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Topic: New house Batteries (Read 965 times) previous topic - next topic

New house Batteries

We have an 1989 U280 GV and are looking to upgrade the house batteries. I have been reading all the old forums about the AGM's and the gel. I want to get the AGM's. Is there anything i need to worry about as far as the charging system on this old coach.
Will they be ok? I'm looking to do a lot more boonedocking and the 4 year old wet cell batteries are not getting it done.
What if any other concerns should i look at?
We are fulltiming now and love the boonedocking. I have been running the gen to much with the old bats...
Any help or imput will be great.

Thank You,
Dave
Dave & Cris
1989 36' U280 Grand Villa SBID #3407

Re: New house Batteries

Reply #1 –
Dave,

We need to know what charger, converter or inverter/charger you have to be able to give advice.
Brett Wolfe
EX: 1993 U240
Moderator, ForeForum 2001-
Moderator Diesel RV Club 2002-
Moderator, FMCA Forum 2009-2020
Chairman FMCA Technical Advisory Committee 2011-2020

Re: New house Batteries

Reply #2 –
Ok Brett i will get that in the morning and post it.
Thanks,
Dave
Dave & Cris
1989 36' U280 Grand Villa SBID #3407

Re: New house Batteries

Reply #3 –
If you have the batteries accessible under the lift up steps and are willing to look to see if there is water over the plates and the battery space is open for ventilation, no reason why you can't use wet cells and replace them when needed.

GEL & AGM have advantages in minimal maintenance but they are sealed and can be quickly damaged if not charged with an intelligent charger in good working order. Generally battery capacity can be measured on how heavy they are for comparison purposes. You may find it practical to buy higher capacity wet cells for increased capacity at a much lower cost.

All batteries have limited capacity and need to be charged daily during boondocking, so your current batteries may be ok.

We have solar, but run our generator from about 6 pm to 10 pm and again in the morning for about an hour when boondocking. On overcast days our gen may run during the day depending on our computer & TV loads. Fully turning off all TVs, DVRs, Microwave, Comuters, etc with power strip when not needed will extend battery life during dry camping.

Re: New house Batteries

Reply #4 –
Being mostly at the racetrack, we do nothing but boondocking and I plan to stick with lead acid.  I've got some good friends at East Penn (Deka batteries) they recommend that plan for the reasons mentioned above about AGMs/Gels.  They get used and abused by frequent running (and forgetting about) of the inverter, partial charge/ heavy discharge, etc.  The previous LAs have been in for 6 yrs and they just dont tolerate it anymore. 
Mike
2002 U270 36'

Re: New house Batteries

Reply #5 –
Read about the differences between the AGM and Gel on EAST PENN manufacturing co., inc.: Lead-Acid Batteries; Battery Manufacturers;

before you make the purchase.

Regards,
Jon Twork

JON TWORK KB8RSA
Full Time RVer (10+ Years) & Dedicated Boondocker
Retired, Unemployed, Homeless Transients
1996 Foretravel U270-36 w/24' Timberwolf Trailer
I firmly believe that tomorrow holds the possibility for new technologies, astounding discoveries, and a reprieve from my remaining obligations.
Welcome to WeRV2 (Under Construction)
Find Jon: Via Satellite Tracker Datastorm Users
The Second Amendment is in place in case they ignore the others.

Re: New house Batteries

Reply #6 –
Quote from: Jon Twork –
Read about the differences between the AGM and Gel on EAST PENN manufacturing co., inc.: Lead-Acid Batteries; Battery Manufacturers;

before you make the purchase.

I've gone to this site several times and never managed to find anything that clearly explains the differences between the various battery types. This time none of the .pdf files even came up. But when they have come up they aren't very clear. One link for RV batteries is devoted to marine batteries and classified according to outboard motor types and horsepower. Nothing that I could find on it about RVs.

I won't need new batteries for a while but I'm still not sure about exactly what would be suitable and economical for various services. At one time it was simple: deep cycle marine batteries or golf cart batteries. Now... not so much.

I'm still leaning toward staying with wet cells; mostly because they worked for me for a long time even in solar/wind service.

Craig
1993 U225 36' Unihome GV with PACBRAKE exhaust retarder, Banks Stinger and Solar Panels.
Toad: 1999 Jeep Wrangler 2-door soft-top.

"No one has ever had to evacuate a city because the solar panels broke."

Re: New house Batteries

Reply #7 –
Here is a link to comparison info. Look for info on number of duty cycles in deep cycle operation Lots of other good info in here too.

0139EastPenn.pdf - By Nitro PDF Software

Regards,

Jon Twork
JON TWORK KB8RSA
Full Time RVer (10+ Years) & Dedicated Boondocker
Retired, Unemployed, Homeless Transients
1996 Foretravel U270-36 w/24' Timberwolf Trailer
I firmly believe that tomorrow holds the possibility for new technologies, astounding discoveries, and a reprieve from my remaining obligations.
Welcome to WeRV2 (Under Construction)
Find Jon: Via Satellite Tracker Datastorm Users
The Second Amendment is in place in case they ignore the others.

Re: New house Batteries

Reply #8 –
Quote from: Jon Twork –
Here is a link to comparison info. Look for info on number of duty cycles in deep cycle operation Lots of other good info in here too.

0139EastPenn.pdf - By Nitro PDF Software

That looks like a good one. Thanks, Jon.

Craig
1993 U225 36' Unihome GV with PACBRAKE exhaust retarder, Banks Stinger and Solar Panels.
Toad: 1999 Jeep Wrangler 2-door soft-top.

"No one has ever had to evacuate a city because the solar panels broke."

Re: New house Batteries

Reply #9 –
Quote from: wolfe10 –
Dave,

We need to know what charger, converter or inverter/charger you have to be able to give advice.

Brett I have a Magne Tek Converter/ Charger.
I also looked into the batteries that are in here now and I see they are commercial truck batteries wet cell. Would it make a big difference to get the deep cycle batteries?
I have 3 Deka type 908D 12volt commercial batteries. 2 house and one start.
Thanks,
Dave
Dave & Cris
1989 36' U280 Grand Villa SBID #3407