Best Rv batteries
What would you rate as the best Rv batteries for dry camping. Name brand,reason. Thank you
Forum Discussion
Might as well let it all hang out in the confession booth...
When a battery has an antimony content of 5%, when it ages it does not screw around. Antimony transfers to the negative plate and hydrolysis begins in earnest.
More H2SO4 vapor, SO2, H2O emitting from the cell caps. Water loss, corrosion, self discharging all goes through the roof.
So it is important to understand the chemical state of these true cyclable batteries. When electrolysis gets out of hand, the batteries must be yanked out by their roots. Corrosion from angry 5% batteries can approach extreme levels. A quart of added water per week is not uncommon per three cells and self discharge rates approaching five percent per week is also de riguer. Destructive energy hogs -- about as "green" as a stop sign.
The answer is to promptly acknowledge and accept the inevitable and get the batteries out of the rig.
For power pedestal princesses, observance of manufacturer's temperature compensated float voltage recommendations must be observed like it is the holy grail. Two tenths of a volt too high is a killer premature aging death due to antimony poisoning. Why so sensitive? The battery is spending 24/7/365 on a charger. Aggregate error means aggregate destruction.
This commentary certainly is not an indictment of high antimony batteries but it is a head's up. There has been an avalanche of positive testimonials for golf car batteries but a dearth of information about what goes wrong and why.
For storage where solar and a premium controller cannot enter the picture I'd rather rely on disconnected batteries and a temperature compensated battery maintainer rather than an unsophisticated flat-line battery float voltage from a plain vanilla converter without temperature compensation.
When a battery has an antimony content of 5%, when it ages it does not screw around. Antimony transfers to the negative plate and hydrolysis begins in earnest.
More H2SO4 vapor, SO2, H2O emitting from the cell caps. Water loss, corrosion, self discharging all goes through the roof.
So it is important to understand the chemical state of these true cyclable batteries. When electrolysis gets out of hand, the batteries must be yanked out by their roots. Corrosion from angry 5% batteries can approach extreme levels. A quart of added water per week is not uncommon per three cells and self discharge rates approaching five percent per week is also de riguer. Destructive energy hogs -- about as "green" as a stop sign.
The answer is to promptly acknowledge and accept the inevitable and get the batteries out of the rig.
For power pedestal princesses, observance of manufacturer's temperature compensated float voltage recommendations must be observed like it is the holy grail. Two tenths of a volt too high is a killer premature aging death due to antimony poisoning. Why so sensitive? The battery is spending 24/7/365 on a charger. Aggregate error means aggregate destruction.
This commentary certainly is not an indictment of high antimony batteries but it is a head's up. There has been an avalanche of positive testimonials for golf car batteries but a dearth of information about what goes wrong and why.
For storage where solar and a premium controller cannot enter the picture I'd rather rely on disconnected batteries and a temperature compensated battery maintainer rather than an unsophisticated flat-line battery float voltage from a plain vanilla converter without temperature compensation.
