AGM battery recommendation

[accoyo]

I need to replace my three coach batteries. I have decided on AGM because of space and amp hours. I have done some research and found four brands that will fit the bill. The brands are Rolls, Discover, Harris, and Concord. They are all the same dimensions, have the same amp rating. They do vary in weight, price and warranty. The weight is between 96 to 132 pounds each, the price varies between 400 to 565 and the warranty from 1 to 5 years. Has anyone had any experience with these brands, and any knowledge on the best place to purchase?

Thanks for any info
Bill

[Doggy Daddy]

Sorry, I use 4 six volt Lifeline GPL-6CT 300 Amp Hour AGMs http://lifelinebatteries.com/

[hes4all]

Concorde batteries is also Lifeline . Concorde is the aircraft line of batteries now.

http://www.concordebattery.com/index.htm

[UFO Pilot]

Originally Posted by Doggy Daddy

Sorry, I use 4 six volt Lifeline GPL-6CT 300 Amp Hour AGMs Lifeline Batteries - Marine & RV Deep Cycle AGM Batteries

I use 2, wish I had room for 2 more!

[Smitty77]

Rolls are popular in the boating community. Concorde/Lifeline and Rolls both have good reputations. I have no experience or info on the other two.

I don't think you could go wrong with eithe Rolls or Lifeline. Be sure your charger is capable of charging AGM's. And note that Lifeline has different spec's for charging then many other AGM's.

Best of luck,
Smitty
Note: I have X4 Lifeline L16's, like them very much.

[wa8yxm]

IF you must waste your money on AGM's. I would go with Lifeline.. however other than the ability to install on their side, or even upside down if needed, I see no advantage over other types and a higher cost.

[Walt Bennett]

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

IF you must waste your money on AGM's. I would go with Lifeline.. however other than the ability to install on their side, or even upside down if needed, I see no advantage over other types and a higher cost.

The big advantages of AGM types are that you don't need to monitor water levels and they don't outgas hydrogen (thus don't need venting to outside). They ARE a lot more expensive though for the same capacities and many people (including me) can deal with what lead-acid batteries require.

[UFO Pilot]

For some of us, AGM's are not a waste of our money.

[jackfish]

Concorde aviation batteries are not necessary for RV applications. Concorde Sun Xtender batteries are not warranted for mobile applications beyond one year. Lifeline would be a better choice.

Discover are a Canadian firm which sources foreign batteries made to their specifications. Many swear by them, which is better than swearing at them.

Harris Battery does not spec an ampere hour 20 hour capacity rate, I'd stay away from them.

Check out Fullriver and Crown as well.

Fullriver Battery

https://www.crownbattery.com/en/wp-c...edDeepCyc1.pdf

What size battery do you need and where are you located?

[InfinityJim]

Originally Posted by accoyo

I need to replace my three coach batteries. I have decided on AGM because of space and amp hours. I have done some research and found four brands that will fit the bill. The brands are Rolls, Discover, Harris, and Concord. They are all the same dimensions, have the same amp rating. They do vary in weight, price and warranty. The weight is between 96 to 132 pounds each, the price varies between 400 to 565 and the warranty from 1 to 5 years. Has anyone had any experience with these brands, and any knowledge on the best place to purchase?

Thanks for any info
Bill

You didn't state which group size. When doing a battery bank swap I normally start with space size. How much space is the customer willing to give or is available for the cause.
If cost is an issues then staying with what's there (size wise) is probably the cheapest as it is really only a change out - thus not much labor.
If cost isn't the issue & customer wants best possible bank, then what is the space available & what can I fill that space with.
I always go off the 20AHR, weight, cost & warranty.

Personally I'm a huge fan of AGM batteries. First and foremost is no maintenance, no outgassing, no corrosion. IF charged correctly with correct charger's will probably outlast a flooded that's properly charged & maintained, mostly due to the fact that somewhere along the line the maintenance will be missed.

As far as different manufactures, of course lifeline, but also one of the most expensive, and shipping/freight is usually part of the deal when needing those. DEKA / East Penn is a good choice, Odyssey makes some good options, such as the PC1800-FT / 214AHR (2 fits same footprint as 8-D, couple inches taller) of course expensive!

I usually try to use USA made batteries, bad luck was had by many customers who used china built AGM's over the years. Now that being said, Full River that is built in China has become a very good battery manufacture as they carry most industry standard cert's, such as ISO... Still makes me nervous, not sure I'd stuff thousands of dollars into building a china manufactured bank.

[336muffin]

I'm on my second set of Lifeline, bought them at Battery's Plus. Best price I could find and had them in 24hrs. I installed them and took my old battery's back the next day. Had to have my charger set up for the AGM's due to different charge rates etc. Personally I won't have anything else but AGM's.

[TQ60]

If you go agm...

Avoid anything not usa made.

Jobs are one thing but tighter controls on how things are handled mean better care in the manufactur of the battery.

Avoid "brand new line" as sometimes new idea is great but they sometimes forget something that creates issue later...960 C&D GR12-160 warranty replacement on that one.

Do select a line that is proven and is in wide use.

Consider commercial batteries such as telecom or stand by power as they can really pot out the power and usually are made to high standards, most have 10 to 20 year design life but not in rv, will last very long time if not abused, read the data sheets to keep them close to their happy place.

Look for "pure lead" and verify it really is.

Sears sells some but more than 2 times floaded of same type.

We demoed a set rated for 180 ahr, should have alarmed at 7 hours in on our test and it was no where near low.

They had 5 year exchange warranty in uncontrolled environment where operating temp was over 100 degrees due to high ambient temp outside and no cooling, would be perfect for rv.

Do have your vendor review your charging system and have them verify the voltage and current is within manufacturer requirements.

Do have them provide copies of the manufacturer data sheets with the data specific to your load rates and charging highlighted.

Ask them for the maintenance guidelines that you should use to keep the warranty valid.

Do get the warranty in clear writing and have them document your mh in the paperwork so it is crystal clear the batteries were sold into your mh with a warranty and what the warranty is and requires.

Funny note here...
There are many different ways to maintain a vrla/agm battery based on a few different standards that are not strict in any sense from most manufacturers.

can go on for hours here as many stories there...but...

Given no industry standard that us universally accepted the different nanufacturers get funny with warranty and usually it is the customer twisting the salesmans arm to get something done and that one is sketchy...

So first ask about warranty and bargin for a good one as the battery is expected to last.

Then talk about how the warranty would apply to your installation.

If you can keep batteries close to 72 degrees is good...

Keep working on the warranty and insisting on long one and observe limits and comment on them like high temps are shoet long or how do they check it etc.

Once you get the warranty on your terms then talk price installed as you want them ro install them and set your charger...not you...

Make sure the warranty is honored everywhere you go and that they back it...the servicing vendor could call them for questions.

After you shake on the deal ask for the specific maintenance schedule for your specific battery system.

Remember they are maintenance free right...?...wrong!

You will need to check connector torque, charging current and float voltage and in many plants impeadance and other things but you play stupid and just ask something like "When do I check the voltage and what should it be"?.

Request they make you a document clearly stating what to do and when to do it.

Show them your voltmeter and have them show you what to do.

Once installed do exactly what you are told and document it in a diary.

When you see something that indicates a battery is starting to go south then with your diary you can get the battery serviced under the warranty you had in place.

This is a lot of stuff but if you want to get the most from your agm batteries you need to take care if them and with their design they can have a good warranty so do the extra work to insure you get what you pay for and know how to oroperly care for them so you can be treated properly if you have problems.

[donandmax]

[QUOTE=wa8yxm;1974191]IF you must waste your money on AGM's. I would go with Lifeline.. however other than the ability to install on their side, or even upside down if needed, I see no advantage over other types and a higher cost.[/QUOTE
X2

[hes4all]

I love how people say that we waste money on AGM's.