Sams Club AGM Batteries

[Homeless_by_Cho]

Are Sams Club AGM batteries still a very good or best buy? Is there other quality Deep Cycle AGM batteries that I should be looking at? I need two for my house batteries in my truck camper that would be charged by 230 watts of solar power. I am looking for Group 29 size. Group 31 might be a shoe horn fit maybe.

Thanks in Advance,
LeRoy

[marcsbigfoot20b]

Sams has the AGM true deep cycle. The ones reported above are actually the GEL type.

[byronlj]

I bought 2 group 27's at Sams. Not much different in size than my old 29's. They are not listed on their web site. After 2 months, all is well.
Dave

[theoldwizard1]

East Penn Intimidator batteries are true DEEP CYCLE AGM batteries, but I can not seem to find the equivalent in the Duracell brand.

No Group 29.

[GordonThree]

Buy the cheap East Penn batteries and get 5 to 7 year service life, or pay 3x as much for a premium brand and get 7 to 10 years.

Me? I bought four of the cheap ones from Sam's and they're working great.

[bobndot]

Most are a hybrid type battery, which is fine . I think the LifeLine AGM's are true solar deep cycle batteries, but they are more expensive and offer a multi year longer pro-rated warranty.

I use the 12v AGM Deka Intimidator 8A31DTM , never had a problem with them so i just stayed with them and they work well.
I use one inside under the dinette dedicated for the TV , PSW inverter and SAT receiver , that gets charged on a separate smart charger and does need venting. That way my other 2 AGM's (mounted outside on the frame) are dedicated to the fridge, furnace, lighting etc .
doing it this way allows me to bring them up enough (maybe 80% or so) running the Honda gen 2 hrs a day or if the sun is shinning , my 100 watt portable solar does the job.

http://lifelinebatteries.com/

LifeLine AGM

Deka Intimidator grp 31 at 69# , 5# lighter than the LifeLine.

[jerseyjim]

"Temperature corrected charging required." You're right, SOUNDGUY, never paid attention to that...never noticed it on a battery...don't even know what that is...in fact the only place I've seen that "temperature" thing is when I was in the market for a new CONverter. Didn't get that "option".

I really don't think it means anything (practical)...in my experience, using any brand battery...DEKA, Interstate, Sams Club...WalMart they all do the same: last around 3 years. And really....what is the difference in batteries? Except for DEKA, they're all made by Johnson Controls. Different labels.

[SoundGuy]

newman fulltimer wrote:
they are good batteries

They're "good" batteries because they're in fact Deka batteries manufactured by East Penn. Here in Canada these exact same batteries are sold under the RV Care Traveler's Choice brand name. My issue with them is East Penn makes it quite clear that these batteries MUST be temperature corrected charged, which I'd bet most purchasers won't pay attention to ... check the battery label in this pic of G31 version of this battery.

[newman_fulltime]

they are good batteries