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Old 10-04-2014, 02:41 PM   #1
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What Kind Of Battery Do I Need?

Hello all. On my1979 Dodge Fleetwood Tioga class c was wondering if anyone knows what the minimum ampage is I need on the house battery to make the 12 volt inverter system run off battery power. Since I've only had this rv for 3 months I've only used it on AC power since it didn't come with a house battery. But now it's time to test the battery side. Some say 75 amps others say 50 amps. I do have a compact 12 volt 18 amp sealed lead acid universal battery but I doubt 18 amps is enough to even power up the inverter on a battery. So I welcome input here. Thanks in advance.
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Old 10-04-2014, 11:43 PM   #2
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What Kind Of Battery Do I Need?

Unless it has an inverter recently added (not available on RVs of your vintage), I think you are just meaning that you need a 12 volt deep cycle battery for powering your 12 volt items: exhaust fan, lights, furnace fan, etc. You likely have a converter/charger. (Converts 110v to 12volt and charges the battery while plugged in, does not offer 110volt output while running on battery power). Your fridge if original probably uses a pilot light rather than 12 volt ignition. The furnace fan will drain the battery pretty quickly in a weekend trip.

You will likely get a lot of opinions here on what battery to buy. It can depend of course on how you intend to use your RV. Plan to do a lot of dry camping off the grid? If so, amp hours become more important as does the ability to likely have more than 1 battery. Solar panels and charge controllers can then come into play too (my rig has 2 panels).

A well regarded "run of the mill" battery for you would be the Trojan SCS225.

Sorry, they aren't inexpensive. You really do get what you pay for with battery technology.

A less expensive but lower amp hour battery would be one from interstate. My current rig has 2 deep cycle batteries from Costco that the prior owner installed. Johnson controls typically makes these batteries for Costco.

Your battery is likely group 27 or 29 size.

Your charger likely won't have the proper set points for a modern AGM battery, so you probably are best to stick with standard flooded wet cell deep cycle batteries.

Speaking of charging, consider purchasing a battery tender jr or the like to safely float charge your battery without the risk of overcharging. The chargers in older RVs can have a tendency to overcharge batteries when plugged in for long periods, while a battery tender is better technology for this purpose.
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Old 10-05-2014, 03:38 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wanderso View Post
Unless it has an inverter recently added (not available on RVs of your vintage), I think you are just meaning that you need a 12 volt deep cycle battery for powering your 12 volt items: exhaust fan, lights, furnace fan, etc. You likely have a converter/charger. (Converts 110v to 12volt and charges the battery while plugged in, does not offer 110volt output while running on battery power). Your fridge if original probably uses a pilot light rather than 12 volt ignition. The furnace fan will drain the battery pretty quickly in a weekend trip.

You will likely get a lot of opinions here on what battery to buy. It can depend of course on how you intend to use your RV. Plan to do a lot of dry camping off the grid? If so, amp hours become more important as does the ability to likely have more than 1 battery. Solar panels and charge controllers can then come into play too (my rig has 2 panels).

A well regarded "run of the mill" battery for you would be the Trojan SCS225.

Sorry, they aren't inexpensive. You really do get what you pay for with battery technology.

A less expensive but lower amp hour battery would be one from interstate. My current rig has 2 deep cycle batteries from Costco that the prior owner installed. Johnson controls typically makes these batteries for Costco.

Your battery is likely group 27 or 29 size.

Your charger likely won't have the proper set points for a modern AGM battery, so you probably are best to stick with standard flooded wet cell deep cycle batteries.

Speaking of charging, consider purchasing a battery tender jr or the like to safely float charge your battery without the risk of overcharging. The chargers in older RVs can have a tendency to overcharge batteries when plugged in for long periods, while a battery tender is better technology for this purpose.
The power inverter has been replaced in recent years so this is a modern inverter system. All the electrical is wired through the power inverter. So I do get ac power off my battery. There is not a bypass of any kind except for the fridge. I also have an onboard generator but I don't like to use it when sleeping because it's to noisy. Running the furnace at night while I am sleeping is exactly what I use the battery for. It can get cold at night here in the desert. So I have to keep warm on my yearly winter drive fron Utah to Arizona. The trip takes about 2 days. Once I get to Arizona and park on my lot with hookups and 30 amp power, then I don't need the battery for another 4 months. In a pinch for power on the road, I jump the house battery with my car being towed behind the rv. I shut the inverter off during the jump to prevent shorting the system. Most of the time however I will run the generator just long enough to charge the battery, if I remember to put gas in it before I head out. My memory isn't so good anymore. LOL
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Old 10-05-2014, 05:30 AM   #4
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What is the minimum amp hour rating for the inverter....

This is based on the manual for my Xantrex prosine 2.0...

About 200 amp hours per kilowatt of inverter (or one pair GC-2 Golf car batteries in series per Kilowatt of inverter)

It will work with half that In fact when the Prosine was initially installed I only had one pair (I upgraded later)

I have also used a Xantrex X-Power (MSW) with a 100 (About) amp hour battery successfully.

But the recommendation is 200 amp hours per kilowatt of inverter.

So, how big is your inverter? Multiply by 0.2 and that's your answer.
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Old 10-05-2014, 11:35 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wa8yxm View Post
What is the minimum amp hour rating for the inverter....

This is based on the manual for my Xantrex prosine 2.0...

About 200 amp hours per kilowatt of inverter (or one pair GC-2 Golf car batteries in series per Kilowatt of inverter)

It will work with half that In fact when the Prosine was initially installed I only had one pair (I upgraded later)

I have also used a Xantrex X-Power (MSW) with a 100 (About) amp hour battery successfully.

But the recommendation is 200 amp hours per kilowatt of inverter.

So, how big is your inverter? Multiply by 0.2 and that's your answer.
Haven't take a look at the inverter's power specs yet. Taking it to the shop tomorrow to have a new propane regulator put in. I will jot down the power inverters specs then.


1979 Dodge Tioga Class C 24 foot. 1987 Fleetwood Bounder 34 Foot.
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Old 10-06-2014, 06:46 PM   #6
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I have learned that my RV takes a group 24 battery.


1979 Dodge Tioga Class C 24 foot. 1987 Fleetwood Bounder 34 Foot.
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Old 10-07-2014, 07:41 AM   #7
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If it takes TWO group 24's and you have the head room, consider using the taller GC-2 Golf car battery.

If it takes just one, alas you will need to add a battery tray
Here is teh lay out for two Group 24s

-Battery+
-Battery+

Total power 150 amp hours at 12 volt about 50 usable before serious damage starts setting in on the batteries (20 hour rate)

Here is the same chart with six volt pairs
-Bat+t-ery+
Total 230 amp hours at 12 volt 115 usable before serious damage sets in.

now that's ... an improvement.
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Old 10-13-2014, 11:55 PM   #8
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Mine has the battery tray built in. The step just inside the back entry swings open to reveal the all steel house battery compartment with negative and positive cables. Ventilation holes built in. For venting the battery I guess. This is a 120 volt 30 amp inverter system. It takes 1 group 24, 12 volt battery about 150 amps. From what you are suggesting, sounds like it would be a good idea to install a battery meter on the battery.The inverter looks like it has a float charger. But I think manually checking the battery voltage with my voltage meter is the only way to tell if the float charger is working. Although this is a fairly advanced inverter system. Has it's own built in battery meter that constantly monitors the voltage. The inverter has what is called a charging sentanial. So it's suppose to shut the charger off when battery levels are full. The meter tells me what the battery level is on the same display as my holding tank sensors. The former owner never had any issues with it and so far everything in the RV has work for me quite well.
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