AGM Batteries

[wa8yxm]

I would not change to AGM unless maintenance is a problem.. Some motor homes you need to be double jointed contortionist to service the batteries.. Others it's fairly easy.

But between properly maintained Flooded Wet Cell and AGM batteries, the former is likely to last longer (Given similar quality) and cost less.

Of course the key words are "Similar quality" There is at least one company making batteries out there that I"d not wish to buy... And "properly maintained" without maintenance flooded wet cells die fairly quickly.

Top line Wet cells can last over a decade

Top line AGM's.. up to a decade.

Oh, one other advantage,, Lifeline (Specific make) AGM's can take a seriously higher charging current. NOTE this applies to LIFELINE AGM's.

[Rmellen]

T Mitchel: I'm wondering, what level do you maintain the water in your batteries? I'm thinking about trying the minerial oil.

Thank you all for your super info.

[tmitchell]

I keep the level to the bottom of the fill neck.
When I added the mineral oil, I let the battery acid level go down so I could add 3 ozs. to each cell, as I had read in a post. When they looked like they were down enough, I could still only get 2 ozs. in each cell. The corrosion problem immediately stopped, so I never bothered to add the other 1 oz. per cell. That was over 2 years ago and not a hint of corrosion since then.
My MH is always plugged in at home, on my slab. I go out the 1st of each month and add distilled water to the house batteries.
Before,I had so much corrosion that I figured the mineral oil would either solve the problem or ruin the batteries and I would replace them.
Either way I was hoping to get rid of the problem.
The batteries are at least 6-1/2 years old now and still working fine.
Tom

[wa8yxm]

I fill mine to just below the bottom of the fill tube (Split ring they call it) within a quarter inch. There is some discussion on the exact point but a small "gap" at the bottom of the split ring won't hurt

The proper level is above the top of the led plates, and below the split ring.. up to and including the bottom of the split ring.

[Raca-roni]

I think Batteries Plus sells Trojan batteries. Then you have Interstate and others.

[wa8yxm]

Batteries Plus sells Ray-O-Vac believe it or not. They call 'em something else in lead acid.. And I don't know who makes 'em.

But... They are a good place to stock up on many kinds of batteries... I know for my other laptop when I got a new battery Batteries + was the same price as all the other vendors

Only where everyone else had the "Standard" battery... The one B+ was selling was the "Extended run" (Higher capacity, more costly) battery... Plus it was a walk-in with old shot battery,, Walk out with brand new fantastic battery in computer job.. I mean, I dropped it in at the sales counter.

They also accept old batteries for re-cycling.

[azloafer]

I am wondering if there is a general agreement that adding mineral oil to a battery is the proper thing to do?

[michaelpatri]

I am currently at the Tampa RV show (Newmar Rally), and attended a seminar put on by Steve Roddy from Lazy Days - he said he was the director of training for Lazy Days.

I asked Steve this very question, and his reply was that it is a good thing to put a couple of ounces of mineral oil in each battery cell. I am going to try it.

Happy Travels

Mike

[Dennis M]

I put two Optima AGMs in my Terry fiver in 2002 or 2003. When I bought the Mountain Aire in 2007 I moved them over - still going strong. I did not adjust the charging in either unit and have not touched them since I moved them. Every winter until this one they have sat in storage for three to four months.

We have used them regularly for overnight stops with no hook-ups. The first week in January we were on the road in low temps (20-25 degrees). We were in a small campground and the breaker tripped around midnight, we were unaware of it until morning, but the batts ran both furnaces all night.

A number of years ago I had an Optima in a vintage race car - primarily for the dry feature - the car sat for two plus years untouched and started immediately when I got ready to sell it.

If and when they die I will use the same kind again.

[69RoadRunner]

Optimas aren't AGMs. They're gel cells.

[Luv2go]

Actually Optima batteries are AGM's, the mfr refers to the batteries as AGM here: http://www.optimabatteries.com/optima_products/bluetop/index.php.

Here's the spec: http://www.optimabatteries.com/_medi...specs/D27M.pdf

The charging voltage listed is 15.6V (for rapid charge, which would be bulk charge mode) which would cook gel cell batteries. My Gel batteries list a max bulk charge voltage of 14.1V.

Stewart

[Dennis M]

I never knew there was difference between AGM and gel cell! Learn something new every day! Not bad for a geezer!

[wa8yxm]

I agree Optimas are not Gel they are AGM, or rather about 75% agm, the other 25% is air (Wasted space) which is why I recommend against Optimas.. They are very very good batteries for what they are designed for.. RV use is NOT what they are designed for.. We need amp hours, not air space.

[JVR]

I was ready to make the change and had a great deal on the AGM replacements, but after reading the post about the mineral oil, I decided to give it a try. After, all my Essex has 8 house batteries and they are still good, my only reason for changing is the gassing and resulting corrosion. I'll let you know how it works.
JVR