Battery (or converter) replacement question

[umasslax]

Hope everyone is doing well. Question ... my 2002 Classic has champion Marine 12 month batteries. Two of them. They seem to barely hold a charge. Can someone recommend a quality replacement and - this may be the bigger question - how do I know if the converter isn’t root cause.

Thanks in advance everyone! John.

[waninae39]

Battle born LiON battery and
victron 3K converter/inverter work well for me

see posts in the electric/battery section of this forum

[ROBERT CROSS]

I would...confirm the battery condition and if the converter is functioning properly.
If the converter is original and built by Parallax...it's junk. Ours damaged two sets of Interstate batteries. Replacing the P-lax was the first major 'up-grade' we did in 2005, installed a IOTA IQ4 55a DLS.

We installed Lifeline AGM's in 2006, they lasted 11yrs in the AS and now are B/U power for our sump pump.

Two Seasons ago installed 2 Battleborn Lithium's, Boondocker Lithium compatible 60a converter and two 180w Zamp Suitcase solar panels.

Stream Happy...

Bob
🇺🇸

[CBWELL]

I see the batteries have a tag of May, 2018. Do you check the fluid level regularly? Have the batteries been run completely down? If completely run down and not frozen, they MAY be able to be returned to life. If that is the original converter it is only a single stage and will destroy the batteries if you doe not monitor the fluid levels and maintain good battery checks. I would replace the converter with a multi stage one as soon as possible and you will likely have to replace the batteries at the same time. I have had very good luck with Progressive Dynamics products, and have installed several over the years wino problems.

[Bill M.]

My guess is that on a 2002 you need to replace the converter anyway. I do not see anything that says deep cycle on those batteries. If they are marine starting batteries they just are not up to the job. I run the Walmart deep cycle batteries and get a couple of years out of them. The Boondocker converter I installed does a better job of charging but I had an old Univolt before.

[gklott]

Originally Posted by umasslax

Can someone recommend a quality replacement and - this may be the bigger question - how do I know if the converter isn’t root cause.

AGM - LifeLine GPL-31T. Can't tell for sure if group 31, and make sure the posts work. Need to make sure your charger/converter works with AGM. https://lifelinebatteries.com/produc...eries/gpl-31t/

Otherwise, consider other recommendations for LiFePO4 with a new charger.

Good luck.

73/gus

[jimdelane]

Odds are your batteries are toast. Lead acid batteries have a cycle life of 300 to 500 with proper care. Proper care includes, but is not limited to maintaining the water level, never discharging below 50%, constant use, periodic equalization, periodic charge to 100%. When the battery will not hold a charge over 12.2v (50%)- that is what is considered end of life.
Your choices are:
Buy more cheap flooded lead acid batteries - expect to replace every couple of years.
Buy quality flooded lead acid batteries (lifeline, trojan)- expect to pay more but they will last 4-5 years
Buy cheap AGM - cost more than the cheap flooded, last about as long as the cheap flooded lead acid but they are maintenance free.
Buy quality AGM (lifeline, trojan) - it will cost more but you can expect them to last 4-5 years
Buy lithium batteries - (1) lithium has the same usable energy of (2) lead acid/AGM of the same amp hours. The cycle life is 5 to 10 times that of lead acid/AGM. The cost of lithiums have dropped to the point where (1) lithium costs close to the price of (2) quality AGMs.
You also may want to consider upgrading your converter. Progressive Dynamics make a good, affordable charger.
For lithium batteries you might consider:

Battleborn
https://battlebornbatteries.com

AMPS Lithium
https://lithiummarinebattery.com

ReLion
https://relionbattery.com

SmartBattery
https://www.lithiumion-batteries.com/

Renogy
https://www.renogy.com

[Boogieshoes]

The factory converter/charger (Parallax) is indeed junk. After frying a $825 pair of AGMs, installed a Boondocker 60a converter/charger at the same time as replacing the AGMs. Has worked great since; that was over a year ago.

If replacing now, would strongly consider Lithiums. For us, that is a bigger decision; would at the same time upgrade the solar. For now, the Boondocker and the AGMs work just fine.

[umasslax]

Here is what I have converting 110 to 12. I noticed the battery fluid level was low so topped off. Is this single stage converter still worth it?