Orchestra Tower Mover

carsonld

Active Member
I have orchestra shell with a hydraulic mover. There are a total of nine towers. Anytime I need to load in the shell, I need to plug in the mover a good week in advanced for the battery on board to charge. This would be fine if it charged the battery for the entire load in. But about 4-5 towers in gets to the point where it will only lift it a little off the ground but not enough to move the tower. I am guessing the battery is about 12 years old now. The battery in the mover right now is a Werker Marine Dual Purpose High Performance Marine Battery. Its part number is 24MDP its CCA is 550 and its Min @ 250AMPS is 120.

So being a school district we are limited on who we can purchase from. O'Reillys does not have this battery and cannot order it. However, he said he had batteries that the CCA was 550 but I wasn't sure if that would work... I am not too familiar with these terms. I'm doing some research but would rather get solid advice from people who might know what they are talking about.

Thanks! :)
 
Can I assume this problem arose over time and the battery lasted fine for a move when new?

And did you the manufacturer? I can't recall if this was StageRight or SECOA - I think the later. You can call StageRight and get help. If SECOA, pm me and I'll get you the contact for the person who can answer this.
 
As the item is completely out of Warranty and a Lead Acid deep cell battery is pretty common... I'd hit up Batteries+ as a great resource. Next try a Rental place like Pape' or United Rentals. Also as a last resort Medical supply places often stock 'Marine' batteries for powering wheel chairs.

But Honestly this Battery should be available through any local Auto parts place. "Werker" is the Manufacturer but they make batteries for MANY other brands like Exide, Apex, Napa...
 
a quick google search showed 24MDP for $139 ... can you do it from petty cash, or expense reimbursement? Its not like buying a whole new mover ...
 
12 years from a lead-acid battery is not at all bad.

Batteries are standardized; you need a group 24 battery for a direct replacement. If possible get a "deep discharge" battery; marine dual purpose is somewhat closer to a deep discharge battery than a standard automobile starting battery, but not the same as, say, a golf cart battery. CCA (cold cranking amps) is not a very meaningful performance measurement for this usage. The "120 minutes at 25 A," which I think is what you meant by "Min at 250A is 120," implies about a 50 amp-hour rating for the old battery, and that's more along the lines of your usage. Minutes of discharge at 25A (down to 10.5V, which is way too low) is the standard for rating reserve capacity, so this could also be stated as a 120 minute reserve capacity.

For battery life, a little care goes a long way towards keeping them happy. For flooded batteries keeping the electrolyte level correct by adding distilled water when needed is important. Lead-acid batteries do not like to sit in a discharged state at all, so charging promptly after use and maintaining the charge (if the charger is smart enough, this may mean just leaving it on all the time; but if there's doubt about that, hitting them for an hour every week or two or three between uses would suffice). Lead acid batteries self-discharge over time, at a rate related to the ambient temperature, so storage in a cool place is preferable to a hot place. A couple weeks at 90-100 degrees is equivalent to many months at freezing temperatures.

If you have the space available in the gizmo, a pair of 6V GC2 golf cart batteries wired in series (for 12V) would give a genuine deep-discharge battery at about the most affordable price possible. That would have a capacity of about 210-220 amp-hours, vs. 50 for the single marine battery, and with a bit of care would last a very, very long time indeed. They also weigh a good bit more and would seem to be overkill for your use.
 
I'd use this as an excuse to throw our your tower and ceiling system...

Did you throw any water in it or check the water levels? Odds are its super dry. That will probably help but won't fix it. I'd probably throw an AGM battery in, you'll get a lot longer life out of it.
 
I'd use this as an excuse to throw our your tower and ceiling system...

Did you throw any water in it or check the water levels? Odds are its super dry. That will probably help but won't fix it. I'd probably throw an AGM battery in, you'll get a lot longer life out of it.
He means the battery, not the lift itself. It would probably be a good Idea to check the Hydraulic fluid level too.. :mrgreen:
 
He means the battery, not the lift itself. It would probably be a good Idea to check the Hydraulic fluid level too.. :mrgreen:

What? Everyone didn't have a dad who brought home a new battery for his 8 year olds motorcycle and had said 8 year old fill it with battery acid?
 
Haha thanks all for your help! I might have more questions here soon. I didn't think to check Home Depot!

Also, I know SECOA made the shell itself... might not by hydraulics :)
 
I'd use this as an excuse to throw our your tower and ceiling system...

Did you throw any water in it or check the water levels? Odds are its super dry. That will probably help but won't fix it. I'd probably throw an AGM battery in, you'll get a lot longer life out of it.

That's not really true anymore. Most of the manufacturers have really lowered the quality of their AGM batteries. You'll occasionally get a good one that will last as long as the old ones. Your more likely to get something that will have a similar service life as a standard lead acid battery. And a lot of them fail prematurely in the 1-2 year range.
 
Everything Drew said. :)

Except that current gen Group 24 deep cycles appear to be between 60-80Ah.

The golf cart battery idea would be great if you can physically fit them in the pan.

You may also need to upgrade your charger to match larger capacity batteries.
 

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