AGM Batteries

Steve@Advance

Well-known Member
Has anyone tried one of the AGM batteries?

I'm having short life out of batteries, blame it on the Texas heat. Seems the quality is declining, about all I can get is 3 years out of the lead acid batteries.

Would the AGM be any more heat resistant? Any other suggestions?

Thanks!
Exide AGM
 
Personally I would tell you to get the one from Interstate battery. There are three types of Optima spiral wrap types. Red,yellow,and blue. Red is the standard. Yellow is extra extra deep . Blue is long deep cycle for like marine trolling motors or extra long low amp draw. Red is what you want. They even make a 6 volt version. Not cheep but I can recomend them. Have used them for years.
 
I have maybe 30 years experience with both Optima and Exide Orbital spiral cell AGM batteries, but in our cooler northern climate.(ND) They are tough and reliable, often lasting 2-3 times as long as a flooded battery. One exception is overcharging, they have little excess electrolyte and have no way to replace any lost. A bad charging system that overcharges them, or the guy who connects a big "dumb" charger set on high and walks away from it for a couple hours, will destroy an AGM battery in a couple hours.
In heat, I don't know if they will last any longer than a flooded battery. Could you mount the battery where it is cooler ? Put a speed shop "trunk mount" battery box in the pickup bed to get it away from the heat ?

Have you talked to others in your area with the same machine, do they also see such short battery life ?
 
In motorcycle batteries where useful life is very short.. agm's will last better, up to 3 years over the one year life of the lead acid...

in trucks, i have had worse luck with agm over low maintenance batteries.

This is in a hot climate...
 
Hello Steve@Advance,

Joe Hagen pretty much covered. I would add that a battery with more CCA may fare a little better. Your climate is the worse case scenario for battery life.
Three years is about normal,


Guido.
 
Thanks Jon.

This is in my wife's Honda CRV, so remote mounting wouldn't be practical. It doesn't get any unusual treatment, just a day to day driving, mostly city trips.

I don't think I am alone having short battery life in this heat, seems about 3 years is the norm.

Did you happen to look at the middle picture of the battery? This one appears to have the mats arranged similar to the plates in a flooded battery, as opposed to a spiral design.

I don't know if that is a better design or asking for more trouble since there would be more internal connections. I assume there is no liquid in the case.

I did notice one seller mentioned 48 month free replacement, but that would be hard to collect on Ebay. That looks like a good price though!

Still undecided...
 
I gave up attempting paying more for more durability. Now I buy "if it fits it's good enough" year old salvage batteries. $25. If unused for any length of time use a maintainer. New vehicles have a lot of constant electronic drains.
 
Just a question. A lot of Japanese cars and European models have the battery mounted under the rear seat just for that reason. The optima batterys can be mounted sideways and things would fit. Want to try that?
 
Over the years I have taken some out of boats that people wanted the batteries changed in because one of the two or three went bad usually from overcharging I would always save the good ones to use around the shop. Have one in a tractor now that I know is close to 10 years old and still going strong. Most all of these were marine deep cycle. We started putting them in stock cars back in the 90's because they could be mounted on their sides and also the vibration didn't seem to affect them. I believe if you are willing to spend the money they are worth the price. The heat here in Florida doesn't seem to affect them at all
 
Good question Steve, Other then perhaps having to occasionally keep the acid replenished in a flooded lead acid but no worry with AGM, I don't envision AGM as doing much better in the Texas heat, but I'm no battery expert. I can say this I don't think I'm ready for them in my cars n trucks as starting batteries HOWEVER the next time I need to replenish my deep cycle RV battery bank I may opt for AGM as venting is less of a concern plus they can be laid down or stood up. I will use Lifeline or Full River deep cycles for my RV instead of Optima.

John T
 
There is liquid electrolyte in the cells, but what makes it spill proof is the AGM plate separators(absorbent glass matt) Think of the plate separators as a fluffy thick fiberglass napkin between the plates that is soaked in electrolyte. There is no free liquid electrolyte to run out if the case is broken or turned upside down or on it's side. Just enough to saturate the separator and plates, but not enough to leak / drip off the plate separators. They are also what is called valve regulated, in that each cell has a little pressure relief valve on the vent that keeps all electrolyte in the battery unless high pressure caused by overcharging blows the relief valves open, so battery box and cable corrosion is about eliminated. The AGM battery should not lose any electrolyte if the charging system is ok, unless the under hood temps on a hot Texas day develops enough pressure to pop a relief valve.

I had a red top Optima last 15 years in a hard worked 1 ton pickup, but we normally do not see that many days with temps above 90 in ND.
The spiral cell AGM's are outrageously expensive and will stand a lot of vibration, but the conventional flat plate AGM's are not that much more money than a flooded battery, so I would be temped to try one in a passenger car.
 
Arizona is a bit worse, usual battery life here is 2 years. although the WalMart battery on the Camry is just over 3 years old.
 
(quoted from post at 10:06:04 06/09/17) Has anyone tried one of the AGM batteries?

I'm having short life out of batteries, blame it on the Texas heat. Seems the quality is declining, about all I can get is 3 years out of the lead acid batteries.

Would the AGM be any more heat resistant? Any other suggestions?

AGM batteries, a spin off from the navy Submarine program .
 
Steve, About seven years ago I stumbled upon a local battery store that had approximately a dozen Odyssey Extreme batteries that were long out of date, maybe around 5 years. I took a chance and bought around half a dozen at a very low price, thinking if they would last a few months or even a year that I would have made a great deal.

I put a pair in my 1999 F350 7.3, two in forklifts, one in a welding machine, and one on a tractor. All but one of these are kept in Lubbock. Not the hottest part of the state, but not exactly Minneapolis either.

Fast forward and all of them are going strong, none have seemed to decline in any discernible way. I am very careful not to aggressively charge these, as the manufacturers all caution against either aggressive or over charging.

I run a lot of equipment, and battery replacement is a chronic and nagging pain, from here on out it will be Odyssey for me. Be warned, they are VERY EXPENSIVE.
 
Hello Dick2,

Yep! you have the REAL worst case scenario for battery life. If you can keep it cool it may last more. Being in the engine compartment is a killer and does not help its life expectancy,

Guido.
 
AGMs have just a high failure rate as FLAs but cost a lot more. I kind of wonder if battery tech has done a little downhill. It used to be a standard practice to make two versions of the same battery. "Hot climate" versions and "cool-cold"climate versions. Maybe no such thing anymore?

I tend to get 8-10 years from all my batteries not counting lawn tractors or ATVs. I buy the cheapest I can find at Walmart. That includes Walmart (made by Johnson Controls) deep-cycle in two of my solar battery banks. But - it rarely gets past mid 90s F here and that is only for maybe a week's worth of days here in northern Michigan
 

Get her a Chrysler 300M :lol: let us know how well the battery change goes... Its remotely mounted from the factory.

I have seen AGM bats live a long life...
 
Rustmonger, the Odyssey sounds like what I'm looking for!

Looking at the description, it says "Extreme temp tolerant". Not sure which extreme they are talking about, heat or cold or both.

But if you have gotten 7 years out of them, there must be something to it!

They have them on Ebay for $200. That's not too bad if it will last. The Orileys battery that's in there cost about $165 with tax and recycle fee. It's just over 3 years old, starting to fail. Had it load tested, said it is at about 25% life. It barely started after the test.

Thinking seriously about the Odyssey!

Thanks!
 
Thanks everyone!

I think I'll try the Odyssey. If it's all it says it is, could be worth the extra money. At least it's made in USA!

Thanks again!
 
A lot of the newer vehicles have them remotely mounted, my dads charger its mounted in the trunk. Others that still mount them under the hood have them insulated to keep the heat away you might try that.
 

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