MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
So one question is this. Anyone out there REGULARLY abuse their cyclable AGM batteries down to 60 - 70 percent depth of discharge (30% remaining) for years and years without problems?
Hi Mex',
I have three Odyssey 2150's which are identical (except for color) to the Group 31 DieHard Platinum. They are two years old and I have regularly discharged them down to 50-60% SOC according to the display on my Trimetric (read: large margin of error, but close enough) From what I can tell they are performing well and I haven't experienced any noticeable loss of capacity... I acknowledge that my use is a far cry from the 10-20% SOC that you are describing.
FWIW, EnerSys has a published a spec' of 400 discharges to 80&% DOD... Impressive
if it is true.
I like that during times of heavy use (e.g. running the microwave), these AGM's exhibit much less voltage sag than my Trojan 6V FLA's did. Of course they can be charged very quickly too and mine are installed
inside my camper in a space with minimal ventilation.
I do agree that AGM's are painfully expensive... and in terms of dollars per watt/hour, think they cost way more than even the high end FLA's do. But for me it is worth it because every summer I do extensive remote boondocking and my combination of solar & AGM's (+ occasional small generator use) allow me to live as if I'm on shore power. I consider the additional cost to be a
convenience tax.
Cheers
-Mark
