I don't understand the HR bit at the end.
The 24AH bit tells you the capacity of the battery in Amp Hours. It basically means that if the current drawn from the battery is 24A then the battery will last 1 hour.
I think it tells you the Discharge Time for which the quoted Capacity is 'true' (tested)
Ideally a 24Ah battery will last for 24hrs if the battery is providing 1A of constant current. In theory, if it were to provide 24A of constant current, then it would last for 1hr.
However this does not happen in practice and the discharge curve for most batteries is not linear.
Ideally a battery will provide a nominal voltage across the two terminals (eg 12V). In reality, some of this Voltage is 'lost' due to Internal Resistance. As the discharge current increases, then the voltage 'lost' across the Internal Resistance is greater (V=IR). So in general the more current you use to discharge the battery (ie the faster you discharge it), then the lower the true capacity.
So back to the OP...
When it comes to batteries I am virtually clueless, basically I am looking to find out which battery is the better spec,
12v 24ah 10hr
12v 24ah 20hr
Does the hr rating mean the battery can supply the given amp ratings for that amount of time?
I believe they tell you the following:
12v 24ah 10hr
The battery is a 12V battery, that has a capacity of 24Ah.
This capacity is 'true' when discharged over 10hrs. The constant discharge current would be about 2.4A (24Ah/10h).
12v 24ah 20hr
The battery is also a 12V battery, that also has a capacity of 24Ah.
This capacity is 'true' when discharged over 20hrs. The constant discharge current would be about 1.2A (24Ah/20h).
So which battery is best?
Typically for most batteries the 'quoted' capacity is 'true' so long as the discharge current is no greater than the 'tested/quoted' current.
The first battery is basically saying that the capacity is 24Ah, so long as the 'average' discharge current is no more than 2.4A.
The second battery is basically saying that the capacity is 24Ah, so long as the 'average' discharge current is no more than 1.2A.
For this reason, I would conclude that battery 1 (12v 24ah 10hr) is the better battery, as it can provide a slightly higher 'average' discharge current before the 'quoted' capacity can no longer be expected.
Hope that helps
