Would you sleep with an AGM battery under your bed?

[Rovito]

Thinking about just breaking the bank and getting a pair of AGM golf cart batteries to put under the bed of our 19 foot KZ Sportsmen classic. Three reasons. 1, No room on the tongue. Propane tank takes up most of the exposed area of a very small space. Current battery sits almost under the tank. 2, Quicker recovery time for recharge with generator. 3, I can move them further back closer to the axle to help distribute the extra weight. Thoughts and opinions welcome.Thanks.

[myredracer]

If you plan to get an AGM battery(s), get rid of your low-end (read cheapo) 3-stage WFCO converter/charger, especially if relocating the battery inside and if you leave the converter connected to the battery over the winter.

The WFCO converter in our KZ TT died in the 3rd season after waiting until we were far from home on a long trip. Woke up one morning to the propane alarm sounding (due to low battery), a burning plastic smell and then found the WFCO breaker had tripped. Turns out the battery was also dead and had a shorted cell.

I've read some say that the WFCO converters are junk and now know why. So I upgraded our TT to an AGM battery and a high quality, robust, US-made, Progressive Dynamics 4-stage converter to take good care of it.

Luckily there was a NAPA nearby to get the battery and we got Bestconverter.com to courier the new converter to the next CG a couple of days away. Had been wanting to get an AGM & PD converter for a number of years anyway and seized the moment - easy upsell to DW so it all had a happy ending. 🙂

Venting from under the bed may be a bit of work to get the vent hose to the exterior wall. From what I understand, the exterior grill should be min. 6" above the sealed container. In a previous KZ TT, I relocated the battery to inside the pass-through at the forward side and ran the vent hose up in the wall cavity and at the end of the cubby-hole beside the bed. MTS Products has a good sealed battery box, hose and vent/cone.

[pianotuna]

Hi OldSmokey,

I suspect the exact opposite. Power Pole folks rarely fully charge their batteries, unless they are full time in RV parks.

OldSmokey wrote:
true, I'll wager 99% of RV'ers, especially solar powered will undercharge their batteries.

[OldSmokey]

time2roll wrote:
Very few charge a flooded battery to spec.... why would AGM be different?

true, I'll wager 99% of RV'ers, especially solar powered will undercharge their batteries.

and yes, stick those batteries under your bed, as long as they are vented and NOT sealed in any enclosure you will be fine. you may occasionally smell an odor, but it's nothing to worry about.

however, having said that.. if you happen to overcharge, they will vent.

[OldSmokey]

pianotuna wrote:
No, unless they were in an air tight container that is vented to the outside.

an air tight container that is vented.. LOL
but I know what you meant to say..:B

[time2roll]

Very few charge a flooded battery to spec.... why would AGM be different?

[SoundGuy]

GordonThree wrote:
I think AGM "dangers" are being blown out of proportion here, they're not just a sealed version of a flooded battery, they are a completely different technology.

And which although they require different charging parameters many ignore anyway - hey, ignorance is bliss. :S

[GordonThree]

The datacenters at my enterprise have 1000's of amp-hours of AGM batteries, and nothing is vented to the outside. 15 years and no hydrogen gas explosions or acid corrosion yet. I think AGM "dangers" are being blown out of proportion here, they're not just a sealed version of a flooded battery, they are a completely different technology.

[time2roll]

I would sleep soundly as no heavy charging would be going on while I sleep. Also less risk when kept at room temperature. No worries, no fear. Yes technically they need venting. Yet to read an RV.net post where an AGM actually went into thermal runaway and vented.

BTW there is nothing magic with a AGM golf battery. As long as it is a deep cycle the shape or voltage of the battery does not matter in AGM format. When talking flooded batteries then yes very different.

[GordonThree]

This forum is always great for advocating excessive amounts of caution.

[SoundGuy]

Rovito wrote:
Thinking about just breaking the bank and getting a pair of AGM golf cart batteries to put under the bed of our 19 foot KZ Sportsmen classic.

Thoughts and opinions welcome.

Although AGM batteries are "sealed" presumably you're aware they are also designed to vent out excess gas in a case where the charger being used overcharges the battery, causing an unsafe increase in internal case pressure. Manufacturers often recommend different charging profiles for their AGM batteries than for their flooded series, sometimes insisting temperature compensated charging which most converters are incapable of must be used in order to avoid any overcharging situation. Your choice, but I wouldn't locate AGM batteries anywhere they couldn't be vented to the outside world.

[obgraham]

Well there's 6 of them under the bed in my Roadtrek. Yes, the compartment is vented to the outside.

[pianotuna]

No, unless they were in an air tight container that is vented to the outside.

[Redwoodcamper]

I would. But I fit two large 12volt batteries in an aluminum box, plus two 40lb propane tanks on my tongue. Just takes some welding and design. I don't have a large tongue either. This way I still have my garage space.

[GordonThree]

Rovito wrote:
Thanks for the replies. Any other pros or cons? Do I need to get a different converter? Life span vs cost?

Yes, I sleep with 4x AGM inside my KZ 20 foot coach, but they're under the dinette seat, right over the axle.

Regarding converter, your AGM would love you if you got them a temperature compensated charger. There's no one good voltage to float an AGM at, it changes quite a bit with temperature. Pro: more capacity, longer life. Con: more expensive converter / charger