Community Forums

Rusty Kramer · 07-08-2018, 03:15 PM

2000 Dynasty with Trace inverter. My house batteries and cables are in need of service/replacing soon. I would love to go to the AGM or some type of maintenance free batteries for the house to get away from the corrosion. The existing cables are eaten up enough that I am going to replace most if not all of them.

This is the first coach I have owned and I am not that knowledgeable about the systems on the coach.

My questions are.

1)Will my Trace inverter work ok with charging the AGMs or other type of maintenance free batteries? I have not tried to call Trace about this yet but thought some of you might know.

2) Could I switch my house batteries to just two 6V AGMs instead of 4(to save $) ? since I am not relying on large battery capacity to camp.

The coach is only used weekends in the summer at the races and we just run the Generator. We are always in warm to very hot weather and need at least 1 AC going anyway so it seems I don't really need the capacity of 4 batteries but I may be missing something so let me know.
Thank you for any information.

bsadventures · 07-08-2018, 03:37 PM

Your Trace inverter should work fine either way...all it does is take 12 volt power and invert it to 110AC.

AGM's will definitely prevent future corrosion and cable issues as they do not gas off like lead acid batteries do.

There are many options and configurations of batteries that you can go with. Every one is a give or take depending on how much you rely on battery power. It does not sound like you dry camp or use your batteries much so a smaller storage of battery power should work fine for you. Go to Lifeline's website (AGM Deep Cycle Marine Battery Made In USA - Lifeline Batteries) and/orcall them for advice...they will direct you in the right direction!

vito.a · 07-08-2018, 06:02 PM

AGM batteries are nice but can be expensive. Two Lifeline batteries will cost more than four GC2 Golf Cart batteries.

If cost is a big factor just buy two GC2 6v golf cart batteries at Sam's Club or Costco and install them in series to make 12v. Then hose them off once every few weeks and pour a gallon of warm water with baking soda solution over them. Another trick is to put 1oz of mineral oil in each cell to prevent the acid from boiling out the top.

Rusty Kramer · 07-09-2018, 02:30 PM

Thanks to both of you.
Buying 4 batteries is crazy if I never really use them.
My coach is plugged in at home or has the Gen running when in use.

Thanks!

twinboat · 07-09-2018, 03:59 PM

You could save some money by buying off brand AGM batteries from Sam's or Costco.

Just pick up 2, GC2- 6 volt AGM batteries or if they have it, one or 2, 12 volt Deep Cycle AGM.

When you go down to one 12 volt battery, your inverter may not be very effective at high watt output. It will work but you'll get low voltage warnings pretty quick.

bigjim8499 · 07-10-2018, 08:35 AM

What about 1 8D? I replaced 8 GC batteries wit 2 8Ds

Podivin · 07-10-2018, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rusty Kramer

1)Will my Trace inverter work ok with charging the AGMs or other type of maintenance free batteries? I have not tried to call Trace about this yet but thought some of you might know.

An INverter takes 12 volts and converts it to 120 volts, it will work fine with the AGMs (or, I think, any other 12 volt batteries you may choose to use).

A CONverter takes 120 volts and converts it to 12 volts to power the house and charge the batteries.

It's possible the Trace is a converter/inverter, but if it is just an inverter then something else is charging the batteries, you'll need to verify what's doing that job.
I don't know what the charging profile of AGMs is and/or how it differs from regular flooded batteries, but it is definitely something you'll need to know before you switch battery types - so you know whether or not your current charging system is up to the task.