Community Forums

Fred1609 · 01-03-2013, 07:44 PM

costco batteries are made by Johnson controls and are ranked pretty high and 6V Kirkland golf cart batteries are about $79. And you can not beat the customer service. I dropped one battery while putting it into my F350 cracking the case. I took it back and it was replaced no question. Try that at a lot of auto stores.

HHIDan · 01-03-2013, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonNBama

Opinions on the affect (effect?) of having the Trace inverter/charger set to maintain gel-cell batteries when the bank is actually lead-acid type? Cells kept boiling over (new to me RV) and when I finally ran through the settings on the Trace I found the incorrect setup. My house battery consists of four GC2 6V units.

At the wrong setting you are probably charging too "agressively" which is causing the boil.
At the correct settings your charger will start off at a high charge rate and then drop the rate as the batteries are charging up. Most good chargers charge at 3 different rates, the maintenance rate is soft such that your batteries should never boil or use water and would/should never need maintenance unless they are defective/dying.
The voltages and charge rates are pre-programmed in your converter/inverter for different types of batteries.

dcoke44 · 01-03-2013, 08:05 PM

I would definitely recommend gel cell or agm. I had 3 8D gel cell battteries on my Country Coach Intrigue. I kept the coach plugged in all the time and had a little over 7 yrs of service from them before I traded the coach. they were still good when I traded the coach. I purchased them from a Batteries Plus store. No maintainance and no problems at all. Highly recommend. dcoke

pacevette · 01-03-2013, 09:31 PM

I see costco mention quite a bit when it comes to rv batteries. I do not have a membership here but would consider one if the batteries are reasonable. I know prices vary by state but what price range am i looking at? I have an Interstate store close by and there price is $139. The maintenance to me is not a big deal and it seems the AGM and gel last just as long as a wet cell IF properly maintained. Please someone correct me if i am wrong.

Davdeb1 · 01-03-2013, 09:44 PM

IF properly maintained. That is a big IF. if you have a good charger, 3-5 stage that adjusts for battery type, the AGMs seem ideal. It would not be a big deal to just look at the terminals for corrosion, but looking at every cell to check for the water levels is different.

Does anyone have an opinion on the SAMs AGM batteries?

Davdeb1 · 01-03-2013, 09:49 PM

Look what I just found.

http://www.sears.com:80/amstron-ap-g...=1357274808233

pacevette · 01-03-2013, 09:59 PM

Nice find!!!!

okmunky · 01-03-2013, 10:07 PM

I bought 2 Sam's 6V batteries last March and smeared No-ox paste on everything metal and have had zero corrosion in 9+ months. They use very little water -- about 1/2 oz per cell per month. They fit my budget and have plenty of amp hours to meet my needs. Has anyone calculated the cost difference between the the 3 types and the Trojans vs $79 6Vs?Since there is seldom an installation charge and monthly maintanence takes 15-30 minutes, I don't see the advantage of spending so much more on AGM and Gels.

Tomp4801 · 01-03-2013, 10:15 PM

This summer I purchased 4 wet cell 6 volt batteries from Sears for $89 each. I installed a Pro-fill system and it literally takes 3 minutes to pull out a bottle of water and attach the suction hose and fill all the cells in all 4 batteries at once, without even pulling out the battery tray. As far as I am concerned, maintenance is a non issue with this setup. So if I get 6 or 7 years from these batteries, I am way ahead of the game versus paying 2 to 3 times as much for AGM batteries. JMHO

DAN L · 01-04-2013, 01:55 AM

okmunky,
i was able to increase my battery bank capacity from about 190 ah to 300 ah by installing 2 lifeline agm gpl-6ct batteries ON THEIR SIDES. that was over 5 years ago and they are still working well.

for me, it was a no-brainer to use the higher capacity batteries even with the higher price. i got my batteries from bd batteries online. the shipping was at no extra charge.
there are pictures of my installation in the archives of this forum.

Lifeline GPL-6CT Battery

bbeane · 01-04-2013, 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pacevette

So AGM's use a different charging system?

Not a diffrent charging system, A diffrent charging Rate (bulk, aborsorb,and float voltages) Lead acid, AGM, and GEL are all diffrent charge rates. Most good RV battery chargers are 3 stage, and are able to be set for the type of battery to prevent over/under charging. Nothing wrong with lead acid batterys you just have to pay a little closer attention to them. You didn't mention what model charging system you have for the house battery, if it is a standard 12V converter/charger they are good for over charging batterys.

RonNBama · 01-04-2013, 07:14 AM

[QUOTE=Davdeb1;1419395]Look what I just found.
$225 is a deal??

Davdeb1 · 01-04-2013, 07:37 AM

If you compare it to OTHER quality AGM BATTERIES IT IS. The only AGM I have found for less is the SAMs club AGM. $159.73. 190 AH. I'm definitely going to put in 4 AGM 6v batteries because I'm on oxygen, and just bending over takes my breath away. If I could easily check and fill the flooded cell batteries, I would do it.

Jack1234 · 01-04-2013, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davdeb1

If you compare it to OTHER quality AGM BATTERIES IT IS. The only AGM I have found for less is the SAMs club AGM. $159.73. 190 AH. I'm definitely going to put in 4 AGM 6v batteries because I'm on oxygen, and just bending over takes my breath away. If I could easily check and fill the flooded cell batteries, I would do it.

Hey Dave...the AGM route looks pretty attractive for you. However, as several others have posted a Pro-Fill system makes checking and filling flooded cell batteries EASY!