Golf Cart or A G M 12 volt Batteries

i've got 5 large 12v AGM in mine

other members will say to go with 4 GC

i've had GC way back 7 years ago

i've had much better life and luck with 12v AGM

devildog1971 wrote:
both a diesel pusher and wonder what the best type of battery to put in it 12 volt age or golf cart batteries,

Depends..

What type of camping do you do> Boondocking? Always plugged in?

What access do you have to the batteries for watering?

Are the batteries in a ventilated area or inside the coach?

What appliances do you have if boondocking that you want to use? Electric coffee pot, micro, electric griddle, etc etc..

How much room do you have? ( How many batts can you fit?)

I may spell this wrong but we have a quisanart 12 volt coffee pot and it works great and a 12 volt T V that we can put in the class A we use to have a truck camper then a class C so we know how to conserve. The programming of the electrical management system in the class A is complex compared to a truck camper We want to travel to see kids that live from west coast to east coast so part of the time dry camping and then at a park while we visit the kids. I felt like I put a steering wheel in the house and drove down the road the day I bought it, it is really easy to drive I just drove into Cabalas during the after Christmas sale and was lucky to get out with people parking in the R V section on all sides of me that was a learning curve. There is plenty of room on the outside rear for at least six batteries and then two chassis batteries I am not use to a inverter so that will take a little math since it can power most appliances one at a time at least any help or suggestions will help since I am new to this type of R V but not new to diesels since I still own a farm

Make and model of class A...

What does the inverter run? Refridge? Everything?

Regardless with what batteries you get you need a way to charge them or they will die a slow death...

What converter is in the class A?

How much money do you want to spend?

And again do you want to water the batteries and have good access to do this?


Whatever you decide go 6 volt...

6 volt AGM so no watering 1300 bucks
6 volt lead acid if you want to do maintainance. 600 bucks

The main reason AGM were developed was to handle batteries that were tilted or inverted, so the acid wouldn't leak out (small planes, boats, off road vehicles, etc...).

If it's an off road motorhome, you might need them. Otherwise, golf cart batteries are good. If you don't have good access consider installing a watering system and it will still likely be cheaper.

Your question actually has 2 discussions:
1) 12 volt versus 6 volt
2) Wet cell versus AGM

For pure cost wet cell 6 volt batteries are hard to beat. Personally, I chose to go 6 volt and AGM. 6 volt for all the their advantages and AGM because I don't want to spend the time maintaining batteries. Wet cell batteries need water and keeping corrosion at bay. Batteries can be killed if these 2 things are not done religiously. AGM is more expensive but for the ease of life I have been happy.

We do the same sort of camping; sometimes off grid, sometimes at the pedestal. I went with 4-6v wet cell mostly because of the cost and I can roll them out to check the water. I also added another 100 watts of solar (total of 200) to keep them charged in storage and to keep them topped off all day when boondocking. We've been 3 days with no hookups only needing to run the genny twice. I will be doubling the solar soon. I think 300 watts is probably the minimum.

I say get the best that you can afford.

I'm replacing mine and getting AGMs.....for the convenience and anticipated longer life.

I have a Northstar 850 truck camper and the batteries are stored inside the camper under the seat of the dinette. This installation requires the 12 volt wet cell batteries be stored in cases that are vented to the outside of the camper. I will be going to 12 volt AGM batteries for safety sake as venting from two enclosed cases is a real pain to open the cases for maintenance purposes.

Chassis batteries are Starting Type. does not matter if Flooded wet, Maintenance Free or AGM.. They need to provide a lot of peak amps (As compared to capacity) for a short time

HOUSE you need a lot of capacity (AMP-HOURS) as opposed to peak amps.

Now folks claim all sorts of advantages for AGM.. With one and possibly 2 exceptions I have not found those claims to be valid. The exceptions:

1: No "This side up" sticker.. You can mount them on their side, on end, however you wish.

2: Very very low gasing (If you are using them INSIDE the living area)

In the specific case of LIFELINE AGM (not other brands) Faster recharge IF and only IF you have a converter or other charger able to ship the amps (Most do not).

And they have one big di$advantage.. CO$T.. Way more expensive

Thus for the house I recommend GC-2's