AGM OR LEAD BATTERY

[Martin59]

Can anyone help me, my leisure battery just went kaput, was giving off carbon monoxide set the alarm off, touched it is was roasting hot, put it a bucket of water to cool it down before getting g rid of it, it boiled the water, now I need a new one thought about AGM one it’s class A for wild camping as well but heavy anyone know which is better the AGM or lead.
Martin

 

[Spriddler]

Are you sure that it's the battery that is the problem?

 

[Stealaway]

I sold my new AGM and bought 2x 140ah sealed lead acid for my new van.

 

[Phill D]

I agree with Spriddler eliminate the other components as being OK before replacing it and risking another over charging event.

 

[Phill D]

Then if the charging g circuitry is all good I would go Gell os sealed lead acid.
Assuming that your charger will be OK for Gell.

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[Swifter]

Lithium .

 

[Richard n Ann]

I went for an 85ah Exide gel in 2019 when our battery did the same (had a shorted cell and got hot) very pleased with it, they can be discharged to 20% without damage.

What do you think about AGM Lenny HB?

 

[Hagstrom]

What options does your charger offer? Lead acid/AGM/Gel/Lithium? I'd start from there.

 

[Lenny HB]

AGM are really not suitable as leisure battery.

You either have faulty battery or the charger is over charing you need to check before fitting a new battery as if its the charger it will kill the battery.
The battery will have been giving off hydrogen sulphide not CO.

Type of battery you fit depends on your usage and what your charger is capable of charging correctly.

 

[Martin59]

AGM are really not suitable as leisure battery.

You either have faulty battery or the charger is over charing you need to check before fitting a new battery as if its the charger it will kill the battery.
The battery will have been giving off hydrogen sulphide not CO.

Type of battery you fit depends on your usage and what your charger is capable of charging correctly.

Why is AGM not a suitable battery ? regards Martin

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[Martin59]

I sold my new AGM and bought 2x 140ah sealed lead acid for my new van.

Why did you sell yours ? Regards Martin

 

[Hagstrom]

I find AGMs suitable when used with the correct AGM charging profile.

 

[Otter Spotter]

AGM are really not suitable as leisure battery.

You either have faulty battery or the charger is over charing you need to check before fitting a new battery as if its the charger it will kill the battery.
The battery will have been giving off hydrogen sulphide not CO.

Type of battery you fit depends on your usage and what your charger is capable of charging correctly.

is Hydrogen sulphide dangerous ? Is there a monitor we need to think about?

 

[Martin59]

is Hydrogen sulphide dangerous ? Is there a monitor we need to think about?

My carbon monoxide alarm went off say danger open door and windows imminently.

 

[Spriddler]

is Hydrogen sulphide dangerous ? Is there a monitor we need to think about?

Yes. It's corrosive and poisonous.

I use one of these which works quite well.

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[Otter Spotter]

Yes. It's corrosive and poisonous.

I use one of these which works quite well.

View attachment 530924

Will it work when your asleep ?

 

[cmcardle75]

Why is AGM not a suitable battery ? regards Martin

Many (but not all) have found that they fail early in leisure scenarios. They were really intended for stop/start starter batteries. Gel works well. However, Lithium is, by far, the best. However, it is expensive, particularly if your chargers are incompatible. Personally, if I didn't have Lithium, I'd just go for a cheap flooded lead acid. You don't care so much if they get worn out. Some Gels are expensive enough that you'd be thinking about that final push to get Lithium.

 

[Speve]

Have had AGM batteries in last van for the thee years we owned it without problem and have them in current van for three and a half and still going strong

 

[ChrisL]

is Hydrogen sulphide dangerous ? Is there a monitor we need to think about?

It is toxic, in low concentration it has a distinctive smell like rotten and eggs but in higher concentration you may not smell it, it is heavier then air so will tend to concentrate in lower confined spaces, if you do get a rotten eggs smell in a motorhome it is likely to be a battery issue perhaps a cell shorting out or the battery being over charged, best to vent the area and look into the cause as a priority.

 

[Lenny HB]

is Hydrogen sulphide dangerous ? Is there a monitor we need to think about?

Highly explosive a CO alarm detects it.

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[Lenny HB]

Have had AGM batteries in last van for the thee years we owned it without problem and have them in current van for three and a half and still going strong

You are on borrowed time, got ride of mine when I picked up the van and fitted 3 Gels. Last van AGM's lasted 18 months.

 

[Just smiffy]

Although my agm’s lasted 7yrs I did replace them with gels… only because of the chances that I got lucky with the agm’s….

incidentally, I can’t see all the posts on this thread I think someone has me on ignore…

 

[G-RMPS]

H2S, hydrogen sulphide, isn’t good apart from the stink. As said previously, possibly explosive, certainly very flammable, corrosive, and doesn’t do your internals any good.

Worth investigating…a battery may be a cheap investment, if that’s the root cause.

 

[Stealaway]

Many batteries including AGM can last many years but it's the amount of use and stressing of your batteries that is the test.
If you spend most of your time on EHU any battery will last year's.
If like me you never go near a campsite I have to be confident my batteries won't let me down so not AGM.

 

[Gaston aires]

Not sure why there’s an anti AGM establishment. I’ve had three vans with AGMs, they all lasted years without any issues or trouble. I’m sure it’s about getting the charger set up correctly.
Phil

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[RogerIvy]

LifePO4 (Lithium).
Best investment we made, after the MH itself.

 

[RowleyBirkinQC]

Were AGMs fitted to certain Germanic vans before the onboard chargers had a suitable charging profile for such, leading to the AGMs failing? Alternatively, was it just that early AGMs had a tendency to fail due to unrelated issues?

I’m curious as currently at 2 years on Banner AGMs which came with a new van, which does have an AGM charging profile and appropriate solar setup, so starting to wonder whether to proactively change said batteries before potential failure ensues.

 

[Lenny HB]

Were AGMs fitted to certain Germanic vans before the onboard chargers had a suitable charging profile for such, leading to the AGMs failing? Alternatively, was it just that early AGMs had a tendency to fail due to unrelated issues?

I’m curious as currently at 2 years on Banner AGMs which came with a new van, which does have an AGM charging profile and appropriate solar setup, so starting to wonder whether to proactively change said batteries before potential failure ensues.

Yes, Hymer group started fitting them around 2012. They were Banner AGM's possibly the worst AGM ever made. They were type 2 AGM (I think) they use a lower charging voltage 14.4v compared to 14.7v for type 1.
Both banner and Schaudt (manufacturers of Elektroblock) assured me Gel was fine for them - lying bas*ted's, they failed after 18 months and they don't honor their warranty.
The Varta AGM's they now fit are a bit better but still reports of early failure on the German forums.

 

[Lenny HB]

Not sure why there’s an anti AGM establishment. I’ve had three vans with AGMs, they all lasted years without any issues or trouble. I’m sure it’s about getting the charger set up correctly.
Phil

The problem with batteries is that a lot of users use EHU a lot and it doesn't matter what battery you use even if it's lost capacity you wouldn't know it. There are probably thousands of vans out there with duff batteries but the owners are unaware because they always use EHU.

If like us and you hardly ever use EHU and rely on your batteries AGM's are the biggest pile of crap ever totally unsuitable for leisure use. I was talking to some Funsters a couple of weeks ago who fitted some expensive AGM's (not the cheap crap fitted to Motorhomes) to their last van, I asked them how they got on with them, the answer "don't mention them we should have listened to you".

How many of you check the capacity of your batteries regularly so you know how they are performing?

I do and I know apart from age losses my 2 five year old Gels & my 4 year old one are still performing like new.

Meaningless saying my 3 year old AGM's are fine unless you have done a capacity test on them, you can't say a battery if fine if has only 50% of its original capacity it's knackered.

So all of you with AGM's more than a couple of years old please do a capacity test and post the results here.

 

[RowleyBirkinQC]

I have no idea how to conduct an accurate capacity test, I assume this is a ‘bench test’ exercise running a known Ah demand on the battery for a defined period or until failure?

All I can say about our batteries is that they didn’t die during 4 days off EHU this weekend.

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