New House Batteries

[wayneskid]

The 4 year old original Discovery AGMs were getting very tired. They would drop to 50% SOC or less overnight just running the refer. So, I decided to go the 6v route. Installed two Trojan T-125 Plus batts in series. I now have 240 Ah capacity compared to the specified 164 Ah on the AGMs. I know they weren't even getting close to that. Cost for the pair of Trojans was $335 + tax, installed from Battery Systems. I looked long and hard at Lifeline AGMs but the Trojans offer several advantages: much less expensive, more forgiving for minor abuse, less sensitive to imperfect charging regimen, longer life. The only disadvantage I see is that you do have to check the electrolyte level from time to time. These batts may not be ideal if your battery box is difficult to access or has limited space. For my Twin Bed Interstate there was ample room for these larger batteries and access to the batt box is easy. I think they will be great. I'll post comments on performance after they have been in use for a while.

Also FWIW; since the beginning, I have assumed that best practice was to avoid discharging the batts to less than 50% SOC. The tech that installed my Trojans said it's better to target 80% SOC. This is what the Trojan book indicates as well.

Wayne