Victron Battery 12V/160Ah Lead-Carbon (M8) - BAT612116081

Characteristics of the Victron 12V/160Ah Lead-Carbon Battery (M8) - BAT612116081

Failure modes of lead-acid flat-plate VRLA batteries in case of high number of cycles

The most common failure modes are:
- Flaking or softening of the active material. During discharge, lead oxide (PbO2) on the positive plate is converted to lead sulphate (PbSO4), which is converted back to lead oxide during charging. Frequent cycling will reduce the cohesion of the positive plate material due to the presence of a greater volume of lead sulphate than lead oxide.
- Corrosion of the positive plate grid. This corrosion reaction is accelerated at the end of the charging process due to the necessary presence of sulphuric acid.
- Sulphation of the active material of the negative plate. During discharge, the lead (Pb) on the negative plate is also transformed into lead sulphate (PbSO4). When left in a low state of charge, the lead sulphate crystals on the negative plate grow and harden to form an impenetrable layer that cannot be converted back into active material. The result is that the capacity is gradually reduced, until the battery is no longer useful.

Recharging a lead-acid battery takes quite a long time.

Ideally, a lead-acid battery should be charged at a rate not exceeding 0.2 C and, after the initial charging phase, there would be an absorption charging phase of eight hours. Increasing the charging current and voltage would shorten the recharge time at the cost of reduced battery life due to increased temperature and faster corrosion of the positive plate due to the higher charging voltage.

Lead and carbon: better performance with partial state of charge, more cycles and higher efficiency

Replacing the active material of the negative plate with a lead-carbon composite can reduce sulphation and improve the charge acceptance of the negative plate.
Therefore, the advantages of the Victron 12V/160Ah Lead-Carbon (M8) - BAT612116081 battery are:
- Reduced sulphation in case of partial load operation.
- Lower charging voltage and therefore higher efficiency and less corrosion of the positive plate.
- And the overall result is a higher number of cycles.

Tests have shown that our lead-carbon batteries withstand at least five hundred cycles with a DoD (depth of discharge) of 100%. These tests consist of a daily discharge at 10.8V with I = 0.2 C₂₀, followed by approximately two hours of standby in the discharged condition, and then a recharge with I = 0.2 C₂₀. (Some lead-carbon battery manufacturers claim that they can withstand up to 2000 cycles with a DoD of 90%. We have not yet been able to confirm this claim)

Datasheet Victron Battery 12V/160Ah Lead-Carbon (M8) - BAT612116081

See the Victron 12V/160Ah Lead-Carbon (M8) battery data sheet - BAT612116081