Gel vs AGM: Not Quite the Battle of the Ages, But Nice to Know

Ron Hancock
Which battery is best for my 07 rv? I want something better then flooded batteries. I have a Wfco wf-8945pec converter in my camper.

Ronni1ewix
Thanks

Ron
On my battery charger. It gives me a choice of automotive, standard gel and on other with initials. I have a seven year old craftsman riding mower. Where on the battery can I find it’s true name?

Tim Caruso
Where can I find this Gell cell special Regulator for my boat, I have a 65 amp alternator and want to charge two gel cell batteries ( one starter and one house) and they are currently hooked up to a blue sea “add a battery “ switch and automatic charging relay.

Lowell Schnipper
I am buying batteries for use in a hospital in sub Saharan Africa. Non gel batteries are less costly. They currently use gel batteries. Which is preferred for this environment?

Coza
Great article, thanks.

I want to use a battery as a leisure battery in a van (12v system). It will be charged using a voltage sensitive split charge relay. I live in Spain and it gets hot during the summer.

1 Which is better, GEL or AGM (with heat, Split charge)?
2 Is it a problem that the main battery is a wet acid one and the leisure a different type?

Much thanks, Coza

Ernest
Very good and informative article. Thanks!
I left the key in my motorbike at ON position for a week or so (light on), and now my GS GT12B-4 battery, which I think is an AGM one, is at 1.2V. Do you think will I be able to recharge it? If so, which charging method should I look for or tell the tech to apply?

Frank
I am runing 24volt sukam inverter connected to a pair of 12volts 100AH powerwave AGM battery for 11 months now, but recently my battery charging time take les than 2 hour to fill up and the discharge time is also les than 2 hour why running same AC load that normally use to last for up to five hour. Thou for some time I’hve been using my 3kva gen to charge the battery throu my inverter due to reguler power failure, pls help is my battery dead or is d gen the problem

JimT
My question relates to using AGM batteries in an RV. Knowing that AGM and flooded batteries use different charging algorithms, is it a problem to use a flooded starter battery under the hood and AGM batteries for the house circuit? If so, which battery or batteries would be hurt with this set up?

Dale Doman
What a great site. How refreshing to be able to read information that was readable, understandable and relevant.
I started out just wanting to know the difference between acid flooded and gel and glass-mat batteries to be able to replace the oem battery on my motorcycle; ended up reading to the end. Very nicely done!

Singh
Hi, i want to install a deep cycle battery in SUV located in india. I live in uk and the car is run for a month or two in a year. I doubt if i could get an AGM or GEL in india, so may have to carry one from abroad. Reading your artical i understand AGM may be more transport friendly. I will check the same for Gel with the air authorites.
I am wondering which battery would survive the heat of india? I am willing to install Gel as the charge will frequently drop below 50%. But will split charge system work with gel?
Many thanks

BLESSING
Good day to you. I bought two batteries (deep cycle) to operate my inverter, but after using it for 7months I observed a sharp drop in the in the battery performance. Presently, it can hardly serve for three hour with same loading that it use to take when it was new.i felt bad about it because it falls short of the assurance that the seller gave to me on the battery, hence I’m trying to find out from u guys about which one I should buy next that would at least give me value for my money.

Willem
Hi,a question, I have 4 optima Yellow top batteries of 75ah, they will get charged by 3 solar panels, 480wp in total, so I need a solar charger/controller of 40Amps. The controller I almost ordered doesn’t have an AGM setting, only SEALED/FLOODED and GEL. Is this the wrong controller or what setting would be ok for AGM. Thanks.

Yasir
I am glad to find this page and got many new information, I have been working on the solar projects and I have need to buy batteries from china for the systems, and this forum made my mind to take GEL batteries before that we were working on lead acid batteries.
Sometime we have low power load like led bulbs and fan, but sometime we have heavy load for the batteries, what do you think GEL is suitable for these both systems ???

TERRY TABB
I have a 40’ diesel pusher motor home with (2) 12 v engine batteries, (2) 6 v coach batteries, and (4) 6 v inverter batteries. the engine batteries are not a problem however the (6) 6 volt batteries are driving me crazy. I want what ever is best that is no maintenance. I have cooked more batteries by letting them run out of water than I care to admit. the coach might set for (2) or (3) months at a time which I normally leave plugged in so it stays charged. every now and then I will camp where there is no electricity and the coach batteries will run down low and then I will run the generator to recharge them.HELP – WHAT BATTERIES DO I NEED?

Al Miller
great read thanks.

Trying to retrofit dodge sprinter with auxillary battery for inverter, battery needs to go inside vehicle under passenger seat. want to use gel for fumes issue but alternator will charge both when isolator is on. any ideas on how to charge the gel seperatly?

We would require more information about your situation.  Please contact one of our techs at tech@batterystuff.com.

Horace
My god I am so glad that I finally found the answer for many of my question here regarding in particular the AGM batteries. Thanks os much for this well written and simple explained facts about the different types of batteries.
I will like to buy me a battery load tester and was inclined to buy the MIDTRONICS PBT300. Reading reviews,someone
is pointing out that this tester is NOT GOOD FOR AGM BATTERIES.
Is there a valid reason for this statement?. Are AGM batteries different for load testing than others?.
Thanks in advance for answering

BatteryStuff Tech
According to the info provided, you are looking at about 180AH to run that for 3 hours to 50% discharged. AGm would be recommended.

Ihab Chaaban
Hi, I have a 24V APS system and I use it for home lighting and watching TV. All lights and TVs are LED, and if I turn ON all lights and TVs at the same time (Full Load) the consumption is 3Amps AC output.
1- what type of batteries do you suggest to use for this purpose?
2- how many Amps hours batteries size I need to have at least 3 hours lighting for 50% battery discharge(take into consideration that I don’t need to turn ON all lights and TVs at the same time)

Chauncey M Freeman,SCPO,USN,RETIRED
span class="caps">EXCELLENT, Just absolutely outstanding. Most articles require a soul to be a Rocket Scientist to understand what one is reading. Those such articles are usually written by people whom wish to sound to be more intelligent than they actually are. Thank you who prepared this article. I am in process of purchasing a VALDETTARO Built 190 Ton, 34 Meter Steel Sailing Yacht. One of the first things I shall do is get rid of all Her GEL BATTERIES and replace all with oversize AGM BATTERIES. I would love to locate an article that is just as well written as this one, but about the Real PROS and CONS of having SOLAR PANELS ABOARD for charging batteries. I cannot seem to get a straight answer on that subject, but with Solar Chargers getting better every day, it seems to this old Navy Senior Chief Retired, that there should be an advantage in having solar panels helping out that Diesel Fuel Guzzling Kitty Cat Caterpillar 3196 490 bhp. I do not know what I would do if that Kitty Cat required a sand box also. Again I say Thank You who did an excellent job writing the article comparing GEL Batteries to AGM Batteries. If I were still in the Navy I’d recommend you for a KITA. (Just Joking like all Navy Chiefs do) Chauncey M Freeman, Senior Chief Moanback, U.S.Navy,Retired (What did you say? What is a Senior Chief Moanback you asked? He is that Ole Chief standing down yonder on the pier shouting up to the Captain on the bridge of the IKE, “MMMOOOAAANNNBBBAAACCCKKK”

Chris
What type of battery would you suggest for a classic muscle car with a 327 small block? Car only gets driven on weekends. And would a battery tender brand charger be a good choice to keep it charged?

Wayne
Hi, I have a VMAX V30-800 AGM Battery 28AH Marine RV Deep Cycle HI Performance Battery used for a trolling motor. Can I use my Diehard charger to charge it? Settings are conventional or maintenance free / Deep cycle. Choice of 2, 10, or 50 amp (start) and is an auto charger.

Also how long can I expect the battery to last just trolling around?

Thank you.

Kevin
Outfitting a VW non-camper van with an auxiliary battery system. Installed an isolator solenoid so that when the car is keyed off I can draw from the auxiliary battery using the inverter without working about whether my crank battery will go dead. When I key on, the isolator reconnects both batteries (through the fuse panel) and my auxiliary battery begins charging from the alternator. PROBLEM: the crank battery is a flooded battery and the auxiliary battery I installed is a gel. Can my alternator charge both the flooded and the gel as I’d hoped? Note that as soon as I installed the aux battery, my alternator failed…I think the voltage regulator in it went kaput. Waiting to install a new alternator until I know if my battery combination is just going to blow that one too. Thanks.

Rita
Very helpful, thank you. I use gel batteries in my electric wheelchair and my question is about storage. If I ‘store’ my chair (ie it sits in the carage while I drive my other chair) will the batteries be damaged in any way?

Thank you.
Rita

Sohail
Hi
I’ve a 24V 1KVA UPS to compansate unplannedad load shading for domestic load. Previously I was using 2×12V flooded led acid batteries. But now I’m planning to install sealed batteries. 100Ah AGM and GEL batteries are available to me as linked http://solaratics.com/#tab-2. But I’m confused about selection between AGM, GEL and floaded led acid one. UPS charger is 5 step stady current type, to charge boost and then floating. But all levels of charging voltage, current, discharging current and DOD are reprogramable.
Here I need your help about
1- selection of battery between three types
2- if AGM or GEL type what would be settings of maximum charging voltage boost and then floating current limits and also set point for depth of discharge (DOD)

Waiting for your response

Tom
Can I use gel battery for house bank and Agm for starting bank
Port engine charges the house and starboard charges the cranking bank, however the onboard charger charges both banks from shore power
The cranking batteries are gell now , but need replacing, they stopped taking a charge
Both banks can be connected in an emergency
AGM are half the price of gell and the diesels need a lot of amps to crank

Cane
Excellent article.

Pablo Franco
Excellent information, but I still have a doubt, when specified “Valve Regulated lead acid battery” which tipe it is? AGM, GEL or normal bat.
Thanks

Arden Kasner
Thank you for all your work explaining batteries in layman terms. You are an expert in your field and need to be recognized. This comes from a Delco trained repairman.

Gary Weglarz
Very Helpful.

Tom
hi,i am installing hydropower in my camp and in winter time i cant use but temp goes down to 20 to 30 below.wich type of battery would be best form my app.can i let them sit useless on low temp???

James Grove
Can you mix GEL and AGM batteries in the same charging system? Ie Can you link 2 104aH batteries in parallel ?

Thanks

Bashir Adamu
Folks. My battery application is mostly for solar remote lighting and power back-up in Nigeria. As discussed by some people earlier. AGM being more fluid in nature, responds better to high power draw than Gel that is more sluggish. However, for slower discharge like constant current (solar lighting for eg), Gel battery is far more superior, from my experience. But generally, Can those of you who think that AGM and Gel batteries have similar lifespans explain to me why the cycle life vs discharge depths (say 50%) reported by most manufacturers show a much shorter lifespan for AGM batteries than Gel?

Larry
What YTX9BS battery is recomended for my Honda EU3000is Generator ?

Thank You LJD

DANIEL
I have 2 100w solar panels with a 30amp charge controller. I was wondering if it‘s ok to connect it to a 31-AGM 12volt 100ah battery? will the charger controller be ok to charge this battery

Andrew
So long as 5 is the top rating as the stuff here is great and the tech excellent. I am just trying to work out what type of battery to put into my Moto Guzzi Le Mans. At the moment it is a Hawker Energy ODYSSEY – made in the USA. The Guzzi is getting a little slow to crank over so i want to know the best type of system to get. This has helped me greatly but if i could get some further guidance it would be great. The bike gets a reasonable amount of use and normally 100km/ride.
Cheers,
Andrew

John
I have just purchased a new caravan which is fitted with a 80AH wet cell and an MX25Charger (240V), a solar regulator that can be adjusted for different types of batteries, and is charged from the tow vehicle alternator when travelling directly. I am thinking of putting the wet cell in the car and purchasing a Gell or AGM for the van with a higher AH capacity. Would I have to change the MX charger (240V) and/or fit a regulator of some description between the alternator and battery?
Regards/John

Anthony
Looking for some help. I work for a company that sells commercial cleaning equipment and many of the machines use deep cycle batteries like the ones being discussed here. We have a customer who purchased a machine that came equiped with 2 12v “wet” batteries and a digital on-board charger. They would like to upgrade to AGM batteries. The machine has a dipswitch in the control handle that can be switched to “wet” or “gel” and the charger has a sequence of dipswitches that can be adjusted for either as well. Since there is no AGM option, would I be better off leaving the machine set to operate/charge “wet” or switching the settings to “gel”? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Stratmann
Hallo friends,
some of your comments are not compatitable with my experiences. Let me tell following
story: A user installed an AGM-battery into his emergency devices and after 15 years the battery was still working. He told it to his Golf-friends and every body installed
such a battery into his caddy. But the life of this batteries was lower now than 1 year. What was the reason ? This user did‘nt tell his friends, that the emergency-case never happened and the caddyuser discharged and recharded every day.

The lowest point of discharge should be 70 % from 100 %, because the deeper you discharge the shorter is the life of an AGM-battery. I try to explain this as follows:

Real AGM-batteries are made with the same thin plates as for starting purpose. Very clear, because it is a Starterbattery which shall give high power and for this high
power you need surface.
Why do you want to pay for something, which you do‘nt need. For Semitraction purpose
it is not neccessary to get high power. You need Ah, nothing else. If you have to chose between starting application and Semitraction applications than you should decide only between normal lead/acid and a GEL-battery. AGM is designed only for many electrical users and for start/stop, not for Semitraction. But this is, as many other things, mostly a question of experience. Who has the big pocket, can make expensive experiences. (Excused my bad english, I am only a German.
regards
Klaus Stratmann
GELBatt GmbH
Germany

David
I have four sollar pannels, rated at 15 watts each tied together going into a 7 amp regulator. There are four deep cycle 12 volt batteries that I run a 12 volt TV and a 100 watt inverter that runs my lap top. I now can not run my lap top off the 12 volt to 120 inverter. I have trouble with the batteries having dead cells. Is it something that I am doing wrong or is it bad battery? I would like to hook up a 30 volt wind turbine to the batteries, can I – should I? What should I do for this system so that I can have 12 volt power for the inverter and 12 volt TV to last through the night? Or to last a couple of days without sun light??

SANNI ISMAIL
Hello,
Can a gel battery be missed with Agm.
thanks

Thomas
Thanks for the info you have been a great help I learned things I didn‘t even know I needed!!!

Anon
starting battery is a standard west marine wet cranking battery. I was under the impression you can‘t charge a wet and AGM together…Is this true? My starter battery is only a year old and works fine, but I want to add an AGM pure deep cycle for the house battery.

thanks

Tom
I have an Class B motorhome that I have used a 5 watt solar panel with no controlor to maintain the “chassis” battery when the RV is not in use. It is parked facing south and the battery has successfully been maintained for since 2007 without needing water. I hookup to power prior the departure for recharging the “house” battery which have been disconnected during storage. I also have a “cricket” (smaller that a golf cart) with 2 gel cell batteries in series for 24 volts. It has an onboard charger that charges the two batteries separtately (at the same time) when the indicator on the dash shows about 50% charge. It takes about 6-8 hours to charge the batteries. Your comments, please

Anon
Confused if I can have a AGM house battery and a marine starting motor on the same 1/2 marine battery/charge switch…being charged by a decent size outboard motor.

thanks

Frosty
I have contracted to install a Generac 27kW liquid cooled emergency generator at my home in Virginia. Should it have an AGM or Gel Cell battery? The Generac automatically comes on for 1/2 hour once a week to check all systems (to make sure it is ready for use when an electrical outage occurs).

Robert
Good info, thanks! I have a question. . . I put a gel cell in my 2003 HD Road King. Initially it did not hold a charge more than 3 days and I‘d put it on a 1 volt trickle charger overnight. It has worked fine like this for a year or so. After a few months I noticed the charge beginning to last a little longer, say, 4-5 days. Is this normal? Am I damaging the gel cell by trickle charging it with 1 volt? My ‘74 BMW needs a battery. I‘d like a gel cell for the maintenance free aspect but again wondering if I would damage the cell with a 1 volt trickle. All feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Randall
Excellent write up!! Its nice to have a simple explanation. I bought a scorpion AGM a couple years back and have had no complaints. My only issue is something I did not know I caused until reading this. I eneded up installing a motorcycle alarm on my bike and not thinking I parked it in my garage for a couple months with out dissconnecting the battery. Needless to say the alarm discharged it and not thinking I figured I could leave a normal 2 amp 12 volt charger on it overnight. Well next morning my garage smelled awful, it was due to the battery being overcharged and boiling out what im now sure was the little amount of liquid in it. I admit this was all my fault as I did not think when charging it or parking it. Anyways looks like ill be buying another scorpion AGM and this time a battery tender to avoid this issue. Thamks for the write up! I now finally know what I did wrong.

BOB SUTTON
I HOPE 5 IS THE HIGHEST., THIS WAS A VERY NICE BIT OF INFO. SIMPLE AND TO THE POINT. WRITTEN SO WE SIMPLE PEOPLE CAN UNDERSTAND IT. GREAT EVEN IF YOU DO NOT REALLY NEED IO KNOW ALL OF THIS GOOD INFO. IF WE LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVER DAY ONE DAY WE WILL FIND A USE FOR IT. THANKS PS TRICKY SECURITY CODE

Vidis
how do i determine how many amp hours i need for my 12v golf cart which contains eight batteries?

Anton
I have a motorcycle in which I would like to put and AGM battery, but it seems like all the regulator rectifiers I get for it have a voltage setpoint of 14.7V, and they usually see 14.9 or 15 on occasion. Is this too high for use with an AGM battery?
Thanks,
Anton

Rich
I have a battery backup system in my home consisting of eight Trojan 105 six volt, 220 amp hr. batteries connected to a Trace SW4024 inverter/charger. I am no longer able to maintain flooded batteries, so I need to replace with sealed batteries. From your article, it seems that gel cell is better for my use than AGM, but I don‘t know if I can set my charger to accomodate gel. I currently bulk charge at 28.8 volts, with a float set to 26.8 volts. Can you tell me what my settings need to be if I go with gel cell and/or AGM?

Charles
Which kinda batteries are best for a domestic/home windwill-energy solution‘s battery bank?
THe installation is to be designed to function independent of the power grid. REcharging may have to be by a pms-run power generating set.
Tis for a cabin that may not be on the grid in the nearest future.

Thank you.

Bbc
if one is going to use a deep cycle battery for a trolling motor to putter a small boat around for a weekend, then reconnect it back to my diesel Suburban that already has two regular Interstate batteries, what would work best, AGM or Gell Cell, or Dry Cell?

i will never know how much it gets drained while i‘m using it, but i figure it could get kind of low, like 30% or so…? (only a guess.) if the Gel Cells deal with this kind of use best, then i suppose i must go that route. but would i really have to have a special regulator installed on a Gel Cell?

i used to have a massive Optima marine battery on a powerboat for years, then i wound up using it as i described above for another couple years. it eventually died, but i think i got plenty of life out of it. are Optimas Gel Cell or AGM?

i‘m so confused about which way to go. i wasted $90 on a cheap deep cycle battery from O‘Reily‘s which only lasted a handful of re-charges, and i don‘t want to make the same mistake again.

thank you all so much for all the help — this is a great resource!

Tim
How do I know when my AGM battery is 60% discharged or 80% discharged etc?

Capt. Mitch Witt
In the mid to late 90‘s Gel Cells were state of the art. The ARE FAST recharge and offer charge and discharge profiles and life spans superior to lead-acid. Gel Cells are still premium choices particularly for “house” loads (slow discharge rates).AGM‘s are technically not as great as sales figures would
indicate. Some charging systems sold in the mid to late 90‘s which have a programmable setting for Lead Acid and Gel Cells will NOT work for AGM batteries. If the charger manual does not offer a specific setting for AGM don‘t buy AGM, they will be ruined by improper recharging. Some technicians offer he advice of setting your programmable charing system to “lead acid” for an AGM battery. This does not work. If the equipment was not specifically designed to accomodate AGM batteries – don‘t buy AGM batteries.

Jerry Filson
Hi — I have an Optima 6-volt battery in my Model A Ford. Which charger do you recommend to recharge/maintain it? Thanks.

Steve
Brilliant exchange – especially for a newbie. Many Thanks!
I have a Gel vs AGM dilemma. Just bought a sort of neglected EV – no gas engine in this baby.
The 6 battery bank is Gel but I have (at least)one bad battery. I realise I cannot replace the duff Gel battery with an AGM but AGM‘s are so much more available, etc.
My questions are: 1) If i have to replace the whole bank – I am thinking AGM – am I right? 2) Do most charging devices have that Wet or AGM/Gel switch on them?
Thanks Again….steve

Dave
Good read. My charger has 2 battery type selections. 1-AGM & WET 2- GEL. I didn‘t know mine was a AGM it ended up being charged as a GEL. Now charger just reads fault and battery is at 7.8 volts
Have I killed it?

John Hall
I am a long-term user of 12V batteries, having lived on a sailboat for almost 10 years. I concluded that gel cell btteries were the way to go for maximum life if discharged to the 50 % discharge point.

Now I am much older and in an electric wheelchair, a Pride Jazzy. I have used both AGM and gel cells in my wheelchair, finding gel cells marginally superior in longevity, if recharged at 50% or less discharge point, with three stage chargers.

1. Is there a difference between these two battery type in terms of longevity when properly maintained?

2. If not, which battery type/chemistry is better for long life?

John

Ken
Exactly what I was looking for! Thanks.

Nevadahalfrack
Finally!! A no nonsense simple and unbiased explanation of the two different oft confused power sources.
Thank you.

Sunil Bhatnagar
The fact that Gel batteries are more superior to AGM is not promoted in right way as AGM has many far superior working qualities which Gel can not offer. AGM batteries are fast recharge batteries and are availble easily worldwide. Gel batteries have very small market share. Cost per cycle is approximately same when AGM is compared to Gel.