House Batteries

[uemjg]

Guys,

I need a recommendation for new house 12v batteries that are wet cell as the glass matts are too pricey...I prefer a national chain store, if possible.  My previous sets were 8d's  by autocraft and sold through "advanced auto parts"

[Cary and Don]

Why not 6volt golf cart batteries?  We bought a bunch of them for Sam's Club and they have lasted seven years and still going. They were cheap,  as far as batteries go.

Don and Cary
1973 05 Eagle
GM 4107
Neoplan AN340

[Lin]

You can also watch for used AGM's.  There are sometimes good deals.  We have been using some out of a UPS system for about three plus years now.

[uemjg]

Where can you find used AGM's?

[thomasinnv]

Bought an 8D deep cycle for a friend a few months ago from Batteries Plus for 164.00 I think it was.

[Lin]

We have had luck with Craigslist.

[TomC]

Watch out-once you experience the lack of maintenance on an AGM battery, you'll never go back to wet battery.  I'm hooked.  Good Luck, TomC

[pd4104252]

I just replaced my 4 trojan t105's after 11 years.
couldn't find any t105's in stock where I live so I bought 6 comparable from
batteries plus, same weight, physical size and same amp/hours. I was quoted
$165.00 ea. for trojans and these were $110.00 ea. with a $60.00 discount
if I bought six. Hopefully I can get comparable life out of these.

[rip]

I have four 8d's from NAPA and they have been the best so far.They are going over five years and I paid $160 each.
    Don

[muldoonman]

Have (6) 8d's in mine and think one has shorted out. Having all kinds of inverter problems. Will check this weekend and see which one.  I don't do any boon dock camping and was thinking of going to 6 volt setup. How many batteries and how would you wire those puppies?

[belfert]

I ended up with six 12 volt AGM batteries from Craigslist.  These are UPS batteries that were supposedly hardly used.  They seem to work great and no evidence of them being used much.

I had golf cart batteries and had no end of problems.  The battery cables and battery terminals were corroding like crazy even though the batteries didn't need water.  I got the battery cables from a decommissioned UPS and I think that was a big part of my problem.  I killed the 6 volt batteries by discharging them completely by mistake and then they froze over the winter.  I would have no problem recommending 6 volt batteries to someone else.  I would just do the cabling differently.

[Uglydog56]

What would you use for search terms?  Just AGM battery or UPS or what else?

[belfert]

I believe I just searched on AGM in my local Craigslist.

[JLL]

hey guys
In looking for AGM batteries to replace 4 golf carts bats.  What kind of ID do you look for.
These would be for house batteries.
JLL

[Lin]

I just searched for "AGM" or "AGM battery".  Many companies change out UPS batteries on a schedule with plenty of life left in the batteries.  It should be noted that UPS batteries are designed to a different criteria than you are using them for, so they are not the ideal battery.  However, they have worked for us.  We do dry camping a bit and I am careful not to stress them too much.  They take care of the lights, furnace, short burst of the microwave, and misc.  If we are going to run the microwave for longer than a few minutes, I start the generator since it saves battery power and the microwave sounds healthier than on our MSW inverter.  Anyway, our generator is started from the house batteries, and there has always been plenty of power left to start it in the morning.

The only problem I have had with them is when I would forget to turn off the electric hot water heater.  They do not like that too much, but I do not think many battery banks would.