[Georges]

From experience I think it is safe to say if batteries are five years old (lithium being the exception) they are at or near the end of their life.

The key to long life is to insure the inverter is set with a charging protocol to match the requirements of the type of battery, and to avoid deep discharges. While aging batteries will still perform, the amount of time to discharge drops over time. Specifically if you “dry camp” overnight with a fresh set of batteries you will be able to run the TV and some lights before going to bed, and the refrigerator will run all night long.When you wake up and are ready toget going your batteries may have enough power left to make coffee and still show decent voltage.

As the batteires get some age on them you may find your batteries cannot last as described above. The change is gradual but is typical as batteries get older and to last the night you may find you have to run the generator up until you go to bed just to keep the refrigerator going through the night.

As far as the best replacement batteries there is likely three types to consider. Lead acid, gel cell and AGM. Lead acid may be the most economical but unless you have a vented area to mount them as well as access for the needed service they are probably not the way to go. AGM and gel are viewed by many as equal in terms of performance, price, and suitability. They have slightly different charging protocols, and each can be ruined if the inverter(s) are not set properly to charge as the battery manufacturer requires. I know a gel cell is less tolerant of heat, and I prefer an AGM. Others may prefer a gel cell.

The seller of the coach you are looking at may insist his 5 or 6 year old batteries are good, but the only way to determine their condition is to separate them and do a test on each one individually. Batteries need to be replaced in sets with the same battery dates. I recommend you consider them to need replacement.

[Archived]

Thanks Jon, appreciate and agree with your comments. I think it is best to start of with a fresh set of batteries so I know what I have got and what I can depend on.

[Liam]

And Doc Jim, be sure after installation that you reprogram the battery charging protocol to the voltages called for by the manufacturer because the best battery life comes from using those values.

Each type of inverter and associated remote panel has a different way of complying with those charging voltages for the three phases. Some require you to set dip switches on the rear of the panel, others can be programmed from the remote panel, some have temperature compensation so you need the sensor in position. The point is make sure you have the inverter manuals available and if not that you can access them on line.

Some that have auto strart may permit you to select the values for initiating the generator auto-start. That is where your use of the coach may be a factor in that setting. If you can it is better for the batteries to not allow a discharge of less than 25% and some aim for 50% because the deeper the discharge the shorter the number of charge cycles in the battery’s life. That is a good topic to study because life in our coaches is not fun when our batteries are acting up.

Until you get a fresh set of batteries you may wish to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations on an equalization charge to see if they can spank a little extra life in the batteries to allow you to learn how to reprogram the remote and learn what is best for your type of coach use.

[Archived]

If you want Lifeline’s Jim, just let me know.

[Archived]

I guess I’d argue that flooded lead acids (FLA) aren’t necessarily the most economical. Assuming that one really does use one’s battery bank capacity, then under battery bank loads exceeding say 25%, the AGM’s will outperform FLA’s. IOW’s if you swap out your AGM’s for the same AH equivalent of FLA’s, you’re not getting the same capacity, and the real world capacity can be as little as half the ampere-hours. With FLA’s you simply need more batteries which raises the real world cost. Look up the peukert constant of an AGM (Lifeline’s: 1.12) versus the best FLA (typically 1.3 to 1.5).

david brady, ’02 wanderlodge, lxi

[John]

Price matters, service matters, space matters all consideration in RV batteries. One of the most important features in my opinion using AGM’s is no mess from battery acid on the RV.

But the price does get ones attention.

[John]

Tom

I am nearing the point in the next 2-3 mos that I need batteries for my conversion after just finishing installation of the inverter. I am converting an OTR coach into a MTH. I have made space for 6 batteries in the rack I welded together. I was “thinking” about the whole process this weekend. I went to O’Reilley’s today when I was just killing time and found I could get 6 group 31 FLA for a total of $663 or 6 Bluetop Dual Purpose Lifelines for $1230. According to propaganda on the Lifelines that O’Reilley’s had, the lifelines should last about 50% longer. I have a Xantrex 4024 inverter to charge things. My zip code is 65721. What do you have available?

Rob

Missouri

[Ray]

Rob,

You have your e-mail on the site not shown. You can change that in Profile if you want folks to be able to contact you.

Shoot me an e-mail so I can get you pricing. Also, go to Lifelines site and determine what batteries you want.

Lifeline