Best AGM batteries

2oldman wrote:
OP is gone. Talk amongst yourselves.

Gee, I wonder why?

OP - Sorry about the hijack of this thread. Send me a PM if you would like me to re-open it so you can resume discussion of AGM batteries.

Hijackers - Did I stutter? I don't think so. I deleted your posts and then deleted them again. Shame on you. Start a new thread if you want to talk about a different topic.

OP is gone. Talk amongst yourselves.

Mex, is any lead-calcium battery "deep cycle"? Is any AGM "deep cycle" if it is lead calcium? Are there AGMs with antimony?

I don't know if my "cycle use" AGM was unable to handle my usage from doing 50-80s or from too many high amp draws. I do both, so can't separate "what done it". It said to limit charging amps to about 30% which many AGMs specify (except Lifeline eg) which I was always under, so that wasn't the problem.

What should an RVer shopping for AGMs look for in the specs so he can tell what the battery is good for?

People here even have telecom AGMs and say they are good for how they RV, but we don't know how they RV. :( I don't know what to think about AGMs and RVing now.

Battery fight!!!!!! :B

Folks, please start a new thread if you want to discuss the pros & cons of the lithium batteries. The OP asked about AGM. Please stay on topic.

"Peer review happens" means if you post something that needs correcting, you can expect other forum members to do just that. Especially here! :)

On AGMs, to get on topic, I find it difficult to tell which ones can be deep cycled. With Wets we know you can't get away with doing many 50-80s with a Walmart 27"DC" like you can with a T-1275.

I tried a 12v AGM 8D that had specs for "cycle use" and for "standby use", but it turned out that it could not take much deep cycling. OTOH, I tried AGM 27s that were marked as deep cycle on them and they did fine doing 50-80s. But they also spec for "cycle use" and "standby use"

So I am leery of which AGMs can be used for how I do things. I went back to straight Wet 6s this time, where I know what to expect.

It would be handy if you could tell which AGMs are really more like Walmart 27s for being more in the way of a starting battery than a deep cycle battery even though they call them "27DCs".

I don't even know if a T-105 that is good for golf cars and RVs means that their AGM version of a 105 is the same way.

BFL13 wrote:
The idea that you must have an Li battery system in your RV before you are allowed to comment on Li systems is bogus.

Many of those who have experience with Li have only had it for a few years so they cannot yet say they have been maintaining them properly.

Anybody with a Walmart 27DC which might last 3 years in his care, and who has had his for 2 years and it is "just fine" might think he is doing everything right too.

Those with Li in their RVs should wait till the Li has done its rated number of cycles before saying it will do better than any other battery for cost per cycle. That could take 16 years. Folks are getting over 8 years from their Flooded/AGM set-ups now.

It also implies that anything that can be read about Li systems cannot be considered correct (which is a distortion of the idea you can't believe everything you read), and only those who have Li are able to tell what is correct from any such reading material.

The same apparently does not apply to those who "did their research" before getting Li! ( Where, not being Li owners yet, they somehow managed to figure out what was correct in what they were reading)

All forum members are allowed to comment. Peer review happens. But having Li does not grant a forum member exclusive rights to Li as a topic. Here endith rant.

BUT.....when non lfp user give advice as if they know what they're talking about because the read somewhere and parroted the bad info, they should be corrected.

It's like calling Lifepo4 chemistry batteries "li" but that's understandable seeing "lfp" is confusing to non users and just muddies the conversation to those possible new comers reading. ;)

BFL13 wrote:
Folks are getting over 8 years from their Flooded/AGM set-ups now.

The questions I'd be asking are: what is the usage, and do they run them into the ground before replacing?

My well-maintained, boondocked, heavily-used T105s made it maybe 4-5 years before losing enough capacity to be noticeable.

The idea that you must have an Li battery system in your RV before you are allowed to comment on Li systems is bogus.

Many of those who have experience with Li have only had it for a few years so they cannot yet say they have been maintaining them properly.

Anybody with a Walmart 27DC which might last 3 years in his care, and who has had his for 2 years and it is "just fine" might think he is doing everything right too.

Those with Li in their RVs should wait till the Li has done its rated number of cycles before saying it will do better than any other battery for cost per cycle. That could take 16 years. Folks are getting over 8 years from their Flooded/AGM set-ups now.

It also implies that anything that can be read about Li systems cannot be considered correct (which is a distortion of the idea you can't believe everything you read), and only those who have Li are able to tell what is correct from any such reading material.

The same apparently does not apply to those who "did their research" before getting Li! ( Where, not being Li owners yet, they somehow managed to figure out what was correct in what they were reading)

All forum members are allowed to comment. Peer review happens. But having Li does not grant a forum member exclusive rights to Li as a topic. Here endith rant.

X2 on the Lithium batteries being easy to set up and maintain. I dropped mine in place of the huge heavy wet cells (210 lbs each!), same wiring. Few minutes to configure the charger/inverter and the solar controllers and that was it.

wolfe10 wrote:
Nothing against Li batteries, BUT (indeed large BUT) to do them properly, one has to add in the cost of a proper Li battery charger, make changes to wiring so the alternator does not damage them, be aware of their temperature range etc.

If an RV is set up for Li batteries from the factory, they make a lot more sense to me.

BTW, have used Lifeline batteries in our sailboats and motorhomes.

Nonsense.
Most lithium batteries are idiot proof. No one would spend that kind of $$ if they weren't. I have 2 Relion RB100-LT 100Ah batteries and they were drop in, plug and play.
I charge mine with a factory installed Onan QD3200 genset, a factory installed PD 9245 converter/charger with a user added charge wizard pendant, and a factory installed Zamp ZS-30A solar charge controller, and my factory installed Mercedes-Benz 220A alternator. That's it. No extra parts required. It works flawlessly, and don't let anyone tell you different. If they haven't tried/don't have lithium, they're not qualified to comment.