new batteries for trailer

bbaley wrote:
I am going camping this weekend.

Can I upgrade to AGM batteries now,
and then after this trip look into whether I need to update charger/inverter to something better for charging them ?

Arguably the majority of owners here on the forum are running a WFCO converter in their trailer and probably none can honestly report that their WFCO ever delivers a proper 14.4 volt bulk charge to their battery (or batteries), ever. Instead the most we usually see is ~ 13.7 volts which is nowhere near acceptable for proper recharging of a deep cycle battery. One weekend certainly isn't going to kill your new AGMs but you would want to budget for replacing your converter that will in fact deliver a 14.4 volt bulk charge to the batteries. One exception to this I can think of are Trojan batteries which are spec'd by the manufacturer to require a 14.8 volt bulk charge which most converters are just not capable of. Progressive Dynamics does offer a model which is capable of this bulk charging voltage and would be a good match for a new set of Trojan batteries, flooded or AGM.

bbaley wrote:

Can I upgrade to AGM batteries now,
and then after this trip look into whether I need to update charger/inverter to something better for charging them ?

YES.

And while checking out your converter/charger is probably a good idea, in 99% of the most common applications, an AGM is a "drop in" replacement for a wet cell battery......with NO modifications.

get the batteries, and a charger that puts out the right power to charge them ,run the charger off the gen set.

azrving wrote:
You can do that. You would need to check the mnfg specs but often times an agm will want a Max voltage of 14.4. A wet cell like a Trojan will need 14.8 volts.

Often times a oem converter will only put out 13.6 v so upgrading to something like a progressive dynamics may work well. I wouldn't buy an wfco.

You could have very long generator run time with only 13.6 vs 14.4. when the battery is charged it will cut back to about 13.2

just trying not to buy batteries twice, wanting to upgrade, but also wanting to go this weekend...

You can do that. You would need to check the mnfg specs but often times an agm will want a Max voltage of 14.4. A wet cell like a Trojan will need 14.8 volts.

Often times a oem converter will only put out 13.6 v so upgrading to something like a progressive dynamics may work well. I wouldn't buy an wfco.

You could have very long generator run time with only 13.6 vs 14.4. when the battery is charged it will cut back to about 13.2