What is the downside of installig an AGM battery on its side

Not going to comment whether you can or you can't mount them on their side but ours at work are mounted on their side and have been mounted that way for 14 years.

Different battery manufacturer though. Others have a different slant on it and say No! No! No! Well buggered if I know. All I know is I haven't seen a problem in all that time. Guess they have mounted them on their sides and have had a problem.

Bit cranky with the manufacturer of the above batteries as I have just had 2 failures from their products in my own vehicle.

RA.

Hi Rockape,

Thanks for this information, without breaking the rules of this forum, are you able to tell me the brand you use at work?

Regards,

Sn00py2

Mate they are Optima batteries.

RA.

Yep, agree with what Rockape posted. A while ago we had a dealership for a certain brand of ATV's (quad bikes). They were fitted with either Deka or Yuasa AGM batteries from the factory. Because of the positioning of the larger engines and frame configurations they mounted the batteries on their sides. When the particular models first appeared we questioned them regarding the side mounting. They sent us various info sheets from the manufacturers, including safety documents and a general letter assuring us that side mounting had been extensively tested and would not affect the operation in any way. We had no problems after many years and I can assure you that an ATV in the hands of a geological survey company will be put through a far greater battering (if you will excuse the pun) than most 4WD's.
Having said all that I have never seen an AGM upside down and I guess common sense would tell us that no space restriction would be overcome by mounting the battery upside down.

Cheers
Pop

Thanks Rockape and Pop,

I'm now reassured that mounting the batteries on their side is the way to go.

Thanks everyone,

Sn00py2

Hi Rockape,
I know you’ve had a run-in with Optima regarding the life of your last 2 batteries – but it sounds like a good endorsement if your mining company has been using them for 14 years.

Dennis,
yes I may have been a bit hard on the product.

I was buying something else at the auto sparkies who also sell Optima among many other brands, so I asked the question about whether they were having any issues with the quality of the new batteries.

His answer was that they hadn't changed and they had very few returns.

AGM batteries are technically not sealed batteries. They are VRLA (valve regulated lead acid) batteries. They have liquid acid in them, it's just absorbed in the glass mat separators and none of it sloshes around inside the case. These batteries are just as liable to suffer run-away failures as flooded batteries if something goes wrong. If they are mounted upside down when this happens the liquid and muck expelled from the glass mat may block the valves. You then get a bit of a bang for your buck. Don't take your chances and mount them upside down.

Thanks Guys,

I was not intending to mount them upside down, just on their side. Height is my problem in the space I have so mounting the battery on its side allows me to go to a much bigger battery.

Regards,

Sn00py2

Well Richard, you CAN actually mount them upside down ........ but you would have to be pretty stupid. LOL

Allan all the specs I have have a note saying "do not mount up side down" but any thing is possible with DIYers.

Was it you who had a big dispute a month or so back about mounting angles oh AGM battery's?...... you saying you can't mount them on their sides.

If it was, why the change of heart.

Did you miss the "LOL" at the end of the line? Tongue-in-cheek mate.
"Do not" is not the same as "Can not". Get it now? D'oh.

Wasn't me in a past dispute about AGM mounting.
I am well aware that side mounting is approved.
A search revealed thread 90063 of Nov 12, 2011 titled "AGM Batteries" where there was some dissension about mounting angles, but I was not a contributor to that thread. In fact, did not even see it before. I was crossing the Simpson at that time!
Maybe you should view the thread to clear my name?

Thanks Graeme and everyone else for all this valuable information.

Looks like I will go for the side mounting. All I have to do now is adapt the tie down mechanism.

Thanks everyone,

Sn00py2