motorhome coach batteries

I have had 12'ers for years, then I had 6'ers for years, and now I have 12'ers again, 3 yrs old now. I don't notice a nickle's worth of difference between any of them.
The first 12'ers were back in the Magnatek days, when the batteries either sat dead, or over charged to death, so longevity was not impressive, 3 yrs at most.
The 6'ers were on PD charge wizard 24/300, and lasted 9 yrs.
These 3 yr old 12'ers are doing fine, but we'll see about logivity in a few yrs.

mockturtle wrote:
I charge mine up the old fashioned way: By driving. :)

Me too!

I can go a week without a charge on my system. The genny is there for A/C in the hot summer or, occasionally, to charge a bro's bank with my portables.

The ol' Winnie may have some years on 'er, but the parasitic draw is next to nothing.

Meanwhile, some of my compadres around here are lookin' at 30-some Ah a day just keepin' the ASSphalt from flyin' away.

I think Enersys has a Canadian plant. One of their products is the Odyssey line.

Edit: Whoops, I see their online store ships only in the US. The ones on their website don't seem good for RV application either.

AGMs can charge faster, yes... but only in the absorption phase and only by pumping the current in at voltages that would melt most RV electronics. They don't make RV converters like that... for this very simple reason.

I charge mine up the old fashioned way: By driving. :)

Gettin' your Star Trek on, Mex? Nice!

I agree with the old man. AGMs have their place as do floodeds. (new word?)

If you have the dough, don't often use a lot of power, tend to keep your batteries fully charged and even the slightest amount of maintenance effort is your Kryptonite... then I'd suggest Lifelines or the equivalent (Concorde.)

If you want to maximize your dry camping abilities per unit of volume and dollar and you don't mind checking electrolyte levels occasionally and adding some water maybe twice a year (for me, once a year is almost overkill)... then a pair of Costco/Sam's GC2s are the way to go.

And there are other options for even further applications.

And FYI: This is settled science. For your standard, voltage regulated, RV converter, there is no difference in charge time between AGMs and Flooded batteries.

AGMs can charge faster, yes... but only in the absorption phase and only by pumping the current in at voltages that would melt most RV electronics. They don't make RV converters like that... for this very simple reason.

The only benefit AGMs have in RV applications is a lack of required maintenance. But this comes at a cost to anyone doing much dry camping... UNLESS... you charge to 100% after each draw-down. For those who do several 50-90% (for example) charges in a row further discussion is needed, but for the sake of this thread... AGMs are probably not for you.

PRIME DIRECTIVE QUESTION

How do you intend to use your batteries? How do you camp? For how many days a year? Some people can live on a flashlight battery overnight. Others need to park next to Hoover dam.

moved from technology corner

I recommend AGAINST optima, because you get only about 60% of the capacity of the same footprint (Size) Lifeline or Deka AGM. Though Optimas have their place, for example when you are slamming over ruts and rocks and logs on your 4-wheeler,, Optima is the only choice, any other battery will be beaten senless. (Just like your kidneys) but for RV use, no way.

I'd go with six volt golf car batteries, one or two pair

one pair of six volt, in series Well let me put it this way

What you ahd

-{Battery}+
-{Battery}+

What you get with 2 pair of sixes...

-{BAT}t{ERY}+
-{BAT}t{ERY}+

The lower case "T" is the jumper wire of course.

And you might notice teh BATtERY is much bigger in the second example. IN fact one pair exceedes a pair of Group 29's (But not a pair of Group 31s).

We're using Lifeline AGM's in our rig and would not go back to the standard lead acid. There is virtually no maintenance and no corrosion problems with these batteries.

I also have Optima AGMs since 2009 and couldn't be happier. They charge really fast.