joc45 posted:

Geez, with 4 1/2 years from a Delkor, I'd have bought another as a replacement and forget the AGM!!!
Gerry

Mainey (WA) posted:

Gerry,
I was getting to the point of needing a new Cranking battery, the Yuasha Overlander was getting 'sluggish' as it was getting past 4 years old, and as I was going north for the winter I bought two new AGM's simply because they are technically superior to normal Deep Cycle batteries, (of any brand) and put one of my Delkor DC's into the cradle as the Starter battery & gave the other away.

The Delkor's take a while to charge fully, but they also take a while to discharge too, where the AGM's recharge very fast, discharge very slow and will outlast many Delkors and even many many more Extremes in the same situation, lol

joc45 posted:

Hi Mainey,
Yeh, I agree that the AGMs are good, but in my experience, even the best can be killed through just one misadventure. I've heard of AGMs being killed after being inadvertantly fully-discharged. I've always looked after my batteries, but I lost an expensive Trojan (well it died after two years, which was the warranty period) with no misadventure, two batteries died coz the bimbo staying at our place disconnected the float charger while we were away on an extended holiday, the list goes on. Nowadays, I buy a $100 second battery and replace it every two years. If it falls over prematurely, no big issue.
But I dream of the sort of life you got from yours! Well done!
Gerry

Mainey (WA) posted:

joc, yeah, any, repeat any, battery can be "killed through just one misadventure" and if you don't recharge them fully then they will die of sulphation guaranteed.
My major benefit is my Deep Cycle batteries are charged by 200+watts of solar power 24/7 so they are never undercharged, I don't recall them ever registering under 11v with the fridge and lights running even at night, because they are fully charged when the sun goes down by the solar system, and in the morning these new AGM's are still showing 12.7v at sunrise b4 the solar kicks in again and after running the fridge and lights for the night.

During the day with the fridge running the solar system is still putting more power into the battery than the fridge and accessories are taking out, so the batteries are 'almost' allways being charged (except at night)

When I camp for extended periods not using the vehicle I also add the 'Cranking' battery into the charging system so it's getting charged by the solar also, and yes it's also then part of the power system for all the accessories.

Mainey (WA) posted:

Arkay, you were lucky you had your DC battery installed by someone who gave you the correct information. :)

Mainey (WA) posted:

I've never had any colour other than green showing....

I used to charge mine @ 14.4v from the alternator and 13.8v up to 15.4v (boost) from the solar regulator when camped.

Delkor recomend 14.5v as the charging voltage from memory