Can you use a flooded battery instead of AGM?

The answer should be a yes and no! The AGM battery and flooded battery can be used to serve the same purpose. For instance, they can both be used as power banks and connected to a solar panel where they can be charged up anytime they run low on power. You would expect AGM batteries to be more expensive because they apply a more recent technology that makes them more robust than their flooded battery counterpart. 

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On the other hand, Flooded batteries are less expensive because their technology is not as recent as what is used in AGM. 

Can You Get AGM Battery That Has Flooded Battery

AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) battery and flooded or wet cell batteries are both types of lead-acid batteries. However, while you can rightly categorize them as belonging to the lead-acid group, they are not precisely the same. These batteries are used for powering many vehicles, as well as billions of other applications. They are composed of an electrolyte solution that prompts a particular chemical reaction, leading to the production of electrons eventually. 

Both batteries employ reverse current for orchestrating their charging. Although no battery is perfect, knowing the difference between AGM and flooded batteries will help you identify a battery that adequately serves your needs. If you are expecting to carry out minor maintenance on your battery, you might want to consider AGM batteries as flooded batteries require more maintenance when you use them. Flooded lead-acid batteries also take up more space because you have to position them uprightly unless they may have problems functioning as expected. 

If you have a limited way of configuring your batteries in terms of space or location, you can decide to adopt AGM battery, since they do not have a particular way of positioning them. So, AGM batteries are not the same as flooded batteries. Neither are flooded batteries the same as AGM batteries. In the same vein, you won't find an AGM battery that has a flooded battery. I haven't seen one myself. They have two distinct designs, which makes one look like an upgrade of the other. 

Is a Flooded Battery AGM?

A typical flooded battery is not an AGM battery. Although they may all be classified as lead-acid batteries, they cannot be said to be the same. AGM belongs to a more recent, advanced type of lead-acid battery. Some people even consider them as the most significant lead-acid batteries of all time. AGM batteries employ a fiberglass separator between the wrappers and plates to ensure the electrolyte is in position. The electrolyte is made to maintain its position through capillary action. 

By combining the electrolyte, lead plates, and a fiberglass separator within a confined space, the AGM battery uses capillary action to ensure a physical bond between all the components. The capillary action is responsible for holding the electrolyte in position, making it impossible to spill if it is exposed. The tight nature of all the components that make up an AGM also makes it completely different from a flooded battery. 

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Flooded batteries are mostly known for their commonality. You can easily find them in many places because of their widespread applications. A flooded battery is made up of lead plates, an electrolyte (sulfuric acid), as well as plate separators. Nothing more! Flooded batteries aren't sealed and don't recombine gases into liquid on the inside. Instead, flooded batteries vent out any gases produced during its chemical reaction into the surrounding air. Flood batteries need to be regularly maintained in the form of water addition. Those lead plates begin to deteriorate when they are exposed to the atmosphere. 

If you observe AGM batteries from various perspectives, it becomes apparent they aren't the same as flooded batteries. The only thing binding them together is that they are both rechargeable batteries and all belong to the lead-acid battery category. That may be the best you can get while trying to connect both batteries. 

How can you tell an AGM from a flooded battery?

If AGM batteries and flooded batteries are not the same, then there must be features that help to distinguish one from the other. So, how do you tell an AGM from a flooded type of battery? We’ll run through the features in the section below;

AGM batteries are typically sealed; unlike flooded batteries, they are made to prevent exposure of the plates to the atmosphere. Check for a seal to confirm if what you are buying is AGM or flood battery. AGM batteries are also compact in their design. The whole components are held together by capillary action. That single bond formation makes it resistant to forceful impacts. This is another huge contrast for flooded batteries. They are not sealed, which is why their plates can deteriorate due to exposure to the atmosphere. The exposure is what makes flooded batteries require more maintenance than AGM batteries. 

The way they work is also another good way to differentiate between both battery types. Flooded batteries can only be used in one way: they must be kept upright. Anything other than that will distort the way they operate. AGM batteries do not have any unique position for functioning. You can keep them anyhow you want, and they will still function fine. 

You can also tell which one is which by looking at the current delivery. AGM can deliver much higher currents than its flooded counterpart. Therefore, AGMs are more suitable for applications that require a more considerable amount of current. Cost is another parameter for knowing an AGM and flooded battery. In this case, AGM happens to be more expensive than flooded batteries. 

Conclusion

AGM batteries and flooded batteries may both belong to the lead-acid battery class, but they are not to be seen as precisely the same. This article has explained how AGM batteries are compactly built and sealed so they can work more efficiently. On the other hand, flooded batteries are not sealed and do require more maintenance than their AGM counterpart.