second battery, what ya got?

Hey guys

just researching a duel battery set up.

went to a 12v store and they suggest i buy a "thumper redback" its fully sealed. looks to be a really good battery .......BUT its $390! is that to much?

i pretty much want to chuck the battery in and never have to think about it again so is it worth forking out the cash to start with?

what you guys running?

cheers

That's about the right price for a 100Amp AGM battery. If its the 120Amp verison then thats an awesome price!

They have their purpose just like any AGM does and if you want a set and forget battery then maybe such a thing will benefit you. But for the sake of throwing a 240V charger on a battery every 12 months you can do a lot better than $390.

My Century 180AH is about 2 years old now and cost me $130, I run the CB, reversing camera and aux lights of it permanently and run a fridge off it when I need too and I've used a 240V charger on it about twice or three times in it's life and it's still going strong.

It's also a matter of what you believe, some battery sellers will tell you you need deep cycle batteries, inverters, chargers, super leads, and pretty flashing lights that spell "sucked in" others will just sell you exactly what you need. What you really need depends on the theories you subscribe too but it can be as little as decent cabling, and isolator of around 100 AMP and the battery of around 100AH.

You obviously have to take into account what you want to do with the battery before picking anyone off the shelf but I've never had a problem with any battery in 14 years of running dual battery systems in vehicles from Hiace's to Pathy's to the Nav.

i have a 100amp deep cycle battery, which is now in the NAV. It was first in my camper trailer for about a year, then a falcon wagon for 2 years, now in the nav for past year.

For a 4 yr old battery, that has probably only had a 240v charger on it twice in its life (in the first year only) , it is still running the waeco fridge and all the accessories in the Nav without any problems.

The only drama i have is, if i only do short runs from/to the office (only 4 km's each way) then the battery does not get enough of a charge in a week. As long a i do at least 30 minute drive twice a week, the fridge does not miss a beat. Means i always have a cold Coke (sometime beer too) available whenever i want one.

I spent the money on an AGM but that has now failed.

Starting to wonder why AGMs only have 12months warranty and normal SLA have 24-36 month warranty .....

I think this time I'll adopt the KISS principle (keep.it.simple.stupid)

you have 4 choices

1) AGM
Has many advantages (see fridgeandsolar.com.au)
Might not be all they are cracked up to be

2) General lead acid deep cycle
Take ages to discharge
Take ages to recharge
look at exide or centuray

3) Marine Battery (half deep cycle/Half cranking)
Exide endurance marine
Centuray marine
supercharge allrounder

4) Cranker
centuray overlander
exide extreme

There are other brands out there but this have a good warranty and are used by many people so there just the ones I'm familiar with.

not sure what Battery you bought Nathan96, but most AGM have 3year warranties...

My AGM was 5.5 years old and still working perfectly when it was sold with my last vehicle

UncySpam said:

not sure what Battery you bought Nathan96, but most AGM have 3year warranties...

My AGM was 5.5 years old and still working perfectly when it was sold with my last vehicle

Click to expand...

What ones are those?
Can you post some links I'd like to check em out.

And what brand AGM was in your previous car?

Cheers

I had an Optima Yellowtop and was very happy with it. I know a few people with the Thumpers and they are all happy with em.

If you intend on fitting an AGM to a D40 in the under body mounting point, I'd recommend going a spiral wound heavy duty AGM, but never the less, I would not recommend any other type (well maybe a Marine Gel Cell, but thats about double the price for probably the same performance)

KraftyPg said:

My Century 180AH is about 2 years old now and cost me $130,

Click to expand...

How did you get one that cheap? I can buy wholesale direct from Century, no way I could get a 55Ah never lone a 180.

I've got a Supercharge Allrounder 120A/h, got it from Bias boating, lives in a chequerplate box under my tray, fuse board & ARB Shure solenoid in top toolbox.
Works well, not used to its capacity often (read ever), mostly use it for the 12V freshwater pump.
I had an 80litre Engel when I went to Fraser island, on the way we called in for a wedding at Brisbane and the car got parked and left for 3days, Engel was still sitting at -15degrees! Pretty happy with that.
I'd recommend putting a volt meter on the second battery as you really don't know whats happening without it

08KINGCAB said:

How did you get one that cheap? I can buy wholesale direct from Century, no way I could get a 55Ah never lone a 180.

Click to expand...

It was about 2 years ago and my mechanic has good deals on just about everything useful so I don't argue I just pay the price his invoice shows before his accounts lady threatens to castrate me for late payment.

Take a look here, http://shop.ebay.com.au/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_nkw=fullriver&_sacat=See-All-Categories

One of the better branks for agm batteries. (AGM defonately the way to go.)

$345 for 120a/h should get you out of trouble.

i've had a supercharge Allrounder 60ah since i got my car about a year ago, and it's recently died. wont hold charge or even become charged, so i'm in the market for a new one too. the allrounder 60ah used to run my 40l Engel for 2 days which was pretty good, but what i'd consider the bare minimum. so i'm keen to hear what you guys have to say.

I'm currently thinking about one of these - 100 AH AGM Thumper REDBACK Battery

Also, if anyone is shopping this weekend you can use this, just print and you're good to go.

I did have a pair of 50Ah deep cycles in the van, I've replaced those with a single 100Ah Gel Cell (not AGM). One of the 50Ah batteries is now in the Navara and the other is waiting for me to make a wind turbine.

I don't like deep cycle batteries much any more - too much maintenance. Gel Cells are like AGMs - not a lot of maintenance. They are tough batteries, too. However, the 50Ah deep cycles aren't dead yet and I've got a CTek charger to make sure they can be recovered in case they go west.

got a 150Amp projecta isolator and a 120Ah lead acid deep cycle in the tray. Would have liked a gel or AGM, but funds were limited. Paid probably $170 for the bat. Been running lights and fridge off it when camping. Just got a new lead to hook negative to negative terminials as my earth point wasn't working that well. Otherwise pretty happy with it. Considering how much I paid I'm expecting to put it on a charger every now and then

thanks for all the replys guys, ha ha i love the forum every one is so quick.

will really help me out when making my choice.

just a newbie question what does AGM stand for?

Absorbed Glass Mat (?)

terryc said:

Absorbed Glass Mat (?)

Click to expand...

Yep. It's like fibreglass matting that separates the cells. It's used because glass is impervious to the acid, and in fine fibres will soak up (absorb) the acid in the battery thus retaining it all where it's needed most.