New DSDP 4369 and upgrade to AGM

[MoHoGo]

First, a bunch of thanks to everyone for their responses to my previous posts. We are getting ready to finalize a factory order for the 4369 DS and the help provided by some of you will go a long way to help us get it right.

We are going with the all electric upgrade, 8 batteries / 2800 Watt inverter. This upgrade is with flooded batteries. We got a price to change these to AGM on our initial order, but that price is a bit steep at around 1K. Our reasoning is that we want to reduce having to check water levels and we believe AGM will tolerate any mistakes we make in discharging them too low.

I would be interested in any thoughts and if anyone else has done this special. The other question is has anyone added a second inverter?

We are looking at ordering from RV One, but a bit hesitant on getting delivery from them and will probably go for factory delivery as this will be a FT coach and we want to do everything possible upfront to reduce and minimize issues.

Again, thanks for any info on the batteries and inverter question.

Regards,

Jim

["007"]

The refrigerator may have its own batteries and inverter and coach has the larger inverter/converter.
The fridge batteries are located where the LP Tank was located.
You can see the different options under appliances in this link.

[newmarpusher]

Originally Posted by campbell36

First, a bunch of thanks to everyone for their responses to my previous posts. We are getting ready to finalize a factory order for the 4369 DS and the help provided by some of you will go a long way to help us get it right.

We are going with the all electric upgrade, 8 batteries / 2800 Watt inverter. This upgrade is with flooded batteries. We got a price to change these to AGM on our initial order, but that price is a bit steep at around 1K. Our reasoning is that we want to reduce having to check water levels and we believe AGM will tolerate any mistakes we make in discharging them too low.

I would be interested in any thoughts and if anyone else has done this special. The other question is has anyone added a second inverter?

We are looking at ordering from RV One, but a bit hesitant on getting delivery from them and will probably go for factory delivery as this will be a FT coach and we want to do everything possible upfront to reduce and minimize issues.

Again, thanks for any info on the batteries and inverter question.

Regards,

Jim

AGM ALL THE WAY!

We are expecting our custom ordered Ventana 4037 later this month. All AGM batteries was a must for us. I've switched to AGM's on my previous two MH's. The $1000-$1500 Newmar charges is less than it would cost you to buy 8 AGM's. They are essentially charging you the retail difference.

With AGM's you will never have to look in at those batteries again. Truly no maintenance. AGM's have a much lower self discharge rate than flooded cells. If you disconnect your batteries, they will hold their full charge for years. Great for a part timer such as myself. I can park the MH in the yard, hit the battery disconnect switch and know that the batteries will be at full whenever I turn it back on. You'll never have rust or corrosion of any sort in your battery bay.

IMO, AGM's are well worth the cost.

[MoHoGo]

I saw this in the option link and may be misunderstanding... is Newmar including two inverters? One for the house batteries and one for the fridge batteries?

Thanks, your links are some that I follow closely.

rg

Jim

Originally Posted by 007";2369233]The refrigerator may have its own batteries and inverter and coach has the larger inverter/converter.
The fridge batteries are located where the LP Tank was located.
You can see the different options under appliances [B][URL="http://www.newmarcorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/DSDP4369.pdf

in this link[/URL][/B].

[PDR John]

On Dutch Star you only get 1 inverter, even on all electric.


You don't 2 inverters till King Aire. The second 1 will run the middle roof air.

[newmarpusher]

Originally Posted by 007";2369233]The refrigerator may have its own batteries and inverter and coach has the larger inverter/converter.
The fridge batteries are located where the LP Tank was located.
You can see the different options under appliances [B][URL="http://www.newmarcorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/DSDP4369.pdf

in this link[/URL][/B].

At least on the DS and Ventana (the two coaches we researched), there is only one inverter. It gets bigger when you go all electric.

All the house batteries (8 for all electric) are in one tray. When they eliminate the LP tank, the house battery tray is wider, rotated 90deg and spans a single larger compartment where the LP and battery compartments were.

All Electric battery configuration:


LP battery configuration:

[andyh]

The DSDP 4369 all electric coach comes with one inverter, a Magnum 2800W sine wave one. A second inverter was denied as a custom order. The coach has 8 6V house batteries, no separate ones for the refrigerator. The house batteries are located in the driver side front basement compartment.
I choose the AGM option. I did not want to deal with watering the batteries and the potential corrosion and moving the heavy battery tray in and out for checking water levels. As far as deep discharging the batteries, I don't know if AGMs have a big advantage over wet cell batteries. They have lower rate of self-discharging. If you choose the Newmar AGM option, you will get Discover batteries.

[MoHoGo]

Only the one inverter. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding.

RG & Thanks to all.
Jim

Originally Posted by campbell36

First, a bunch of thanks to everyone for their responses to my previous posts. We are getting ready to finalize a factory order for the 4369 DS and the help provided by some of you will go a long way to help us get it right.

We are going with the all electric upgrade, 8 batteries / 2800 Watt inverter. This upgrade is with flooded batteries. We got a price to change these to AGM on our initial order, but that price is a bit steep at around 1K. Our reasoning is that we want to reduce having to check water levels and we believe AGM will tolerate any mistakes we make in discharging them too low.

I would be interested in any thoughts and if anyone else has done this special. The other question is has anyone added a second inverter?

We are looking at ordering from RV One, but a bit hesitant on getting delivery from them and will probably go for factory delivery as this will be a FT coach and we want to do everything possible upfront to reduce and minimize issues.

Again, thanks for any info on the batteries and inverter question.

Regards,

Jim

[Stretch]

By all means get AGMs our coach is 10 years old and just recently replaced the original AGMs. And the bay where the batteries reside is like new terminal too. We store food in the bay too. Don't even think about wet cells. They gas out and the gas eats cable terminals and the battery rack.


Sent from my iPad using iRV2 - RV Forum

["007"]

I stand corrected must of been thinking bigger a King Aire, I have followers that will keep me in line, AGM's are worth the money well spent you would not regret them.

[Miramichi]

As with most things, you pay for what you get. AGM battery technology is used in several applications that wet cell can't compete with, for instance, aviation and military applications. They do cost more but as already stated, you don't have to ever look at them really. They are truly maintenance free.

I have used them for other heavy applications and they always prove to be an excellent choice. I don't have them on my coach as I like tinkering and don't find it an issue to to up batteries. I also have my coach stored at home so I am able to tend the batteries myself.

Bottom line, if I were ordering a new coach, I would upgrade as it will be an expected feature when you attempt to sell, kind of like LED lighting.

By the way congrats.

[FRasco]

Jim, since you are planning on adding solar, AGM's will handle that daily discharging and recharging when you go boon docking much better. That was a no brainer for me.

[Deek]

We replaced our wet cell batteries with AGM's on our last coach, a 2013 Dutch Star 4018. Cost of AGM's installed at Newmar was $1,500.00. Wish we had done it with our original order, but they were not available as an option when we ordered in 2013. They are now and it's a very worthwhile option. Would not want to be without the AGM's again. For all the good reasons cited above in this thread.

Deek

[newmarpusher]

Originally Posted by Deek

We replaced our wet cell batteries with AGM's on our last coach, a 2013 Dutch Star 4018. Cost of AGM's installed at Newmar was $1,500.00. Wish we had done it with our original order, but they were not available as an option when we ordered in 2013. They are now and it's a very worthwhile option. Would not want to be without the AGM's again. For all the good reasons cited above in this thread.



Deek

We only paid $1500 (list minus 25 or so %) for the AGM's as a custom order with our 2015 Ventana 4037. Very reasonable and less than it would have cost to purchase 8 AGM 6 volt batteries.

Have had the coach two months now. I've looked at the batteries once (just to snap some Picts) and don't expect to have to open that compartment for a very long time.

For anyone with AGM's from the factory, remember to check the Magnum inverter/charger settings. I had to set the inverter to "AGM 2" since the factory and the dealer both left it set at the flooded setting. According to the Magnum manual, "AGM 1" is for Lifeline AGM's, all other AGM's use setting "AGM 2". Newmar uses Discovery brand AGM's.

Btw, I have the AGS and Energy Management options, so not sure if those settings are the same without those options.