House Batt replacement time

[boowho]

Anyone know of any great deals on house batts?? I'm finally going to bite the bullet and replace my old overcharged and "cooked out" originals.

Sam's Club has Energizer brand 208 AH for $85. Originals are 225 AH. Would the difference in 208 and 225 be that much different in amount of usage (down to 50%) before charge is required?? The prices I've found for 225 MH are about $116.

I'm told that no matter what brand you buy they all pretty much come from Mexico and there are only two manufacturers down there.

This is for non-AGM batts of course.

Boowho??

[tncruiser]

curious as why such a short life out of them ,my gtown is a 2011 built in 10 and batteries still seem to be in good condition
brianj

[2012WhiteSolera]

The more amp hour a battery has the better. As for what flooded battery is better than the other, depends on what an independant review might say. There is plenty of battery advice in these FR forums, so I suggest read up before you make that large purchase.

[Iwannacamp]

I agree more amp hours = better... more plates... not always better. Thicker plates = longer life. I bought mine at walmart.. got their best ones have 24 month free replacement... best I could find. IMHO I would stay away from AMG batteries...OK let the firing begin. Do your own research then decide on that.

key is to keep them charged and not dry... they will last a while

[garbonz]

Get 6 volt trojans, IMO. As long as you don't run em dry, they will last the longest, AND they are not much more $$$. I don't have them but wish I did. My 6volt Deka's are pretty good to.

[boowho]

Originally Posted by tncruiser

curious as why such a short life out of them ,my gtown is a 2011 built in 10 and batteries still seem to be in good condition
brianj

Coach was not used much before I bought it; sat in a garage for over a year. The batts were being grossly overcharged, outgassing and even boiling liquid out the tops. A real mess.

In short, the the batts were ABUSED!!!

I have already added the more sophisticated control for the Magnum inverter/charger so will be able to control the charging rate going forward.

Boowho??

[boowho]

Originally Posted by garbonz

Get 6 volt trojans, IMO. As long as you don't run em dry, they will last the longest, AND they are not much more $$$. I don't have them but wish I did. My 6volt Deka's are pretty good to.

garbonz, you've given me good info in the past, so I'll probably go the Trojan brand.

Boowho??

[mjracsj]

I had my overcooked house flooded batteries replaced while coach was at the factory (for unrelated warranty service work) with AGM type batteries. Andy was very patient and accommodated my request. Was expensive but I expect to be very happy with them and don't mind that I may never use my battery water filler again!

[Phil57]

Originally Posted by mjracsj

I had my overcooked house flooded batteries replaced while coach was at the factory (for unrelated warranty service work) with AGM type batteries. Andy was very patient and accommodated my request. Was expensive but I expect to be very happy with them and don't mind that I may never use my battery water filler again!

I think you just left FR when I got there last Oct 28. Andy and Warren were telling me about the AGM batteries. I almost went for them but didn't. We had the old controller boil the old batteries twice and had to paint the compartment. Hopefully the new Magnum controller will help avoid that mess. It will be interesting to see how the AGM hold up. Do you have the new or old controller?

[Iwannacamp]

From Trojans website.

http://www.trojanbatteryre.com/Tech_...lood2VRLA.html

[mjracsj]

Originally Posted by Phil57

I think you just left FR when I got there last Oct 28. Andy and Warren were telling me about the AGM batteries. I almost went for them but didn't. We had the old controller boil the old batteries twice and had to paint the compartment. Hopefully the new Magnum controller will help avoid that mess. It will be interesting to see how the AGM hold up. Do you have the new or old controller?

I have the new upgraded controller which I added a year after buying the coach. After using it at the best settings I could and keeping the flooded batteries topped off often they still held little or no charge. I decided I was done with flooded batteries and invested in the AGMs. The upgraded Magnum controller has settings for AGMs even for particular brands so I think I will be happy with going with them and being able to set the controller at the pre- programmed setting for my new type of AGM batteries. I leave my coach plugged in to 50 amp all the time when not driving so I think I went the right way. Time will tell but I think it will have been worth it. Once the snow melts and I have it out this spring I will be able to tell!

[garbonz]

Originally Posted by boowho

garbonz, you've given me good info in the past, so I'll probably go the Trojan brand.



Boowho??

Thanks.

[garbonz]

Originally Posted by Iwannacamp

From Trojans website.

http://www.trojanbatteryre.com/Tech_...lood2VRLA.html

Very good technical information here. The RV hobbiest has benefitted from the solar industry in more than the panel area, there has been great advances in the power management and storage area also.

[2012WhiteSolera]

Mjracsj brings up an interesting point. Seems controllers (Magnum at least) can be set battery type specific, which is intended to optimize the charging cycle. I can't imagine it is that prevelant for RV'ers to be aware of that issue, when matching battery type (flooded, AGM) to their currently installed controller, if they switch out battery types.

[mjracsj]

Also the upgraded controller has settings for not just battery type but for AGM batteries it has specific settings for different brands of AGM batteries.

[boowho]

Originally Posted by mjracsj

Also the upgraded controller has settings for not just battery type but for AGM batteries it has specific settings for different brands of AGM batteries.

I don't know if I have ALL the correct settings, but I know that after I put it in and cut the charge to 30% the outgassing stopped and I had no liquid on top of the batts.

I figure I'll be able to set that figure up quite a bit once I put the new batts in.

My current (cooked) batts also are using a lot of water; about 1/2 to 3/4 gallon per month for 4 batts.

Boowho??

[Iwannacamp]

mmmmm looks like them magnums is spensive...

[Hallen01]

Originally Posted by Phil57

I think you just left FR when I got there last Oct 28. Andy and Warren were telling me about the AGM batteries. I almost went for them but didn't. We had the old controller boil the old batteries twice and had to paint the compartment. Hopefully the new Magnum controller will help avoid that mess. It will be interesting to see how the AGM hold up. Do you have the new or old controller?

Phil57:

I ask your patience on this request for comments and/or info; it sounds to me like you have studied this topic to the nth degree, and might be able to help me.

I was out to visit Randy and Mitch for minor warranty issues earlier last fall, and asked why my house batteries discharged while going down the road with the inverter turned on and no load (but not when the inverter was off).

Their highly capable inverter tech/electrician gave me a rundown on the operation and design of the inverter, and I learned that:
• The inverter with no load will draw power from the batteries
• The alternator charges the chassis batteries first, then the house batteries second while driving
• The reverse is true when not driving, and hooked to shore power
• Holding the spring loaded "alt start" switch down will reverse this order
• Confirmed that the inverter will provide AC power to only the non-GFCI outlets

The tech didn't address the advanced issues/settings mentioned elsewhere in this thread. I have the house batteries on charge full time, and they don't boil over, but they do need a little distilled water once every couple of months.

Do you have any specs and mfg/model info for the AGM batteries Randy has? I assume they are 6V and hook up in the same fashion as the ones that come out (two in series, and the two pairs in parallel).

What is the difference between the "old" and "new" Magnum Inverters? How/where do I change the inverter settings for the new AGMs?

[grayfox]

Originally Posted by Hallen01

Phil57:

I ask your patience on this request for comments and/or info; it sounds to me like you have studied this topic to the nth degree, and might be able to help me.

I was out to visit Randy and Mitch for minor warranty issues earlier last fall, and asked why my house batteries discharged while going down the road with the inverter turned on and no load (but not when the inverter was off).

Their highly capable inverter tech/electrician gave me a rundown on the operation and design of the inverter, and I learned that:
• The inverter with no load will draw power from the batteries
• The alternator charges the chassis batteries first, then the house batteries second while driving
• The reverse is true when not driving, and hooked to shore power
• Holding the spring loaded "alt start" switch down will reverse this order
• Confirmed that the inverter will provide AC power to only the non-GFCI outlets

The tech didn't address the advanced issues/settings mentioned elsewhere in this thread. I have the house batteries on charge full time, and they don't boil over, but they do need a little distilled water once every couple of months.

Do you have any specs and mfg/model info for the AGM batteries Randy has? I assume they are 6V and hook up in the same fashion as the ones that come out (two in series, and the two pairs in parallel).

What is the difference between the "old" and "new" Magnum Inverters? How/where do I change the inverter settings for the new AGMs?

Check out this thread... excellent info. here.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...tml#post549656

[Superchief]

mjracsj and boohoo,

I am in the process of changing my Magnum Inverter Remote from a MM-RC to a ME-RC controller. I have the Remote in hand, but my unit is in storage in Georgia. It appears from the prior posts that I've read, that you both put in the new ME-RC controller. Did the new one fit in the same space as the old one? I'm trying to figure out if I need to bring tools to enlarge the cutout space. Also I'm told by Magnum, that I don't need to run the new "telephone" wire that comes with it, that I can just plug in the exiting wire from the old remote. Did you find this to be true?

I have been reading through the manual for the new remote. Do you have any tips for setting it up. The main reason I went with the new remote was so that I could equalize the batteries and also set a lower charge level.

Any assistance you can offer would be greatly appreciated!

Craig
(Superchief)