Monthly Archives: May 2020
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- May 12, 2020
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back to Impact Battery homepageUPS is short for uninterruptable power supply or uninterruptable power source. These units provide instantaneous emergency power protection when the primary source of electrical power is off-line. This instantaneous surge of power is essential to safely replace the primary power source and keep sensitive electronic equipment from damage. They provide adequate time for computer users to finish what is being worked on, save their material and properly shut down the effected equipment. An average system will run for 3-20 minutes and are mainly powered by sealed lead acid batteries.
Some popular UPS Battery Backup systems are manufactured by American Power Company (APC), Belkin, Tripplite and CyberPower.
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- May 12, 2020
IMPACT Video
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- May 12, 2020
Solar Tutorial
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back to Impact Battery homepageSolar Energy – How it Works
Sections:
How Solar Panels Work - Where & How to Place Panels - How to Calculate Panel size - The Solar Controller
The Solar Battery Bank - The Power Inverter - Differences Between Types of Solar PanelsA Brief Solar Introduction
We will attempt to explain the principles behind solar energy (solar power, photovoltaic’s) in simple terms without putting you to sleep. I think we can all understand that the sun heats things up. One of the earliest uses of this solar energy was the creation of a solar shower—A large enclosed (often black painted) metal bucket filled with water set upon a roof top. The sun would heat the water and provide hot to warm showers, at least for the first person cleaning up for the day!
The sun heats things up because sunlight is made up of small particles of energy called photons (a basic “unit” of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation). These photons are absorbed
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- May 12, 2020
MotoCross (Yuasa) Top 10 Motorcycle Batteries
We thought it would be interesting to look at the sales flow numbers for the top selling powersport and motorcycle batteries according to Yuasa Inc. Each year Yuasa / Motocross produces a list of the top 25 OE part numbers used in Motorcycles, ATV's, Personal Watercraft, Scooters, Snowmobiles and Side-by-side Utility Vehicles. It is interesting to watch how certain SKUs rise and slide down the rankings and how the sales flow percentage fluctuates from one year to the next. Some of the numbers presented are surprising. As we examine this list every year or two, we hope to draw some conclusions, notate some market trends and provide analysis of potential competition. This can be used as a basic cross reference or buying guide for stocking dealers and interested parties. You will always know what the top 10 batteries are and can prepare accordingly when managing your stock.
All of the sales flow numbers listed come directly from the Yuasa/Motocross
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- May 12, 2020
Harley Davidson Battery Cross Reference
Harley Davidson motorcycles are the #1 selling motorcycle in the world so it is common for customers to ask for a cross reference motorcycle battery guide. The OEM part number can be confusing to convert to compatible aftermarket batteries. Knowing this, we understand it is not the easiest task and can be difficult to find the correct replacement, especially if you are not a battery expert.
The chart below lists the latest Harley battery part number and contrasts it to the East Penn Deka ETX number (closest to the OE battery), Yuasa Battery Inc. (the JIS standard numbers) and the wildly popular MotoBatt battery with 2 year warranty. East Penn is the manufacturer of the HD original equipment battery while Yuasa is the predominant power sport battery manufacturer for every one else. MotoBatt is a premium aftermarket battery that offers up to a full 3 year warranty and gives each of the other two brands a run for the money. The new MotoBatt Hybrid Lithium/AGM
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- May 12, 2020
How to Charge Lead Acid Marine and RV Batteries in Parallel
Have you ever wondered why your batteries in parallel seem to fail sooner than you would expect? When asked how to charge batteries in parallel people commonly reply connect the positive to positive and negative to negative. Yep, electrically speaking that works. But what if you have an RV, for example, and need to add 3 or 4 or 8 batteries in parallel? Do you continue to add to the string in a linear fashion (Figure 1)? Or is there a better way to set up and charge your RV batteries in parallel? I’m willing to bet the vast majority of RV and marine battery owners have never considered or made the connection between early battery failure and improper setup.
This How to Charge Batteries in Parallel tutorial is designed to move you from ignorance and insanity (doing the same things over and over and expecting different results) to a point of knowledge and confidence. To achieve this result we will share a framework of information
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- May 12, 2020
How to Connect & Charge Batteries in Series / Parallel
If you want to know about charging batteries in series and parallel then you have probably asked or are wondering what the advantage is of connecting batteries in series / parallel. This tutorial will provide easy to understand diagrams and will share reasons why you would use this battery configuration.
If you need to know about charging parallel batteries then click over to our tutorial on perfectly balanced charging. You may discover why your batteries have not been lasting as long as you thought they should!
Before we dive in any further, we would like to pause and thank our friends over at Iota Engineering for creating the graphics. Iota manufactures the very popular DLS line of power supply chargers found in many of our customers fifth wheels, RVs, and telecommunications applications. The charger depicted in some of the images will resemble their DLS charger and will have their logo emblazed on it.
Batteries Connected in Series
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- May 12, 2020
Peg Perego is a world leader (along with Mattel and the Power Wheels brand) in manufacturing kids ride on toys. They licensed the rights to make replica John Deere Gators and tractors, Polaris four-wheeler’s, and the Ducati Monster motorcycle to name a few. Kids aged 3-7 spend hours driving around the yard pretending to be their favorite racer, movie star, or their own dad working the farm. Inevitably, there comes a time when the fun ends and a new battery is needed in order to keep the peace. Hopefully we will shed some light on your options. Your first and maybe obvious choice is to simply buy a new battery system from Peg Perego or one of their licensed dealers, but as you already discovered (or will soon discover) this option becomes rather expensive.
An alternative is to replace the battery inside or under the protective safety cover. If you have any ability and want to save a bunch of cash, you will see there is no need to replace the entire battery system. Continue reading to discover
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- May 12, 2020
Strobe Lights & Inverters
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back to Impact Battery homepagePhotography equipment has evolved over the years allowing for smaller, faster and more powerful equipment. The drawback to this maturation and leapfrogging of new technologies is that many manufactures don’t publish all the necessary data allowing users to make sound decisions.The Strobe Light Problem
Professional photographers, for example, often travel to remote locations to film their subjects and thus require the ability to recharge and operate their equipment off-grid. Obviously, they want to be able to minimize bulk and weight whenever possible while maximizing the benefits of these new technologies. However, like most of us, they forget to update their power supplies accordingly.
Newer strobe lights (flashes) use high power capacitors to store energy that is used instantaneously to produce the flash. After the flash, these capacitors are fully discharged and need to be charged. These capacitors will draw
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- May 12, 2020
Comparing Battery Types
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back to Impact Battery homepageComparing Battery Types
Batteries are designed for specific performance expectations. A battery that excels in one device or application may be a poor performer in another. They are built to meet size and weight restrictions, to have long runtime, maximum durability, extended cycle life and maximum energy density. You may have noticed, for example, certain AA or AAA TV remote batteries seem to last forever while others not so long. Thus manufacturers market their goods to suit specific applications.
Below we highlight four well-known battery types—their strengths and limitations.
Lead Acid (Pb) - Heaviest but often most economical for large scale power systems especially where weight is not a concern. There are 3 types – flooded, gel and AGM sealed batteries. Lead acid is often used in motorsport vehicles, wheelchairs, UPS backup systems and hospital equipment. They are capable of high discharge rates but have a low
