newbie battery and electrical question

fttang wrote:
Hi all,
new to the forum, bought a 04 E350 to do a camper conversion.

...

for the battery i am considering 2 lifeline GPL-4CT, because they are under $300 a piece and 220 usable amp-hour seems about enough for me(24 hours of fridge running and 10 hours of AC, plus a few other things)

the website i am shopping with recommends powermax chargers,
the 45 amp model has:
14.6 Boost Mode Output
13.6 Normal Mode Output
13.2 Float (trickle) Mode Output

how does this set up look? any recommendation? i don't want spend too much on the batteries so $600 is pretty much the limit, the charger is $150 on the same website.

and for the charger, i've read that you are only supposed to use this kind of 4 stage charger on the agm batteries, is there a 12v version out there so i can charge the agm house battery when the van is running? there were a person in this post was using 12v to 110v converter to draw power from engine generator and power the 110v charger to charge the house battery, i am assuming he is doing that because 12v 4 stage battery charger does not exist?

...

Two 100AH 12V AGMs from Sams Club will yield 200AHs for $360(2 x $180), or about half the cost.

AGMs do not require a multistage charger, and certainly NOT a 4 stage. Stage 4 is usually a high voltage stage designed for flooded batteries to stir the liquid. AGM's acid does not stratify and actually cannot be stirred.

AGMs do benefit from a charger that monitors the battery temperature. This precludes the use of inappropriate high Voltages which may harm the AGM.

Look at the Parallax Powermode charger for around $175.

HTH;
John