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Unread 05-04-2013, 22:56
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Re: Battery Power Requirements

Quote:
Originally Posted by excel2474 View Post
My question is: Will a 12v lead-acid battery with 7.2 amp-h be sufficient for this application?
It depends on the duty cycle of the motors. Mostly the drivetrain motors. How hard are you planning on pushing them, and for how long?

Check out this spreadsheet:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/2755

Using the spreadsheet together with your estimate of the duty cycle, you can get an idea of the amps you'll be drawing from the battery.

Then you can compare that to the discharge curves in the datasheet for the battery:

http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/...LC-R127R2P.pdf

... and you can determine if the battery can handle it.

You mentioned that the batteries are left over from a previous project. Have they been properly stored? If not, they may have substantially diminished capacity. You should charge them completely, then run a capacity test.

I can send you details how to do a home-brew capacity test if you don't have access to the proper test equipment.