On Sat, 14 Apr 2018 01:27:16 -0500, wrote:

On Sat, 14 Apr 2018 01:28:52 -0400, Clare Snyder
wrote:

car battery, but the acid is a gel, not a liquid.

If you have a farm supply store nearby, these Gel Cells are also sold
for Solar-Charged Electric Livestock Fencers.


Actually pretty hard to find a real gel-cell today.

The majority are the MUCH better Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) VRLA battery
- also known as "starved electrolyte"

They are still sold and called Gel Cells for the electric fencers. Back
in the 90s I used to get them at a place that sold overstock items and
they were cheap. I used them to power one of them big camcorders that
everyone had back then. (withe the vcr tape inside). It also doubled as
a battery for a portable CB radio made for temporary use in cars.

I simply mounted the gel cell in a strong canvas bag, and put a
cigarette lighter female socket on a wire that hung out of the bag. The
bag had a strap so I could hang it on my shoulder. I could run that
camcorder for many hours off that single 12V Gel Cell. Probably 5 times
the capacity of the internal battery pack made for that camcorder. The
CB radio ran a whole day on that battery. I would charge them with a
standard 2A car battery charger. Worked great.

The ones sold for the electric fencers are very expensive. I'd check
ebay.


Doesn't matter what the idiot selling them calls them, they are
virtually ALL AGM today.

Gell cells don't handle high currents and require special chargers and
are significantly more expensive - with no real advantage

AGM batteries can be charged with an automotive charger. Gel cells
charged with an automotive charger have a short lifespan.