Recommendations for a quality100AH Deep Cycle AGM Battery

Code4

Code4

Member
My Repco special has died after 18 months of constant daily use running a 40 Litre Engel. We re about to head off for a 6 week outback tour and need a replacement. Lithium maybe an option down the track but not yet.

What is the consensus from the brains trust on here ?
 
barcher

barcher

Well-Known Member
Where abouts is the battery going to live? Under the bonnet or somewhere cooler.
Been running a Full River behind the drivers seat and very happy with it. Early days though.
 
Swaggie

Swaggie

Moderator
Don’t they usually have a 24-36 month warranty ????

Also don’t run them down below 50% of S.O.C otherwise you’ll kill the next one also, use Solar with a decent mppt controller (highly suggest the bluetooth Victron model)… Lithium is apparently more forgiving running them lower….
 
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Lost1?

Well-Known Member
There are lithium batteries available for about $150 more than a good quality AGM. Boobook tested a 100ah lithium he purchased for about $550 and calculated the battery exceeded the recorded spec. I can't find the thread. But he might pick up on this one. Good luck
 
B

boobook

Well-Known Member
Lost1? said:
There are lithium batteries available for about $150 more than a good quality AGM. Boobook tested a 100ah lithium he purchased for about $550 and calculated the battery exceeded the recorded spec. I can't find the thread. But he might pick up on this one. Good luck
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I got 2 x Solar Kings and have been very happy, they exceeded their spec, just. The ones I got were 330mm long and 120AH. I see they have 150AH in the same profile now.

Yep I ran some tests using my Victron BM 712 and in fact, it is always connected. The only downside is their discharge limit is 100A ea so not good for induction cooktops or microwaves, feet massagers, electric toothbrushes, electric nose trimmers, waxers, electric douches, or 85" Plasma TV's, but great for fridges, stereo, lights etc though.
 
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Albynsw

Albynsw

Well-Known Member
boobook said:
I got 2 x Solar Kings and have been very happy, they exceeded their spec, just. The ones I got were 330mm long and 120AH. I see they have 150AH in the same profile now.

Yep I ran some tests using my Victron BM 712 and in fact, it is always connected. The only downside is their discharge limit is 100A ea so not good for induction cooktops or microwaves, feet massagers, electric toothbrushes, electric nose trimmers, waxers, electric douches, or 85" Plasma TV's, but great for fridges, stereo, lights etc though.
Click to expand...

So you can’t use your electric douche? :(
 
RBJET

RBJET

Well-Known Member
As others have said, the Repco batteries have an 18 month warranty so you may be able to have it replaced.
That's not a very good life span though, I'm assuming you've flattened it a few times?

Any decent AGM (including the Repco) should give you a few years of use if you treat it nicely (keep it above 12C).

I've been running a Giant Power cheapy for 3 years now, running my fridge 24/7, no issues. It is connected to solar though.
 
cam04

cam04

Well-Known Member
Toyasaurus said:
Optima spiralcell, yellow top,
They cost a bit more but last a long time.
I had two in the back of my rangie for over 15yrs.
Click to expand...
My oldest is 'only' a 2013 model, running the fridge in the utes continuously. Still rests at 13.1v.
There is no such thing as a cheap battery. The expensive ones always work out to be the best value.
 
Komang

Komang

Well-Known Member
Just becarefull lots of big brand lit battery have protected bms in their battery and if this bms a sleep you have to use their charger to wake the bms so you can reused the battery
 
discomatt

discomatt

Well-Known Member
Komang said:
Just becarefull lots of big brand lit battery have protected bms in their battery and if this bms a sleep you have to use their charger to wake the bms so you can reused the battery
Click to expand...
That is only Lithium batteries not AGM
 
Triton14

Triton14

Well-Known Member
Toyasaurus said:
Optima spiralcell, yellow top,
They cost a bit more but last a long time.
I had two in the back of my rangie for over 15yrs.
Click to expand...
Imo while they are a great battery they are more designed as a cranking battery with high CCA than a high capacity AGM.

The largest AH in the yellow top range is the DH7 @ 80Ah & they are about $550+

Dont get me wrong, great batteries, I have a d27f as my main starter which is a couple of years old now & dont have any complaints about spending the extra coin on it.

Probably as an under bonnet option the yellow top would be fine but I think if your putting a battery in the tray you may as well go as big as you can.

I have a 150AH Giant power(think I paid $275?) in my tray, a couple years old & no complaints about it.

However I did my build in 2020 & if I was doing a build now I would just bite the bullet & go a lithium set up, they have come down in price a a fair bit & they have much more usable AH due to being able to be taken down in discharge as low as 10%-20% where AGM you can only use 50%.

Besides that the lithium's weigh about 1/3 of an AGM so you can carry more of the other gear you need.
 
Toyasaurus

Toyasaurus

Well-Known Member
I have an optima as my house and winching battery under the bonnet,
I just replaced my main starter battery, Century n70, I noticed that in a picture I took of it, it had the recycle symbol and 10/14.
I wonder if that means it was nearly 8 yrs old?

A Century red top now lives under the bonnet, starts the truck much quicker.
36mth warranty, $ 235 fitted.
I`ll see how it goes.
 
cam04

cam04

Well-Known Member
Triton14 said:
Imo while they are a great battery they are more designed as a cranking battery with high CCA than a high capacity AGM.

The largest AH in the yellow top range is the DH7 @ 80Ah & they are about $550+

Dont get me wrong, great batteries, I have a d27f as my main starter which is a couple of years old now & dont have any complaints about spending the extra coin on it.

Probably as an under bonnet option the yellow top would be fine but I think if your putting a battery in the tray you may as well go as big as you can.

I have a 150AH Giant power(think I paid $275?) in my tray, a couple years old & no complaints about it.

However I did my build in 2020 & if I was doing a build now I would just bite the bullet & go a lithium set up, they have come down in price a a fair bit & they have much more usable AH due to being able to be taken down in discharge as low as 10%-20% where AGM you can only use 50%.

Besides that the lithium's weigh about 1/3 of an AGM so you can carry more of the other gear you need.
Click to expand...
The problem with going ‘as big as you can’ for newbs is that they work on the basic numbers (ah) which tells some of the story but misses out big chunks also. Lead purity and internal resistance is where it is at for me because it is all about recharge, not discharge. I don’t care if I only have 75 ah batteries (optima d31) if they are recharged by the solar panel by 12.00 every day because they accept a higher charge rate. I also have lithium batteries but the OP was specifically not asking about them. I would beg him to spend a little time having a look at sites like battery university to at least get a solid handle on the tech prior to wasting money on more repco specials. The meat in your fridge is worth the same as the battery on a trip. Do yourself a favour and buy a quality battery. Optima is by no means the only way to go, there are many ways to skin a 12v cat, but they are in the right group of AGM’s that you want to be looking at if payback over time is a concept you can afford to buy up front. Totally understand if the budget doesn’t get there in the short term. I’ve been there
 
Toyasaurus

Toyasaurus

Well-Known Member
Next time I need a house battery for camping I`m going to build my own.
There are plenty of 3.2v lithium cell`s for not a whole lot of coin.
4 of these gets you 12v, he ones I`m looking at are AA and about $500 + the bms, for 200 AH.
 
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