Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 05-02-2022, 04:20 PM   #1
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 80
Garage
AGM can't handle Baja

Fact - I've gone through two 200 a/hr AGM Renogy batteries driving the wash board roads of Baja.

Questison - Are AGM batteries brittle? Are they built for smooth roads and not a lot of vibration? Is there a better battery for my application?

Solar system: 2 100 watt Renogy solar panels
Blue sky MPPT controller.

Any help would be appreciated as Renogy had no suggestions other than they will warranty replace the battery, again.🥹

Simon

Nimzero is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-02-2022, 04:36 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
marret's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: FL and VA
Posts: 1,948
Garage
I`m not an expert, but I have never heard this before. I have some number of dirt/washboard with no issues for my AGM batteries, and as mentioned never heard or read about issues.

Maybe this is a Renogy issue.
__________________
Chris
2008 GMC 3500 Quigley Weldtec 4x4 Savana SMB
marret is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 05-02-2022, 04:48 PM   #3
Site Team
 
BroncoHauler's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Southern New Mexico
Posts: 10,177
What specifically has been the problem? Do they stop holding a charge, does the case crack, or something else?

AGM's are typically much better are resisting vibration than other wet cell batteries.


Herb
__________________
SMB-less as of 02/04/2012. Our savings account is richer, but our adventures are poorer.
BroncoHauler is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-02-2022, 06:04 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
carringb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Corvallis, OR
Posts: 5,300
AGMs generally tolerate vibration better. Though construction does vary by brand and model. And nothing is impervious to harmonic vibrations. Any chance it’s a charging issue? Or lack of charging causing deep cycling?
__________________
2000 E450 dually V10 wagon
carringb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-02-2022, 08:32 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
arctictraveller's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 4,234
I had two 8D AGM's in my sail boat for years without any issues, but probably had less violent movement over all that an off road van.
__________________
Arctic Traveller
KC6TNI
2001 GTRV
Advanced 4wd
Agile Ride improvement package
arctictraveller is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-02-2022, 08:44 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
dhally's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: SE Washington
Posts: 1,023
Garage
We've got Duracell AGMs on the frame rail, on their side. Lots of rough roads and no damage.
__________________
---------------------
2009 E250 RB 5.4L "SilVan"
dhally is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-02-2022, 10:36 PM   #7
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2020
Posts: 47
If your charging with solar, I would suspect an undercharging problem. Check the battery voltage at the terminals and make sure they are reaching at least 14.4 volts but with renogy agm according to the factory specs you can charge from 14.4 volts up to 14.8 volts (I would charge to the max every time).
Every controller I had, had excessive voltage drop, the controller might be at 14.4 volts but the battery terminals would be 13.9 volts (barely above float voltage). Undercharging the battery will kill it before its time.
I currently have a 10 year old 27ah fullriver agm that I'm using as my start battery, its mil-grade specs, agms are definitely design to last as long as they are fully charge to the max voltage every day.
jonyjoe101 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2022, 08:08 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
Scalf77's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 2,490
Without knowing the failure data, it really is difficult to speculate on what caused the issue. I think the general answer to your question is that AGMs can and do handle the conditions that you experienced in Baja. Otherwise this would be a common post, for one thing.

If the battery just stopped working as in no voltage I would suspect the manufacturer. I don't know who makes the battery for Renogy, it is clear they are not a battery manufacturer.

If the battery is just not performing as well as when new, I think a deep dive into your charging methods and electrical usage is in need.

-greg
Scalf77 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2022, 10:20 AM   #9
Site Team
 
daveb's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Turlock Ca
Posts: 10,407
Garage
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nimzero View Post
Fact - I've gone through two 200 a/hr AGM Renogy batteries driving the wash board roads of Baja.

Questison - Are AGM batteries brittle? Are they built for smooth roads and not a lot of vibration? Is there a better battery for my application?

Solar system: 2 100 watt Renogy solar panels
Blue sky MPPT controller.

Any help would be appreciated as Renogy had no suggestions other than they will warranty replace the battery, again.🥹

Simon
Probably need more info to figure it out. Do you have a voltage monitor? Are your batteries just dying? All the AGM batteries I've had over the years don't just generally die...they slowly loose more capacity over time. I did have a newer battery just fail in my bass boat for no reason at all and it was due to a bad battery. Having two fail on you at different times makes me wonder if you're charging/usage methods could be the issue especially if you let the battery drop below 50% on a common basis.



One thing found with my van (6.0) was while running van's equipment loads (lights, A/C-heater, wipers radio and more) the alternator was barely able to supply enough charge to keep up. If I ran my Starcool, the charge rate dropped into the negative zone. Even with the 270 watts of solar pushing it into the plus zone, that only happened during the day so a long run at night often pulled my two 210A lifelines down by the time I reached camp. After upgrading the alternator I never had any more issues. My new alternator even pushes out a reasonable good charge rate at idle. Slow travel never lets the engine rev high enough for many alternators to put out its max charge rate. That changed after putting in a higher amp alternator. Not saying that is your problem but a good voltage monitor showed me what issues were occurring. I've rarely had to plug into shore power after installing the new alternator and smart regulator. Solar just tops it off for daytime float. My Lifeline batteries are due to be replace this year but they were installed in 2009 so they're on the old side.
__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer

Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures..........On and off road adventures
daveb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2022, 10:46 AM   #10
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 80
Garage
Thank you all for your knowledge on the subject! I don't really have more facts nor do I have good data...voltage info.

The battery was basically new. Fully charged. I was driving with a friend out to Punta Baja, approximately 6 rough miles each way. When we stopped for the night in San Ignacio I noticed the refrigerator was not on. Checked the interior lights and they were not switching on. I grabbed my jumper box as it has a battery tester and hooked it to the external posts I added for access and it produced no voltage. The MPPT has no lights or voltage display, however in the daylight if I switch the van on the MPPT will turn on and show the sun production.....as soon as the sun goes down it shuts down.

I am not good with electrical. The solar panels were plug and play with the original MPPT.

If there is anyone in the SoCal or Long Beach area that could help I would be stoked!

Going to drop the battery this week and trickle charge it to provide warranty requested info on whether the battery is holding a charge.
__________________
Nimzero!
2002 E350 EXT RB50, Agile 4x4 conversion
Nimzero is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:12 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.