[ericb760]

I have come in to possession of four 12 Volt 7 Amp rechargeable batteries and need some ideas on how, or what, to use them for on my boat. They came out of some medical equipment that I work with. They are fully charged as is, and I thought I could use them to power a motorized telescope, but the amperage is too low. I hate to not use them for something, so, any ideas?

 

[eherlihy]

They could be used to power your 12VDC burglar alarm system, or as a BBU for your FIOS connection...

You've got 28 amp hours worth of sealed lead acid batteries... not a lot on a boat that could use this - at least that I can think of.

 

[MarkofSeaLife]

Theres lots of low amp draw recharging to be done... A bedside laptop or tablet, the handheld VHF, phones etc. a handheld GPS with your anchor alarm...
Charge it up during the day when your big battery bank is full and your solar panles are idle.

 

[flo617]

7amp.h is the capacity not the maximum current it can supply. And you can always parallel them to get more juice. I thought telescopes were usually balanced and so didn't require too much power to move.

 

[socal c25]

You could use them to power LED lights or anything with a low amp draw

 

[guitarguy56]

I also have a lot of these batteries and as many say low amp draw devices... but as you mentioned you can parallel them to boost the amp/hours and charge them up with solar panels... the alarm idea is good as you can create the entire system independent of the main house system, also a backup supply for the instruments if not for a short period for emergencies.

 

[Bene505]

Sell them on eBay and put the money toward something else, like a carbon monoxide detector.

Or run a webcam off them.

Or wire them into your house bank in parallel.

Regards,
Brad

 

[hellosailor]

What's the date code on the batteries?

They may show full voltage, but typically they lose 25% capacity every year, so after four years they are paperweights. That's why they are often replaced every second year in backup power supplies and portable applications.

Great for a combination solar powered nightlight and paperweight, not so great for other purposes. You'd have to do some load testing to see if they're worth messing with.

 

[Frogwatch]

Maybe use one to power something on your dinghy where you dont want a bigger battery. Think applications requiring low weight but rechargeable and not too much current.

 

[MarkofSeaLife]

Maybe use them to throw at your computer so you dont have to view forums like this?


Or give them to me so I can!

 

[ericb760]

Thanks for the responses. I think I'm going to hold on to them and use them to power some Christmas lights...

 

[aa3jy]

I have come in to possession of four 12 Volt 7 Amp rechargeable batteries and need some ideas on how, or what, to use them for on my boat. They came out of some medical equipment that I work with. They are fully charged as is, and I thought I could use them to power a motorized telescope, but the amperage is too low. I hate to not use them for something, so, any ideas?

Curious..what piece of medical equipment did this come out of..?

 

[ericb760]

Curious..what piece of medical equipment did this come out of..?

They are the stand-by power source for a Sechrist Monoplace Hyperbaric Chamber.