Battery and charger recommendations?

Hey Everyone,
I am working on the DC side of the electrical in my skoolie. I have been going round & round looking at battery options.
I had about decided just to go with 8 of the Duracell GC2's then I saw the Renogy 12v 200AH AGM's and I can get 4 of them and be carrying less weight & using less space. Anyone have any experience with these?
I am also open to other suggestions for batteries. I am looking for 24v 400AH combined. I understand that I will have more usable capacity with AGM versus FLA.
When it comes to chargers I am really lost. I had started out looking at the RV converter/chargers and found some "intelligent" 3/4 stage units but upon researching them I found that they are very limited in setting up charge parameters.
What would you all recommend for a reasonably priced charger for the AGM battery bank?
Thanks
Stephen
I am working on the DC side of the electrical in my skoolie. I have been going round & round looking at battery options.
I had about decided just to go with 8 of the Duracell GC2's then I saw the Renogy 12v 200AH AGM's and I can get 4 of them and be carrying less weight & using less space. Anyone have any experience with these?
I am also open to other suggestions for batteries. I am looking for 24v 400AH combined. I understand that I will have more usable capacity with AGM versus FLA.
When it comes to chargers I am really lost. I had started out looking at the RV converter/chargers and found some "intelligent" 3/4 stage units but upon researching them I found that they are very limited in setting up charge parameters.
What would you all recommend for a reasonably priced charger for the AGM battery bank?
Thanks
Stephen
Comments
As well as (sometimes, often?) tending to withstand higher charge/discharge rates, AGMs tend to have lower self-discharge rates, which can be a factor if the batteries will sit for months with no charge source, especially if warm/hot. In marine applications, they also work in odd orientations that would otherwise spill with flooded.
The downside is they tend to be more expensive than flooded (apples to apples), and tend to not last as long in deep cycle applications because of the inability to monitor SG and maintain accordingly.
If you decide on AGM for a house bank, be sure the battery manufactures recommended charging spec has a reasonably close match to the charger options, and make sure the charger has temperature compensated charging, ideally with a remote battery temp sensor. AGMs can be quite sensitive to high voltage charging, and can be ruined quickly if they vent gas, or ruined slowly by sulfating with a too low temp compensated absorb voltage.
Main daytime system ~4kw panels into 2xMNClassic150 370ah 48v bank 2xOutback 3548 inverter 120v + 240v autotransformer
Night system ~1kw panels into 1xMNClassic150 700ah 12v bank morningstar 300w inverter
Or you can try sending him a private message.
http://forum.solar-electric.com/messages/add/Marc Kurth
-Bill
Please help me understand: "AGM doesn't give you more usable capacity (AH)"
If I have a 400 A/H FLA bank that I can safely take to 50% DOD I will have 200A/H of usable capacity.
If I have a 400 A/H AGM bank that I can take safely to 80% DOD I will have 320 A/H of usable capacity.
It's been 30+ years since my last math class. As best I can figure 320 is more than 200. What am I missing?
Also, can anyone make recommendations regarding chargers? I have not had much luck, so far, finding anything other than the RV converter chargers and forklift chargers. Neither look like the best solution for my application?
Lastly, has anyone here had any experience with Renogy batteries?
Thanks again.
i don't think they actually MAKE batteries, I suspect they are re-branded somethings. That may make warranty claims fun,
|| Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
|| VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A
solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,
Second system 1890W 3 × 300W No name brand poly, 3×330 Sunsolar Poly panels, Morningstar TS 60 PWM controller, no name 2000W inverter 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Daly BMS, used for water pumping and day time air conditioning.
5Kw Yanmar clone single cylinder air cooled diesel generator for rare emergency charging and welding.
I replaced them with Trojan T105 batteries for $112 from the local golf cart shop. I then added the Trojan Hydrolink system to water them - much easier than manually filling them.
When solar isn't cooperating, I use an Iota 75A charger to get the job done. I added an IQ Controller to make it a 4 stage charger. While I can't change the settings, it does an excellent job right out of the box. I can unplug the IQ module, put in a supplied jumper, and force it to charge at 14.2V (fast charge). Details of the IQ Module here: https://www.iotaengineering.com/iq.htm
Pics and details of my battery bank here: http://www.2manytoyz.com/battbank2017.html
I think they will be around for some time to come. They are cheap and they work in colder weather than LFP.
|| Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
|| VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A
solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,
That said, the low-temp issue is solvable by heating the bank a bit. It isn't hard to imagine a scenario in which the massive increase in lithium based battery production coming online in the next few years isn't matched by an equally large increase in EV demand, driving battery pricing way down. If they get cheap enough, I can deal with the low temperature charging problem.
Hoping my banks last long enough to see if that scenario plays out.
Main daytime system ~4kw panels into 2xMNClassic150 370ah 48v bank 2xOutback 3548 inverter 120v + 240v autotransformer
Night system ~1kw panels into 1xMNClassic150 700ah 12v bank morningstar 300w inverter
Now--The battery scrap yards/recyclers have a reputation of not being very "clean"... Another issue.
-Bill
He builds them in OK. He made me one for my two T105's. Works great.
5,000 watt array - 14 CS 370 watt modules. HZLA horizontal tracker. Schneider: XW6048NA+, Mini PDP, MPPT 80-600, SCP. 390ah LiFeP04 battery bank - 3 Discover AES 42-48-6650 48 volt 130ah LiFePO4 batteries
I can set up a little propane heater outside the rig, use aircraft scat tube to create a duct and blow enough warm air to keep 'em warm, lose that cool, so to speak. I know where to get scat tubing.
KID #51B 4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM
CL#29032 FW 2126/ 2073/ 2133 175A E-Panel WBjr, 3 x 4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM
Cotek ST1500W 24V Inverter,OmniCharge 3024,
2 x Cisco WRT54GL i/c DD-WRT Rtr & Bridge,
Eu3/2/1000i Gens, 1680W & E-Panel/WBjr to come, CL #647 asleep
West Chilcotin, BC, Canada