but the batteries came back up and kept going. I would definitely get them again and am curious as to why there is so little info out there.

[AfricaAndrew]

We used exclusively solar to charge and were getting 50 - 60 Amps at midday from 1kW rated panels on a 12V system. I guess we used about 5kWH per day, by morning before the sun hit the panels we were usually down 250 - 300 AH. I don't have the model numbers here but they were from Deltec in South Africa and 3 x 200 AH 12V batteries.

[SolarManAU]

Lead Crystal Battery Info

Our family of 5 lived for the year last year on a boat with 600Ah of Lead Crystal batteries and by all accounts they lived up to expectations. The voltage did drop as low as 8v if we really spanked them hard (aircon etc) and then some of the electronics stopped working but the batteries came back up and kept going. I would definitely get them again and am curious as to why there is so little info out there.

Best battery for the price. These batteries are outperforming any other battery on the market in the same price range. In my experience working in the Solar and Telecommunications environment this is the best value for money. Proof me wrong. Go to web site for all the specs . The development of the battery was taken to another level, huge break in the technology and performance was made in the last two years. See also -

[Sunking]

Best battery for the price. These batteries are outperforming any other battery on the market in the same price range. In my experience working in the Solar and Telecommunications environment this is the best value for money. Proof me wrong. Go to web site for all the specs . The development of the battery was taken to another level, huge break in the technology and performance was made in the last two years. See also -

Yawn!