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03-09-2014, 08:06 PM
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#1
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Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 11
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Battery life 12 volt house
What are the best 12 volt batteries to use ?
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03-09-2014, 08:09 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: SoCal
Posts: 15,749
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House batteries, right? What is your usage and budget? Do you mind checking water levels or want maintenance free?
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Vince and Susan
2011 Tiffin Phaeton 40QTH (Cummins ISC/Freightliner)
Flat towing a modified 2005 Jeep (Rubicon Wrangler)
Previously a 2002 Fleetwood Pace Arrow 37A and a 1995 Safari Trek 2830.
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03-09-2014, 10:39 PM
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#3
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Registered User
Damon Owners Club Workhorse Chassis Owner
Join Date: May 2008
Location: N. Palm Springs CA (in winter)
Posts: 2,420
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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.
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03-09-2014, 10:45 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: AB
Posts: 7,587
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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.
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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.
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2019 Unity LTV CB, pushed by a 2013 Honda CRV, BlueOx Baseplate, Aventa Bar & Patriot Brake
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03-09-2014, 11:49 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: North America somewhere
Posts: 30,897
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I'm happy with my 5 Interstate group 31 MHD batteries. Each has a 195AH rating.
__________________
2000 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom USQ40JD , ISC 8.3 Cummins 350, Spartan MM Chassis. USA IN 1SG 11B5MX,Infantry retired;Good Sam Life member,FMCA. " My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. John F. Kennedy
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03-10-2014, 06:29 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 4,031
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2 Trojan T105's
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03-10-2014, 01:41 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Rural Independence, OR
Posts: 951
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Wet cell: Crown CR-GC155
AGM: Lifeline GPL-30HT
Actually, it depends on your space requirements, application and budget.
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2013 Leisure Travel Vans Unity U24MB, 635 watts solar, 440 AH batteries, 2000 watt inverter, Koni struts and shocks, Hellwig rear anti-swaybar, SumoSprings front and back, 2012 Hyundai Accent SE, Blue Ox baseplates, Aladdin towbar and Patriot
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03-10-2014, 01:44 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Rural Independence, OR
Posts: 951
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray,IN
I'm happy with my 5 Interstate group 31 MHD batteries. Each has a 195AH rating.
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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.
__________________
2013 Leisure Travel Vans Unity U24MB, 635 watts solar, 440 AH batteries, 2000 watt inverter, Koni struts and shocks, Hellwig rear anti-swaybar, SumoSprings front and back, 2012 Hyundai Accent SE, Blue Ox baseplates, Aladdin towbar and Patriot
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03-10-2014, 01:49 PM
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#9
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Litchfield Park, Arizona
Posts: 10,530
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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
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Rick, Nancy, Peanut & Lola our Westie Dogs & Bailey the Sheltie.
2007 Itasca Ellipse 40FD
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03-10-2014, 08:34 PM
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#10
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Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 4
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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.
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03-11-2014, 06:00 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: North America somewhere
Posts: 30,897
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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.
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Strange, I wonder why the tag on the top has in print 195AH.
__________________
2000 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom USQ40JD , ISC 8.3 Cummins 350, Spartan MM Chassis. USA IN 1SG 11B5MX,Infantry retired;Good Sam Life member,FMCA. " My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. John F. Kennedy
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03-11-2014, 08:54 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 343
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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.
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Cam... Georgetown 280DS 2015
Vespa Lx150 2013 Stella Auto125 2014
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03-12-2014, 12:35 AM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 4,654
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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.
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Tony & Lori
1989 Country Coach Savannah SE
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03-12-2014, 07:36 AM
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#14
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Senior Member
Damon Owners Club Workhorse Chassis Owner
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 24,024
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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.
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Home is where I park it!
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