AGM or Gel Battery

[Ray Davis]

Did you check out all of the other specs and compare them to Lifeline?

Lew, at the time Nick Hessler was here, and we made a comparison. As I remember, we didn't find the specs all that different to warrant any concern. Also, none of the places I tried had Lifelines in stock. They could order them and get them in a week, but when you need batteries "now" ....

Their specs are on the website, give them a gander.


Ray

[mikedee]

I installed 6 MK's, 8-D's about 3 months ago and paid about 307.00 Ea. delivered. They are well built, weight the same as Lifeline, have the same output rating but cost a lot less.

I am getting excellent performance from them and would recommend the batteries.

[MangoMike]

I wish I would have known about MK's before I installed the Lifelines. Again, joining POG is going to save someone a lot of Lewbucks.

See you turkeys at POG IV.

Mango

[dalej]

FYI, I had talked to Justin at Lifeline and this is what he said....

When you look at East Penn / MK AGM batteries please be aware of their published cycle life. They publish that their batteries can cycle 350 times at 50% discharged. Lifeline Batteries can be cycled over 1,000 times at 50% discharged rate. Now, we also offer a 5 year warranty and they only offer a 3 year warranty. Please keep in mind to that Featherlite/Vantare has been an OEM client of ours for over 10 years. They switched to East Penn/ MK AGM batteries about three years ago and came back to us within 6 months and had very bad problems with those batteries. If you need anything else please let me know.

I don't have any interest in Lifeline but will need batteries within a couple of years though. It's nice to know the facts for sure.

[dalej]

I think it would be nice to find good products and suppliers and then coop the purchace so we can save a few bucks. I sure don't mind bringing glass to a rally so people can save $35 each. Tires are a good item along with batteries.

[Ray Davis]

Dale,

So, this brings up an important question in my mind. Let's say that the comments are indeed 100% true, i.e. 350 vs 1000 recharge cycles. My question, is that actually important to me?

So, I think we're all talking about only house batteries for AGM batteries. My house batteries are always on charger when the bus is stored, and generally I've never really run them down even 50% many times.

Now, I know that many do dry camp, and this does happen, but in the normal operation of most buses, how long does it take to get 350 recharge cycles from 50%? My guess is that it's years? Maybe longer than I'm going to hold the batteries anyway? I believe Jon's recommendation is to change batteries every 5 years maximum?


I'm not arguing for or against Lifeline or MK batteries, but trying to figure out perhaps something more important. When is specmanship important. Clearly the Lifeline specs are higher. Again, is it important? I don't know. Perhaps the most telling part of their statement is that Featherlite switched, and came back in 6 months?

It would be interesting to know the "rest of the story" from Featherlite.

Ray

[gmcbuffalo]

I have heard that the Military uses Gels in Iraq and it is hot there. Anyone no where the batteries are in a Military HUMVEE?
GregM

[lewpopp]

I don't no, do you no?

[blacklab]

I finally found time to install my new house batteries. Lifeline's >$400.00 each. My question is with my Heart inverters, do I set the DIP switch to "wet" or "gel" ??

[mikedee]

I installed 6 MK 8D at a cost of about $315.00 Ea. including delivery. They are well built, same ratings as Lifeline, and are performing great.

I called MK direct in Anaheim CA and asked for the dealer price. The battery price went down like my last stock pick.

ODR Indio, Space 50 heading to the next race in Phoenix on Tuesday.