Solar In The Desert

[Ducky's Dad]

I've had a Vmax deep cycle AGM (Grp 31 - 125AH) for several years now and it's been great.

Are you using it as a starting battery or as a house battery?

This is from the V-Max website:
Compared to the majority of Marine and Mobility battery manufacturers offering Starting batteries with some Deep Cycle capabilities, we specialize in manufacturing Deep Cycle batteries with starting capabilities.

And FWIW, Renogy sells several V-Max batteries on their site.

 

[pdxfrogdog]

Vmax are nowhere near the quality wrt deep cycling longevity of Odyssey Lifeline Northstar **in normal ** circumstances.

Packing more AH to a given size usually means shorter cycle lifespan, or even fudged numbers (maybe not 20-hr rate?).

But with your size constraint and especially the extreme heat issue killing your longevity anyway, they may well suit your specific use case just fine.

Sure, just volunteering a bit of personal experience since the brand name came up. The AH rated are (according to the spec sheet a shared previously) at a 20-hr rate.

I've had a Vmax deep cycle AGM (Grp 31 - 125AH) for several years now and it's been great.

Are you using it as a starting battery or as a house battery?

This is from the V-Max website:
Compared to the majority of Marine and Mobility battery manufacturers offering Starting batteries with some Deep Cycle capabilities, we specialize in manufacturing Deep Cycle batteries with starting capabilities.

And FWIW, Renogy sells several V-Max batteries on their site.

My Vmax battery is used as a house battery, No starter duties.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

Thanks.

 

[Bbasso]

I've been using two 155ah VMax for my house batteries over three years without a problem.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

Things are moving along. Ordered a Go Power 30-amp two-bank controller and three V-Max batteries, plus a bunch of wires and connectors and fuses. Already have the Renogy 100W panel. Went with Go Power on the controller because it's good to 185F, and with V-Max on the batteries because they were the only G34 AGM true deep cycles that I could find for the house boxes. Starting battery will be their G31 Xtreme dual purpose. Thanks for all the input, will report back later.

Observation: I am in So Cal and thought it would be easy to find solar stuff for a truck. Not the case. Nobody I called had anything in stock that I could use so all had to be ordered online. The RV and trailer guys can get whatever I want but nobody stocks anything. And people wonder why Amazon is such a money machine.