Originally Posted by
Cuppa
Replaced the auxiliary batteries in the pod. One of the 3 Ritar 120Ah AGM’s failed, placing the other two under stress in the cloudy weather FNQ has been getting. At a tad under 10 years old they have done well, but obviously all had reduced capacity which became increasingly noticeable after more than one cloudy day in a row. We were up on the Cape at Laura for the aboriginal dance festival, intending to continue north, but instead drove back down to Mareeba to get batteries (& to get a split in a welded seam of our main water tank plastic welded. Tank needed to come out to get the batteries out - so two birds with one stone. Bought Ritar batteries again. Considered Lithium ‘drop In’ replacements but would have cost me double, & I don’t trust the built in BMS in most drop ins. When it fails ( which anecdotally seems to be at around the 4 year mark) the Lithium battery becomes a door stop (sorry to all the satisfied iTech (& similar) owners, but $800 or thereabouts for 4 years vs $340 for 10 years for good quality AGM’s is a no brainer for me despite the weight penalty). 360Ah for $1020 & a ‘useable capacity comparable to 200Ah of Lithium (200Ah is not a typo, but a more ‘truthful’ capacity of 2x iTech ‘120’Ah batteries). If we were at home with the resources of my workshop changing to a ‘proper’ external BMS Lithium system with a new dc to dc battery charger /solar reg would have been a consideration, but simpler & cheaper to stick with what I have with the aim to get back up the Cape asap.