Amskeptic wrote:Manfred wrote:Does anyone have any experience with dual purpose batteries?
I was in Batteries Plus yesterday and they have a battery brand called Xtreme that has both a starting battery and a deep cycle battery in one.
I was thinking these would save on space and weight.
Tell us about your space and weight issues. Then tell us about your needs. Do you camp? Refigerator? Do you have an insane stereo rig?
Colin
I know where you are going with this Colin. I'm on to you.
I have read several posts about adding additional batteries and there is some debate if another one is needed. A lot of people say they camp all the time and use their battery quite a bit and never needed another battery. Point taken. I know you are a minimalist from what I've read of your posts. More crap...the more things go wrong. While I too would like to me a minimalist, I know deep down in my heart that I am not and never will be. I have an VW westy. Who needs one? I live in a city. All I need is a bus pass and a bicycle....and this thermos I found.
Counter argument specific to my needs: My number one reason is purely psychological. I have my pride and I don't want to lose credibility. I don't want to be the guy at the campsite, Comiskey Park parking lot, or on the beach that ran down his battery and the old bus won't start. If my bus craps out because of the battery, I will never hear the end of it from friends, girl friends, what have you. It won't matter the reason..."it left us stranded and now you and your bus suck forever." I usually have to convince that who ever is going with me that the bus won't break down. Also, out in tailgating land there are guys the roll up in full RV's that bring their own chefs. Never will I be the guy with the VW bus that wouldn't start in the parking lot because my radio ran it down. When the guys that bring their lifted F250's and 10k dollar stereos that can blow you ear drums out and have more than one battery start right up. I just don't want to take that chance. And why should I, if I don't need to?
Another need: You never know. I do plan on building the biggest sound system I've ever built, which in my case means wiring an amp and 4 speakers and a bass box (not sure what the kids call it these days). I do plan on running GPS and a laptop. Not all the time, but I would like using these things if I need to. I know a laptop will drain a second battery if used for a long time. But you never know what you may need to charge, plug in...blah blah blah. I like to be the guy that is always prepared.
Battery life: I've also done quite a bit of research on the interwebs. And in my vast research of 30 minutes, I've read that draining your starting battery on a regular basis will reduce battery life because it's not built to be drained and recharged, while a deep cycle battery is.
Space Issues: The PO of my bus (78 Westy) hooked up the spare battery under the rear bench seat. I Like to use the space for storage when camping. I guess I could always hook up the second battery in the engine bay, saving me space.
Weight issue: Why have another 20 pounds in your bus if you don't need to? We would all like to carry around a spare engine and we all would if you could fold up and put it in the glove compartment. But we don't because the bleeding thing weighs like a 100 pounds or something like that....anyway engines are really really heavy.
I believe, I have built an air-tight case here, Colin. There is no need break my logic down with a one sentence answer and reveal my shallowness, lack of self-esteem, and lack of electrical knowledge. Because you aren't that guy Colin. You aren't the type guy to do something that terrible to a fellow air-cooled VW owner.
So now tell me all your experience and testing and word of mouth and rumors and drunken conversions that lasted all night, debating about the dual-purpose battery.