Question For AGM Battery Owners...

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Are there folks out there who have decided they do not like AGM batteries and believe their AGM battery purchase was a mistake, and should have purchased standard flooded lead acid batteries instead?

There is a whopper of a price difference amp hour versus amp hour and I am curious to note if anyone at all believes their selection was a mistake. Hopefully positive testimonials will not avalanche the responses, nor will hypothetical dislikes cloud the query...

VALUE is the issue here. Plain and simple...

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Imarine sells the 3012 for about 1400. To take full advantage of either inverter one needs to purchase the remote control. I bought them together from imarine and it was 1700.00

The 3012 is PF corrected so it will pump out 125 amps from a single 15 amp shore power connection. I don't think the 2812 is PF corrected--but I may be wrong about that.

Wizbangdoodle wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

The hybrid Magnum is 3000 watts and often similarly priced.

Wizbangdoodle wrote:
My plan is to replace my charger and inverter with a Magnum MS-2812.

Oh yes, that MSH-3012 looks nice! Although I found a refurbished MS-2812 on Ebay for about $1400. So now I have to decide how cheap I am.

[gypsmjim]

toedtoes wrote:
Well, so far I do not see any AGM battery owner dissatisfied with their choice. 🙂

OK, here I am - better late than never.

I've got about 15 years experience, starting with a PWC. These little critters like to jump up and down a lot and sometimes flip, so a lead acid battery isn't the best choice. I hate acid in the hull....LOL. I bought an AGM and it worked fine for 2 years. Then I sold the 'ski, so no follow up info for that one. I immediately replaced the new one's acid battery with an AGM. I liked it so much, I replaced the battery in 2 of my other boats, lawn tractor and car all the same year. In retrospect, I should have given more time to gain experience.

The second year the 1 year old ski battery was completely dead, even though I maintained it properly all Winter. The dealer said he had a whole batch of bad ones (a couple dozen other ones came back as well), and it was replaced under warranty.

After about 2 years I started having trouble with most of the seasonal vehicles. My smart charger (with AGM settings) would not charge ANY of them because it gave a "sulfated" error. I bought a small charger specifically with desulfating settings and continued charging them that way. Even though following the directions to desulfate, the smart charger would never bring them to full charge.

After another year, the boat battery was completely dead and would not accept a charge. It was just out of warranty, so I got nothing for it. I replaced it with a Die Hard marine dual purpose battery, that is now in its 6th year and shows no signs of slowing down.

As of today I have only 1 remaining AGM and its in my lawn tractor. The smart charger won't charge it, but it is still turning the starter so I guess it'll be OK for awhile. By voltage testing its barely at a 70% charge right after charging.

In contrast, my old classic car that is only driven a couple hundred miles a year has a 2002 Die Hard std auto wet cell (no kidding - its 13 years old) that is still going strong with NO maintenance. I DO check fluid levels once a year, but it has never been out of the vehicle and its never been on a charger.

I would say I am anal about maintenance. The wet ones are checked and filled as necessary, and all seasonal batteries are charged monthly during the Winter.

Sorry to be so wordy. I'll continue to buy an AGM for my 'ski (for other reasons), but not for anything else. In the past, all my boat or auto wet batteries lasted me 6-8 years. I just can't claim that kind of success with an AGM, so for me its just not cost effective.

[Wizbangdoodle]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

The hybrid Magnum is 3000 watts and often similarly priced.

Wizbangdoodle wrote:
My plan is to replace my charger and inverter with a Magnum MS-2812.

Oh yes, that MSH-3012 looks nice! Although I found a refurbished MS-2812 on Ebay for about $1400. So now I have to decide how cheap I am.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

The hybrid Magnum is 3000 watts and often similarly priced.

Wizbangdoodle wrote:
My plan is to replace my charger and inverter with a Magnum MS-2812.

[Wizbangdoodle]

greenrvgreen wrote:
With an inverter that size you'll wish you had 2 more batts.

I may add 4 more in the future. Trying to take it slow and easy. The cost of this stuff is astronomical.

[greenrvgreen]

With an inverter that size you'll wish you had 2 more batts.

[Wizbangdoodle]

I've seen the flexible panels that you mount directly on the roof, no frame. They say you can walk on them etc. For those that want to cover all or unique areas of roof, odd size panels would be a logical solution. Doesn't seem like that would be so hard to develop.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

There is buzz about modular panels that can be snapped together to make a higher voltage series array. Including odd size segments. A veritable jigsaw puzzle of cells to cover hip roofs and other irregular surfaces. Sounds interesting for RV rooftops. This might be merely in the R&D stage.

[Wizbangdoodle]

OK, bought 4 Fullriver DC-224 6 volt batteries. Installed them while camping and was very pleased. Watched a couple of movies without having to crank up the generator. Went through the night and woke up to 12.2 volts on the Xantrex inverter display. Fired up the generator to recharge and to use the microwave (inverter is not big enough, nor is the microwave wired to run off batteries). I found that the Iota DLS-55 charger was taking quite a long time to recharge these batteries. My plan is to replace my charger and inverter with a Magnum MS-2812. I think this may be large enough to get the job done. After I get over the shock of the cost of that, I'll add solar panels and hopefully never have to fire up the generator again.

[Wizbangdoodle]

We've always called it circus music.

[dons2346]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Clothes have teeny acid holes. If you see anyone representing batteries who is dressed in a suit get away - fast!

Down here if they outlawed accordions and tubas - all the Mexicans would die

Nothing worse than a Mexican turned loose with a tuba

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Clothes have teeny acid holes. If you see anyone representing batteries who is dressed in a suit get away - fast!

Down here if they outlawed accordions and tubas - all the Mexicans would die

[landyacht318]

Another thing to note is the Rv manufacturers use too thin and too long a of wiring circuit between converter and battery, so since no converters have a separate voltage sense wire and adjust for coltage drop, the battery is screwed in two different manners.

First it does not get to the absorption voltage it desires
Second the converter drops the voltage more prematurely than if the wiring were thicker.

Result, the paisley tie crowd gets to sell more batteries and buy their pouting women more useless shiny things to shut them up, temporarily.

[MrWizard]

Mexi
Brad Paisley is a country music star
Very popular

[NinerBikes]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Hi BFL13,

Yep. Batteries have changed. The BCI insists all OEMs use same percentage ratio lead/antimony to render a more uniform recycled lead material stockpile. So cyclable batteries as a rule no longer contain 5% antimony. I intend to squeeze RAMCAR and the TJ OEM for the juiciest gossip.

The fluorescent tie / paisley shirt crowd hold nothing sacred. Their sense of organization and propriety is like a fart in a whirlwind.

The OEM converter manufacturer's administration must be a real Rat-eat-rat environment. "Make it sell or grab your walking papers!"

What's waiting in the future?

Soft Start?

Chimes that play the overture to 2001 A Space Odyssey when the converter catches fire?

Odorant that mimics Shaken not Stirred martinis when the charge cycle is complete?

GOD! Am I glad I'm retired!

I think a few of us here are glad you are retired too! I do not want to see you in anything paisley. Unless, perhaps they have you wiring something in a Brad Paisley video as an extra.