Was looking to share a set of 12V golf cart batteries between the golf cart and the RV. We never use the camper and golf cart at the same time. Both need battery upgrade. But wondering what kind of damage I would be doing to the battery using them series on the golf cart then transferring them and running in parallel on the camper. Do they wear differently in series vs parallel? Trying to only spend $900 instead of $1800 to outfit both. Thoughts?
Where are you located? Find a local battery speciality shop. In Maryland (and well really the Delmarva peninsula, as they just got across the bridge early this year) we have Pasco. They refurbish batteries, alternators and starters in house at one of their Maryland locations. The knowledge and pricing they provide will be better then you'll find at any national outlet. I'd look from something similar to them, that's local to you.
Nevermind, just re-read and saw your wiring is set.
Get a pair of these, AGM Deepcycle that also has north of 800cca and be set from under $800.
It may actually be good for the batteries to get some occasional balancing like that. I'm no expert, but I think that is what higher end series battery packs do occasionally to balance out the cells (connect them in parallel to even out the voltage between them.
I have found I can recover worn out deep cycles by boiling the heck out of them. I top them up with distilled water and keep hitting them with the start cycle of my big wheeled charger until the specific gravity comes back up. I boil them for about ten minutes at a time over a period of a few days. Not my idea of course but it works.
In reply to bearmtnmartin :
You're shocking the sulfate off of the plating. It's honestly what 90% of refurbishing a battery is.
I finally have just about given up on a 13 year old red top, I'm confident that it has an incurable issue under load. I'm going to give it one more go, but already have gotten it's replacement, as 14.6lb versus 46lb.
Battery tech has come incredibly far in the past 10 years courtesy of hybrids and EVs, yet 90% of vehicles on the road still utilize a lead acid battery for starting duties. I understand that they work and get the job done, but there are smarter, more space and weight efficient options out there that will also get the job done. Right now, they're about double the cost of a lead acid, but should last 3-5x longer. And that increased cost is also in large part due to distribution channels.
I need to learn more about the longevity of Li-ion and similar batteries. With 20 cars in the Travellering family fleet spread over 4 locations, I replace on average 3 a year, and that's not counting the dead ones in projects that don't move that year. I don't have a real-deal charger/jumpstarter, but I have eight trickle chargers and three emergency jump packs. I can tell you that about 30% of the time a battery is too far gone to even start off the jump packs...
I would love a battery that would last for more than three years even if only with a trickle charger. My personal best is an old Optima red top that gave 11 years of service, but it seems they are no bueno these days...
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