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I have hit the 6 year mark on my house batteries and they are starting to heat and not last over 6-7 hours without charging.
I purchased 6 new 8D MK batteries direct from MK for $313.64 each. Price was right and performance curves are very close to Lifeline. and they weigh the same. Has anyone used this brand? I hope I can give the batteries a good report in about 6 years.
Hi Mike. Where did you buy them and are they Wet , glass , or gel?
I emailed the company and purchased the direct with a credit card from their Manteca CA warehouse. It looks like they have distribution in many areas
They are AGM and look like top quality construction.
They even delivered them to my business for free. They offered to stop and pick up my old battries next week also for free. The used 8D maybe worth something for scrap to them not worth a thing to me.
www.mkbattery.com
With the batteries and there replacement costs being what they are, this post is for the benefit of those still looking and trying to figure costs.
Here is an aspect of the bus that, for the way we use things, gives us the ability to really cut corners, on what otherwise would be quite an expence.
All of our batteries are wet and additionally they are in the engine compartment and for that reason they will remain wet.
We have a 2500 watt Heart inverter and it powers everything we need to be comfortable without the need for gen or shore power.
Our bus is set up with a gas fridge and OTR A/C and with the fridge and A/C units usually being the biggest draw on an inverter that alone extends the preformance and lifespan of related components by at least half.
Additionally usually the only time we are running the inverter is when we are underway, the battery equalizer is on and the bus alternater is giving charge.
If at a campground, shore power is supplied and if dry camping, it is usually nessesarry for either the heaters or A/C so the gen. runs. If a moderate climate does not require heat or air then the inverter is used but the biggest draw is the ice maker at like 3 amps. The toaster and micro and coffee pot are on the inverter but none of these things usually require constant continous power.
So taking all this into concideration, and I believe what I have just described to be a pretty common cenerio if equiped with a gas fridge, one could get by with just some wet cells at a very reasonable cost.
When we got ours it had 8 new wet house batteries but nothing real expensive. They are marine deep cycle in the 50 or 60 dollar each range. They are more than sufficiant for what we ask them to do and even as they get old and weak they will continue to provide addiquate preformance.
I still am undecided as to when we will actually be required to replace them since usually the alt is sending a charge to them whenever the inverter is on. I guess time will tell, or when they become so weak that it restricts normal opporation and preformance. Concidering that the only time our inverter is running, the alt. is giving charge, that could be a long time.
In the name of simplicity we will not alter the current configuration but if desired I think we might even be able to get by on about 1/2 the capacity we currently have.
Just my 2 cents, hope I didn't ramble too much.
Joe,
Sometimes newer is not better. Most of the "newer" coaches are blessed/cursed with all-electric systems. Dry camping is very limited in some due to battery capacity. Our coach, for instance has 3 8D's for the house which limits us to about 8 hours without a charge. New buyers take note. As part of your quest consider the coaches dry camping capacity. Just a thought.
I put MK batteries in for my coach batteries in March. I found them to be about 1/2 the cost of Lifelines. Hard to comment yet on the performance, as I think the old Trojan fluid batteries which were in the coach prior damaged the chargers.
But, so far they seem to hold a charge pretty well. I tested for a 36 hour period running solely on batteries when I returned from POG4. Parked outside, running only fridgerator on the alternators.
After 36 hours, battery voltage was still above 12v. So far I'm happy. They also have a warehouse in Anaheim.
I only purchased them because I was in a hurry, and couldn't locate a dealer with Lifelines.
Ray
So Ray...how was POG4? I guess we missed it! ;)
Ooops! Got POG4 on the brain already! :) Meant to say "when I returned from POG3".
Sheesh! :confused: