Upgrading View House batteries to AGM?

Acid leakage is not an issue unless you turn the batteries upside down 

We have a combination of wet cell and AGM batteries on our boat (15 batteries, including a couple of 8D AGM, a couple of 8D wet cell, 12V wet cell, and ten 6V wet cell), and have been out in rough seas (try 28 feet broadside) with no acid spill or leakage.

Bottom line, I wouldn't buy batteries based on potential acid leakage.

cjshaker said:

I'm still shaking my head over Winnebago using such a brain dead converter. The retail price difference between the two converters is very small.

I also decided to play it safe and order the 45 amp unit. Found that Amazon.com had a seller with a decent price for the 'Progressive Dynamics PD4645 4600 Series 45 Amp Converter Upgrade Section', with free shipping, and ordered it.

Cheapest place I could find the 6v 220ah Concorde Lifeline GPL-4CT Deep Cycle RV Battery was https://www.wholesalebatteriesdirect.com/ for $295 ea, delivered.

Chris Shaker

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Good choice...now all you need is a Trik L Start and some solar panels and you'll be set!

Gary RV Roamer said:

...What you gain is zero maintenance and no outgassing while charging. Capacity is the same.

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And also lower internal resistance - they will charge faster and self-discharge slower.

I see John has been reading the AGM sales literature. 

Guilty as charged  ;D

Regarding acid leakage, I've owned vehicles with wet acid batteries that have had rusted out battery trays, and corroded battery boxes. I'm tired of having to pull the batteries out of some vehicles (motorcycles) to check and fill the wet cell battery. I've gone to AGM batteries in pretty much all of my toys. I'd rather be using my toys than washing down the batteries with baking soda, and checking the water levels every time I turn around.


Regarding cost, it appears that the wet cell batteries in the View (NAPA 824 something - rest of number under mount) would cost somewhere between $140 and $200/ea at NAPA:

https://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Result.aspx?Ntt=battery,+6&Ntk=Keyword&Nty=1&Dn=0&D=battery,+6&Dk=1&Dp=3&N=0

Too me, it seems worth the price difference to get the $300 AGM batteries, and free up my time from maintaining the batteries.


Got a ZAmp 145 watt solar cell and 30 amp controller installed on the View by the dealer before I picked it up. Looking at Xantrex echo charger and the trickle charger recommended on this list.


Converting the Wini to LED lights. Found this resource useful for ordering correct LEDs:

http://www.sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16393

http://www.superbrightleds.com/


Gotta laugh at myself, and my compulsion to 'trick out' everything I own...

Chris Shaker

IslandGuy said:

Good choice...now all you need is a Trik L Start and some solar panels and you'll be set!

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Found info on the Trik L Start, and it does sound great:

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php?topic=22189.0

http://www.lslproducts.com/TLSPage.html


Looks like Winnebago even recommends it:

http://www.winnebagoind.com/resources/service/pdfs/2006-04%20Trik-L-Start.pdf

Chris Shaker

I recommend the Xantrex Echo~Charge.  Winnebago is on-board with the Trik-L-Start because it is a very inexpensive product that does a pretty good job.  I think the Echo~Charge is a major step up in sophistication.

I had a Xantrex Echo Charge installed after repeated failure of my Intellitec BCC's chassis battery charging function. The Echo charge has worked flawlessly.

I also had a Xantrex Echo Charge installed in the 2002 Newmar I used to own. It worked great as well.

I've got a Trik L Start on order for the View.

Chris Shaker

Gary RV Roamer said:

I had a Xantrex Echo Charge installed after repeated failure of my Intellitec BCC's chassis battery charging function. The Echo charge has worked flawlessly.

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Finished installing the 'Progressive Dynamics PD4645 4600 Series 45 Amp Converter Upgrade Section' the other night. At least 90% of the work is replacing the fuse panel. The new fuse panel includes a pushbutton and LED for the charge wizard, so you can see what it is doing, and change modes if desired. I am very pleased with the converter upgrade. First off, it really does float the battery at 13.2 volts. Second, it has two quiet thermostatically controlled fans on it. It seems much quieter than the original converter fan.

Chris Shaker

cjshaker said:

I'm still shaking my head over Winnebago using such a brain dead converter. The retail price difference between the two converters is very small.

I also decided to play it safe and order the 45 amp unit. Found that Amazon.com had a seller with a decent price for the 'Progressive Dynamics PD4645 4600 Series 45 Amp Converter Upgrade Section', with free shipping, and ordered it.

Cheapest place I could find the 6v 220ah Concorde Lifeline GPL-4CT Deep Cycle RV Battery was https://www.wholesalebatteriesdirect.com/ for $295 ea, delivered.

Chris Shaker

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I made the mistake of removing the main converter box from the cabinet, which is not necessary to upgrade the converter. I wanted to see what was behind it.

Ended up spending a couple of hours remounting the main converter box using #8-32 T-nuts, and socket head cap screws. Used a dremel with a sanding drum to relieve the wood so that the lower converter power supply box mounting screws (which stick out the back of the main converter box) can go inside the cabinet opening, letting the main converter box mount flush to the cabinet. Had to grind a flat on the right most T-nuts and chisel a recess into the wood support for the inverter shelf so that the rightmost T-nuts could be installed.

Winnebago uses sheet metal screws to attach the main converter box into the cabinet opening, and the converter power supply box mounting screws make the bottom of the main converter box stick out about 1/4" from the cabinet. Looked tacky to me, but I spent way more time on remounting it neatly than I had imagined possible.

Chris Shaker

cjshaker said:

Finished installing the 'Progressive Dynamics PD4645 4600 Series 45 Amp Converter Upgrade Section' the other night. At least 90% of the work is replacing the fuse panel. The new fuse panel includes a pushbutton and LED for the charge wizard, so you can see what it is doing, and change modes if desired. I am very pleased with the converter upgrade. First off, it really does float the battery at 13.2 volts. Second, it has two quiet thermostatically controlled fans on it. It seems much quieter than the original converter fan.

Chris Shaker

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I installed the two 6v 220ah Concorde Lifeline GPL-4CT Deep Cycle RV Batteries today. Now, I need to fabricate a battery hold down, because these batteries are quite a bit taller than the original batteries.

Chris Shaker

We need pictures!

I used some 1/8" thick aluminum angle stock and 1/4" all thread rod from Home Depot to make my battery hold down. I used red locktight on a nut to turn the all thread rod into a bolt.

The foam between the batteries was part of the battery packaging. Below the foam, a 7" long piece of aluminum angle stock runs between the batteries above the battery box bottom. Another 7" long piece of aluminum angle stock runs below the battery box bottom. I used another 1/4" nylock nut on the all thread on top of the upper angle bracket to clamp the two 7" angle aluminum pieces together, locking them in place on the battery box. Used three 1/4" washers on the all thread between the two aluminum angle brackets to keep from bending the aluminum. Cut a 12" long aluminum piece for the upper clamp bar. Put weather stripping on the bottom to cushion it against the batteries. Held it down on the all thread with a 1/4" nylock nut. Relieved all sharp edges with a bastard file. Seems like it will work

John Canfield said:

We need pictures!

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Another picture of the hold down bar

Good job!  Thanks for the pix.

I replaced the stock napa deep cycle batteries with Cabelas AGM after 2 stock batteries failed with in 2 years on my 08 Journey. It came with 3-group 27 batteries with room to spare in the tray. I found I could fit 4- group 24 AGM batteries in the tray and picked up some additional amp hour capacity by doing so.  Has to change the inverter/charger setting for AGM by moving some dip switches.  I've been very satisfied and they get a work out as I mostly boon dock.  I worked a special price with Cabelas store manager as the group 24 batteries were not selling very fast. I believe I paid $105 each for them.

I wish I had room for that many batteries!
Chris Shaker

Pigtrip said:

I replaced the stock napa deep cycle batteries with Cabelas AGM after 2 stock batteries failed with in 2 years on my 08 Journey. It came with 3-group 27 batteries with room to spare in the tray. I found I could fit 4- group 24 AGM batteries in the tray and picked up some additional amp hour capacity by doing so.  Has to change the inverter/charger setting for AGM by moving some dip switches.  I've been very satisfied and they get a work out as I mostly boon dock.  I worked a special price with Cabelas store manager as the group 24 batteries were not selling very fast. I believe I paid $105 each for them.

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