House batteries

[C20]

I need new house batteries and I was thinking about the optima gel cells. Anyone have them or have any thoughts?
Thanks

[Lowsuv]

I have Exide EDGE AGM batteries .
They are made in North Carolina , I believe .
I got mine at BiMart for $ 140 each here in Oregon .
I first got group 78 for my Duramax , 2 batts .
EDGE only comes in one size of RV/Marine .
I got those for my TT .
Wikipedia AGM to discover the best reasons to go AGM .
For Heavy loads the 6 volt GC2 batteries are probably best .
EDGE AGM is not available as a 6 volt .
My research showed that these Edge AGM batts are not " finicky " about charging rates .
I also went to Exide EDGE AGM for the boat and as a replacement battery for our 7 year old Mercedes E350 4matic .
I had previously paid $ 200 for an Optima for our Porsche .
I think the EDGE AGM is a bargain for a USA made battery .
In the truck it comes with a 4 year 100% replacement guaranty .
2 years for the RV / Marine.
I am told I can expect 7 to 10 years useful life from these AGM if I do not deplete them below 40 % repeatedly .

[doubleG]

Interstate GC2-XHD's

[wny_pat1]

wa8yxm wrote:

C20 wrote:
I need new house batteries and I was thinking about the optima gel cells. Anyone have them or have any thoughts?
Thanks

1: Optima are not gel.. they are spiral wound AGM
2: Optima are very expensive, more so than retangular AGM
3: Optima have like sixty percent of the capacity of Regular AGM, Maintenance free, or Flooded wet cell for the same size factor.

NOTE: 3 can easily be seen,, Look at all that air inside what would be the housing if it were a regular retangular cube type. That's why it's only 60%

I strongly recommend you look at other batteries.

IF you must waste your money on AGM.. Lifeline is the best.

My MK's died in 5 years.. My interstate flooded wet cells,, Nine I replace them either Wed or 1 week from tomorrow.. have not yet figured out when (Logistic thing)

In my opinion, I would not consider a Optima battery since they moved over the border. Quality and customer service appears to have gone way down.

There is another battery the begins with the letter "O". Odyssey Batteries are a excellent battery to consider. But they tend to make your wallet much lighter.

[wa8yxm]

wny_pat wrote:
If they are difficult to perform the watering, go with AGM!!!

On this Pat and I agree... Or if your batteries need to be mounted oddly (Other than This side up) those are the advantages of AGM.

Some folks yammer about how fast you can recharge AGMs.. This is true of LIFELINE AGMS but I've seen no evidence of it with other brands... I had MK's in here for about five years.. What I was most impressed by was how quickly they had to be replaced (See five years) My Interestate Flooded wet's which I replace Monday, (Decided on the day, for logistical reasons), made it to 8.5 before one shorted out, perhaps longer (that's 8.5 from delivery date on MH by the way). That too impressed me.. I have some maintenance free's that were older than the MH. The MK AGMs I got in 2006

Replaced the AGMs in 2011
Replaced most of the Maintenance free (Recall they were older than the Motor home) last summer the last early last fall.

Replaced the Chassis battery last Month

The GC-2's Shorted the month before last but I isolated them till I can afford replacements. Chassis came first.

[wny_pat1]

If they are difficult to perform the watering, go with AGM!!! Love my two 8D8A AGM batteries. Don't boondock, but when I want to dry camp somewhere for a couple days, I don't have any problems having enough juice to run the furnace, lights, cpap breathing machine and computer. If I did a lot of boondocking, I might consider the 6 volt, but would probably go with the AGMs because of the lack of watering convenience!

[noteven]

On edit since I pulled the troubled Optima out: "2 new Optimas that come with our used trailer last April". These Optima's were not new 1 year ago. They were sold in June 2009. I moved them to the truck camper, it got used 1 day on batteries and 12 days on shore power last year. Charged overnight once a month in storage. 1 of these batteries is teats up.

2 - 6volt golf car batteries - powered the camper for 4 years, moved them into the 5th wheel last summer. They are still going strong. Water them once in a while and charge them in the yard now and again and use them.

They have roughly 130 days camping, about 40 days boondocking in the truck camper. Their latest abuse was a couple cold nights this winter powering the furnace which ran non stop from 9pm to 7am. They will be back in the TC for our spring trip.

I'll be picking up another pair of 6v's for the truck camper.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Be sure to wire them in a balanced manner.

C20 wrote:
Thank you all. I have 3 AGM batteries coming from interstate tomorrow for $239 ea.

[C20]

Thank you all. I have 3 AGM batteries coming from interstate tomorrow for $239 ea.

[wa8yxm]

C20 wrote:
I need new house batteries and I was thinking about the optima gel cells. Anyone have them or have any thoughts?
Thanks

1: Optima are not gel.. they are spiral wound AGM
2: Optima are very expensive, more so than retangular AGM
3: Optima have like sixty percent of the capacity of Regular AGM, Maintenance free, or Flooded wet cell for the same size factor.

NOTE: 3 can easily be seen,, Look at all that air inside what would be the housing if it were a regular retangular cube type. That's why it's only 60%

I strongly recommend you look at other batteries.

IF you must waste your money on AGM.. Lifeline is the best.

My MK's died in 5 years.. My interstate flooded wet cells,, Nine I replace them either Wed or 1 week from tomorrow.. have not yet figured out when (Logistic thing)

[Snomas]

I bought costco 6V golf cart batteries w/ same size & Amp hrs as the original interstate batteries and cost about $80/ea!!

[JimM68]

I keep waffling but always come back to basic flooded lead acid for best bang for the buck.
What is needed out of house batteries is ampere-hours, as measured by the industry standard 25 amp draw test. 6 volt GC2 size are in the 205-235 a-h range. This remains true with AGM's, less true with gel's, and both the latter cost more.

One thing I looked into last week was using size L16 instead of GC2.
Footprint is the same, but L16's are 16" tall (GC2's are 11ish) so if there is enough vertical height in the battery box they are a dropin.

a-h rating is 405 to 450!!!

Alas, my battery box has the height but there are some boards, boxes, and solenoids mounted around the edges that intrude into the needed space 😞

[Shadow_Catcher]

http://www.solar-electric.com/deep-cycle-battery-faq.html
We have a Lifeline 150 AH Lifeline AGM because of limited space and their reputation. Optima does not make a true deep cycle and gel, well take a look at the FAQ.

[Fiverwheel]

Try Lifeline AGM batteries. They are a glass mat product and very reliable.

[1BryNelson]

Well gosh, hold on! Where can I find them?? Whst was it Gomer Pyle use to say?