On Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:26:45 -0500, "Robert Green"
wrote:

wrote in message
news
stuff snipped

A "marine" bettery may or may not have a carrying strap, is designed
to take more vibration than an automotive battery, and is generally
somewhere between a common SLA (starting, lighting, and Accessory)
battery and a deep charge battery in construction and capability.

FWIW, I've always known SLA to stand for "Sealed Lead Acid" battery.

I think what you mean is usually called a Starting-Ignition-Lighting (SIL),

Also called that. Perhaps more commonly.
aka the typical car battery. They should not be used where they will be
discharged to lower than 50% of the amp-hour rating because the plates will
become damaged.

SLA's are the deep DIScharge batteries found in UPS's, golf carts and wheel
chairs and usually have no caps or covers for the individual cells as car
batteries do.

When's the last time you saw a car battery with individual OR
removeable caps?????


They are often called "gel cells." They can tolerate much
greater discharges than car batteries without damage, although it's
recommended that they not be deeply discharged too often because they too
can suffer damage when completely discharged. They need to be sized
correctly for the application.
There are "gell cells" and there are "Absorbed Glass Mat, or AGM"
cells as well as "Valve regulated" sealed cells, and there are
"starved electrolyte" cells.
The common high output deap cycle lead acid cell today is the starved
eletrolyte AGM battery, which can be shipped by air and is not
considered as "hazardous material" when it comes to transporting or
handling. They are very resistant to sulfating, and SOME can even take
crazy extreme charging currents.