No Maintenance Coach Barttery

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
I suggest you all read my little ditty on AGM batteries. In all my years of testing I never encountered an AGM battery that was anywhere near as hysterically sensitive as a flooded cyclable battery. Where are some of you getting your information from?

From boaters. Extensive testing was done on Lifeline brand, those are good as you know.

I read you little ditty. What it failed to mention is that AGM are intolerant to incomplete charging, especially if equalization is not performed often. (And who does EQ on AGM, who even knows how to do it on anything other than Lifeline that has this procedure described in the manual)? In other words, it's better to give AGM "more" than "less".

the trippers wrote:
Camping World, in Sandy,UT, seems to almost only offer AGM batteries. Excide brand, around $250 or about $100 more than a flooded cell,

Keep in mind that many AGM are starters. Not deep cycle.

Fill the space with deep cycle Lifeline batteries.
Review your charging system and typical charging routine.

AGM still needs electrical maintenance even if physical maintenance is minimal.

Almot
according to Mexi's previous posts

charge at 14.4 until charge rate drops below 1% of ampHr capacity

aka 500ampHr bank charge at 14.4 until amps in are 5amps or less
then turn off charger until next charge cycle

If possible charging current of a bank with an SOC of 70% or less
should be c/5 aka 20% of capacity, in this example try for a starting rate of 100amps end at 5amps
this negates the need of the 'equalization conditioning charge'
my PD70 will only do about 12% of my 675 ampHr bank
but since i need the genny for the A/C i am charging until full

this winter, the charging profile will change some, but so will my overnight use

I got five years of use and almost 2000 cycles
out of my previous set of surplus telcom AGMs
d a m n n good for a $300 investment

there is a whole lot of difference in being a weekender and a full timer
i try to avoid 50-90 charges
75/80~95/100 is more inline with my use

7:30am this morning i used the inverter and MW to heat coffee
this was with a bank at 80% soc when i got up
MW draw was 105amps 2 minutes to heat a cup of coffee
volts never dropped below 12.5v I did this twice
that was 20amps per battery, NOT a big strain
a 20% c/5 rating would be 26amps per battery

Mr Wiz,
With a solar of that size in winter (plus some generator time), and with all day genny in summer - there is no issue with incomplete charging.