rotaecho
Samba Member
Joined: October 14, 2012
Posts: 513
Location: Nomadic Vanlifer
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 Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 4:49 pm Post subject: |
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VERY good point ThatVWBusGuy! This is an AGM battery and not a regular car battery which will require a 'few' updates, but nothing outragous. However, unless you split your house/starter battery electrical, you may want to convert to all AGM or all DryCell and not mix and match. For my setup, I rewired my whole van's electrical. Only house / camping stuff on the two front house batteries. Only driving/starting electrical to the rear Odyssey PC1200 battery.
Notice the 1750 and the 1700 do have different Ah specs, the 1750 is a better option in my opinion at 74ah
http://www.odysseybatteries.com/batteries/pc1750.htm
Per the fitment? Let me get some photos for people.
I did upgrade my alternator voltage regulator to a 15v variable locked at around 14.7. I also had to upgrade my 60a alternator to a 90a to make it really useful too.
Anything 86+ are at least 90a alternator so a $35 regulator is nothing. It's simple to install (two screws off the old alternator slide the regulator out, put new one in put the two screws back in).
The battery is SOLID. I use the living crap out of my setup which powers:
50w stereo
Isotherm ASU fridge
Laptops/phones/USB devices
LED lights.
I drain down to 30% often with my solar which isn't good, but it's been going solid about 3yrs now no drop in power or voltage on the batteries. A few times I even got down to 5% until I put a cut-off with my setup at a higher voltage.
Point is, you pay for what you get. The price is high, but the battery is durable!
| thatvwbusguy wrote: |
| rotaecho wrote: |
I have the 1750 under each seat.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=602412&highlight=
Kicks fucking ass 73ah next best is Lifeline at 100ah.
You pay for what you get.
Sure Diehard platinum sears is available. But you "really" don't know if it's an Odyssey.
Odyssey if treated right will last a LONG LONG time. |
Looking through this thread and the specs on www.odysseybattery.com , I am coming up with the following data for the Odyssey PC1700:
Capacity: 68Ah @ 20 hour rate
Price: $270.00 (cheapest price I could find online)
Warranty: 2 Year with the following verbiage:
"Overcharging, undercharging, charging or installing in reverse polarity, improper maintenance, allowing the Battery to be deeply discharged via a parasitic load or mishandling of the Battery such as but not limited to using the terminals for lifting or carrying the Battery. Trickle chargers that do not have a regulated trickle charge voltage between 13.5V and 13.8V (no lower than 13.5V and no higher than 13.8V) will cause early failure of the Battery. Use of such chargers with the Battery will also void the Battery’s warranty.For applications where an alternator is present, the alternator must deliver between 14.0V and 14.7V when measured at the Battery’s terminals. Consult the ODYSSEY battery technical manual or owner’s manual for any necessary temperature compensation. Alternators that do not have a regulated charge between 14.0V and 14.7V (no lower than 14.0V and no higher than
14.7V) will cause early failure of the Battery. Use of such alternators with the Battery will also void the Battery’s warranty".
Requires installation of an adjustable voltage regulator to meet battery manufacturer warranty specs in an otherwise stock Vanagon.
Does not fit in the factory battery box without modification (confirmed via dimensions on battery manufacturer website).
With all of these factors in mind, this seems like one of the most expensive, least desirable options available for Vanagon auxiliary power in my opinion.
This is not meant to be critical of anyone's choice to install this (or any other) battery, only an observation of the typical cost vs. benefit analysis that many people would apply when choosing an auxiliary power source. |
_________________
-Will
1982 Westfalia mTDI (50deg) aka Betsy Bertha
http://www.tdivanagons.com
Last edited by rotaecho on Tue Jun 02, 2015 5:09 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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