Odyssey/Diehard platinum Parallax 7345 question.

What are the charging specifications for the battery? AGMs vary a lot.

AGMs will put up with the abuse of just sitting around better than some other batteries, but it will be tough reversing that hardened sulphation after the fact.

Jim

msiminoff wrote:

Depending upon your dollar budget and how you intend to use your TT, there are other batteries that may be a better choice than those AGM's.

Cheers
-Mark

I changed my mind and bought two Trojan T105's instead..
Since I'm only on the road for a few weeks and then remove the batteries to maintain them, I'm not sure I need the wizard.. Which would probably be the best choice if I left my batteries on the TT.. I mainly boondock and charge daily with a old school 25 amp charger, but would the parallax overcharge my T105's when I'm on shore power longer than 1 day?

I also need a box for both batteries and think I need a custom box made since I cant find any small enough.

Rerod, you can do an energy audit finding out how much everything in your rig draws for power. Get a DC clamp on amp meter, remove fuses and turn off breakers (A Trimetric, Victron or other permanently installed battery meter works also). I then add each fuse back and take an amp reading from the positive battery wire with the clamp on. Once I'm done, I figure out how long I'll run each device per day of camping and that gets me my total amp hours. It takes a little while to accomplish this task but gives me an excuse to be out in the rig. :)

Some great info here thanks everyone.

I just talked to Batteryminder and asked why odyssey doesn't recommend batteryminder chargers for anything other than odyssey's two smallest batteries.. He really couldn't explain why.. But agreed, odyssey recommends huge amp numbers for the larger odyssey batteries..

I need high amp numbers if I deep cycle a odyssey on my TT and doubt my batteryminders 8 amp setting could fully charge a large diehard platinum (odyssey) within the few hours I run my generator every morning. If I buy the diehard AGM.. I will break down and buy a odyssey charger.

msiminoff wrote:

Depending upon your dollar budget and how you intend to use your TT, there are other batteries that may be a better choice than those AGM's.

Have you done a power budget yet? What loads are you operating and for how long? Do you have any other charge sources available (e.g. solar)? What voltage is your alternator regulated to and what is its current rating ??

Cheers
-Mark

No I haven't done a power budget, and unsure how, and I'm not sure on my alternator. Last time I went camping, the only thing I powered was my fridge and my junk battery needed charged daily to run it. I would be happy if my new battery could run the fridge (propane) and maybe the water pump for 15 minutes a day..

post 209 is interesting.

mena661 wrote:

westend wrote:
You don't HAVE TO maintain an AGM battery with a charging device. They can be stored in a less-than-full state of charge and remain healthy.

ALL flooded batteries must be charged to full as soon as possible. AGM is no exception.

No argument, there. I was referring to the OP's questions of how to maintain the batteries when not in use.

msiminoff wrote:

Your Parallax converter will never charge the Diehard Platinums to 100%SOC. If you are hoping to get the maximum capacity and service life from your AGM batteries,

Hmmm ... this statement has to be qualified.

My twin Interstate AGM batteries are in their 6th year living off a Parallax single stage converter. They charge right up to a dead stop as indicated by the built-in ammeter. Hitting them after this with higher voltages never results in them drawing any more charging current, so they have indeed been "fully charged" by the Parallax. They've acted this way since day one and still do.

Charging just takes longer when not using 14.XX (boost) voltages. Remember in the "old days" the common wisdom was that many hours on a "trickle charger" was considered to be the very best way to treat batteries (assuming they had never been left sitting too discharged too long).

Your Parallax converter will never charge the Diehard Platinums to 100%SOC. If you are hoping to get the maximum capacity and service life from your AGM batteries, I suggest that you look into a dedicated programable charger. A good example of one of these is the Xantrex TruCharge 2.

Depending upon your dollar budget and how you intend to use your TT, there are other batteries that may be a better choice than those AGM's.

Have you done a power budget yet? What loads are you operating and for how long? Do you have any other charge sources available (e.g. solar)? What voltage is your alternator regulated to and what is its current rating ??

Cheers
-Mark

westend wrote:
You don't HAVE TO maintain an AGM battery with a charging device. They can be stored in a less-than-full state of charge and remain healthy.

ALL flooded batteries must be charged to full as soon as possible. AGM is no exception.

You don't HAVE TO maintain an AGM battery with a charging device. They can be stored in a less-than-full state of charge and remain healthy. They are not like flooded cell batteries where a less than full charge may spell doom if left in subzero conditions.
If it was me, I'd use the small battery maintainer, paralleled to both batteries. You should probably think about replacing the Parallax converter as it won't be the best for battery longevity.

Wizard charges at 14.4 boost mode, normal use 13.6, storage 13.2 with a boost every 21 hrs to 14.4 for 15 minutes. Will charge and maintain the Odyssey just fine IMO.



Otherwise you may need a programmable charging system and that will cost some money.