Ok guys n gals I have just discovered that my batteries have been cooked they are / were Full River Gel batteries 225 Ah made in the USA by the look of them the research I have done so far tells me that you need certain types of chargers depending on weather it is a wet , Agm or Gell battery and mine had the wrong charger near as I can tell and they have both bulged out and no longer hold charge AGM and Gell seem to be the top of the range and nothing p....s me off more than flat batteries so want to stay with the best what are your experiences with these batteries is AGM as good better or less than Gel .
seem that you can also get a DC to DC battery charger to correctly charge up the van battery from the tow vehicle when using AGM or Gel anyone using this charger?
Seems to me that I would need an inverter form the 240 back to 12 v to use it when plugged in to 240v at home or CP ?
thought I knew a bit but seems that I only know enough to get into trouble oh well nothing new there
any thoughts or experience comments would be appreciated
thanks
Woody
ken thomas said
09:29 AM Oct 16, 2014
Type in batteries in the search section and you will see many topics in techies
Ken
wendyv said
08:39 PM Oct 16, 2014
Woody, my bus is currently at a local auto electrician - because the "house" power system had stopped working.
I am putting 2 new Fullriver AGM batteries in. We had these in caravan and had no problems over 8 years.
A good auto electrician might be able to advise you on what sort of charger etc you need for your set up. Not much point in listing the parts of our system, because having solar makes it different. The better chargers can be switched to suit the type of battery, that much I know.
Blue said
07:01 AM Oct 17, 2014
AGM or GEL and you'll be ok...
be careful on your chargers.. gel seem to have to have specific chargers although they seem to take any old solar charger on them...
I was reading the other day that GEL batteries don't like to be charged over 13.8 volts
so
using a normal charger will most likely be trying to charge it at over 14V
looking at one of my Solar chargers the preset is 13.8 Volts - it also can be adjusted up or down
GEL supposedly last longer than AGM if charged properly
-- Edited by Blue on Friday 17th of October 2014 07:12:09 AM
03_troopy said
08:20 AM Oct 17, 2014
You could use one of the redarc type bcdc chargers to handle the DC-DC side of the charging. They have models that can be set up for different battery chemistries and have solar input with built in mppt regulator. But you'd need to use something like one of the Projecta 240V chargers for charging on 240V. They have models that can be selected for different battery chemistries as well. There are other brands available more than likely, these are just two that I know of. To be automatic, you'd have to connect the system via relays which may or may not be within your skills. A simple switch feeding the out put of either the dc-dc or the 240v charger to the batteries. And an ignition powered relay to select between alternator or solar when using the DC-Dc charger would be the minimum way I'd do it, although you could use another relay to select between DC-DC and 240V chargers when plugged into 240V.
wendyv said
05:02 PM Oct 17, 2014
I am having a Projecta Intellicharger put in the bus, with the new batteries. It has a remote monitor that will be mounted where I can see what is happening to the system. As the power system is tucked away under the bed, I can't otherwise check what is going on, easily!
Woody n Sue said
10:43 PM Oct 20, 2014
Thanks everyone checking prices now
wendyv said
04:35 PM Oct 21, 2014
Woody - sent u a PM
Tim thetruckie said
01:10 PM Oct 22, 2014
Woody I would suggest a Redarc BCDC 1240 http://www.redarc.com.au/products/product/in-vehicle-battery-charger-40a/ to charge from your motor and this DC DC charger also has a MPPT solar regulator built in , a change over relay needs to be fitted between the lead from your starter battery and the charger to connect the solar panel to . Purchase a 240v multlistage charger to charge off 240v . The Projecta 240v charger seems a good charger .
03_troopy said
02:56 PM Oct 22, 2014
What Tim said.. like this:
From the Redarc site
And shop around, prices vary considerably. just over $460 online
-- Edited by 03_troopy on Wednesday 22nd of October 2014 03:01:39 PM
I picked one up yesterday for a friend of mine for $462.00 . If you are in Adelaide Woody PM me and I can sort it for you .
03_troopy said
09:33 AM Oct 23, 2014
Yes Tim, the RRP on their site is way over the top.
SnowT said
05:49 PM Oct 23, 2014
The Biggest thing is is you free camp and don't Hook up to Mains to charge or even if you camp in the same spot and can not charge via your Vehicle you need to make sure you have enough charge to charge during the worst of the days.. ie Winter.. when you have less Solar available..
It all good to have a good set of Batteries but if you can't meet the Recharging demands that Lead Acid Batteries need[ this being AGM's, GEL, or any other form of LA] They need to be Fully charged or over time they begin to degrade..
So No matter what anyone tells you, do you have the ability to fully charge the Batteries... When they start to get low... and do you have a method of stopping the Batteries from going below 50% State of Charge.. - here is an example.. if you have 2 @ 12v 225 Ah Batteries in Parallel with each other to give you 445 Ah @ 12v.. You only should ever use 225Ah of the Batteries potential.. - [Mind you to take these batteries to 50% SOC means that the batteries are only given a theoretical Cycle life of 800 cycles[ If Full-river ] -- People think, " I don't have enough Battery power to meet all of their demands, so lets install an extra Battery ", but then they don't seem to Look at the other end of DO I HAVE THE ABILITY TO CHARGE WHAT I HAVE....??
Here is a Picture of what my bus is Currently configured Like..
The Roof rack is holding up a Tropical Roof of Solar Panels[Minus 1] I have enough solar up there to Fully charge my Batteries by 10-10:30am during summer, and I use the rest of the day to do what ever I want with the Power.. I will not go into my build here.. and yes it is an extreme amount of solar, but not by all means the smallest or the largest for This type of system..
So have a Think about HOW you plan to recharge the Batteries.. [ also take into account where you camp, how long you camp in the one spot, how far you travel between spot's and Lastly what charging sources you have available.. ]
So you need some means of telling if and when the batteries are at 50% SoC.. Me I would look at using one of these.. Victron Battery monitor BMV 600S
They can be programmed to switch off the Batteries if they show that the batteries are at say 60% of Charge and if setup correctly[Extra wiring] will only allow the vital stuff to work..
So what I'm saying No matter what Batteries you go with, if you DO NOT have the Ability to charge them up to Full[ IF Lead Acids ], you will end up in the same Boat 1-2yrs down the track..
If you don't have a method of tell you at what state of charge the Batteries are you could be shorting the life of the batteries..
I could talk of Other Battery types but then that is old hat..
Ok guys n gals I have just discovered that my batteries have been cooked they are / were Full River Gel batteries 225 Ah made in the USA by the look of them the research I have done so far tells me that you need certain types of chargers depending on weather it is a wet , Agm or Gell battery and mine had the wrong charger near as I can tell and they have both bulged out and no longer hold charge AGM and Gell seem to be the top of the range and nothing p....s me off more than flat batteries so want to stay with the best what are your experiences with these batteries is AGM as good better or less than Gel .
seem that you can also get a DC to DC battery charger to correctly charge up the van battery from the tow vehicle when using AGM or Gel anyone using this charger?
Seems to me that I would need an inverter form the 240 back to 12 v to use it when plugged in to 240v at home or CP ?
thought I knew a bit but seems that I only know enough to get into trouble oh well nothing new there
any thoughts or experience comments would be appreciated
thanks
Woody
Ken
I am putting 2 new Fullriver AGM batteries in. We had these in caravan and had no problems over 8 years.
A good auto electrician might be able to advise you on what sort of charger etc you need for your set up. Not much point in listing the parts of our system, because having solar makes it different. The better chargers can be switched to suit the type of battery, that much I know.
AGM or GEL and you'll be ok...
be careful on your chargers.. gel seem to have to have specific chargers although they seem to take any old solar charger on them...
I was reading the other day that GEL batteries don't like to be charged over 13.8 volts
so
using a normal charger will most likely be trying to charge it at over 14V
looking at one of my Solar chargers the preset is 13.8 Volts - it also can be adjusted up or down
GEL supposedly last longer than AGM if charged properly
-- Edited by Blue on Friday 17th of October 2014 07:12:09 AM
Woody I would suggest a Redarc BCDC 1240 http://www.redarc.com.au/products/product/in-vehicle-battery-charger-40a/ to charge from your motor and this DC DC charger also has a MPPT solar regulator built in , a change over relay needs to be fitted between the lead from your starter battery and the charger to connect the solar panel to . Purchase a 240v multlistage charger to charge off 240v . The Projecta 240v charger seems a good charger .
What Tim said.. like this:
From the Redarc site
And shop around, prices vary considerably. just over $460 online
-- Edited by 03_troopy on Wednesday 22nd of October 2014 03:01:39 PM
The Biggest thing is is you free camp and don't Hook up to Mains to charge or even if you camp in the same spot and can not charge via your Vehicle you need to make sure you have enough charge to charge during the worst of the days.. ie Winter.. when you have less Solar available..
It all good to have a good set of Batteries but if you can't meet the Recharging demands that Lead Acid Batteries need[ this being AGM's, GEL, or any other form of LA] They need to be Fully charged or over time they begin to degrade..
So No matter what anyone tells you, do you have the ability to fully charge the Batteries... When they start to get low... and do you have a method of stopping the Batteries from going below 50% State of Charge..
- here is an example.. if you have 2 @ 12v 225 Ah Batteries in Parallel with each other to give you 445 Ah @ 12v.. You only should ever use 225Ah of the Batteries potential..
- [Mind you to take these batteries to 50% SOC means that the batteries are only given a theoretical Cycle life of 800 cycles[ If Full-river ]
-- People think, " I don't have enough Battery power to meet all of their demands, so lets install an extra Battery ", but then they don't seem to Look at the other end of DO I HAVE THE ABILITY TO CHARGE WHAT I HAVE....??
Here is a Picture of what my bus is Currently configured Like..
The Roof rack is holding up a Tropical Roof of Solar Panels[Minus 1] I have enough solar up there to Fully charge my Batteries by 10-10:30am during summer, and I use the rest of the day to do what ever I want with the Power.. I will not go into my build here.. and yes it is an extreme amount of solar, but not by all means the smallest or the largest for This type of system..
So have a Think about HOW you plan to recharge the Batteries.. [ also take into account where you camp, how long you camp in the one spot, how far you travel between spot's and Lastly what charging sources you have available.. ]
So you need some means of telling if and when the batteries are at 50% SoC.. Me I would look at using one of these.. Victron Battery monitor BMV 600S
They can be programmed to switch off the Batteries if they show that the batteries are at say 60% of Charge and if setup correctly[Extra wiring] will only allow the vital stuff to work..
So what I'm saying No matter what Batteries you go with, if you DO NOT have the Ability to charge them up to Full[ IF Lead Acids ], you will end up in the same Boat 1-2yrs down the track..
If you don't have a method of tell you at what state of charge the Batteries are you could be shorting the life of the batteries..
I could talk of Other Battery types but then that is old hat..
Juergen