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hi everyone we've got a question from a fellow boater named James James asked hey Jeff random question um you probably know the answer but is it okay for me to mix different types of batteries together for instance AGM with flooded batteries doesn't matter well it sort of does I mean if you're desperate it's going to work so the question from James I mean it's not like the end of the world yeah if you have to do it you can do it especially if you're stuck or you're somewhere you can definitely mix and match different battery types if you're stuck but if you're planning and you're doing this right and you have the time or access to the right materials the answer is no the reality is batteries have different sort of resting voltages and the moment that you disconnect a charger from a battery um there's going to be a battery that's a higher voltage than the other and that battery will constantly drain to try to recharge or prop up the weaker battery so it's really going to make the stronger batteries lose capacity over time because they're trying to even themselves out and to bring up the batteries that are apparently weaker than them that are wired in parallel so that'd be one thing second thing is if you've got an AGM battery in a bank and a flooded battery in the same bank how do you choose what charger profile you're going to put on are you going to choose an AGM charge profile are you going to choose a flooded lead asset profile remember you your your battery charger can only choose one charge profile per battery Bank so then you end up compromising are you going to under charge are you going to overcharge either way you're stuck you're never going to be able to give the batteries exactly what they want so mixing batteries or mixing different battery types and also mixing different battery of age is also a big No-No it's a little bit like I've heard a one of the comparable sort of devices tires for a car you know if you've got a set of tires and you've had them for five six years and you know they're they've got some they're worn out but they're still usable and for whatever reason you lose one of the tires it's not advisable to buy a brand new tire for only one tire and have three five-year-old tires so same advice you can't mix and match even AGM batteries especially if they're a really different age so once the battery is done a certain number of Cycles the Delta between a new battery and an old battery is quite significant and so you're really wasting a new battery by putting in on a really old battery bank so my advice if possible again if possible would be to make sure that your battery bank is always made up of the same type of battery right chemist history so if it's an AGM battery AGM batteries make sure it's the same manufacturer because not all AGM batteries have the same charge profile so try to have it all from the same vintage you know bought at the same time same sort of Life they're all new good they're all AGM from the same manufacturer even better and by doing that you're effectively going to have a longer battery life so that would be my advice to James thanks for all of you for tuning in and I wish you all safe voting so if you're curious again go on our website and find out more answers and solutions with this sort of setup and thanks for asking and thanks for all of you for listening and tuning in