Did I damage my house batteries?

When staying at Quartzite in 2015, my 4 house batteries were not adequate. I went out and bought 2 Interstate, and 2 Trojan batteries. They have been installed since then (i.e. 8 years) and are still good. I have a 3 stage charger in my DP, and I keep it plugged in all the time except when on the road. I have added a small amount of water twice during that 8 years. Still can't tell you which is the better brand, but I'm content with both/either.

If the charger isn't charging properly the battery type doesn't matter; it'll kill either. That should be addressed first.

MetalGator,


You are lucky to have unmetered power!

pianotuna wrote:
MetalGator,


You are lucky to have unmetered power!

Lol, why? Do you think it’s free?

I'm not a fan of AGM.. I've tried 'em and found 'em to be "not better than flooded wet" though I do admit there are applications where they shine.

LiFePO4 needs a bit of a change in the feeding dept.. and some care regarding outside temps (Like the battery does not like to be charged if it's freezing.. so they make heaters for them) but .... Darn fine product near as I can tell..

Fact: I have a 2-way radio (Kenwood TS-2000) Running off a lead acid battery with about 10' of #10 Zip line (20 feet total) hooked to my Jeep's battery direct.. It won't go to full output power it will show low voltage and shut off/reset. (Plus the factory supplied power cord I might add.) (Works fine with engine running and alternator charging)

Switch to a small 12 AH LiFePo4 Well I needed to test it so I plugged it into the LiFePO4.. hooked it via a directional watt meter to a heavy dummy load (Can take full output of the radio... Forever or 10 times for a couple minutes) Radio dumped the full 100 watts into the oil bathed resistor.

That means it's sucking around 20 amps give or take about half an amp and the battery is not bothered. (It's a 12 amp hour battery)

Then I flipped over to the HamStick on the roof (I'm in downtown Flint. MI) and chatted with a fellow ham in... Pheonix, AZ... Oh testing two thigns on the radio. Repair (The dang thign was refusing to go over 30 watts even with good solid power.. Turns out to be a safety circuit being overly agressive) and a receiver upgrade (low noise) that ham in pheonix.. Sounded like he was parked next to me.> Very clear. NO noise (That's the upgrade)

^I agree, AGM doesn’t necessarily perform better or last longer than a comparable FLA or SLA battery.
Not sure thats an actual claim by anyone.
CCA and aH/reserve capacity are empirical measurements. And a CCA coming out of an AGM battery is no “stronger” than one coming out of a Wallyworld $99 special.
Battery life is a function of quality, care and cycles. Again I believe the same quality flooded battery will last as long as the same quality in an AGM.
However that word “quality” is very subjective. Even within the same make and model of battery.
Care is equally important. And AGMs tolerate a little more lack of care than flooded batteries.
And cycles are cycles.

AGMs advantages are no different than when they first came out years ago. Positional mounting advantages, tolerate a little more carelessness and the ability to mount them in un-vented or “interior” areas.

Not a fan, I think can be interpreted as “not needing the operational advantages”.

And for those who don’t like checking and filling battery water, there is a middle ground. Cost wise as well. SLA batteries offer some of the sealed battery properties of an AGM (can’t mount them sideways or upside down like an AGM) as in never add water.