Battery Dilemma

[David Morton]

I am facing a battery crossroads.
One of my 3 identical, 10 year old, West Marine Deep Cycle Gel grp31 batteries has failed and will not recover with extensive de-sulfation.
I had been using one as a starter and the remaining two in parallel for house with a Balmar alternator, Xantrex regulator, and Pathfinder.
Should I :

1. Spend $400 and replace the dead Gel with its current equivalent, knowing the remaining Gel batteries are near the end of their life cycle
2. Go with just one house battery (97 aH) and hope my 100watt solar keeps up
3. Can/Should I buy an AGM for the starter and keep the two remaining gels for house? AGM being cheaper and more available. And replace the house Gels with AGM sometime in the future? This, of course, would mean mixing AGM and Gels.
4. Any other smart ideas?
5. And if I am to buy a new Gel or AGM, is there a brand I should prefer?

David

[moctrams]

I bought four (4) Exide 34MDCORB Orbital Sealed Deep-Cycle VRLA AGM Marine/RV Battery from Amazon @ $175.00 each in 2013 and am very satisfied with them I have two 100 watt solar panel to keep them charged.

[Maine Sail]

#1 Ten years is exceptional life from any group 31 battery and this is directly related to the fact that these were GEL batteries. If properly charged it is very difficult to beat the longevity of a GEL battery.

#2 GEL batteries can not be equalized and desulfators are snake oil in regards to actually "desulfating". But let's not forget that you got TEN YEARS! That is great..

#3 Before you make any decisions to switch to AGM read the upcoming May 2015 issue of Practical Sailor...

#4 There are only two brands of GEL worth buying and those are the GEL's made by East Penn & Sonnenschein. Most GEL batteries sold in the US are made by East Penn/Deka including the Trojan GEL, Gel-Tech, MK Power, Deka Solar, West Marine GEL's and many others. The other GEL worth buying is the Sonnenschein Prevailer. This is probably the best GEL made but they have limited distribution. I would stay away from the Johnson Controls/Exide GEL product. I you buy an East Penn product buy on best price as the only difference between "brands" or rather "stickers" is the price.

As long as you charge GEL batteries at no more than 14.1V absorption & 13.8V float they will deliver exceptional cycle life and longevity..

I would be replacing GEL for GEL....

[David Morton]

I also was very impressed with the longevity of my gels, so I will bite the bullet and fork out for another to replace the one I lost. MaineSail's comments on proper charging is well taken. My current Vector Smart charger has a gel specific setting, however, I notice that it is charging at 14.5v and wonder if this is too high above the 14.1 recommended by MaineSail. If so, what brand charger would you recommend, both for charging and floating over the winter?

[Maine Sail]

I also was very impressed with the longevity of my gels, so I will bite the bullet and fork out for another to replace the one I lost. MaineSail's comments on proper charging is well taken. My current Vector Smart charger has a gel specific setting, however, I notice that it is charging at 14.5v and wonder if this is too high above the 14.1 recommended by MaineSail. If so, what brand charger would you recommend, both for charging and floating over the winter?

A good quality marine charger with a GEL setting of 14.1V / 13.8V. Charge to full, DISCONNECT and do not float over the winter, there is no need.

If you want inexpensive and "will work" the ProMariner Pro Sport GEN 3 using the gray cap will charge at 14.1 / 13.8V.

If you want better the ProMariner Pronautic P or Sterling ProCharge Ultra would be good choices.

[David Morton]

If you want inexpensive and "will work" the ProMariner Pro Sport GEN 3 using the gray cap will charge at 14.1 / 13.8V.

gray cap?? Checked the ProMariner website, but still not sure what that is. Is it something I need to specify when I buy the charger?
Also wondering what you think of "dual purpose" gels, such as the Gel Tech? Any advantage to using this type as a starter?

[Maine Sail]

If you want inexpensive and "will work" the ProMariner Pro Sport GEN 3 using the gray cap will charge at 14.1 / 13.8V.

gray cap?? Checked the ProMariner website, but still not sure what that is. Is it something I need to specify when I buy the charger?
Also wondering what you think of "dual purpose" gels, such as the Gel Tech? Any advantage to using this type as a starter?

The ProSport Gen 3 chargers are waterproof and in order to change the settings they come with three water tight "caps" or plugs. The gray one works for GEL. If you just charge up occasionally these are an okay charger. If you are at a dock then I would urge a better quality charger such as the ProNautic P....

The Gel-Tech is just an East Penn / Deka GEL. They are a true deep cycle battery (lab rated at 1000 cycles) but due to being GEL they also have high cranking capacity thus the dual purpose. The Gel-Tech is identical to every other East Penn made GEL battery including the Trojan GEL (which is actually made by East/Penn Deka for Trojan)...

[David Morton]

Thanks Maine Sail. Very helpful, as usual.

[Maine Sail]

Thanks Maine Sail. Very helpful, as usual.

If you are in Maine Ed's Batteries in Westbrook can get East Penn GEL's for you.

[David Morton]

Thanks again. Just ordered from Ed's. They'll have it in two days and $100 cheaper than the best deal I could find elsewhere. A place to remember!

David

[Brian2]

Hello David, did you decide to replace all three, or just the one?

[David Morton]

Hello, Brian!
why aren't you up here in Harpswell helping me with my re-commissioning chores? No fear, the snow is gone!
I decided to just replace the bad one. No sense in throwing away a perfectly good battery, even if it is 10 years old. I'll be checking voltages regularly during the season and any hint of failure will cause me to replace it. Meanwhile, my battery switch configuration allows me to combine both house and starter banks. I should be able to run well enough on just the new battery in the short term, even if both older batteries fail together.

The very interesting point, however, is how variable the price is for the same battery. For example, the West Marine version is over $400. The same battery (even sharing the same manufacturers model #) without the "West Marine" label, is $260 at Ed's. And I found prices everywhere between the two on the web. Pays to shop around, and buy local.

[Brian2]

I'll be up Sunday and you can help me with my chores as well as consume some pizza and Peyraud! I'd be cautious about combining your new battery with the two old ones via the parallel switch. I think the old batteries can suck the life out of the new one, but perhaps someone else can comment.