What is the difference between a normal lead-acid car battery and a deep cycle battery?
The difference in a deep cycle and normal automobile battery is basically how much power they produce and for how long. Normal automobile batteries are designed to produce a large amount of amperage, for a short time. This is to produce the energy to crank the engine when cold.
Deep cycle batteries are not designed to produce as much amperage, but they can provide power for longer periods of time. For instance a trolling motor in a boat, does not draw a large amount of current, but may be used for several hours. A deep cycle battery may not produce enough current to crank a car, and a car battery may not survive a long discharge period without recharge. Each type has a specific purpose.
Here’s more on why batteries die http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/136
People who have recreational vehicles (RVs) and boats are familiar with deep cycle batteries. These batteries are also common in golf carts and large solar power systems (the sun produces power during the day and the batteries store some of the power for use at night). If you have read the article How Emergency Power Systems Work, then you also know that an alternative to gasoline-powered generators is an inverter powered by one or more deep cycle batteries. Both car batteries and deep cycle batteries are lead-acid batteries that use exactly the same chemistry for their operation (see How Batteries Work for more information). The difference is in the way that the batteries optimize their design: • A car’s battery is designed to provide a very large amount of current for a short period of time. This surge of current is needed to turn the engine over dur
People who have recreational vehicles (RVs) and boats are familiar with deep cycle batteries. These batteries are also common in golf carts and large solar power systems (the sun produces power during the day and the batteries store some of the power for use at night). If you have read the article How Emergency Power Systems Work, then you also know that an alternative to gasoline-powered generators is an inverter powered by one or more deep cycle batteries. Both car batteries and deep cycle batteries are lead-acid batteries that use exactly the same chemistry for their operation (see How Batteries Work for more information). The difference is in the way that the batteries optimize their design: • A car’s battery is designed to provide a very large amount of current for a short period of time. This surge of current is needed to turn the engine over dur
