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Old 07-14-2016, 03:30 PM   #1
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New House Batteries

Any ideas about maintenance free versus regular flooded batteries? I need new house batteries for my 2005 Alpine Coach fdts 38 and am considering maintenance free. I would like to hear from anyone who has used them. I am concerned about the xantrex RS2000 sine wave inverter/charger being compatible. Any ideas about maintenance free versus regular flooded batteries? I'm sure that I have seen another post about this issue but can't seem to find it now.
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Old 07-14-2016, 04:13 PM   #2
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I highly recommend the AGM batteries. I have had them on my boat for years and now have 4 Lifeline 6volt 300 Amp Hour batteries on my Tiffin Red. AGM batteries are maintenance free, may be discharged to levels below what flooded batteries will allow, and recharge more rapidly than flooded batteries. Almost all current design inverters will work. You may have to set it up to do so. Do you have a remote panel for your inverter? If so, it will be a snap. They are a bit pricey, but check out the link below for Power Stride. The have free shipping and don't require a core. Good luck.

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Old 07-14-2016, 04:33 PM   #3
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Don, as a rule of thumb, AGMs run double wet cells, the Li-Iron run 4 times the AGMs. While AGMs can be discharge slightly more than wet cells and are about the same size. Li-Iron can be discharged to 20% and have more AH in a smaller size. So you can get more AH's in the same space as wet cells. I expect AGMs and Li-Iron will come down in price, AGMs more so that Li-iron, but Li-Iron will get less expense as they are more widely adopted.
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Old 07-14-2016, 04:47 PM   #4
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And check the manual for the charger you have. There are different charging profiles for each type.
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Old 07-14-2016, 04:52 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nothermark View Post
And check the manual for the charger you have. There are different charging profiles for each type.
And in some cases for each brand. Lifeline takes a different profile than other AGM's
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Old 07-14-2016, 05:04 PM   #6
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Many batteries labelled as maintenance free are starting batteries and not suited for deep cycling. Can you list the make and model you are considering? Saying I'm looking at a deep cycle and a maintenance free is like asking for advice on a van vs sedan and not saying which one or for what needs.
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Old 07-14-2016, 05:18 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by nothermark View Post
And check the manual for the charger you have. There are different charging profiles for each type.

Xantrex RS2000 has the ability to profile AGMs.
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Old 07-20-2016, 04:01 PM   #8
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Working in the Aerospace industry and also the Packaging Handling Storage and Transportation side, I will caution those who choose to go with Lithium Ion batteries to pay very close attention to potential shorting sources and charge/discharge levels. While these batteries have much better capacity for their size and offer greater charging flexibility and discharge curves, they also have the ability to rapidly vent in a very undesirable manner if shorted under certain charge conditions/states. That is why you see the prohibitions on these type cells on commercial aircraft etc.


I'm not saying not to consider them, as they are the best battery on the market, but just be aware of the cautions and react accordingly.
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Old 07-20-2016, 04:09 PM   #9
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Have you ever seen a wet cell battery blow its top off when shorted ?

I would think your caution goes with any large capacity storage battery.
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Old 07-20-2016, 04:28 PM   #10
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I have 6- 6v Fullriver AGM's hooked series/parallel. I had the same in Lifelines prior, but were out of stock when I changed coaches/and batteries. The Lifelines were good for the 6 years I had them and the Fullriver have been good so far. But I've only had them 2 years.
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Old 07-20-2016, 04:57 PM   #11
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Alternative Chemistry

You may want to consider the Lithium Ferro Phosphate; which are also called Lithium Iron; batteries if you use your house batteries a lot. Lithium Iron batteries will outlast any other chemistry if they are being frequently discharged and recharged. They are still very expensive and may be financially impractical for many but if you can afford the initial cost they have the lowest cost of ownership of any battery chemistry that is to be frequently discharged and recharged. They will deliver many times the number of discharge cycles of Lithium Ion chemistry batteries. They are rapidly becoming the chemistry of choice for any installation were replacing the batteries is physically difficult or requires expensive access such as helicopter time. The Lithium Iron batteries would be appropriate for RVers who prefer to use sites were site provided power is not available and around the clock use of a generator is inappropriate. Lithium Iron batteries are also much lighter per ampere hour than any of the other available chemistries.
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Old 07-20-2016, 05:50 PM   #12
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You may want to consider the Lithium Ferro Phosphate; which are also called Lithium Iron; batteries if you use your house batteries a lot. Lithium Iron batteries will outlast any other chemistry if they are being frequently discharged and recharged. They are still very expensive and may be financially impractical for many but if you can afford the initial cost they have the lowest cost of ownership of any battery chemistry that is to be frequently discharged and recharged. They will deliver many times the number of discharge cycles of Lithium Ion chemistry batteries. They are rapidly becoming the chemistry of choice for any installation were replacing the batteries is physically difficult or requires expensive access such as helicopter time. The Lithium Iron batteries would be appropriate for RVers who prefer to use sites were site provided power is not available and around the clock use of a generator is inappropriate. Lithium Iron batteries are also much lighter per ampere hour than any of the other available chemistries.

As a rule of thumb, AGMs run double wet cells, the Li-Iron run 4 times the AGMs. While AGMs can be discharge slightly more than wet cells and are about the same size. Li-Iron can be discharged to 20% and have more AH in a smaller size. So you can get more AH's in the same space as wet cells. I expect AGMs and Li-Iron will come down in price, AGMs more so that Li-iron, but Li-Iron will get less expense as they are more widely adopted.
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Old 07-20-2016, 06:24 PM   #13
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There is really only a couple reasons to buy AGM's over quality wet cells. Maintenance and ventilation. Trojon T-105's actually have a higher "number of charge cycles" rating than Lifelines. If you don't want to mess with cleaning or watering them, have poor access to them, or don't have adequate ventilation, then it makes perfect sense to go with the AGM's.
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Old 07-21-2016, 11:11 AM   #14
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There is really only a couple reasons to buy AGM's over quality wet cells. Maintenance and ventilation. Trojon T-105's actually have a higher "number of charge cycles" rating than Lifelines. If you don't want to mess with cleaning or watering them, have poor access to them, or don't have adequate ventilation, then it makes perfect sense to go with the AGM's.

This I believe still holds true. I worked for Trojan as an engineer for three years many years ago and was involved in almost every technical aspect of their product line. This included capacity and cycle life of all competitors (AGM, gell, flooded). Nothing came close to number of total cycles that the T105 would get.
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