anyone familiar with Worker AGM batteries?

Van Living Forum

Help Support Van Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Seeker

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 4, 2014
Messages
189
Reaction score
0
I called Batteries Plus and they have a coupon he said he could get me out the door around $300.00 for 2 WKDC12-100P and these are 100 amp-hour AGM. My concern is they only have 1 year warranty.

Their X2 Power (same as NorthStar) 100 amp hour AGM's are $377.00 each.

The NorthStar are out of my price range for now. Should I get the Worker batteries or wait until I have the money for the better batteries or keep looking?
Thanks in advance
A SEEKER
 
I have no experience with Werker batteries, the first google hit that was not selling them was a Survival type forum saying how badly they suck, but I get the impression the people there have little idea how to treat a battery.

If you are looking for low dollar AGM, look at Sears Die Hard Gold AGM. They are rebranded Deka Intimidator series and should provide good service.

Sears Die hard Platinum are rebranded Odyssey batteries, but these batteries demand very large recharging currents when deeply cycled making them not ideal for Solar,

The NorthStar makes many of the same claims but does not state a 40% recharge rate like Odyssey, though I notice the higher amps I can feed it from deeper discharges, the more gusto it has when cranking the engine and the more voltage it holds in an overnight cycle.

Sears occassionally has one day 20% off specials on their batteries
 
The guy at Batteries Plus did say the NorthStar battery was dual purpose and the Werker batteries were not. I am trying to get out of having to vent my battery box and I guess I am just being lazy not wanting to have to check specific gravity. . . the real reason is I would probably break the hydrometer! I really need to read more about the different types of AGM's and what is required to charge correctly. I knew they could take a lot of current charging but did not know it was mandatory. What ever I get will need to rely on probably a 250 watt panel some of the time. Seems like it always comes back to the golf cart batteries.

Will a 250 Watt panel be able to charge back anywhere near 100 amp hours (50% of 200 amp hour batteries)

I will only be running my 12 volt fridge listed at .7 amp average, my roof vent fan (have not measured amps at needed speed. . .hopefully not at max because that is 4 amps) some LED lighting, and charging cell phone. Also I have a Intellicharger i4 for charging my lithium flashlight batteries and don't know what it pulls when charging with DC.

I am thinking I should be under 50Ah per day does that look about right?
 
Yes you will be under 50AH a day with those loads.

I have an i4 charger for my 18650's, max it will pull is 0.8 amps charging 4 depleted 18650's which can take much more. than this and can take 6 hours.

Careful mine seems to charge to 4.22 volts when powered by 12v DC and this is beyond the safe recommendation for Lico 18650 cells.

Not all AGMs require the huge recharge currents. Lower dollar AGM's seem to list a max bulk current of 30 amps for a 100 AH battery and might make these better for a relatively low and slow solar recharge.


The hydrometer should be looked at as the best tool available to determine battery state of charge and charger performance. With AGMs you are kind of flying blind and can be surprised when the battery can no longer meet ones needs. A flooded battery owner who uses a hydrometer regularly has a much better chance of achieving excellent battery life and will not be surprised with a battery which " no longer takes a charge"

Flooded batteries seem to be more tolerant of wider ranges of bulk current and voltages too, especially GC batteries, which are always the best bang for the buck if their height and fumes can be accommodated.

Many AGM owners put too much faith in their batteries and have no idea if they are being recharged properly. They work until they dont, and when they are still in the working stage, many AGM owners will claim like new performance with no data to back that up.

The flooded battery user can see that it gets harder and harder to max out the SG, that higher voltages for longer are required.

But while Flooded batteries can require 115 to 150% the energy removed from them to return to full charge, AGM's with their lower resistance can be 105 to 115% to return to full, making them more efficient.
 
The common rule of thumb is a 1-1 ratio of amp hours to watts. So for a 250 watts of solar 200 ah is just about right.
Bob
 

Latest posts

Top