"Gould 0738" wrote in message
...
Double the Power, or Half the Space?


We recently dropped by Boat Electric (on Westlake Avenue in Seattle) to
visit
with Harris Allen, of Meridian Marine Progressive Products. Meridian
Marine
Progressive Products is the marine distribution and marketing arm of the
Northstar Battery Company. Boat Electric has been selling the Meridian
Marine
batteries, and business is so brisk that employees have resorted hooking
the
Meridian batteries on display together with zip ties.
"We had a lot of people tearing apart the display to get to the
batteries,"
said a Boat Electric spokesperson. "We were having to rebuild the display
all
the time, and we would really rather sell a battery out of our store
room."

We wanted to know why these batteries are becoming so popular with NW
boaters,
and Harris Allen proved to be very informative. Harris shared a general
outline
of the company history and the specific battery technology employed in the
Meridian Marine battery.

*****

What can you tell us about the company itself?

"Northstar Battery was formed three or three and a half years ago by an
international group of battery company executives. Many of them were from
Europe. They had an idea that they wanted to build a better battery. They
went
out and raised $60-million in venture capital, and built the most advanced
battery-manufacturing plant in the world in Springfield, Missouri. They
built
the plant in Missouri because the two largest lead mines in the US are
located
there."

"The founders realized that if they were going to build an improved
battery,
they would have to go outside the traditional manufacturing processes used
by
all the other manufacturers. A new approach was required, and they adapted
technology from aerospace, automotive, and other industries to get the
robotics
that they needed to assemble these batteries."

With all of the batteries on the market, why would a Northwest boater want
to
specifically consider yours?

"One of the most remarkable things about the Meridian Marine battery is
that my
unit with amp-hour capacity equivalent with a traditional 8D battery is
only
about half the size. It is slightly taller, but our battery is only
5-inches
wide. We can effectively put two of these in the space of a single 8D. In
fact,
many people put two new Meridians into the same battery box that
previously
held only one 8D. I ask prospective customers whether they would prefer
to
recover half the space currently used by batteries, or enjoy double the
power.
It's a win-win decision, no matter how a boater decides."

"The Meridian Marine battery is a premium product. They cost a lot more to
manufacture, and to buy, than some battery purchased off the shelf in an
auto
parts store. Although the initial cost is higher than an off-the-shelf 8D,
the
Meridian battery will have a service life that is almost four times as
long as
the cheaper product."


Is it correct to assume that your batteries utilize AGM technology?


"Yes, that's correct. You can call it AGM, for 'absorbed glass mat', but
it is
also referred to as a 'starved electrolyte' battery. Layers of lead plates
are
separated by layers of glass mat, and the mat is soaked with electrolyte.
Once
assembled into a bundle, the alternating lead and glass bundles are
compressed
as part of the manufacturing process. Most manufacturers achieve about a
ten-
percent compression. Through the use of robotics, Northstar Battery has
been
able to come up with over a thirty- percent compression. This means that
we can
get a huge amount of plate area into a smaller space. The critical
consideration is the amount of plate area in contact with the electrolyte,
so
the bundle can be compressed without loss of capacity."

"Another advantage of a Meridian Battery is that if you should split the
case,
the battery isn't going to leak. All the electrolyte is contained in the
glass
mat."


Isn't it true that an AGM battery can be installed in any position, except
maybe upside down?

"You can't install one upside down. You'll notice on these particular
batteries
that there's a unique feature. Any sealed battery has valves in it, and
falls
into a class we call 'valve regulated lead-acid batteries'. If you reach a
case
pressure of, (in our case at least) 5 psi then the vents open. It takes a
serious overcharge to reach a case pressure of 5 psi, but when you do
you're
venting hydrogen gas. On our particular battery, if the valves should ever
open
the gas will go into this vent chamber, here on the top of the battery.
The
vent chamber is an excellent feature, and we go a step beyond that. We
have two
plastic nipples on the vent chamber so we can install plastic tubing. We
can
use the tubing to daisy chain the batteries together, and then drain the
gasses
overboard anywhere we want."

"In Fort Lauderdale, we do a lot of Feadships and other big boats. Most of
them
fall under SOLAS, GMDSS requirements which means they have to have a
back-up
battery bank for their electronics. Typically, that's under the helm,
where all
the electronics are.
When we have batteries under the electronics, we don't want to run the
risk of
the battery charger going crazy and venting corrosive gas onto the
electronics.
In a case like that, we use the remote venting feature and vent the
batteries
out the side of the boat.

Are the vent tube fittings fairly well exclusive to the Meridian Marine
product
line?

"Yes, it's a very unique solution. It allows us to do rack mount
installations.
Rather than have batteries stuck all around the engine room, we just weld
up a
stainless rack, install a number of batteries on their sides, and use a
single
vent for all of them."


Do Meridians make good starting batteries?

"Yes, because of the compression factor we have a tremendous amount of
plate
area in the battery and that gives them excellent starting power. Take a
look
at our 115-amp model for example. Most people would consider that a very
compact battery, it's 4 ¼ inches wide, and 15 inches long. We just did a
refit
on a 150-foot Trinity, with a 53-litre, 1800 HP, 3512 Cat. The starting
bank
consists of two of these batteries combined to create 24-volts."

"Take a look at our 210-amp model. As you can see, it is rated at 1830
cold
cranking amps, and most 8D's are rated at about 1200. We have about 50%
more
cranking power, in a battery that occupies only half the space."

What are the sizes most commonly purchased by pleasure boaters?

"We just follow the standard marine ratings. We sell a lot of 115-amp,
130-amp,
and 210-amp batteries to boaters. By putting two of those 210-amp
batteries
into a 8D box, all of a sudden you have created a 420-amp battery. Most of
the
8D's are 200, 210 or 225 amps, depending upon who built the battery. The
term
8D refers to case size. Our 210-amp battery is sort of in the middle,
capacity
wise, with most of the 8D batteries on the market, but it's only half the
size.
Putting two of these into the space traditionally occupied by an 8D
creates a
battery that is about double most 8D units. That's why I ask people
whether
they would prefer to have twice the power, or only use up half the space."

How about deep-cycle durability?

"Consider the typical, off-the-shelf flooded cell 8D battery. At 50%
discharge,
you're looking at 200 to 250 recharge cycles before that battery is done.
With
a Meridian, you can get over 800 cycles from 50% discharge. The deeper you
discharge a battery, the fewer cycles you are going to get. A standard 8D
discharged to 80% would be lucky to survive more than about 100 cycles. A
Meridian discharged to 80% will last for over 500 recharges."

How has the marine market responded to your product so far?

"Well, Boat Electric is a good example. They waited a little while and
studied
the idea before they turned in their first stocking order. Sales in the
Pacific
Northwest have exploded, with batteries all but flying out the door.
Boaters
love these. We're now the OEM battery for Hinckley, Palmer Johnson,
Direktor
Shipyards, Lyman Morse, and nearly all the high-speed, custom sport fish
guys.

***

While most Pacific Northwest boaters won't be purchasing a Hinckley in the
immediate future, it's fun to realize that our boats could rather
realistically
have a battery in common with such a prestigious craft. Next time the
batteries
wear out, it might be well to consider a newly relevant question when
replacing
them, "Do I want to use half the space, or enjoy double the power?"




Nice post Chuck. How much are they retailing for?

Having to deal with four lead plate group 31 batteries in my old boat was
quite a chore and required maintenance every other week.