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Fresh Batteries
Well, Stopped at Prevost J-ville on my way north to have the new lifelines I got from Tom with the rally discount, They were supposed to be put in Tuesday morning but they are behind and could be tommorow before they install them. Even got new one for the generator, had not had any problems with the old ones but they ” Dekas” are going on 4-1/2 years old so thought I would change them out and have the peace of mind of fresh batteries. Next year tires, does it never end? Gary
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28 Replies
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Nope, it never ends Gary, but you’re having fun right?
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Liberty Coach feels confident that my 3 new Lithium batteries will last 10 years easy and a good chance longer. So, if I can get 12 yrs. out of these batteries, that would be like changing a group of AGM’s out every 4 yrs. Lithium batteries are coming down in price as time goes on so it might be a wash by then.
Also, I’m not sure how many batteries I would have if they were not Lithium. We have eight AGM house batteries now with 2 chassis.
The only thing I might be saving is the trouble of replacing batteries.
I’m still learning.
Mark
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I cannot speak specifically about the batteries installed by Liberty, but generally a set of lithium batteries can be rebuilt for substantially less cost than the initial purchase price. At one time the economics of Li batteries would be hard to justify, but I believe when the time comes for folks to replace them they may in fact not only be used to save weight, but they might prove to be more economical.
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Mr Mark, Hate to break some news on your new dream bus but have real next door hands on experence with L[berty’s new wonderful batteries. They won’t go all night running just the refridge and a light or two, now this is a two battery system not three after liveing with this for a while he asked about adding a third battery since there was room but was quoted 8’0000 for the extra and told to only expect a couple more hours of service, he passed. Its no secret that Liberty builds a pole to pole bus and that is not a bad thing if thats the way you plan to use it. It is just hard to beat a good healthy bank of Lifeline AGM battries.
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Looks like A Marathon Bus is in your near future.
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Bill,
We are going to have 3 Lithium batteries and I was hoping that they would last all night when boondocking in Quartzsite with my RV buddies (3-4 days once a year). If it is an issue, maybe they will let us get an additional battery for a total of 4.
But, it would seem that the generator would pop on when the batteries get low which is fine with me. Our current coach requires that I start the generator once in the morning for 2 hours and once in the evening for 2 hours to keep the batteries topped off. I’m not sure of Liberty’s requirements in that regard.
I was also told that the newer lithium batteries have more capacity than the previous batteries.
MM.
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I have sold batteries to folks that had 10 year old Lifelines on two occasions. I sold many to owners with 5 – 6 year old Lifelines. So, the Lifeline AGM’s will last a long time if not abused. I do think LI is the wave of the future, but a long time coming for a direct R&R for our coaches.
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The Lifeline’s I replaced a couple of years ago were 10 years old. They were showing some signs of lowered capacity but only for a couple of years and not enough to be concerned about.
Mr. Mark,
Dry camping with your Liberty in Quartzsite will not be an issue at all with those batteries assuming you don’t want to run the A/C. You will be able to go all night running the fridge and all of the other parasitic draws like chargers and TV’s, microwave, satellite receivers and ceiling fans without issue and the morning will bring an opprotunity to run your genny for a bit. It can use the exercise anyway.
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I did get almost 7 yrs. out of my wet-cell batteries and could have gone a little longer but I got really tired of checking the water level. So, I switched over to AGM batteries and have had them about a year. We’re easy on our stuff and I keep up on maintenance which I do strictly by the book if not before.
Liberty Coach started using Lithium in 2010 if I’m not mistaken. What impressed me so much about Liberty Coach is that they have thought out everything so thoroughly that they know what works and what doesn’t. I do trust their knowledge as they have been building coaches for over 40 yrs.
Mark
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Tom,
Looking for your battery advice. Recently read for AGM`s to “periodicly” do a 50% discharge to prolong batt life. Any idea how often “periodically ” means ? What experience have you had ?
Thanks,
Steve
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Steve,
The normal discharge to 50% is 12.2 and many of use that as our set voltage to start charging, so not sure where you’re hearing about the 12 volt. Discharge to 12 volt is normal.
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An internet search about batteries will show that batteries will have a greater life if they are not deeply discharged. The number of charge / discharge cycles increases significantly if batteries are only discharged to 50% as opposed to 90% for example.
Some autostarts can be programmed for the starting voltage and some are non-adjustable. If you can recharge your batteries when they reach 12.2 volts compared to 12 volts they will have a greater life.
If you run from power pole to power pole you are likely never drawing your batteries down significantly so the few times you use autostart, even if it is set for a low starting voltage, is likely not going to have much of an impact on your battery life. If on the other hand you dry camp a lot and rely on drawing down the batteries deeply before recharging them it is probably the number of charge / discharged cycles you have available before you need to replace batteries is going to be fewer than if you recharge at some higher voltage.
As our conventional batteries discharge the load on them actually increases because the current draw is increasing as the voltage decreases. The time it takes to draw down a fully charged battery to 50% is much greater than the time to draw down the remaining power (assuming you could draw them down to 0% remaining charge).
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Yeap, I know the battery engineers say to discharge to 50% but how often is my question, whether it be daily, weekly,monthly,etc. My inverters are set for gen autostart at 50% which only happens rarely such as this winter when TVA (utility) failed to plan for -3 degrees temp and add some reactive to support the grid which here dropped to 103 volts ac.
I`m just curious how often you guys plan a battery discharge for life extention.
Thanks,
Steve
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When I asked that question at the Lifeline seminar in Branson I was told 4-5 time a year. I’ve been tring to do mine quarterly.
I do think it will extend the life as the previous ower keep them on charge all the time and I replaced that set of lifelines after only 3 years of service and we all know they should go much longer.
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That sounds resonable. The batt designers say it keeps a dioxide particle from forming on the battery plates which deteriorates them. Geez, livin in a van down by the river don`t sound bad after pricing new batteries!
Thanks Joe.
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