The Best Deep-Cycle 12 Volt AGM Battery?

[nomad297]

What is the best Group 31 12 volt AGM battery that can be bought for less than $400.00? If it’s a little more than $400.00, I can consider it.

It must be Group 31 and it must be a sealed, maintenance-free AGM.

Thanks,

Bruce

[valleyduo]

interstate 31M-AGM. Retails for 325. Don't know if its the best, but I trust Interstate Batteries.

[spock123]

Not to hijack your thread but I wonder if 6 volt AGM batteries are worth the difference in wet cell batteries

[Keystoner]

Bruce,

I use East Penn Manufacturing "Deka" batteries in my vehicles and trailer. They are a major manufacturer. I figured if they were good enough for a fleet of forklifts they'd do well for me. The Intimidator AGM should be in your price range. Amazon has them for $299.

Bruce

[Dave Lyon]

Originally Posted by Keystoner

Bruce,

I use East Penn Manufacturing "Deka" batteries in my vehicles and trailer. They are a major manufacturer. I figured if they were good enough for a fleet of forklifts they'd do well for me. The Intimidator AGM should be in your price range. Amazon has them for $299.

Bruce

I can only speak to Deka, I have a deep cycle group 31 flooded battery going on 4 years and it's been a good battery.

I would expect their AGM line would be a good product.

[Randy-2198]

In Denver there is a tiny outfit that rebuilds car batteries and sells them for $31 with trade.

Rockymtnbattery

They also sell 12v AGM and 6 volt conventional refurbished batteries, They were $50 a year ago. I used one for 5 years as a 12 volt trolling motor battery.

The two in my camper are 1 year old and going strong.

[Polesetter]

I use Cabela’s brand in my boat and dump trailer and had great success with them and they have very good reviews may want to check it out, they put them on sale often. This time of the year you get really good deals on them. That is what I will put in the camper when does batteries go.

[Bluepill]

I would go with Trojan or Lifeline if you want the best.

https://www.trojanbattery.com/product/31-agm/

[RKBob]

Lifeline...😎

[redhooker]

Enersys is widely regarded by the industry as the “best” AGM battery, lifeline and Trojan not far behind.

[BigH]

Originally Posted by Bluepill

I would go with Trojan or Lifeline if you want the best.

https://www.trojanbattery.com/product/31-agm/

Correct.

I have ran many different brands in various equipment at work. -This is extreme service and suffers under the abuse of dingbats but nothing have lasted longer than the Trojan. Nothing has performed worse than Interstate.

[oldgoat1526]

I just had to replace a Duracell 12V Deep Cycle that was manufactured March 2018.

[camaraderie]

To stay within your parameters I'd go for either the Trojan Reliant AGM/s or the Deka Intimidator Deep cycle AGM's.
If I had $500 bucks to spend...I'd go for the Carbon Foam AGM;s from Oasis/Firefly...as they are truly a cut above with differentiating technology.
Read about 'em here...
https://www.bruceschwab.com/advanced...asis-group-31/


Thousands more cycles, deeper discharge, no sulphation worries, half the recharge time, no need to top off...and no special charging systems required. 1/2 the price of Lithium.

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by BigH

Nothing has performed worse than Interstate.

In your opinion, does this include Interstate’s 31-AGM7? If so, what have you found to be its deficiencies? I am asking because this is the battery I have been using, and why I started this topic—to see if there is something equal or better, for any reasons, in the same price range. Here is a link to that battery:

https://www.interstatebatteries.com/products/31-agm7

The problem I have with this particular battery is, every time I order one, it takes at least two weeks to receive it. The Interstate rep (and the people at Interstate) says this battery is not usually stocked anywhere and it has to be made when it is requested. I have tried ordering this battery from places online where they claim it is “In Stock”, but when I click to put it into a “cart”, I get an “Out of Stock” message or I receive an email after the transaction telling me the same.

Bruce

[nomad297]

Thanks to everybody for your help so far.

Bruce

[BigH]

Originally Posted by nomad297

In your opinion, does this include Interstate’s 31-AGM7? If so, what have you found to be its deficiencies? I am asking because this is the battery I have been using, and why I started this topic—to see if there is something equal or better, for any reasons, in the same price range. Here is a link to that battery:

https://www.interstatebatteries.com/products/31-agm7

The problem I have with this particular battery is, every time I order one, it takes at least two weeks to receive it. The Interstate rep (and the people at Interstate) says this battery is not usually stocked anywhere and it has to be made when it is requested. I have tried ordering this battery from places online where they claim it is “In Stock”, but when I click to put it into a “cart”, I get an “Out of Stock” message or I receive an email after the transaction telling me the same.

Bruce

Yep that size, smaller and larger.
They last about one year in an industrial (abusive environment) before they will not hold a decent charge. The trojan go more than three years treated the same way and they don't just 'die', they fade to holding less charge over a much longer period of time. -This allows me to order them in a more preventative way.

I found the same to be true with a 24 volt trolling motor set-up.

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by BigH

Yep that size, smaller and larger.
They last about one year in an industrial (abusive environment) before they will not hold a decent charge. The trojan go more than three years treated the same way and they don't just 'die', they fade to holding less charge over a much longer period of time. -This allows me to order them in a more preventative way.

I found the same to be true with a 24 volt trolling motor set-up.

Thank you!

Bruce

[redhooker]

Originally Posted by BigH

Yep that size, smaller and larger.
They last about one year in an industrial (abusive environment) before they will not hold a decent charge. The trojan go more than three years treated the same way and they don't just 'die', they fade to holding less charge over a much longer period of time. -This allows me to order them in a more preventative way.

I found the same to be true with a 24 volt trolling motor set-up.

My experience was similar and most of my AGM useage was also with trolling motors. We fished 10 to 15 tournaments a year fishing 7 to 14 days per tourney. Our style of fishing would have us on the troller 7 plus hours per day, so we really stretched out our batteries. After thousands of dollars spent on AGMs of numerous brands we found the best performers were the trolling thunders, but even at that we were still disappointed. We were wearing out a set in under 2 months.

The problem we ran into was AGMs do not deep cycle as well as wet cell batteries, especially when you charge at under 10 amps. After extended trials and help from the factory engineers Enersys actually designed a charger for our use. Trojan told us we were using the batteries in a way for which they were not designed. With a 24 volt setup there was no way to charge 2 banks at 15 amps each without a 30 amp dedicated service. Enersys designed a charger (2006 or ‘07) that would switch banks back and forth every 5 minutes charging 15 amps. The high amp rate is the only way to prevent sulfating the cells and shortening their amp hours with each cycle if you run the cells down below 11 volts (which we did regularly). The next issue we had was the oscillating charger would frequently fault while we slept (you would have to unplug the charger for a minute to reset) and we would awake the next am to dead batteries.

After all that I now only use wet cells for deep cycle use and only spec AGMs where space is a premium or on a couple occasions when we needed to mount the batteries on their sides. As cranking batteries I have had great luck with them as well.

Sorry for the long post just wanted to share.

[spock123]

You can destroy any battery by charging it wrong

[GeorgeFries]

Mr. Nomad297

(Mine was a "57" Nomad I seldom washed or waxed! After all, I was a high school student in 1968!)

Amish, considered by some as under-educated, in my experience are incredibly intelligent posing as shrewd business men with unparalleled entrepreneurship! The pictures I posted are a small part of "John's" dairy operations off grid system. Note the color of the batteries.

Due to my "education" pertaining to previous posts, I'm staying "on topic". Offered is my understanding virtually every consumer battery is either a subsidiary of Johnson Controls or East Penn. Of course there are independents and battery manufacturers on the world market. I submit to http://herehydro.weebly.com/uploads/...names_list.pdf and a later version here, Battery Manufacturers and Brand Names List . I have been a "Bill Durden" follower since 1989.

Without specificities other than "Group 31" at or below $400.00, to me it's pretty clear what you want. Founded in 1925 by co-founders George Godber and Carl Speer, Trojan Battery Company, for its purpose, has dominated the industry. July, 2013, Charlesbank Capital Partners acquired controlling interests. The Godber family is maintaining significant ownership.

I do not use a Trojan for my Wildcat; reason being similar to my feasibility study of running diesel. I do use Trojan batteries being off-grid, outside Eagle, Alaska, a system set up by RES, (Renewable Energy Systems of Alaska.) Their 11- years operational history has been flawless. Harvey, a life long friend living off-grid outside Flagstaff, Arizona, had his system installed by Northern Arizona Wind and Sun. His batteries are original from eight years ago. Here are two batteries which you might be looking for; https://www.solar-electric.com/searc...Sealed+Battery . Of course there's no accounting for cost pending your point of purchase.

There's more I might add, but I promised to limit myself to 250 words or less, or at least try! (I'm at 242... got it!)

George G. Fries