Anyone use Optima batteries?

[Garycamper]

Beware. When using AGM or Gel batteries, you could very easily draw down the power below a point where they can be recharged. I left a light in the camper on for however long it took to damage the battery. My 4 year old ( 3 months out of warranty) AGM would never again take a charge.

[Steve Carlson]

True, as a general rule it is advised not to draw lead-acid (which includes AGM) down below 50% of capacity, so as not to unduly shorten the life of the battery. This is just a general rule of thumb; some people accept shorter battery life and draw their batteries down further to avoid carrying around the additional battery weight that would be necessary to meet the 50% guideline.

This is one of the strong points of lithium, it is not damaged by being drawn down 80% or more, and can be drawn down many more times (some say as many as 2000 cycles) than lead-acid during it's useful life.

The only drawbacks to lithium are, as I see it: initial cost, unique charging requirements, and low temp performance (and this may not be a concern for camping applications).

[Steve Hammel]

Ok now I'm getting tempted to go with lithium. I was looking on Amazon and they have a 2 pack of Battle Born 100AH 12v lithium batteries for $1446 US. This comes with a full 8 year warrenty and free delivery.

[Steve Carlson]

https://www.progressivedyn.com/speci...power-centers/

[Snark]

We had an Optima Blue top in our Casita for several years. No problems other than it did just did not have great Amp-Hour capacity. We switched to a Life Line 31XT AGM and nearly doubled our AH rating. Life Line’s are made in the USA and are top quality. Mil Spec rated. Not cheap but you get what you pay for. Google Life Line 31XT and go to the factory site. We got ours from Bestconverter.com. They also sell converters with good pricing. Great folks!