DEKA Batteries

Topic: DEKA Batteries (Read 1498 times) previous topic - next topic

DEKA Batteries

August 10, 2011, 09:29:11 am

Has any one here had any experience with DEKA Batteries, made by East Penn Battery ?
In shopping for 8 D AGMs I am finding that they have a better price than Lifline or Interstate at $532.00 each ( ouch ).
Gary B

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #1 – August 10, 2011, 09:56:34 am

Gary: FOT put in 3 DEKA 8Ds back in June for a little over $800 installed.At least that's what I remember.

The coach is in the shop at the moment with the invoice from FOT. (New block heater, fix small leak in radiator, fix redneck engineering on exhaust manifolds & then when we where ready to leave no 12v in the coach. Turns out he alternator was dead. Arggg! At least it happened at the shop not on the road.) When we pick up the coach today I'll check the invoice to make sure of that price. Although shipping from Nac will probably eat any savings...

see ya
ken

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #2 – August 10, 2011, 10:01:05 am

Quote from: Gary Bouland – August 10, 2011, 09:29:11 am

Has any one here had any experience with DEKA Batteries, made by East Penn Battery ?

A quick search for Deka shows Barry and Cindy do (as do Peter M. and Brad B.)

Deka Dominator GEL house batteries

Michelle

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #3 – August 10, 2011, 10:45:29 am

Mine where wet cells. Not gels...

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #4 – August 10, 2011, 11:38:48 am

Gary,I talked to Posey Battery today, Deka Sea Mate 8D AGM $411.75 +tax (813-621-6402)

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #5 – August 10, 2011, 11:45:51 am

Quote from: Gary Bouland – August 10, 2011, 09:29:11 am

Has any one here had any experience with DEKA Batteries, made by East Penn Battery ?
In shopping for 8 D AGMs I am finding that they have a better price than Lifline or Interstate at $532.00 each ( ouch ).
Gary B

Gary, I'm a manufacturers rep for various semiconductor products and we recently started selling HiRate gel batteries. If anyone is interested I could arrange for a small group buy for the HRL122500 (you can google for datasheet). I can purchase 10 for about $439 + shipping. Just throwing that out for anyone that would be interested.

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #6 – August 10, 2011, 01:13:29 pm

I have been using DEKA 8G8D Gel batteries for years. Decent performance.
I suggest that you evaluate the performance between AGM & GEL on East Penn's web site as it is very detailed and will insure that you make the correct decision for your application.
I currently have three 8G8D units on order locally for $392 each plus 6%sales tax. Core charge here is $85 per battery. Mine will be here in a week or two direct from East Penn with minimal setting/warehouse time. I am currently located in Michigan. We live off of our batteries and solar panels/wind generator mostly year round. Michigan is marginal for solar........
Regards,

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #7 – August 10, 2011, 01:23:22 pm

Quote from: Jon Twork – August 10, 2011, 01:13:29 pm

I have been using DEKA 8G8D Gel batteries for years. Decent performance.
I suggest that you evaluate the performance between AGM & GEL on East Penn's web site as it is very detailed and will insure that you make the correct decision for your application.

Here's the technical document comparing AGM and Gel from East Penn's site (uploaded by John Lang)

The selected media item is not currently available.

Michelle

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #8 – August 10, 2011, 02:54:41 pm

From reading East Penn's data it appears that there is very little difference between AGM and GEL, right ?
Do I have to change settings on my Heart Interface if I use GEL instead of the current AGM's.
Gary B

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #9 – August 10, 2011, 03:20:27 pm

from what I remember when shopping for batteries Deka is made by MK and are used mainly for the solar field. I priced them at FT last Nov and they wanted mid 700 for them so whent across the road and got one to replace my bad one at the hydraulic and Battery place for 600. I have since changed all 3- 8ds to Lifeline AGM after scouring the battery postings and talking to supposed "experts" in the battery world and most all said go for AGM, so I did and got 3 of them from AM solar in Oregon for 600 each + shipping from LA to there. I will know in a few yrs if I did the right thing ( but think I did)
John

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #10 – August 10, 2011, 03:21:58 pm

The East Penn batteries are as good as they come. One funny issue is they make most of the popular AGM, Gel, and Lead Acid batteries. You can get them with any popular sticker you like, M&K, Deka etc. Can say I have had great luck with them too, but I also have the 2500 W, Xantrax unit with the digital readout in the upper cabinet, do love that little option.
Just keep in mind the date code.

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #11 – August 11, 2011, 12:13:06 am

Quote from: Gary Bouland – August 10, 2011, 02:54:41 pm

From reading East Penn's data it appears that there is very little difference between AGM and GEL, right ?
Do I have to change settings on my Heart Interface if I use GEL instead of the current AGM's.

Depending on the parameters available in the Heart Interface, you may need to adjust the charging profile for gels.

-M

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #12 – August 12, 2011, 12:24:30 am

Deka East Penn may be the largest manufacturer of batteries. They own MK and many other brands and their batteries are considered by many as the best. They manufacture all types of batteries including GEL & AGM.

Deka AGMs have an advantage over Lifeline as Deka AGMs are the same exact size as our popular MK GELs and will fit in the same space. Lifelines are known as being a bit larger on the top and often multiple batteries will not fit in our battery trays.

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #13 – August 12, 2011, 01:18:27 am

Hmmm.... Three 8D Lifelines easily fit in the stock trays in our 1997 36ft U295 and 1999 40ft U320

best, paul

Quote

Deka AGMs have an advantage over Lifeline as Deka AGMs are the same exact size as our popular MK GELs and will fit in the same space. Lifelines are known as being a bit larger on the top and often multiple batteries will not fit in our battery trays.

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #14 – August 12, 2011, 08:13:40 am

Gels generally do require a lower charging voltage than AGMs or wet cells - the data sheet for the DEKA 8D gels I purchased recently spec out at 14.1 volts max. Overcharging them will drastically shorten their life. It's a good idea to check your alternator output when switching to gels to make sure you're not overcharging. Most inverter/chargers I've looked at have a separate charging profile for gels.

If you study the data sheets, gels can handle far more discharge/recharge cycles than AGM. On the other hand, they have a higher self-discharge rate and don't handle the extreme cold weather as well. I did elect to use an Optima yellow-top AGM as a starting battery due to previous experience.

After days of reading and searching, I ended up speaking with Mike Grimes at FT parts. Mentioned my intent to put AGMs in the coach. He told me they've had no end of problems with AGMs and have dropped them entirely. They apparently now use only MK gels in the new coaches. In the end, that's what swayed me in my purchasing decision.

Steve

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #15 – August 12, 2011, 10:44:33 am

It would be helpful if Fortravel would do the owners of its coaches a favor by recommending they not use AGMs and give the reasons why.

best, paul

Quote

After days of reading and searching, I ended up speaking with Mike Grimes at FT parts. Mentioned my intent to put AGMs in the coach. He told me they've had no end of problems with AGMs and have dropped them entirely. They apparently now use only MK gels in the new coaches. In the end, that's what swayed me in my purchasing decision.

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #16 – August 12, 2011, 11:42:13 am

Quote from: Paul Smith – August 12, 2011, 10:44:33 am

It would be helpful if Fortravel would do the owners of its coaches a favor by recommending they not use AGMs and give the reasons why.

best, paul

I think that it is the problem of the different required charging rates for the different type of batteries. When I installed a new converter charger, I had to install a jumper for it to work with my gel batteries because it would ruin them the way it was set up. Had I not known enough to ask the manufacturere of the converter/charger, I would have ruined the batteries One fix might be a converter/charger that automatically adjusts to the type of battery, if there is such a device.

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #17 – August 12, 2011, 11:57:28 am

Right.
But Gel's are known to be more sensitive to overcharging than AGM's, not the other way 'round.

Other manufacturers have gone the other way. For example, after 56 years of making quality 5 Star Class C's, conservative Lazy Daze went to AGM's:

"Top of the line LIFELINE brand maintenance free advanced AGM (absorbed glass mat) batteries. Two heavy duty 6 volt batteries wired in series to produce 12 volts and yield 220 ampere hours."

http://www.lazydaze.com/FEATURES.PDF
My personal experience with Lifelines in 3 motor homes is they've been trouble free. I cannot comment on other brands.

Which brand did Foretravel use? What were the problems?

best, paul

Quote

> On: Fri Aug 12, 2011 Paul Smith Wrote:
Quote
It would be helpful if Fortravel would do the owners of its coaches a favor by recommending they not use AGMs and give the reasons why.

best, paul

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #18 – August 12, 2011, 01:16:28 pm

they used Lifeline and the funny thing is when I was in FOT last november they told me that they used the AGMs ( and I am positive that is what I saw in the IH 45 on the production line at the time).
There must be something else involved in this decision as they gave me a good reason to look seriously at them. I still believe I made the right choice and many solar people swear by AGM and also a lot of online battery people say so too. I had no problem fitting them in my double layer rack I took the gels out of, and am sure the sizes are the same, but easy to check.

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #19 – August 12, 2011, 01:26:56 pm

Quote from: PatC – August 12, 2011, 11:42:13 am

Quote from: Paul Smith – August 12, 2011, 10:44:33 am
It would be helpful if Fortravel would do the owners of its coaches a favor by recommending they not use AGMs and give the reasons why.

best, paul

I think that it is the problem of the different required charging rates for the different type of batteries. When I installed a new converter charger, I had to install a jumper for it to work with my gel batteries because it would ruin them the way it was set up. Had I not known enough to ask the manufacturere of the converter/charger, I would have ruined the batteries One fix might be a converter/charger that automatically adjusts to the type of battery, if there is such a device.

Pat, my Prosine 3000 gives you a choice and has settings for Conventional, AGM or Gel in the setup and can be changed by the digital screen right in the coach. I just assumed all or most of the Digital Inverters and Smart Chargers had the same setup. Of course a new Foretravel owner would probably have no idea that special settings were required for different battery types if they don't frequent this Forum. I certainly would never have guessed that certain types of batteries needed special charge rates.

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #20 – August 12, 2011, 09:43:18 pm

Quote from: Paul Smith – August 12, 2011, 10:44:33 am

It would be helpful if Fortravel would do the owners of its coaches a favor by recommending they not use AGMs and give the reasons why.

best, paul

Well, all I can add is what Mike told me - he said they had so many coaches come back with AGM battery issues that they stopped using them. Seems they replaced them with gels and no more problems. I don't know if it was a bad batch, some issues with a supplier, or manufacturing problems, or what, but that's what he relayed to me. Is that the official company policy? I don't know.

I like AGMs - the Optima red top I purchased in 1993 was still going strong in the second car it was in when I sold it in 2009. Never had a battery last that long before.

In the end, it was the charge cycles that led me to settle on the gels. Guess I'll see over time if I made a good or bad decision.

Spent so many hours searching and reading and trying to make a wise purchase - in the end, I think it's six of one and a half dozen of the other. Keep the connections clean and tight, don't overcharge or discharge too low between charges, and providing they were well made in the first place, the batteries will last some time.

Steve

Re: DEKA Batteries

Reply #21 – August 15, 2011, 11:26:23 am

I can confirm that Aubrey Lee the Engineering Manager at FOT told me the same thing 5 days ago. They've switched from AGM back to gel from East Penn Deka. He didn't state why other than they had a bunch of issues with the AGMs they were using on new coaches. This was all around a discussion we were having about LiFePO4 batteries and their possible usage in new models.

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