AGM or Conventional

[rantandrave]

Possibly replacing leisure battery. Previouly Spanish AGM 80AH but bought by previous owner so no idea age etc. Not off grid a lot, so considering 80AH again. Any advice on AGM or conventional Lead acid please.

 

[BouncyBoatFolk]

Well, there's a nice can of worms for the weekend!!
I'll start then, given your requirements, the best quality you can get, for the best price, for the battery space available.
More info about the vans storage manner would help as well. Any E.H. ?Solar?
Just pop me tin hat on
Mike.

 

[Two on Tour]

Lenny HB your presents is require to help this poor soul make a decision.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Exide do an 80ah gel.

 

[Lenny HB]

The first question is what charge settings are avalible on your charger as this will affect your choice of battery type, also how do you use your van.

AGM are about the worst choice for leisure use with high failure rates between one & two years old.

Conventional Lead acid are a good choice but you are limited to a 50% discharge if you want them to last, 100ah battery only gives you 50ah of useable power. If only spending the odd night off grid they will be fine for you.

Gel Batteries are a very good option as they can be discharged to 80% DOD so an 80ah Gel will give you 64ah of useable power. The only slight downside is they take longer to fully charge as they need an absorption phase of several hours for a full charge. Also they last a very long time 6 to 10 years is quite normal.

If you are only going to fit one battery and only going to spend one night off grid at a time you will get by with a conventional, if looking at 2 or 3 nights off grid I would fit a Gel but the decision depends on your charger.

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[Richard n Ann]

The first question is what charge settings are avalible on your charger as this will affect your choice of battery type, also how do you use your van.

AGM are about the worst choice for leisure use with high failure rates between one & two years old.

Conventional Lead acid are a good choice but you are limited to a 50% discharge if you want them to last, 100ah battery only gives you 50ah of useable power. If only spending the odd night off grid they will be fine for you.

Gel Batteries are a very good option as they can be discharged to 80% DOD so an 80ah Gel will give you 64ah of useable power. The only slight downside is they take longer to fully charge as they need an absorption phase of several hours for a full charge. Also they last a very long time 6 to 10 years is quite normal.

If you are only going to fit one battery and only going to spend one night off grid at a time you will get by with a conventional, if looking at 2 or 3 nights off grid I would fit a Gel but the decision depends on your charger.

Yeah that's what I was going to say but I only got as far as one line

 

[rantandrave]

My apologies to everyone who responded. I've spent so long under/inside my camper removing and replacing fuses o try to find a fault that I failed to offer sufficient information for you good people to help. We have a solar panel and EHU point and only go of grid for a few days at a time. The existing AGM has sufficed until recently. i need to understand how to confirm the power of the chargers and will post tomorrow. Thanks again for your valued comments.

 

[Minxy]

Yeah that's what I was going to say but I only got as far as one line

Dog and bark come to mind!

 

[Minxy]

Hi and welcome to the fun house!

Basically what Lenny said ... forget AGM and go for either standard lead (but a proper leisure one) or gel - Sonnerschein gels are virtually the same as Excide (made by the same company) and just branded differently but often a big cheaper.

 

[rantandrave]

Checked and the solar panel is an Alden 110 amp. no problems with the panel when i checked the output after the regulator. however, i took off the battery since the camper is now in the barn, and put it on a charger. 48 hours and charger still showing charging a 3 amps, but battery showing 12.66 volts across terminals. is it possible this agm battery has a faulty cell and how would i check that pleeeease?

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[Lenny HB]

Checked and the solar panel is an Alden 110 amp. no problems with the panel when i checked the output after the regulator. however, i took off the battery since the camper is now in the barn, and put it on a charger. 48 hours and charger still showing charging a 3 amps, but battery showing 12.66 volts across terminals. is it possible this agm battery has a faulty cell and how would i check that pleeeease?

Don't need to check the battery has had it.