Replacement House Batteries

[prowler]

Hi There .... Time to replace our 4 X 6v flooded acid house batteries that are now 7 years old and have a couple of lazy cells

 

We have 400 Watts of solar .... with a top of the range controller ....... Smart charger on board

 

Batteries are in a devil of a place to get at so now these acid ones need replacing I would like suggestions an what to

replace them with so they do not need topping up

Thanks ... Brownie

[Zulu]

Lifeline GPL-4CT.

[w6pea]

Hi There .... Time to replace our 4 X 6v flooded acid house batteries that are now 7 years old and have a couple of lazy cells

 

We have 400 Watts of solar .... with a top of the range controller ....... Smart charger on board

 

Batteries are in a devil of a place to get at so now these acid ones need replacing I would like suggestions an what to

replace them with so they do not need topping up

Thanks ... Brownie

 

 

Lifeline GPL-4CT.

 

 

I'm n the same predicament as Lynx, so I guess after the Christmas and New Year Holidays I will be looking to get new battery's, Our's are not quite 8 yrs old.

Thank You for posting the link.

[oldjohnt]

lynk, it sounds like your set up is similar to mine. I have 450 Amp Hours of stored battery energy, 470 solar watts, a temperature compensated smart MPPT Solar charge controller, and a PD 9280 smart 4 stage charger. I also battery shopped before deciding on my four Trojan T-105's (450 Amp Hours total) HOWEVER (my access wasn't much of a problem)

 

1) If venting was a concern,,,,,,,,,

2) Plus difficult access hard to maintain electrolyte levels,,,,,,,,,,,

3) Self discharge rate

 

I strongly considered Fullriver AGM and to get around the same amp hours of storage and in order to use two 12 volt units to simplify wiring, the particular units I narrowed my search down to consisted of:

 

Two Fullriver DC215-12 @ 215 Amp Hours each (430 AH total)

 

Two Fullriver DC 260-12 @ 260 Amp Hours each (520 AH total)

 

I had already studied Lifeline and Optima and wasn't as familiar with Fullriver, but some of the good gentlemen here had good things to say about them.

 

http://www.fullriverbattery.com/series/batteries/dc-series#view-models

 

Provided you have storage space and compatible for AGM charger and charge controller, AGM sounds like a good plan so no worries with adding electrolyte and less venting problems

 

John T Live from Avon Park Florida

[Chad Heiser]

I second Fullriver AGM batteries. I have them in my house bank on my HDT and am putting them in my new 5er (I already have the batteries, but don't have the 5er yet). I have been very happy with my Fullrivers and real they are the best quality AGM battery for the price out there.

[Yarome]

Fullriver's are a great option. Lifelines are a given for AGM's.

 

You know though.. there are fairly inexpensive watering systems that can be installed to take 95% of the work out of keeping your wet cells topped off. Especially in bays that are less accessible. Each cell is permanently plumbed so all it takes is a few squeezes on a bulb pump and each cell is automatically topped off to the ideal fill level.

 

Just something to consider as a "half-step" (cost-wise) if going AGM is going to put a major dent in your budget.

 

[the link above is just an example. There are several systems on the market]

[oldjohnt]

Yarome, I fairly recently purchased (E Bay) and installed the Pro Fill watering system you referenced and am very happy with it. It was so easy to install and when I need to top off my four Trojans all you do is stick a tube down in a jug of distilled water and give the squeeze bulb a few pumps, piece of cake. If your batteries are hard to get at its even more of a necessity.

 

John T A Happy Camper live from sunny Avon Park Florida

[Yarome]

installed the Pro Fill watering system you referenced and am very happy with it.

 

Yup. Pretty slick, hu. Not that my 105's were all that hard to get at.. I'm just lazy that way. There's still the yearly cleaning and such, but it sure makes life easier and helps a guy to be more inclined to keep up with monthly top-offs. I DO still love my AGM's though.. at least I "think" I still have them... I haven't seen them in so long I can't be sure.

[Dale P]

One I do suggest, get the MFG information on charging there battery. Not all batteries are charged the same.

I recently, found out Interstate GCU batteries are charged at a higher absorption and float then the standard deep cycle.

And it really does make difference when dry camping.

[Yarome]

I recently, found out Interstate GCU batteries are charged at a higher absorption and float then the standard deep cycle.

 

It's never a bad idea, however, I would strongly contend that nearly ALL true deep cycle batteries are more than capable of charging at higher bulk and absorption rates.. even if the MFG's published rates are lower. There are sometimes other considerations in play with those published rates (conformity to current charger profiles, outdated information) rather than the equipment's actual capability.

 

And as Dale stated.. "it really does make (a) difference".