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Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 11:32 am
by fineshot1
Scott - what is the actual model or battery number that you have? I will look locally around my home area ( central nj ) and see if the local prices are close. Just out of curiosity....dan n2aym
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 11:42 am
by kb0nly
It's the D34/78 but the D34 is the same battery except it doesn't have the GM side terminals. I just bought what the store had on hand, i was planning on just using the top terminals anyway.
They also had some D51's on hand but they actually have a smaller Ah rating, 41Ah compared to the 55Ah of the D34, they were $149.95 if i remember correctly.
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:12 pm
by M1225
kb0nly wrote:M1225, Who responded to your email from Iota? Just curious if you got a name.
I got a response tonight from one of their customer support guys and was told that it's fine to use the AGM and that it doesn't do a true equalization and that the website really needs to be reworded. He said that it's a bad translation of the manufacturer's info from overseas. What they do mean is that if it has gone a week without the battery having been pulled down enough to require a bulk charge then the IQ4 will cycle through to insure the battery is fully charged rather than just sit on float indefinitely until the battery is depleted enough to require the IQ4 to cycle.
The problem here is that if you talk to one of their people that is more of a salesperson than a technician your just going to get the usual sales jargon. Or they will just come up with an answer, the person that responded might not even know what an AGM is.
Anyway, it works fine here and i won't change a thing.
The Xantrex Trucharge looks like a nice unit, but with a MSRP of four times what i paid for my DLS i'll stick with where i am. I don't make enough money to blow that much on a charger. Not to mention that the Xantrex doesn't come in anything more than 40a in the Truecharge series.
I talked to william gola "customer service and technical support"
I cant beleive they gave us difrent answers?What a trip!!! As for the price of optimas I was going to say I got mine for about $151, that included taxes to. I had no idea but interstate battery dealers carry them so thats where I got it.
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:19 pm
by kb0nly
Ahh yeah. I got some cryptic responses from that guy too. I think that guy is only half proficient with our native language, english that is.. LOL
The last email was different, it didn't have a name on it but it came from their customer service email address. Someone else must have been answering emails when mine came in.
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:24 pm
by kb0nly
On a side note, i emailed Duracomm about their DPS and the IQ4 which is the exact same thing as the Iota branded unit.
They gave me the same explanation, that it will count off a set number of hours then re-cycle starting with the bulk state charge to insure the battery is fully charged.
No equalization cycle. And they told me specifically that it's fine for use with Gel Cells, AGM, any battery chemistry i want to use.
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:52 pm
by M1225
Yeah that guy must not know to much english, two sentences in return for about a paragraph that I sent him.
Well thats good to hear it will work!!!!!
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 1:00 pm
by kb0nly
I know it works, and i highly recommend it. I doubt you would have any trouble if you went with the same setup i have.
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 3:42 pm
by M1225
Yeah I need a more of a power supply so Ill be trying it in the near future.
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 3:53 pm
by kb0nly
That was my primary concern, i needed a larger capacity, i went from one radio and a 23amp supply to three radios and a 55amp supply. I just added the battery and IQ4 because i wanted backup and the DLS made it easy to do, so why not!
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 5:01 pm
by M1225
Yep backup is always nice! Right now I have a Astron 35 and its only rated at 24 amps continous. Needless to say Im pushing it to its limit and Im alway adding to the radio collection so more power is needed!
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 5:05 pm
by jim
OOPS! That was supposed to say 15 Ohm resistor...not 150 Ohm!
150 Ohm wouldn't get you too much of anything except for some heat.
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 5:22 pm
by kb0nly
That's the only bad thing about Astron supplies, to get the same continuous capacity of my DLS55 i would have to buy a Astron RS-70 that supplies 57a continuous.
And with a current price around $250-$260 the DLS looks cheap.
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:04 pm
by M1225
Yeah linear power supllies have ther advantages but thats not one of them! I like the Astrons but for the price.......Ill go with a good switching!
Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 7:54 pm
by kb0nly
I've had some PM's about this old thread and i just wanted to post back...
Working like new yet, no diminished battery capacity that i can tell, and i removed the battery from the shack and put an auto load tester on it with nothing but good results.
So, bottom line, she works fine..
Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 1:10 pm
by M1225
Finally got mine setup and it works great as well!
Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 3:22 pm
by kb0nly
Which model of Iota did you go with? Which battery?
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:37 pm
by M1225
I went with DLS 45 and an Optima D34.
Battery plant
Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 4:35 pm
by jbxx
Not really on topic but here's one of my plants.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jbxx@pacb ... r=/3e96scd
J.B.
Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 6:39 pm
by M1225
WOW!!!!
Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 9:22 pm
by thebigphish
ok, he wins.