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Battery change out /life
What is the general consensus of when to change out batteries in a coach. Chassis and generator should have a different life than house batteries as without worrying when to change out before you have a problem, is it best to set a 3, 4, 5 year or longer schedule to change out – mainly house batteries.
Thanks,
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27 Replies
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Brady, I have never run a set of batteries to exhaustion or failure. I am on a 5 year schedule and regardless of condition at that age I pull them and replace them.
Having said that I think I am like you in that when not in use my coach is powered up and my inverters are maintaining the house battery charge. My chassis batteries have always been the the Delco 1150 or 1110 and as non serviceable batteries I pretty much ignore them unless I am drawing a lot of power such as lighting lights for service. At that point I bring them up to float and then turn off the charger.
If I am not using the coach for an extended period I monitor the voltage and when I get to 24.8 to 25 volts I recharge them. So far so good with the 5 year plan. I realize I may be spending money prematurely but I have never been let down. House batteries in particular can drive you nuts because when go bad you don’t know if your inverters are going bad or it is batteries or whatever.
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Thanks Jon as sounds like a good strategy…
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Brady,
How old are your house batteries and are they Lifeline?
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Tom
Not sure brand as came with coach when purchased 4 1/2 years ago..
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Brady,
Replace every battery in the bus now because it will eliminate the issues that are sure to arise as batteries age. I can tell at 5 years my house batteries are getting tired because after dry camping overnight (such as in a rest area) the voltage is down to a lower value compared to what it was when they were new.
When I got my coach they had new Deka gel cell and from experience I knew they were not going to provide the service I saw from Lifeline AGM so I pulled them at 3 years. If that is the type you have I think you have been fortunate to see 4.5 years from them.
I don’t know what your chassis batteries are but for the relatively small cost of them replace them as well. My best service has come from the Delco I mentioned previously.
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They will likely be Deka Gel and 3 years seems to be about the longest they last based on usage and care.
Contact me when your ready for Lifelines. I will be announcing discounted prices during the Prevost Show.
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Brady, since a general consensus will be more reliable where there is more responses, here is mine:
For chassis batteries, I got eight years out of the last set before starting to get symptoms, and never got caught out. They were group 31 AGM Diehard. And are no longer offered.
For house batteries, I installed Deka 8A8D AGM in January 2011. Still waiting on symptoms. They are $503 each at batteryweb.com. Lifelines are more but they spec at 255 AH whereas Deka are 245AH.
I expect you will see wide variability on replacement cycles since so many things affect life.
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Deka’s warranty is 1 year vs 5 years with Lifeline. The cost difference isn’t really that much to buy the best.
If you buy during the Prevost Show week, You’re gonna love the price.
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When I bought the first bus in 1990 Interstate had a distributor that lived near me. We decided they would allow me to test their new gel cell batteries which they were planning to market.
It wasn’t long before the first set had an issue, and they were replaced. I cannot remember what the initial problem was. But the second set had a problem I will never forget. We were in Freeport ME getting dressed to do some shopping at LL Bean when I heard a loud bang and the odor of rotten eggs. One of the batteries exploded.
The final issue happened in my garage and it was another failed battery with a cracked case due to internal pressures.
I went back to conventional batteries after that and I believe Interstate abandoned their intent to market gel cell batteries.
We learned a lot. First, unlike the wet cell batteries gel cell were extremely sensitive to charging voltages. My alternator was set to the 27.7 voltage, but that was the top charging voltage for the gel cell batteries. Unfortunately the batteries were near the engine, over the chassis and the heat combined with no temperature compensation killed the batteries.
When AGM came out they were far less sensitive to conditions that would destroy a gel cell and I have been using AGM for about 15 years and have never had an issue. Compared to gel cell they are less adversely affected by charging currents and temperature. That does not mean you should ignore those conditions, but if you live near the Canadian border and also travel in Phoenix in the summer they are likely to outperform a gel cell set by far. If your batteries are not exposed to heat and not charged at a voltage that is too high the gel cell batteries will likely OK, but the bottom line is they are not very forgiving.
I’m not sucking up to Tom or trying to sell batteries but I am sharing what I have learned the hard way. If you do buy batteries from Tom he may feel sorry for me and share some dues money, however.
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I will soon be changing my 5 Lifeline 8D coach batteries, which are only about 3 1/2 years old. I have just replaced my Trace RV3012 inverters with Magnum MSH3012 Hybrid inverter chargers. I am considering lithium batteries this time, and understand they have unique charging requirements. I often rely on my engine driven 300 amp alternator to charge my coach batteries, and wonder if its charging amperage and delivery is compatible with lithium batteries. I am looking for reasons my Lifelines did not last as long as they should have, and want to correct whatever I can before I buy new batteries. I installed my new Lifelines myself, only let them get below 12 volts one time, and am unable to determine what caused their short life. The old Trace inverters appeared to charge properly, tapering off of bulk fairly quickly and ending on a float charge, but that is one reason I changed them out. Perhaps I use my engine driven alternator more than usual and that is not advisable. Any ideas you can offer will be appreciated.
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KC, no worries. Get with Tom. You have a five year warranty on your 3.5 year old batteries.
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Just being fair to Lifeline, Delco , NAPA who sell batteries. All 5 of your 8D’s did not fail at once. Somewhere one or two have suffered an early retirement.
We throw the dice when installing batteries linked together. Most all agree when a single battery fails when in service….your case over 3 years old we need to replace the set / group.
IMHO you would be wise to do this….
We don’t like it but replacing a single defective battery is big trouble from the get go.
I share your pain as one of my NAPA group 31 failed as I began hearing some hard start roll over.
One battery less then a year old was defective. Under warranty yes and I just bite the bullet and replaced all 4 again…..Lucky me.
AL
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Al,
Can you remind me the reason if one say one year old battery dies… why replacing them all is the preferred response?
Bill
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Casey,
Just a couple of comments. Relying on the alternator for your charges won’t work, all your doing is maintaining them as you drive. You need that 14.4 bulk/absorption voltage to get to float.
You mentioned your old inverters went from bulk to float in a short time, that probably has contributed to your battery performance deterioration. With your (5) 8DA’s, charging from around 12v should take around 3+ hours to get to float.
Contact me if you decide to replace your Lifelines and Dan is incorrect, any warranty issues must be taken up directly with Lifeline. If you wish to contact them, I can tell you who to talk with.
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There are a lot of discussions about why charging a battery using the manufacturers recommended voltages is critical.
Our alternators are set to a voltage that is less than required for our house batteries. That is because it is primarily to charge chassis batteries which are in a hot environment and the higher voltages required to fully charge house batteries would damage chassis batteries.
What happens when a house battery is not fully charged is lead sulfate which builds on the plates requires a complete charge to remove it or it hardens and reduces the battery capacity.
If you go several days or longer without powering the inverters so the batteries are seeing a full charge cycle is shortening the battery life and when the batteries fail prematurely it is not the fault of the battery, but charging conditions not being met.
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