Critique proposed solar battery upgrade
Currently have a Jayco hybrid (Jayfeather 26L) but moving to a Denali 5th wheel in the spring (2012 DE324LBS). Currently have 4 Trojan T125’s with 600 watts of solar, with a Kisae 2000 watt pure sine...
Forum Discussion
People seem to like their AGMs but I am not a big fan. There are two in the truck camper because Flooded batts cause fumes inside where the batts go. No choice except AGMs there.
They do well for having little voltage sag under high inverter loads. What I don't like at all is not being able to tell when they are truly full after a recharge except at home after a camping session. You need to observe their amps acceptance when they reach spec voltage, but you can't do that while camping because they always have a draw on them from the RV.
With Flooded you can tell by using an hydrometer. This only matters if you spend a long time off grid without getting shore power so you can operate the RV on converter with the batts disconnected. Now you can do the amps observation on the AGMs to make sure they are truly full and won't get sulfated to death so soon.
For long periods on solar only, where you often go long periods on incompletely charged batts, IMO AGMs are worse than Flooded for being able to keep them from sulfating, because with the Floodeds you can tell what state they are getting in.
BTW, I have tested my AGMs for voltage sag against Trojan 1275s (both deep cycle 12v) and found the AGMs did slightly better per AH of capacity, but not enough to matter.
IMO, T-1275s are the way to go for most RV situations, but you can also get by with all sorts of other set-ups, AGM or not.
They do well for having little voltage sag under high inverter loads. What I don't like at all is not being able to tell when they are truly full after a recharge except at home after a camping session. You need to observe their amps acceptance when they reach spec voltage, but you can't do that while camping because they always have a draw on them from the RV.
With Flooded you can tell by using an hydrometer. This only matters if you spend a long time off grid without getting shore power so you can operate the RV on converter with the batts disconnected. Now you can do the amps observation on the AGMs to make sure they are truly full and won't get sulfated to death so soon.
For long periods on solar only, where you often go long periods on incompletely charged batts, IMO AGMs are worse than Flooded for being able to keep them from sulfating, because with the Floodeds you can tell what state they are getting in.
BTW, I have tested my AGMs for voltage sag against Trojan 1275s (both deep cycle 12v) and found the AGMs did slightly better per AH of capacity, but not enough to matter.
IMO, T-1275s are the way to go for most RV situations, but you can also get by with all sorts of other set-ups, AGM or not.
