Community Forums

mojavemover · 03-09-2014, 08:06 PM

What are the best 12 volt batteries to use ?

vsheetz · 03-09-2014, 08:09 PM

House batteries, right? What is your usage and budget? Do you mind checking water levels or want maintenance free?

Doggy Daddy · 03-09-2014, 10:39 PM

The life span of a Battery depends upon maintenance, i.e. Keeping wet batteries wet, charging and not over charging, keeping posts and cables clean and tight, not overly discharging [draining] batteries, protecting batteries from severe temps - freezing and overheating.

dennis45 · 03-09-2014, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doggy Daddy

The life span of a Battery depends upon maintenance, i.e. Keeping wet batteries wet, charging and not over charging, keeping posts and cables clean and tight, not overly discharging [draining] batteries, protecting batteries from severe temps - freezing and overheating.

Absolutely,
Mr. D has posted on this forum that he changed his Wet Cell Deep Cycle Batts after ten years. I believe he has his coach plugged in 24-7.

Ray,IN · 03-09-2014, 11:49 PM

I'm happy with my 5 Interstate group 31 MHD batteries. Each has a 195AH rating.

Triker56 · 03-10-2014, 06:29 AM

2 Trojan T105's

jackfish · 03-10-2014, 01:41 PM

Wet cell: Crown CR-GC155
AGM: Lifeline GPL-30HT

Actually, it depends on your space requirements, application and budget.

jackfish · 03-10-2014, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

I'm happy with my 5 Interstate group 31 MHD batteries. Each has a 195AH rating.

No they don't. 25 amp reserve capacity minutes is not the same as 20 hour rate ampere hour capacity. They are 117 AH at best.

RickO · 03-10-2014, 01:49 PM

Hi and welcome to the forum.

You've asked a very broad question and we need more data to supply the best answers.

Assuming you're referring to house batteries, I would recommend Trojan golf cart batteries... the largest ones you can fit in your battery tray.

I learned this lesson far too late. I have replaced my house batteries several times with WalMart/Costco "deep cycle"/multi use batteries and they are toast within a fairly short time... and we never boondock.

I wish I had paid more attention to the widely held belief here on the forum that golf cart batteries are the way to go. I've recently put the Trojans I replaced from my golf cart and put them in the coach. Even though they were due to be replaced in the cart... they're doing a great job in the coach.

Of course, if money is no object, or if you have a difficult application... AGM batteries are great but they're quite expensive.

BTW, it will help you get better, faster answers if you add the year, make and model of your RV to your signature line so everyone knows what the question pertains to. This can be done via your "User CP"

Best of luck.

Rick

lotrat · 03-10-2014, 08:34 PM

I just pulled my 7 year old Trojan 105 batteries out to charge them in my garage. I didn't have time to completely charge them before putting my RV into storage. They were working fine during a week long camping trip, but I noticed a slight swelling on the case when I pulled them out. They've been on charge for 3 days now... not good. I've only watered them on regular basis. Nothing more than float voltage. I've never equalized them. I have a cheap charger my Fleetwood. They've been off charge for 8 months, so it's on me that they are failing. Still, 7 years is pretty good for abused batteries. I'll probably grab another set after reading up on them.

Ray,IN · 03-11-2014, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackfish

No they don't. 25 amp reserve capacity minutes is not the same as 20 hour rate ampere hour capacity. They are 117 AH at best.

Strange, I wonder why the tag on the top has in print 195AH.

camaraderie · 03-11-2014, 08:54 PM

Because they like to mislead people with meaningless specs. The fact that your batts HAVE a RC capacity on them indicates that they are almost assuredly dual use rather than deep cycle batts.
Jackfish is entirely correct and generous in his estimate of true AH's...most Grp31's are around 105 amp hours at the 20 hour rate.

TQ60 · 03-12-2014, 12:35 AM

195 ah...at what rate...?

Starting batteries have amp hours and deep cycle batteries have cca.

They just do not publish the data for what the battery is not designed to do.

The 195 ah may be at 8 or 20 hour rate, but it gets more complicated as the end voltage also matters.

Some state 1.8 VPC while 1.75 VPC is the normal spec there are a few AGM that list 1.65 VPC to make them look larger than they seem.

What does this mean here?

The op asked what battery was better.

One must use exact comparison data first.

Use same hour rating with same end point voltage while using same load.

A 25 amp load may be the 8 hour rating on one but 6 hour rating on another.

Battery engineering is very simple once you figure out what matters, whete to get the data and how to use it.

The above applies to everyvbattery regardless of size or type...generic statements.

As to which is better flooded or VRLA/AGM that would require a system approach thatvincludes actual need with budgets for space and maintenance.

Floaded can be abused by not perfect charging systems and be restored somewhat with water and their cost is a lot less than AGM.

AGM are maintenance free and can be mounted in more places but are not forgiving at all of bad charger as gassing allows water to be lost and cannot be replaced.

The cost is far more than floaded as well.

So what is better?

Better answer is what battery is best for my needs, maintenance and budget.

wa8yxm · 03-12-2014, 07:36 AM

I see a lot of folks sold on AGM, I'm not, and I have reason.

Trojan is acknowledged to be the best, the GC-2 (Golf Car) batteries are true deep cycle and often last a decade or more if treated well, You use them in pairs Each series wired pair makes one BIG 12 volt battery.

My RV came with Interstate,, Many give them the #2 slot, cheaper than Trojan's mine lasted 8.5 years.. Smack dab in the middle of their 7-10 year anticiapted life. Again these are GC-2 size (U-2200)
US battery US-2200, same battery as near as I can tell

Costco sells Jonnson Control or US Battery (Johnson makes Interstate).
Sam's. not sure of the brand, but they are less expensive.

I am debating on Sam's or Deka for my replacements.. Cost (Since I'd need to re-up my sam's card) is dang close. I may visit DEKA dealer Monday.

90 bucks for Sam's.

AGM's.. I had MK AGM's (east penn battery, same as Deka) bought in 2006, died in 2011. That's only five years, compared with 8.5 for my interstates.. (Seperate 12 volt systems at the time)

I was very impressed by the life of those AGMs, very NEGATIVELY impressed. I am not sold at all on the value of AGM.. but if you want to spend the money, those are the #2 most expensive you can buy, The most expensive, (optima, a sub set of AGM) hold only about 60 percent of the amp horus of say Lifeline.

NOTE: Most expensive excludes "Exotic" batteries like they use in electric cars.. those are more expensive.