Is three years to short a time for batteries to last?

[Devil Dog-ESC]

The ones I was thinking of are like 6 vertical cylinders 12 V . The yellow ones are deep cycle I think ? The red are general usage . No sure about the blue ones .Maintenance free. I Never heard of the glass mat .

 

[Devil Dog-ESC]

These are the ones I had in mind . But 6V.

https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us

 

[Brian B-P]

These are the ones I had in mind . But 6V.

https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us

The Optima line is widely available and popular. They are the AGM type. They generally make only 12-volt batteries in automotive sizes. Optima batteries are recognizable by their "six pack" shape resulting from the spiral construction of their cells.

Long ago, there was a 6-volt Optima model: three cylindrical cells in a row. I haven't seen it in their catalog for years.

Other brands are available in larger sizes and in other voltages (including 6-volt).

 

[gbaglo]

Optima batteries are recognizable by their "six pack" shape resulting from the spiral construction of their cells.

A marketing tool?

 

[ronstew]

My preferred source for batteries: Home

In surrey. Former student works there. Korean-made, IIRC.

 

[Brian B-P]

The ones I was thinking of are like 6 vertical cylinders 12 V . The yellow ones are deep cycle I think ? The red are general usage . No sure about the blue ones .

Unlike flooded batteries and some AGM batteries, Optima's products are all constructed essentially the same way, with just the terminals being different.

Red top: "SAE" posts for automotive clamp-on cable ends
Blue top: marine use, usually with a combination of terminal styles for engine starting (posts) and ring cable ends (threaded posts)
Yellow top: deep-cycle applications such as RVs, usually with threaded posts​

There is an Optima yellow-top in Group 27 size, which would be a direct replacement for the original battery supplied by Escape. The largest is a Group 31 size, which is larger than Escape's optional single 12-volt battery (a Group 29) - this might need a larger box than provided by Escape for a single battery, and two might not fit in Escape's box for two 6-volt (GC2 size) batteries... although two Group 31 would presumably fit fine in the front cargo box for the 19' Escape model.

Maintenance free.

Any VRLA (valve-regulated lead acid) or SLA (sealed lead acid) battery is described as maintenance-free because it doesn't release hydrogen and oxygen gases, and so it doesn't need replacement water. They still have maintenance requirements, of maintaining proper charge voltages and controlling the temperature of the battery.

Some flooded (normal, not sealed) batteries - mostly for cars - are billed as "maintenance free", but they just have vents that you can't open and extra space for the liquid electrolyte so they can go their whole lives without adding water. This isn't reasonable for a deep-cycle battery.

I Never heard of the glass mat .

I'm wouldn't be surprised if most people who have heard of AGM batteries don't know what that term means.

A marketing tool?

The spiral-wound construction makes physical sense, and was an early design... perhaps the original. If it is now a marketing gimmick it is one with significant consequences, because it constrains their case design and reduces their ability to pack active battery content into a rectangular space.

A recent thread discussed AGM alternatives: AGM Batteries

 

[Not so Big Al]

Thanks to all!

In my bumbling search for the for the problem I found the batteries to be in good shape. While pulling the attempting to pull the caps off one the cable going from the negative terminal on one to the positive on the other came off. I wiggle the positive side slightly and it too came off, Escape is obviously having crimping problems, so with the help of some vice gripps I tightened the offending fitments and it works great. Thank you for your suggestions.

Al

 

[cpaharley2008]

Loose cable connections is common with battery set ups, regardless of their age or manufacture or install.

 

[padlin]

Al, while it works now, you might want to look into having someone crimp on new cable ends with a real crimper or solder type ends. Crimps with a pair of pliers may well loosen up again.

 

[dspratley]

I had used many different brands of batteries in my boats with Optima being one of them. I am having better luck with Interstate 6v batteries that came with our trailer than what I had in my boat - perhaps that's comparing apples to oranges. We put the batteries through the paces - boondocking about 50% of the time (have a solar panel), often using the inverter and doing little maintenance other than topping up with distilled water.

 

[Iowa Dave]

Glad you found the source of your problem. Loose grounds. Loose
connections and phantom power drains often make you think you have a bigger problem than you do. Especially on electrical equipment years short of the normal duty cycle.
Dave

 

[fudge_brownie]

Crimp Tool

If you are going to crimp wire larger than 12 gauge you usually cannot get away with a hand crimping pliers. Just not enough force and those tools do not do a good job of surrounding connector and squeezing evenly.

There is some hit it with a hammer tool to crimp but I opted for a hydraulic crimper. No surprise, it came from Amazon. Link. You might see if an auto supply store or battery store has these for loan. AutoZone does a lot of free tool rental.


Check what gauge wire Escape used on your trailer, 10 gauge is barely adequate, especially with an inverter. It maybe time to replace as you may have other trouble spots waiting.

 

[Brian B-P]

Al, while it works now, you might want to look into having someone crimp on new cable ends with a real crimper or solder type ends. Crimps with a pair of pliers may well loosen up again.

I agree that crimping larger cable is not a job for pliers.

While a more serious crimper is the efficient solution for production volumes, for a small quantity another option requiring only ordinary wrenches is a compression-style fitting, which works somewhat like a compression plumbing fitting. A reasonably priced brand is Quick Cable, but if you don't have a decent industrial supply store available and end up at a store serving power-crazed stereo fanatics, they might have some over-priced brand (or Quick Cable at an excessive price).

You can also buy ready-made cables with the wire gauge, length, and terminations you want. Of course this is not the efficient answer to fix a bad connection on an otherwise good cable which is already installed.

Check what gauge wire Escape used on your trailer, 10 gauge is barely adequate, especially with an inverter. It maybe time to replace as you may have other trouble spots waiting.

Battery cables look bigger than 10 gauge on all the recent photos of Escape battery installations that I have seen. Inverters appear to be supplied by an additional set of similarly large (or larger) cables, which makes sense.