Battery question

Jun 22, 2009 4 Replies

If I have a battery rated at 50AHours - does that mean it can supply



50A for 1 hour before it is dis-charged?


H


50AH means the battery will supply 2.5 amps for 20 hours discharging down to 10.5 volts for a 12 volt lead acid battery.

For lead acid

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Bob

In the ideal world, yes.

In the real world, no... most batteries are "rated" at their "C/10" rate, meaning that a 50Ah battery can supply 50/10=5 amps for 1*10=10 hours (=50Ah total). If you draw the "1C" rate (50A), you'll get noticeably less power out of it (

No. That's a nominal rating. You'll need to look at the manufacturer's data sheet but the BCI rating system for lead-acid batteries specifies a discharge rate of 1/6 the AH rating for 6 hours (IIRC). So, you should be able to discharge at 8.3 A for at least 4.8 hours (80% rated capacity). The higher the discharge rate, the less you'll be able to pull from it; at 50 A, it's not going to last long.

Rich Webb Norfolk, VA

The difference in energy extracted at high rates also depends on the battery construction. Batteries designed for high discharge rates do considerably better; batteries designed for way high capacity, with discharge rates sacrificed, will do considerably worse.

www.wescottdesign.com

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