Bang, Buck, Batteries
Getting ready to repower a coach- 6 of them for 750 amp hours at 12 volts.
Forum Discussion
Or my situation. Damned near everything has a lifetime warranty whether I like it or not. Actually zero warranty once this stuff goes south of the Rio Grande.
For 385 dollars, San Diego Battery has the 2-story group 31 Lifeline, and comparing that to 269 dollars for a FullRiver group 27 is self-explanatory.
But care must be taken in establishing a -value- for batteries. A thick plate is only valuable when thick plates would make a difference. A weekend warrior or power pedestal princess would need thick plates about as much as a grocery hauler would need 500 horsepower. Even .040" plates would last a casual weekender several years. But for serious boondocking (serious means heavy heavy use) the .040" plates would die at a young age.
The following needs to be said again regarding my personal choices: There are no warranties, there are no replacements, there is no competition, when something breaks I R screwed. Yesterday 11 refraccionarias (auto parts stores) did not have a fuel filter for my 20 year old K car. Hah, their fuel filters for say a 2012 Ford V-10 do not exist and the ones for the V8's won't fit US cars. So I choose stuff that does not break and is harder to wear out (or order 10 fuel filters from Rock Auto :)
A bad refrigerator down here is a crisis, not an inconvenience. Lamps that burn out mean replacing them (somehow) with a hothouse grade 60 watt incandescent. I do not have time for such nonsense. This is why I am pre-emptivly replacing the trouble-prone group 34 battery with a group 31 AGM. "Oh sorry sir, you'll have to go to Managua 315 miles over bad road to try and find a group 34 for two hundred dollars. Oooooo it's expensive because it is aged 2-years on the shelf"
The life of a weekend warrior, with seven delivery services to his front door is a lot different than the life of a off-grid, damned near off the face of the earth boondocker.
But I do remember the wails of RV campers in the Sierra. "I waited all year and spent four thousand dollars to take this here vacation, and now I have to bail out after day three because (name one: battery, refrigerator, hot water heater, space heater, charging system, generator) won't work? A year's wait and thousands of dollars for -this-?" Now if a person consciously decides to compromise, and shortchange themselves with such a plan of recreation, then so be it. It's their life. But I don't want to hear complaints. I especially do not want to hear their loud voice twisting elbows telling others "How To Do It".
For 385 dollars, San Diego Battery has the 2-story group 31 Lifeline, and comparing that to 269 dollars for a FullRiver group 27 is self-explanatory.
But care must be taken in establishing a -value- for batteries. A thick plate is only valuable when thick plates would make a difference. A weekend warrior or power pedestal princess would need thick plates about as much as a grocery hauler would need 500 horsepower. Even .040" plates would last a casual weekender several years. But for serious boondocking (serious means heavy heavy use) the .040" plates would die at a young age.
The following needs to be said again regarding my personal choices: There are no warranties, there are no replacements, there is no competition, when something breaks I R screwed. Yesterday 11 refraccionarias (auto parts stores) did not have a fuel filter for my 20 year old K car. Hah, their fuel filters for say a 2012 Ford V-10 do not exist and the ones for the V8's won't fit US cars. So I choose stuff that does not break and is harder to wear out (or order 10 fuel filters from Rock Auto :)
A bad refrigerator down here is a crisis, not an inconvenience. Lamps that burn out mean replacing them (somehow) with a hothouse grade 60 watt incandescent. I do not have time for such nonsense. This is why I am pre-emptivly replacing the trouble-prone group 34 battery with a group 31 AGM. "Oh sorry sir, you'll have to go to Managua 315 miles over bad road to try and find a group 34 for two hundred dollars. Oooooo it's expensive because it is aged 2-years on the shelf"
The life of a weekend warrior, with seven delivery services to his front door is a lot different than the life of a off-grid, damned near off the face of the earth boondocker.
But I do remember the wails of RV campers in the Sierra. "I waited all year and spent four thousand dollars to take this here vacation, and now I have to bail out after day three because (name one: battery, refrigerator, hot water heater, space heater, charging system, generator) won't work? A year's wait and thousands of dollars for -this-?" Now if a person consciously decides to compromise, and shortchange themselves with such a plan of recreation, then so be it. It's their life. But I don't want to hear complaints. I especially do not want to hear their loud voice twisting elbows telling others "How To Do It".
