Anyone using a lead acid battery in their AT?

[Romer]

Did you keep it plugged into shore power to keep them charged? That will certainaly extend the life of the batteries. Thinking if they sit a long time that will reduce their life

I have two Deka Blems in a Dual Battery setup, but no long life data. I keep it plugged in to keep them fully charged.

In my truck I have been running AGMs for years. I had two Orbital which was suppose to be great, but both died within two years. The Optima yellow top lasted three, but I have known others with bad luck and some where they last seemingly forever.

I currently am running two Sears Die Hard Platinums in my truck after reading about the Odyssey (Same battery).

 

[Tucson T4R]

My two Deka Grp 31s are still working well. Just guessing they are about 3 yrs old now. I do keep them attached through my 20 amp "True Charge" Xantrex charger that monitors their voltage and periodically tops them off.

(Edit): I went back and checked. I installed them in March of 2008 so mine are just over 2 years old now.

I could just be lucky so far or maybe keeping them attached when home is extending their life. Time will tell.

Or maybe they like sleeping on their side. :sombrero:

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[flywgn]

Hey Terry,

Sorry, I can't be of any help with your battery problem. We had a Lifeline in our Horizon and I had two Interstates in the Conqueror...not to mention the FIVE Interstates in the ATRV. All had been connected to charge-maintenance units when in storage. No problems with any except two of the ones on the ATRV, that kept losing their charge.

How's the fishing on the CO? We're having a banner steelhead year up here on the Salmon. If you get bored there's still a couple of weeks left.

Allen R

 

[kcfunke]

Romer,

Thanks for asking.

I had shore power hooked up to maintain the batteries when not in use which is why I was somewhat surprised when testing everything out this week that the batteries would not hold a charge.

I went out today and got (2) Sears Diehard Platinum PM-1 Marine batteries and installed them.

They have a 3 year warranty so if I have problems I can swap them out.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

This question is for Rob or any other Canadian.

What is the best marine deep cycle battery for the money available in Canada. I bought a Energizer from Walmart last summer, barely held a charge over the weekend, so I took it back. Sounds like the Sears Diehard are the best, but I don't think I can get them in Canada.

Should I try a Nautilus from Canadian Tire, Costco didn't have any deep cycles, and suggestions.

Doug

Yeah... I dunno all that is available in Canada. I got a bunch of Odysseys for all my vehicles from www.batterybuyer.ca. Best prices I found in Canada.

For my trailer, I bought a Group 31 Deep Cycle from Canadian Tire. I stored it outside in my trailer all winter, and it seems to have held up so far. I figure... it's got a warranty that you could access anywhere you can find a CTC... which is pretty much any population center in all of Canada so...

 

[slooowr6]

My Deka AGM group 31 just died after 2 years. This battery was perfectly maintained (trickle charged with a smart charger), stored correctly, and lightly used. Way too much money to spend for such a short use life. I have had terrible luck with AGM batteries lasting more than a year or so regardless of the brand. I currently have more than 30 lead-acid batteries running in vehicles and boats and I replace only a few every year. I'm looking at going to a lead-acid battery for my Horizon. Anyone doing this? How are you enclosing it? Anyone used a sealed battery box with venting?

My Interstate deep AGM deep cycle died after 3+ years, it was my fault for let it drained to death. I email http://store.solar-electric.com/ and they told me if I only use the battery every now and want to keep cost down then a lead-acid will work just fine as long as there is some vent in my camper where the battery is stored. In my last trip the battery works just fine. We'll see how long the one I got from Costco is going to last.