+Craig's post... 9 years is great!Thanks. The batteries are 9 years old and have been treated with care but they are old. I can’t get the batteries up to 100% in my current situation but when I turned off the fridge I could get a resting voltage of 12.6 to last through the night. I should just get new batteries as it is probably time but I always remain curious for future reference. Thanks again.
Have you considered going lithium? That renogy AGM is $400, you can get a 200ah lithium under $550 or a pair of 100ah under $600.
I have considered but am not crazy about added expense of hardware. I wonder if I could charge enough with a 160w panel and a compatible controller. My current one is not lithium compatible. I also have a 100w portable panel.Have you considered going lithium? That renogy AGM is $400, you can get a 200ah lithium under $550 or a pair of 100ah under $600.
Do you have an old PWM controller? A smart solar victron mppt 75/15 is $67 on Amazon so it’s not a major expense to gain lithium compatibility and mppt (vs pwm) if you were inclined.I have considered but am not crazy about added expense of hardware. I wonder if I could charge enough with a 160w panel and a compatible controller. My current one is not lithium compatible. I also have a 100w portable panel.
AGM yesterday report from desi the Harley rider. Pushing his bike when his fairly new AGM went south. “What gives”My AGM batteries show 70-80% SOC but when not getting charge from solar, night, the voltage drops to below 12v. My batteries are on the older side. Is this the signal that they are shot? Thanks.
I didn’t mean to imply it was. But if he had an old controller that wasn’t lithium compatible (which was likely a lower cost pwm) AND wanted to upgrade it to one that was you might as well go mppt was what I was trying to suggest.MPPT is not a requirement for lithium batteries.
I have read about this hiccup with SOK that has an internal heater. Supposedly they have fixed this with an updated BMS. I appreciate you sharing your experience with SOK and the powerurus. No problems sending back the SOK and getting your money back? Did you get them from their site? Ok, time for me to do more research! ThanksI had a hiccup with SOK (look in the members forum). I was planning to go with powerurus (when my trailer batteries wore down) and recommend a couple friends to do so (who are happy). The SOK price drops got me to go that route initially but too much drama unfortunately. I sent those back and got some powerurus as originally planned and they tested out fine. Aside from the silly name the teardowns of the powerurus show really good built quality.
All lithium batteries have an internal BMS, some have more features like low temp protection and Bluetooth connectivity. You can run a shunt with them still.
My issues had nothing to do with the heated battery specifically, it seemed like it was going to be a nice product. My issue was after a month of dealing with things I still didn't have a pair of working batteries that I ordered. I was tired of dealing with their mistakes/issues.I have read about this hiccup with SOK that has an internal heater. Supposedly they have fixed this with an updated BMS. I appreciate you sharing your experience with SOK and the powerurus. No problems sending back the SOK and getting your money back? Did you get them from their site? Ok, time for me to do more research! Thanks
Thanks for the advice to get the batteries load test. I brought them up to 100% and took them down to the auto parts store. One was in the 25% of life and the other was bad. Now to decide the route to take with replacement. Some of the well rated lithiums are less than the AGM replacement costs. I was already think of upgrading my 15+ year old controller. Maybe I will just depend on solar and see how that goes. Thanks again+Craig's post... 9 years is great!
Resting voltage is fine but getting it to 100 percent and have it rest then put some load on it will give you a idea.
Agree that if you are questing them now, then for peace and ease of mind replacing them now when you have the time might be more pleasant than rushing later.
I have 9 years going on my 2015 Flatbed Hawk. Seems to be doing fine. Since we bought it used the two 80 amp hour batteries have been well cared for.
Let us know what replacements you source as I might be getting close for replacement also. There was a post a couple years back that discussed sources of true RV deep cycle AGM's.