Sorry if I missed it but are the ORielly bought batteries 8 d AGM? My house batteries are and the brand is either Penn or Deca. They have stayed strong over 5 years.
Why did frugal Foretravel equip every unihome and unicoach made with mk(east penn) gel batteries you ask?
Other than lifeline's AGM's cannot be equalized to restore lost capacity. Why would AGM'S lose capacity? Partial charging then use.
Gels or li-ions are designed to take partial recharging then to be drawn down again and not to have much effect on the gels life.
If you can fully charge a AGM back to 100% every time after use you will still have 50% of the cycle life of gels.
To go from 50% charge to 85% bulk charge takes roughly the same time as to go from 85% to 100% which takes a lot of gen time if not driving and/or hooked to a power pole. So some are tempted to stop the charge cycle before it gets to 100%.
AGMS under those conditions slowly lose capacity.
Gel Vs AGM Vs flooded. It of course depends on your type of RV'ing.
So then there is the issue of cost vs life. Our style of RV'ing is pole to pole with an occasional overnight boondock. So we went the old fashioned route. Flooded 8D battery from O'Reilly @ $259.00 Vs $867.00 for an MK Gel.
If one boondocks a lot. Then of course it's a totally different battery ballgame.
Every dead battery issue I have had is due to my stupidity, not the type of battery. Usual scenario is put the coach to bed and forget to turn of the bathroom thermostat. When It gets below 55F (the min temp setting) the fans come on. And boom, dead house batteries. And thus why I just disconnect the batteries. Problem solved.
Be extremely careful. Compartment was not designed for venting hydrogen gas batteries.
Older unihomes that had flooded cell batteries had a fiberglass cover over their battery tray that had a vent pipe into the rear axle area.
It could also be that it was the best option given the technology at the time (20-30 years ago) OR it's what they could source most readily in the Nacogdoches area.
One shouldn't only consider what something was built with years ago when shopping for replacement items. Or maybe we should go back to bias ply tires, after all, they worked just fine back in the day ;)
The Xantrex has a float charging curve that will tamp down the current when nearing full charge. High current charging when the battery is nearly fully charged is when Hydrogen is released via electrolysis. A float charge (Small amperage) will release the remaining sulfate from the lead plates but prevent (or severely limit) electrolysis.
What alternator are you using?
Bob, Not concerned when going down the road. There is some air moving around in that compartment via one of the drain hoses going through the floor that is loose and has a sizable gap.