6 Volt Batteries

[REB16]

What is the best AMG 6volt battery

[Mac99]

I have these GC2's from Deka, been 5 years, still excellent.

http://www.dekabatteries.com/assets/...rdeepcycle.pdf

[wa8yxm]

If by AMG you meant AGM: Lifeline

But question: Considering AGM's are like 3 or more times the cost of flooded wet cells.. Why not go with Flooded wet cells, True you need to do a bit of additional cleaning, and add some Distilled water from time to time, but hey.... For the difference in price.. I'll do the work.

I keep reading all the "Advantages" of AGM's but the fact is there is only one that actually is an advantage: No "This Side UP" label, you can mount them any way, on their side, on edge, face down, upside down.

Where as flooded wet and other Maintenance free are THIS SIDE UP only.

The "You can recharge them faster" means you have to upgrade the charger, The rumors of longer total life, I have been unable to find any authoritative source to confirm that and in fact have found some that deny it big time. My own personal tests also failed to confirm (in fact showed the opposite). Rumors of "you can run 'em down fartehr. See last statement.

In short.. I think they are way too much money for no advantage.

[REB16]

Thanks for the infor I have interstate in there now I just thought about the AMG battery This is my 1st time to buy batteries should I go back with the same ones have 8 batteries what a good price

[az bound]

Deka, Serette-royal, Concord.
There are cheap AGMs, moderatly priced ones and high dollar ones. You get what you pay for. They do not require a special charger. They charge faster because they have less internal resistance.

[GaryKD]

Hi REB16,
The best AGM battery brand is Lifeline. Some who post here do not mind the task of checking the water in flooded batteries remaining on their to do list. For me, I'm trying to take tasks off the to do list. Lifeline batteries meet this requirement.

[okcnewbie]

I bought 440 amp hours of AGM batteries (over 200 pounds worth) for just over 200 dollars locally. Like everything else you can shop around and get a good deal.

For my situation the fact that they only gas under extreme circumstances allow me to put them in the coach under the bench.

Most people that are honest would have AGM's in there coach if money wasn't an issue. If you get a decent price on AGM's you'll be happy.

The charge on an AGM at rest may last longer than a comparable wet cell.

Only time will tell if I'm happy with the longevity of my current batteries. Even if this set only last 5 years it won't steer me away from AGM's.

[az bound]

Another advantage of AGM batteries is their disconnected discharge rate is from 1-3% per month as opposed to 10- 20% for wet cell.
There is no need for a maintainer charger for even over a year in storage.
I have been using AGMs for over 16 years now and would not go back to wet cells. The ease of maintenance and their ability to accept a charge faster, along with the long storage capability and no concern of freezing are all plusses for me.

[TQ60]

Agm long life...?

Yes AGM can last a long time but that is when they are in their happy place.

Temperature 68 to 74 degrees

Float service

Float charge 2.25 vpc

1000 cycles

Whatever the data sheet requires...

Most are designed for float service where they are only used for short periods of time durring power outages.

They are in temperature controlled environments with well designed power systems.

Under proper use they are designed for 10 to 20 year design life.

Used in similar environment as an rv where they can go from real cold to real warm they degrade faster.

Above 90 degrees they really do not like.

There are some pure lead designs that hold up better but cost almost double normal agm.

Bottom line is the AGM is a far better battery than the wet one but it may not be a better battery FOR YOU.

If you can properly design the power system to match the needs of the AGM batteries and are willing to make the investment you will get great service from them as many here do.

They are NOT maintenance free...you just perform DIFFERENT maintence which is more of a visual inspection and voltage monitoring sequence combined with checking wiring, no water to check but everything else is still required.

However if you only swap wet for agm you will see great performance at first but over time they may degrade faster than expected due to over charging or other issues related to improper system design and you will blame the batteries as being lousy.

There also are some bad lines of batteries so before investing in them do proper homework to insure the SYSTEM (bagttery charger, batteries and environment) are proper.

Everything needs to be correct and of decent quality.

The attached are some poor quality batteries put into service where the dc plant was designed for them and combined with poor maintenance they failed.

[wa8yxm]

TQ60.. I like what you wrote.. There are many special batteries that cost more but are ideal for this or that, For example AGM's are great in Motor Cycles and other vehicles where "This Side Up" may be an issue (If you lay down the bike) Optima for Wave Runner/4-Runner/ ATV type vehicles where I think it was Phillis Diller in a movie with Bob Hope made the comment "Send for your kidneys later" referring to the bouncing ride she was getting.

For RV use.. No real advantage.. That Faster Recharge due to lower internal resistance someone spoke of, Perhaps a few minutes. Not even enough to warrant half the extra cost.

And when I tried MK AGM's in this rig I put them on the inverter, Programmed it for AGM's (It is programmable) and they were the newest batteries in the RV.. they were also the first to die and be replaced by something more traditional.

I would like to go to a bank of six GC-2 Flooded but I need to do some cabinet work before I can go there.

[TQ60]

If you need to get creative for space then agm is good option but you also need to get creative in the process.

In regional areas there may be commercial battery companies that are more mom an pop or private instead of corp owned.

Once found you could work with them for used ones.

Many service the cell sites for local carriers.

Lucent equipment uses batteries close to a 4D Size while most of the rest use units that are about 5 wide 15 tall and 22 or so long.

These can be laid on their side and be placed under a bed or placed behind things.

Retail about 300 bucks each for 150 amp hr but surplus ones for 20 to 50 bucks.

Most still have lots of life and you often can hand them a burger and they will let you bring a hf load brick and go through the pallet and get the good ones.

They stockpile them before scrapping them so you may need to wait until a project.

[TQ60]

You set for agm but did you monitor the voltage?

What did the rate sheet indicate?

[HHIDan]

Originally Posted by okcnewbie

Most people that are honest would have AGM's in there coach if money wasn't an issue.

I will be very honest, 6 batteries for $600 or 6 batteries for $2400.. I will look at my batteries twice a year. Very easy to add water as they are on a roll-out tray.

I have money to spend, not to waste...

Just my honest opinion...

[okcnewbie]

Originally Posted by HHIDan

I will be very honest, 6 batteries for $600 or 6 batteries for $2400.. I will look at my batteries twice a year. Very easy to add water as they are on a roll-out tray.

I have money to spend, not to waste...

Just my honest opinion...

That's funny. ..... please don't spend 2400 on batteries. I spent just over 200 for over 400 amp hours of AGM.