Telecom Industrial AGM Batteries (Why Not) - DIY Solar Power Forum

Hello I've been reading a lot of the articles on your DIY forum and have learned quite a lot much of I had never heard of by the "Solar Experts" (LOL) your all a very bright and educated bunch of young adults so I figured I would ask for the hard earned or learned knowledge of your forums members for a problem that I was told by every single So Called Solar Expert I would have but has never occurred.

This may be quite long and rambling so I apologize in advance but answers to this question or uninformed advice has been driving me crazy and I am tired of the BS, the half baked ideas, the flat out lies or made up explanations I get from the solar equipment dealers sales people all trying to change my mind and sell me something that I think are inferior and much more expensive products in regards to AGM batteries.

You guys and gals are just smart people experimenting and learning from each others triumphs and losses but no matter what your always learning and moving forward and also none of you have anything to gain or profit from by selling me on a product I don't want or need and maybe I am wrong and my experiences are all a fluke and I realize beforehand that most of you will rightly so tell me to go Lithium or LiFPO4 or some other chemistry I don't understand but as the saying goes "you cant teach a old dog new tricks" well I am plenty old and am quite happy with my current set of tricks but please give me the benefit of your knowledge keeping in mind I'm sticking with sealed lead acid batteries till the bitter end ?

I have been a strict Outback Power customer including their batteries for as long as I have had Off Grid Solar almost 20 years. A little over 6 years back we had a mishap while out of the country on business and sadly destroyed 2 strings of 10 each Outback 200 AH (AGM) batteries 20 in total. I had them on my trailer taking them into town to purchase new ones and a man at a gas station asked me which of the cellphone companies I worked for? After telling him none he informed me that my Outback Batteries looked exactly like the Telecom Tower batteries his brother sold for a living he told me that before I spent the $12,000 replacing my bad ones to call his brother he explained that when AT&T, Sprint or Verizon purchased batteries to save money they buy enough to fulfill what their needs will be that year and sometimes the next so I took his number and promised to call.

I called that day and his brother told me to hold off that he could and would replace all 20 batteries with "NEW" not "USED" much higher quality, longer lasting industrial ones for under half (1/2) the price that I was planning on spending.

Long story short he sent me literature on batteries that looked a lot like my Outbacks but were marked Built For or Property of Sprint Telecom the AH ratings were a little more than mine and they weighed another 15 pounds heavier so I called around to check and every solar shop told me they were useless for solar and wouldn't last 6 months, but all invited me to please come purchase theirs for much, much more money LOL

I then took a few days and did some research on my own and found out they were built almost exactly the same as the best AGM Solar batteries I could find but with much purer alloys, better fiberglass matting, stronger casings, 100 lb torque cable mounting bolts or bus bars if preferred and all models and brands were built to much stricter higher quality standards required by the Huge Telecom Giants and then best of all they had a design life of 15 to 20 years on float (Yes 15 to 20 years).

He had several brands, sizes and AH ratings to choose from and during my research I also found out they were all built by East Penn, Deka, Trojan or their owners or subsidiaries the best manufacturers I could find, everything sounded much to good to be true.

I had many questions and concerns so he did his sales pitch then he explained the reason I was getting them so cheap was the Telecom companies have strict shelf life standards and after so many months on the shelf they sell them off at a loss even though they still tested exactly as when first manufactured, I learned its very expensive and time consuming hauling and replacing 150 lb batteries out in the middle of nowhere in mostly harsh terrain and weather.

Over 6 years later I have not had one ounce of problems and that's with my almost daily rugged use and abuse.

My Off Grid Paradise is located in Northern Arizona bordering the Navajo Nation Reservation where the housing is all very remote and truly Off Grid and almost exclusively powered by solar panels and batteries.

Since my first introduction to Telecom batteries I have helped many, many Navajos haul and help replace their aging or totaly shot batteries and in addition saving them a small fortune in money that most don't have to spare.

In my 6 year experience with hundreds of batteries maybe 3 batteries out of every 100 goes south and needs replacing

Since first being introduced to these batteries I have learned many things and talked with many experts on the manufacturing side and not the sales and most just wink and smile and tell me that all their companies batteries are built to the high quality standards.

Well I've purchased and used their top of the line batteries marked as for Solar so I know this is not true but I'm hoping I'm not just a crazy old man thinking he knows more than he does LOL

Please give me any advice you feel might help me understand my experience with Telecom batteries and again I apologize for the novel I'm just far beyond curious

Thanks Again

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I agree in principle with the logic behind a given industry 'demanding' more reliability than your average consumer, but I don't see any qualification body distinguishing between who can & cannot slap the word "TELCOM" on the side of their batteries, or their ebay auction for that matter.

We're therefore dependent on someone such as yourself who is "in the know" who can get us started identifying good brands & sellers.

Then the forum is regularly tasked to identify whether a new seller is honest or supported by shills, etc. That vetting process begins and has begun.

The real adventure starts when good brands are contacted. Wholesalers whose models assume well informed buyers of batteries by the pallet, may find themselves taken off guard buy a bunch of unprepared unprofessional people trying to call them and demand answers to consumer level questions and trying to purchase consumer level quantities.

I'm not attacking you. I hope you know that. I like the idea of using industrial level equipment, especially if it keeps something out of the landfill for a few years.

Thank you for the reply I appreciate the honesty all I can give is my experiences I've had using them I have a motto try to learn 1 thing per day it could just be a person's name or trying to just suck up a little bit of the vast knowledge this forum has to offer!

As for Will Prowse I give up hes like Sheldon on that Big Bang Theory way to smart for me but I love his videos ?

I don't mind turning anyone that wants or needs batteries they are free to call my contact I used to keep it as my private contact but after seeing that he goes through hundreds of the Telecom batteries a week selling to "PREPPERS" living way Off Grid I'm no longer worried about myself going without LOL

He has a shipping warehouse in Texas one in Colorado and a small shop by me in the City of Page Arizona on Lake Powell the most beautiful place on earth.

He can be grumpy sometimes but that's his business Solar and Wind Energy and now that hes older mostly the sales of Telecom batteries to his Solar and Prepper customers I don't know if there is a way to PM me but anyone needing or interested hit me up I have both his business and cellphone numbers or just call him 928-645- tell him the gambler sent you to him Hahaha ?

Anyways thanks again for the feedback and the knowledge you all let me have ?