tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208406.post1579103885035137724..comments2024-03-28T08:26:58.108-04:00Comments on Our Odyssey: Assault by BatteryLouisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306854459459257368noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208406.post-37655059778712167942012-03-22T19:44:25.045-04:002012-03-22T19:44:25.045-04:00@Jim: In this case, it basically came down to pri...@Jim: In this case, it basically came down to price, availability, and terminal configuration.<br /><br />I could have gotten better batteries (Fullriver) for the same money but with the wrong kind of terminals, as I described in an earlier post, and by the time you factor in having to have all new cables made to accommodate the terminal difference, it would end up being a net loss. I could also have had Dekas, which are about the same or maybe a tad better than the Trojans, for less money, but only by driving to Miami for them, which would have negated the savings.<br /><br />Lifelines are probably the best AGM house battery that money can buy, but they command a 30%-40% premium, and frankly I don't think you get 30%-40% more performance out of them.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17930398671280529448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208406.post-4838761815861049772012-03-20T17:19:27.509-04:002012-03-20T17:19:27.509-04:00Sean,
Would you mind describing your reasons for ...Sean,<br /><br />Would you mind describing your reasons for selecting Trojan over other brands like Deka, Lifeline? Is it primarily a price point if most other things are equal (size, AH, etc.)Jimhttp://www.mightybus.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208406.post-65985553004127181542011-07-31T15:49:22.288-04:002011-07-31T15:49:22.288-04:00Lots of comments to answer here.
@Tony: Thanks s...Lots of comments to answer here.<br /><br />@Tony: Thanks so much, again, for helping, it really was above and beyond. Dinner-and-a-drink was really just a small token of how much we appreciated your help. We'll definitely stop in to say hello the next time we are in MB.<br /><br />@Rod: It's not as simple as only two batteries in series, because "bad" on the tester can mean lots of things. Some ways a battery can be bad will actually decrease the performance of the good batteries in the bank, and some ways it might still be helping out a little. In our case, I would estimate that the usable capacity of the bank had dropped to about a quarter of nominal. However, even the one "good" battery in the lower half could not, at this age, still be providing a full 230 AH. Note, however, that our Vanner equalizer is bidirectional, so if we took away all the bad batteries altogether, leaving one in the bottom half and three in the top, we'd still get nearly four-battery performance, or 460 AH. So the four bad batteries here were probably doing neither harm nor good, and the four "good" ones were probably down to about half their rated capacity. Give or take.<br /><br />With regard to putting adapters on all the terminals, that's really not an option unless I first deliberately break off the studs. With the stud in place, there are a limited number of ways the adapters can be installed at all without either hitting the stud or protruding too close to something grounded for comfort. There are even fewer angles at which the adapters can be installed where the original stud can still be accessed for use or reached by the existing cables. Just putting the two that I had to use in place was a challenge, as I wrote in the next post.<br /><br />@Davy: I expect that coaches with easier-to-reach battery bays might require less labor. But removing and reinstalling that many thick cables, and dismounting and remounting that many heavy batteries, is easily a many-hour process, so, no, nine person-hours is not out of the realm of possibility. By the time I was done with this project, I had easily spent 10-11 hours of my own time, and add in at least an hour for the extra set of hands to muscle them into the rack.<br /><br />@MELackey: It's important to install the batteries such that the amount of load carried by each battery is nearly the same, as well as the amount of charge it will receive. This means using all equal-length jumpers insofar as possible, and using "opposite corner" connections. Even when you do that perfectly, however, the reality of the battery compartment will probably mean some batteries will be hotter and some will be cooler during charging and heavy use, so there will be "unequal wear" as you called it. Our charger has a single temperature probe, and we've connected it to the hottest battery for safety. So, in short, YES, there is a benefit to "rotating" batteries periodically the same way you'd rotate tires. That said, at 167 lbs each and a dozen hours to yank and reinstall our batteries, we'll just live with the consequences. We do have mostly equal-length cables, except for the pair that crosses the tunnel, and a good equalizer.<br /><br />@Phil: I use silicone dielectric grease as well as anti-corrosion pads and red anti-corrosion spray on the chassis batteries, which are conventional flooded (but "maintenance free") models and are in a compartment that is more exposed to the elements.<br /><br />These "house" batteries, however, are sealed batteries that do not outgas, so there is no "acid mist" to worry about as with flooded cells, and they are also mounted indoors, behind the driver and passenger seats. So corrosion is simply not an issue in this application, and when we pulled the eight old ones out, there was not a spec of it anywhere. If the house batteries are the flooded type, or any type mounted in a compartment not completely weather-tight and climate controlled, then corrosion is an issue to be addressed.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17930398671280529448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208406.post-35738428347401572862011-07-29T16:07:32.968-04:002011-07-29T16:07:32.968-04:00Wow! That's quite a job! Thanks for sharing th...Wow! That's quite a job! Thanks for sharing the details.<br /><br />Out of curiosity: You don't mention any using any material on the battery connections to aid connectivity and prevent corrosion. I do this regularly - in automotive applications - but have learned from your experiences that the RV battery world is entirely different. What is the best accepted practice for completing battery connections like yours?Phil L.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208406.post-20395998784985696402011-07-29T12:05:13.752-04:002011-07-29T12:05:13.752-04:00is there any benefit to rotating batteries periodi...is there any benefit to rotating batteries periodically given the seemingly unequal "wear" to them?MELackeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10605873535788111598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208406.post-20076556863483681582011-07-29T09:09:37.056-04:002011-07-29T09:09:37.056-04:00Sean & Louise, just a little note to say THANK...Sean & Louise, just a little note to say THANK YOU for the wonderful gifts that you brought me for helping out. I too felt like a Coach ran over me after we finished installing those beastly batteries. Once again, Thank You for purchasing the batteries from Carolina Energy Dist. and when you pass this way again, please stop in and see us, you have a friend in Myrtle Beach.<br />Tony CookUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03459375470551394024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208406.post-89389074768796252882011-07-28T23:57:19.843-04:002011-07-28T23:57:19.843-04:00The records I have from the previous owner of my b...The records I have from the previous owner of my bus show nine hours of labor when they had the batteries replaced at a shop. It has six 4Ds. I thought the shop ripped them off but I might be wrong after reading your story. Lol<br /><br />Davy<br />www.boggsblogs.comDavy, Kelly and Odie Boggshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08180382393842926953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208406.post-80889830554437279372011-07-28T20:10:47.104-04:002011-07-28T20:10:47.104-04:00Maybe I am glad I only have 6 volt batteries that ...Maybe I am glad I only have 6 volt batteries that weigh about 60 lbs each! <br /><br />But it is interesting that three of the bad batteries were in the 0 -12 volt bank, but that the 12 -24 volt bank had three good ones left. But that means that you were essentially running on two of the batteries in series as the only path to chassis ground was thru the single remaining good 0 - 12 volt battery. So at best all it could have put out was the 230 amp hours of that single battery. <br /><br />I would be tempted to convert all the studs with post converters where they had more than one wire attached. I would think it is much harder to over torque a post clamp, and breaking that bolt off has much smaller ramifications.<br /><br />I have learned quite a bit from following this little battery replacement exercise! Thanks for taking us along............ RodRod Ivers https://www.blogger.com/profile/11622769861928590585noreply@blogger.com