AGM Battery Care Info...

[Mexray]

For those that have or are looking into buying AGM type batteries, here's some good 'care & feeding' type info about the 'Lifeline' brand...As you can read below, proper maintenance is the key to getting the most out of your rig's batteries...check it out here:

http://www.lifelinebatteries.com/manual.php

 

[Jeff]

Ray:

Thanks for the info.

 

[Terry A. Brewer]

Ray

I just replaced my Lifelines 8D's.... They were just starting their 10th year.

 

[mreman]

I too need some help with battery care, I don't know what an AGM Battery is???
I have 2 --- 6 volt Batteries, Interstate wired in series. My last two lasted 5 years.
I have the trailer hooked up to 120 house currant on a timer that is set for 1 hour each day.
When I check the panel it normally reads 2/3 full, sometimes full.

My questions are:
Should I run it longer, if I did will it hurt the battery or shorten the life of the converter??

Should I use dialectic grease?? on the terminals.

This year my converter 45amp died, does it have anything to do with my charging cycle??

Thanks for your help.

 

[Bill Adams]

We have 4 8-D Lifeline batteries and they are now 9 years old as of January.  We hope to get another full year out of them but they are showing signs of age.  2 batteries are starting to leak acid at one terminal and the capacity is clearly reduced from when they were new.  The good news is that with over 9 years usage the dollar per year savings leave us well ahead of the game compared to anything else we have used.  Even the wet cells which only cost about $150 each would not last more than a couple of years.  Now, I have to consider replacing my bank to the tune of $2400 and while I know it will be a good long-term investment, it just hurts to have to consider spending that much money in a day.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Dielectric grease helps avoid corrosion at the connection, but if you aren't seeing any corrosion and aren't having problem with the wiring, I wouldn't worry about it.

An hour a day of charging is more than sufficient to replace what what is lost through self discharge, but if you have any actual load on the batteries while the RV is sitting, e.g. fridge power on, LP detector, etc., then consider making t 1.5 or 2.0 hours. A little extra doesn't hurt - it's the 24/7 charging by a less-than-well-regulated charger that is harmful to battery life.  However, if you have a quality three stage charger, there is no real need to shut it down at all. What brand & model did you replace the dead converter with?

I doubt if the charging cycle had anything to do with the demise of your converter. Was it very old?

 

[mreman]

The unit I replaced the old one was identicle with bad one, sold by Camping world a 45amp ??WIF or something like that, I would have to pull the cover off to be 100%

But I checked it tonight and it is fully charged at 1 hr. So I think I will leave it set there.

Thanks for your input. John