Time for new battery bank - Prefer AGM this time around.

[gulfcoastsailor]

Just replaced my Life Line house and windlass bank with same. I did my share of shopping to find a comparable product for less dinero. Could not do it so I ended up with same. Last set served well for over six years.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Dougtiff

Remember, AGM battery's can be oriented in any attitude other than upside down, in my ast boat, i had them lying om their sides to fit the space.

On my old boat I laid the AGMs on their side and stacked two high. Made much better use of the space I had available.

[roland stockham]

Twice the cost for half the life (or less) seams a lot of expense to avoid a weekly battery check? Plus a single event leading to electrolyte loss (such as a charge controller not cutting to float voltage at the right time or) will right off the bank. Are you sure?

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by roland stockham

Twice the cost for half the life (or less) seams a lot of expense to avoid a weekly battery check?

Cost is higher but short life is not a given. Our oldest AGM bank lasted 12 seasons, the more recent one is going onto its 10th season. Probably depends more on usage pattern than anything else.

In our case, I can't get there from here, and if I could it would hurt me... so yes, to me it's well worth the cost to avoid maintenance.

-Chris

[Caleb C]

Hi Friends that replied to my original thread,

Realized I left you all hanging on the outcome. Thank you for all the replies with your experiences.

Here's what we did:
Replaced existing flooded cells with 4-MasterVolt 400ah-6volt batteries. They fit into battery tray without modification. At same time we decided to install a Xantrex LinkPro battery monitor to determine our actual amperage in/out.

After replacing batteries and doing some local cruising, I finally realized that we had a engine alternator charging problem. Had suspected it for quite some time, but wasn't able to confirm until I paid attention to the amp in/out via the new battery monitor. Long story short is, we replaced the old battery isolator and solenoid system with the BlueSea ACR and Battery Combiner switch system. Charging problems finally solved AND I understand our boat wiring system much better now.

For those of you who still haven't installed a real battery monitor on your vessel, you will be amazed at how much better you will manage your energy usage and battery life! It's 100% worth installing. Amps in/out knowledge is POWER - pun intended.

Have fun sailing!