Gents,
Well, our Costco, 6V golf cart batteries (dated 8-11) just passed the 4 year old point and, based on a few things, I'm not sure they're holding up their end of the bargain for keeping charged and holding it. Now, I've been a pretty good one for maintenance and all that for most of my RVing life. But, I will admit, I've grown a bit complacent when it comes to my RVs batteries. It's one of those things, "out of sight-out of mind" things.
More than once, I've decided to check on them to see how things are and, I open the bay door where they're stored and, it looks like I'm cultivating GREEN FUZZ/CABBAGE at many of the terminals, YUCK!!!
It takes me a good hour or two to remove, clean every thing, including cables, cable ends and all that. Not to mention, that's very tedious job to do because if you get any of that on your cloths, you all know what it does. And, I've had to fill them several times when doing this process. In a couple of cases, they were down to around 11 volts or so.
And I don't want to hear about those multi-fill or, Auto fill gadgets because, THEY WON'T FIT. I've got right at 1/8 of an inch in clearance of the bay door frame when those batteries are slid out and back in, in their tray.
But, I always babied them back to life and, used them on trips. But, lately, it seems as though they don't have the STAMINA that they did when they were new. I hate running the generator in quite camp grounds just because I'm allowed to. But, sometimes their down to 12.0 in what seems a short time of using them. And that simply entails the use of a TV and DVD player for maybe, an hour or so. Sometimes they're higher after that time frame and, sometimes they're at that low voltage.
So, this brings me to now. I'm considering a few options here.
1. Just buy new 6V ones (4 of them at a local cost of $140.00 each plus tax)
2. Since we do mainly "hookup" camping about 60% of the time and, dry camping the rest, I might go back to 12 units 'cause that's what was in there when we purchased it four years ago. Not sure of that option yet.
And 3, I'm thinking, JUST THINKING at this point, about maybe going to an 8D battery for a single house battery. Those things have around 1150 CCA. Now, I know, nobody cares about CCA in house batteries. But, when I asked the Interstate Salesman about ampere hour capacity, which is what many Golf cart and RV house batteries are rated at, he didn't know.
I also know that, it would be the ONE and only battery while, if I kept the (4) 6 volt operation, if one went bad, I could just replace the one. Or, the same with a (3) 12V Deep cycle Marine setup.
But, I can't help thinking that you'd get this monsterous amount of time on an 8D before you'd need a re-charge. What say all you battery wizards out there in RV land???
Scott
Well, our Costco, 6V golf cart batteries (dated 8-11) just passed the 4 year old point and, based on a few things, I'm not sure they're holding up their end of the bargain for keeping charged and holding it. Now, I've been a pretty good one for maintenance and all that for most of my RVing life. But, I will admit, I've grown a bit complacent when it comes to my RVs batteries. It's one of those things, "out of sight-out of mind" things.
More than once, I've decided to check on them to see how things are and, I open the bay door where they're stored and, it looks like I'm cultivating GREEN FUZZ/CABBAGE at many of the terminals, YUCK!!!
It takes me a good hour or two to remove, clean every thing, including cables, cable ends and all that. Not to mention, that's very tedious job to do because if you get any of that on your cloths, you all know what it does. And, I've had to fill them several times when doing this process. In a couple of cases, they were down to around 11 volts or so.
And I don't want to hear about those multi-fill or, Auto fill gadgets because, THEY WON'T FIT. I've got right at 1/8 of an inch in clearance of the bay door frame when those batteries are slid out and back in, in their tray.
But, I always babied them back to life and, used them on trips. But, lately, it seems as though they don't have the STAMINA that they did when they were new. I hate running the generator in quite camp grounds just because I'm allowed to. But, sometimes their down to 12.0 in what seems a short time of using them. And that simply entails the use of a TV and DVD player for maybe, an hour or so. Sometimes they're higher after that time frame and, sometimes they're at that low voltage.
So, this brings me to now. I'm considering a few options here.
1. Just buy new 6V ones (4 of them at a local cost of $140.00 each plus tax)
2. Since we do mainly "hookup" camping about 60% of the time and, dry camping the rest, I might go back to 12 units 'cause that's what was in there when we purchased it four years ago. Not sure of that option yet.
And 3, I'm thinking, JUST THINKING at this point, about maybe going to an 8D battery for a single house battery. Those things have around 1150 CCA. Now, I know, nobody cares about CCA in house batteries. But, when I asked the Interstate Salesman about ampere hour capacity, which is what many Golf cart and RV house batteries are rated at, he didn't know.
I also know that, it would be the ONE and only battery while, if I kept the (4) 6 volt operation, if one went bad, I could just replace the one. Or, the same with a (3) 12V Deep cycle Marine setup.
But, I can't help thinking that you'd get this monsterous amount of time on an 8D before you'd need a re-charge. What say all you battery wizards out there in RV land???
Scott
cbeierl wrote:
Scott, I ended up going with 3 of these Duracellยฎ AGM Deep Cycle Marine and RV Battery - Group Size 31 from Sam's Club. The primary reason I decided to go AGM was to eliminate the corrosion issues. Not having to worry about the water level was also a big plus.
OnEdit: Fixing link
Chris,
As usual, your knowledge and expertise are incredibly valuable to me. I will look into those, even though, at present, we're not members of Sams Club. We do have one about a little over an hour from us in Bullhead City AZ. Thank you very much.
Scott
Is carrying newly wed bride into the house still common?
My wife was about 100lb at the time, but I wonder how many today's brides are 163 lb or more?
Coming to AGM batteries, I think this is one of the cases where marketing overcome common sense.
They do have some advantage, but not much apply to RV application.
Read Wikipedia
My wife was about 100lb at the time, but I wonder how many today's brides are 163 lb or more?
Coming to AGM batteries, I think this is one of the cases where marketing overcome common sense.
They do have some advantage, but not much apply to RV application.
Read Wikipedia
Comparison with flooded leadโacid cells[edit]
VRLA batteries offer several advantages compared with standard lead-acid batteries. The battery can be mounted in any position, since the valves only operate on overpressure faults. Since the battery system is designed to be recombinant and eliminate the emission of gases on overcharge, room ventilation requirements are reduced and no acid fume is emitted during normal operation. The volume of free electrolyte that could be released on damage to the case or venting is very small. There is no need (nor possibility) to check the level of electrolyte or to top up water lost due to electrolysis, reducing inspection and maintenance.[8]
Because of calcium added to its plates to reduce water loss, a sealed battery recharges much quicker than a flooded lead acid battery.[9][10] "From a standard car, 4WD or truck alternator they will recharge quickly from full use in about 2 to 3 hours. A deep cycle wet cell battery can take 8-12 hours to achieve only 70% to 80% of its potential charge."[11] Compared to flooded batteries, VRLA batteries are more vulnerable to thermal run-away during abusive charging.[1] The electrolyte cannot be tested by hydrometer to diagnose improper charging, which can reduce battery life.[10][12]
AGM automobile batteries are typically about twice the price of flooded-cell batteries in a given BCI size group; gel batteries as much as five times greater. VRLA batteries:
Have shorter recharge time than flooded lead-acid.[13]
Cannot tolerate overcharging: overcharging leads to premature failure.[13]
Have shorter useful life, compared to properly maintained wet-cell battery.[13]
Discharge significantly less hydrogen gas.[13]
AGM batteries are by nature, safer for the environment, and safer to use.
Can be used or positioned in any orientation.
