battery ? ... do I REALLY need an AGM

[jeffryscott]

I need a deep cycle battery for the 4Runner and had planned to go with an Odyssey, Lifeline or Optima. All are around $200. However, a non AGM is around $75 for a deep cycle marine starting battery.

I know the benefits of the glass matte, sealed batteries like the above three, and I know the disadvantages of normal lead-acid. But, for a vehicle driven mostly on the road, with some off-roading, no real thrashing about (except on the closed course during the trophy) would a regular deep cycle battery get me by (I have a fridge I NEED shakin to run) for a year or so until I can more comfortably put in a nice dual battery setup?

 

[Pskhaat]

FWIW, my auxilliary which runs all components other than the starter is a Wal-Mart Marine Deep Cycle. It's going on like 6 years strong and is in my 80 which except for one year of it's life is the trail truck.

 

[Grim Reaper]

Never had a Duralast from Autozone give me a problem in 8 years with three different 4x4's. $75 3 years replacement and the next 5year prorated replacement.

Wife ran one so dead that there was not even a dim twinkle. Charged it overnight and last I talked to the guy that bought the truck it was still going strong at 6 years.

I know they guy that bought my other truck still has it in it. Saw a recent picture of the truck with the hood open and its still in there after 5 years as well. It had a good bit of Winching on it from both of us.

I just cant understand the fascination of paying $200 for a battery with a 1/4 the warranty. The only reason I would ever buy one of those if I had No choice but to run it on its side.

 

[Scott Brady]

The greatest advantage is stored power, which is what makes them so great.

Here is a comparison to an Optima (spiral type)

Group 24
Optima 55ah
Lifeline 74ah

Group 31
Optima 75ah
Lifeline 105ah

For the same size you get nearly 30% more reserve. Easy decision in my mind.

 

[jeff@work]

Just figured I'd throw this out there, I have two of these http://cgi.ebay.com/Golf-Cart-Batte...6910500QQihZ007QQcategoryZ40155QQcmdZViewItem

I'm actually running 3 group 31's, one of them is the Universal Battery brand that i purchased before i found the deal on these. They're identical to the UB121100 like this one here http://www.mrsolar.com/page/MSOS/PROD/universial/UB121100 they just have different connections for the battery cables. I haven't been using them for that long so as to really give a report on their longevity but no complaints so far.

Oh, the savings really comes from the fact that if you're ever up in the phx area that company will let you pick them up at their office after you've won the auction. $100 for a group 31 agm worked for me! :wings:

 

[VikingVince]

Jeff,

Just figure out the amp hours you need for your camping situations, i.e. the number of amp hours your fridge draws over say a 24 hour period. (Keep in mind the fridge only runs about 20 min/hour...so if your specs say the fridge draws 1.5 amps/hr, you're only using .5 amps/hr...plus you can turn it off at night as well...) Scott has pointed out the significant differences in total hours. I've had a Lifeline AGM for 3 years...can't recall the model number but it's around 100 amp hours...I need that because I like to sit in one place for 4-5 days. But if the vast majority of your needs is weekend camping with the family, I would think the less expensive type with fewer AH would be fine.

If you only travel with one battery with fewer AH, I would recommend carrying one of the portable starters just in case. You should carry one of those regardless what type of battery you go with, especially if no one else is along. They're not that much at Home Depot. I always carry one and it did save me once. (although I could have hassled with taking out the auxillary for a start)

 

[Ursidae69]

I picked up a AGM battery from my local battery plus store, its brand name is genesis IIRC. It is either 105 or 110 ah and the price was decent.

 

[BajaXplorer]

I need a deep cycle battery for the 4Runner and had planned to go with an Odyssey, Lifeline or Optima. All are around $200. However, a non AGM is around $75 for a deep cycle marine starting battery.

FYI:
I was looking for an Odyssey Group 31 (PC2150) AGM battery this past week (with prices ranging from $287 to $318) and ended up buying a Deka Group 31 AGM (105ah) for about half the price at $157. Have no experience with them, but for the money I decided to give it a try.
BX

 

[Scott Brady]

FYI:
I was looking for an Odyssey Group 31 (PC2150) AGM battery this past week (with prices ranging from $287 to $318) and ended up buying a Deka Group 31 AGM (105ah) for about half the price at $157. Have no experience with them, but for the money I decided to give it a try.
BX

I have three of them in the garage right now, and it is currently the battery being specified for all of the Adventure Trailers. So far, an awesome battery.

I used the group 31 Dekas for the fridge testing we are doing for the summer Overland Journal issue.

 

[BajaXplorer]

Thanks for the info Scott. It's reassuring to hear that AT and OJ had the confidence to use the Deka. I had based my decision to buy on a conversation with the Phoenix Deka office/warehouse after finding the East Penn manufacturing site on the web. It's a perfect fit for my Portable Power Pack (although, I need a Gorilla to move it around for me).
BX