Wayne.B wrote in
:

On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 22:45:40 -0000, Larry W4CSC
wrote:
The bad
AGM killed the good AGM over the weekend.

======================================

Parallel batts have the potential for that kind of mischief and worse,
of course. Ideally the parallel strap should have a fuse in it but no
one, including myself, ever seems to get around to it. Why AGMs in a
van? I'd go with 2 golf carts in series.



The house batteries are two 330AH golf carts in series through a
continuous-duty 200A solenoid which is tied into the keyswitch power to
hook the house batteries to the engine batteries for charging on-the-road
from the 120A alternator. Power is our friend...(c;

GM choses to parallel batteries, permanently, in all the diesel light
trucks (and cars before they got such a bad name with the converted 5.7 V-8
gas conversion.) The US Air Force only uses Optima AGM batteries in ALL
their light vehicles, now, "to reduce maintenance", they say. It's
probably more like the government bureaucrats propping up the AGM business
and the CAUSE of the awful prices for such a simple battery. The gummit is
also the problem in the drug market, you know.....the reason prices are so
high.

I got no room for two golf carts in the battery compartments under the
hood. The house batteries are in the driver's footwell in a custom box a
friend made in his woodshop.

Larry