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Old 05-19-2015, 07:42 AM   #1
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Best Battery for TT ??

We just took our first trip in our new TT, at a dry site. The problem we had is our battery was depleted by the 2nd night. We barely ran the lights, used propane for the fridge, ran the furnace for 8 hours and used the water pump. Wondering if anyone has a suggestion on which battery is best for the trailers. I have limited knowledge about batteries and noticed different numbers on them, which I assume are the volts/charge each holds. Any suggestions on which battery would be the best for TT? Thanks !!!
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Old 05-19-2015, 07:53 AM   #2
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Most dealers are going to give you the bear bones battery. That would be a Group 24 battery. We had the same issue, by the mid-day of the 3rd day the frig would no longer light. I would plug the tow vehicles cord in and idle the tow vehicle for 15 minutes twice a day to get enough charge back into the battery to at least keep the frig lit.

If the voltage gets too low that will happen, the frig will not lit or cycle. I'm either going to upgrade to a group 27 battery or see what the group 31's are. I know the group 31 batteries are larger, so I would have to get a new battery box. Not sure on the group 27's.

I also ordered a 100 watt portable solar suitcase set-up. We have two 4 night stays at non-electric campgrounds this Aug. Reviews said 2-4 of sun on the solar panel will charge the battery back up.
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Old 05-19-2015, 08:02 AM   #3
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What killed you battery was the furnace! Furnace fans consume a lot of energy. Without that you should be able to get two to three days.
As to what battery you should get?
First you should never ever add a new battery to one that is more than 6 months old. The old will drain the new.
Second you need to figure out how much room you have for a second battery.
Third figure out what you currently have.
Since most TT batteries are mounted on the tongue your space for a second battery is probably limited.
If you have the room, two 6V golf cart batteries would be best for boon docking (non hookup) camping. But they are expensive, large, and probably not worth the effort unless you like boon docking.
Your better option might be to buy a nice 1000 watt portable generator made by Yamaha or Honda to recharge your current battery each day.
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Old 05-19-2015, 08:25 AM   #4
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As mentioned above, your furnace killed the battery. If you like dry camping then 6V's are the way to go. You could get by with two Group27's also. You can get cheaper generators than either Honda or Yamaha.


Champion Champion Power Equipment 1000-Watt Power Inverter Generator - Overstock™ Shopping - The Best Prices on Champion CARB Approved Generators makes what looks to be a decent 1000W gen for pretty cheap if you can find one.
Light weight and quiet.


Kipor makes a cheaper priced one also.


JMO but if you really like dry camping then invest in either another battery or get two new ones. Also find another way to heat your trailer besides the furnace. Not sure if you're heating during the day or night. We have a Mr Buddy heater that we use in the mornings or during the day. We will also run it for a bit in the late evening just before going to bed. We load up on blankets for the night.


Another option is solar. It's expensive but it will recharge your batteries if it's sunny out.
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Old 05-19-2015, 08:28 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Superslif View Post
Most dealers are going to give you the bear bones battery. That would be a Group 24 battery. We had the same issue, by the mid-day of the 3rd day the frig would no longer light. I would plug the tow vehicles cord in and idle the tow vehicle for 15 minutes twice a day to get enough charge back into the battery to at least keep the frig lit.

If the voltage gets too low that will happen, the frig will not lit or cycle. I'm either going to upgrade to a group 27 battery or see what the group 31's are. I know the group 31 batteries are larger, so I would have to get a new battery box. Not sure on the group 27's.

I also ordered a 100 watt portable solar suitcase set-up. We have two 4 night stays at non-electric campgrounds this Aug. Reviews said 2-4 of sun on the solar panel will charge the battery back up.
A 100 watt solar panel will not do a very good job of charging your batteries.

First of all, it will only generate 100 watts if it is in full sun, and is pointed directly at the sun. Unless you reposition it every 30 minutes or so, you will be lucky to average 60 watts over the course oa a typical day. That will be about 6 amps, or 12 to 24 amp-hours in the 2 to 4 hour period that you mentioned.

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Old 05-19-2015, 08:30 AM   #6
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Brand new unit and this is the first time out so the battery is "new". I think I'm just looking at replacing it with a better one. We recharged with our tow vehicle but I don't want to do that all the time. I would prefer electric sites but we didn't know that we would have the trailer this year so I booked all non-electric sites for this year.
We only used the furnace at night for about 6 hours. Didn't realize the blower took that much power and being our first trip out, we forgot to take enough blankets. Will not make that mistake again !!!!
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Old 05-19-2015, 08:48 AM   #7
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Group 24 70-85 Amp hours 12 volts

Group 27 85-105 Amp hours 12 volts

Group 31 95-125 Amp hours 12 volts

Quote:
First of all, it will only generate 100 watts if it is in full sun, and is pointed directly at the sun. Unless you reposition it every 30 minutes or so, you will be lucky to average 60 watts over the course oa a typical day. That will be about 6 amps, or 12 to 24 amp-hours in the 2 to 4 hour period that you mentioned.
I have read many who said the 100 or 120 watt portable solar panels will be able to help keep the battery charged up. Were very conservative when it comes to dry camping. Usually 4 days is all we dry camp at one time. I swapped all my lighting to LED. We take very short showers. The biggest issue is saving enough voltage in the battery to cycle the frig. Along with my solar panel I also ordered a digital battery meter so I'll know what voltage they are at.

Moving up to a group 27 or 31 battery, will my RV trailers converter be able to charge it as it does for my cheapoo group 24 battery?
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Old 05-19-2015, 10:09 AM   #8
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I've been happy with bondocking for a long weekend on a pair of 6v batteries (Trojan T- 105.) They were a little expensive and required new battery boxes (they are taller). I also upgraded my power converter to one that does PWM multi-stage charging, so that when I do run my generator, I know that it's charging appropriately and not just a trickle charge.
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Old 05-19-2015, 11:21 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by MDG Travel View Post
Brand new unit and this is the first time out so the battery is "new".
Are you sure the battery was really fully charged when you started? If the battery was half dead when you left the house, chances are the tow vehicle didn't do much unless you drove all day.
I would charge it until full at home before setting out. See how it works with no furnace before you discard a new battery.

Also, make sure the water in the battery is sufficient. Add distilled water if any cells are low.
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Old 05-19-2015, 12:49 PM   #10
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Are you sure the battery was really fully charged when you started? If the battery was half dead when you left the house, chances are the tow vehicle didn't do much unless you drove all day.
I would charge it until full at home before setting out. See how it works with no furnace before you discard a new battery.

Also, make sure the water in the battery is sufficient. Add distilled water if any cells are low.
The TT was plugged in for 10 days before we left so I'm pretty sure it was fully charged and the meter inside said it was. I'm just not sure how new the battery is/was from the dealer. I will check the water thanks !!!
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Old 05-19-2015, 02:28 PM   #11
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The simple thing but would most likley require a bigger battery box is to buy a 'what I call a group 29' battery. But even that will only last 3 - 4 days of lite use.

The best option (again no option is perfect) is to buy a Honda or Yamaha generator to help keep the battery charged as much as possible. Probably running the generator 3 or 4 hours / day or every other day would keep the battery charged.
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Old 05-19-2015, 06:37 PM   #12
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Moving up to a group 27 or 31 battery, will my RV trailers converter be able to charge it as it does for my cheapoo group 24 battery?
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Old 05-19-2015, 07:45 PM   #13
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One thing no one has commented on yet is how "depleted" did your battery get? For best (longest) battery life it should only be discharged no more than 50%..or about 12.1 volts. You need a volt meter and not the idiot lights on your monitor panel to measure voltage.
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Old 05-19-2015, 08:45 PM   #14
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When I bought my Jayco TT it had a Interstate group 24 Marine/RV battery with it and this year we had planned a trip to the Smokey's for 4 days.. knowing it would be dry camping I didn't want to get caught short... so, I changed out the group 24 to 2ea Trojan T105 deep cell batteries, 6v. in series, Now like it was said, it was a bit on the pricy side but with these batteries I know I can go alot longer and not have to worry.. I don' want to worry about recharging (if possible) and with the Trojans I think I can pretty easily go 4 or 5 days . My group 24 would be no where near it... bought the battery boxe's a tO' Riley auto parts for $10.00 ea. They come with tie downs and enough room to run my cables with no problem. I think the complete cost for my change out was under $250.00 and from what I hear if the Trojans are properly kept they will last a long time.

I also change out all the incandescent lights in the TT to LED and it lowered my draw by 80% and that change out on 22 lights was about $150.00 and well worth the money...

We look for campgrounds with hook ups as much as we can, but we don't want to limit our trips by not having the power to boondock if the occation comes up.
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