FullRiver AGM?

[Mike in GA]

I am still shopping for L-16 sized AGMs for my house bank. I can get Lifelines from TransSpecialists for $526 plus $163 freight to a nearby trucking facility. No core charge.
When checking prices with a competitor, , Carolina Energy Distributors, they mentioned they sell FullRiver L-16 AGMs, and they are very comparable to the Lifeline. Their price, $496 - no freight - I would pick up, after a full day's drive up and back in the car.
     Anybody had any experience with FullRiver AGMs?
     Is the difference in price modest enough to eat the difference and stick with the proven Lifeline product

[luvrbus]

For a Chinese made battery they are above average we sold them over the years without to many problems

[Lee Bradley]

I have a set of 4 US Battery AGM L16 batteries and have had no problems with them.  Although I have only had them a little over one year. I see they are available for $399 on-line.

[TomC]

Lifeline = U.S. made. FullRiver = Chinese made.

[bevans6]

I like US Batteries.  I found this\

Founded in 1926, U.S Battery has a long history of manufacturing and developing premium grade deep cycle batteries. Originally a manufacturer of heavy duty batteries for the fishing industry, U.S. Battery has expanded to produce batteries for all types of applications. Today, they are a company with manufacturing plants in the U.S, one in California and two in Georgia, as well as one in China.

Wholesale Solar is pleased to be able to offer U.S. Battery Flooded/Lead Acid and AGM batteries below. LIke most American battery manufacturers, their AGM batteries are plate casted in China due to cost constraints of large plate castings. Their AGM batteries qualify for credits under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, since the majority of their content is U.S. made and they are made to U.S. specifications. Most of their other products are 100% U.S. made.

Just fyi that I found.

Brian

[luvrbus]

US Battery and FullRiver are 2 different manufactures 

[MightyThor]

Thought I recall seeing that the last lead smelter in the US has closed doors so, even if assembled in the US, I think most of the battery components are now coming from china.

[luvrbus]

Most of the batteries built in the USA the batteries are sent to Mexico to be re cycled and then sent back here, the Chinese made crap makes the Mexican stuff A1 in quality   

[muldoonman]

When you hook up (2) 6 volt batteries for 12 volt will your 12 volt chargers such as Magnums inverter/chargers  still take care of the charging?

[Oonrahnjay]

When you hook up (2) 6 volt batteries for 12 volt will your 12 volt chargers such as Magnums inverter/chargers  still take care of the charging?

     The answer to that is "probably".  If one battery goes bad, then you have a imbalance in resistance and charge capacity and time.  You can use two 6-volts that way (after all, a 6-volt is a string of 3 2-volt cells and a 12V is a string of 6 2V cells) but it's best to separate them and charge them one at a time with a 6-volt charger.  If you see a difference in charging time or charge capacity, get the bad battery out; one that fails will bring the others down.

[muldoonman]

Don't need a lot of battery juice in mine, always plugged in or on gen set,  never dry camp but the Lifeline (2) 6 volt batteries would be a whole lot lighter than (2)  8D's to carry and install. My coach has a tray for 6 8D's. Have (3) wet 31's in there now and want to be able to let in sit for a least a 8 hrs. running this house double door fridge if needed.

[Oonrahnjay]

Don't need a lot of battery juice in mine, always plugged in or on gen set,  never dry camp  

    That's probably a benefit for you, but you never know with batteries.  If you have a big group of people and some of them use their batteries hard, some of those hard users will see their batteries die soon and others will have them last a long time; same with people who give their batteries an easy life.  But batteries are maintenance items and if you don't work with them, it's about guaranteed they'll let you down.
   

the Lifeline (2) 6 volt batteries would be a whole lot lighter than (2)  8D's to carry and install. My coach has a tray for 6 8D's. Have (3) wet 31's in there now and want to be able to let in sit for a least a 8 hrs. running this house double door fridge if needed.

    Yeah, I need to replace a set of 8-Ds too (maintenance guy at my storage area unplugged my shore cord to mow the grass and left it unplugged for about 3 weeks - they'll take and hold a little charge but basically, they're toast) and I'm going to L-16s.  There's a lot of power in the footprint if you can accommodate the taller size.

[digesterman]

When you hook up (2) 6 volt batteries for 12 volt will your 12 volt chargers such as Magnums inverter/chargers  still take care of the charging?

Yes  , one 12 volt battery can develop a bad cell just as easy as one 6 volt battery in a two bank setup. multiple battery setups are the most common anyway.

edited to say you should use batteries of the same age and group  too. don't mix if you can help it.

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Guy's,

Well, it seems my battery bank is going bad again. After 10 years of changing the flooded led acid

bank every two to two and a half years, I now chose to go with AGM's.

I always had 8- 105 amp led acid deep cycles and they just don't last under constant floating. I just purchased

(4) Lifeline 8D's  and installed them today. Let's start counting on how long they last... Lol

Funny when I test each of the old batteries, they are all over the place in voltages. Some reading 8.5 volts

and only 1 read 12.1v. I wonder why they fail differently as a whole bank being maintained together?

Always purchased them with same date codes, and equally drawl and charge from opposing ends.


Nick-

[Dave5Cs]

Got 4 years out of 2 US deep cycle Batteries. I just replaced with 4, 232AH at 20 Rate. wired in series for 24 volts.