14 Feb 2022 Winter of Batteries

 We have decided to call this the winter of batteries. In January the two batteries in the Behemoth went bad. David decided he wanted to replace them with AGM batteries due to longer life, low corrosion and low maintenance. But when he went to the Interstate Battery center in Conroe, he found out there is a supply shortage of AGM batteries. But they loaned us two refurbished batteries until they could get in the two replacement AGM batteries. He also learned that you cannot mix different types of batteries on the same charging circuit because AGM and flooded batteries have different charging profiles. Knowledge that would come in handy. 

 

Then in early February, when we went to take the Wanderer to the body shop to get some minor fender damage repaired, the slides would not budge. A quick diagnosis found the house flooded lead acid batteries had almost boiled themselves dry, despite having just been filled up 4 weeks prior. All six batteries (4 cells each) had water levels below the top of the plates. It was clear that these batteries would need to be replaced as well. David filled them up, and we were able to pull the slides in and make our appointment with the converter/chargers help. While we stayed at Cynthia’s and Felix’s, David researched replacements. Again, he wanted to go with AGMs and selected Lifeline batteries since they seemed to be the most reliable and are built to Military Standards and are used by the US Military in a lot of their applications. He checked the local dealer and they indicated a 12–18-week delivery timeline due to the supply shortage. So, he got on line and found a dealer in Nevada with 6 batteries and free shipping. They arrived a week later and today he installed them. This involved disconnecting the old batteries, dragging them out of the battery compartment, cleaning up the spilled acid on the floor of the battery compartment and repainting (the acid had dissolved the paint), cleaning all the corrosion off the connections, loading the new batteries into the compartment (6 batteries at 68lbs a piece on his hands and knees), reconnecting everything and applying lithium grease to prevent corrosion. He also had to change the charging profile on the solar charging system since the Lifeline AGMs have a special charging profile. It took about 5 hours. The new batteries have more storage capacity, less maintenance, and should last 6-8 years. We briefly considered going with Lithium Iron Sulfate batteries, but given we don’t boondock very often and double the cost, it just wasn’t worth the added expense. The new batteries are working great. Happy Valentines Day!

Old Batteries leaking acid

Clean new batteries virtually maintenance free