Mini Lite 2104 new battery advice.

[LIseverewx]

Hi,

I have a 2020 Mini Lite 2104 that I am new owner. Previous owner must have not charged the battery it came with while the RV sat unused and now need to get a new one as it wont hold charge for more than a day. My question...

I am between getting a quality 12V lead acid deep cycle or 12V AGM battery or.... (2) 6V golf cart batteries.

Any suggestions would be appreciated as I am a bit unsure of which way to go. I am not using any solar currently and also am not interested in spending $800+ on a lithium battery.

Thank you for your help!!

[Unplanned Tourist]

The 6 volt batteries will give you the most reserve power.

I like AGMs because they are maintenance free.

Whatever you get, keep them charged at least to 1/2 charge.

[Winemaker2]

Originally Posted by LIseverewx

Hi,

I have a 2020 Mini Lite 2104 that I am new owner. Previous owner must have not charged the battery it came with while the RV sat unused and now need to get a new one as it wont hold charge for more than a day. My question...

I am between getting a quality 12V lead acid deep cycle or 12V AGM battery or.... (2) 6V golf cart batteries.

Any suggestions would be appreciated as I am a bit unsure of which way to go. I am not using any solar currently and also am not interested in spending $800+ on a lithium battery.

Thank you for your help!!

I like AGMs due to the lack of corrosion in batty tray / slide and maint free.
If interested in AGM you can go either 12V or 6V
A pair of 12V GP31 AGM in parallel will provide about 200 AH total. The advantage is if one goes bad you can isolate and run short term on one... not possible with 6V in series. Have to drop the pair.
A pair of 6V AGM GCs in series will provide about 200 AH total.

Sams Club sells Duracell made by East Penn and I just saw a notice that they are / or will soon be $20 off each. You can get those AGMs for about $175 ea ( either size)
Some will state GP not deep cycle like GCs but I have confirmed w Eadt Penn that their AGMs both GP31 and GCs are both equally suited for deep cycle and starting.
The plate design for flooded battys is different for start vs deep cycle but it doesn't hold true for AGMs unless the mfg clearly states optimized design for either deep cycle or start. Duracell provides both AH and CCA specs for their AGM battys.
My current East Penn AGMs on our boat are 7 yrs old and still doing very well.

[Edit] here is the notice another member posted
Heads up. May 8th the AGM deep cycle batteries go on sale at $20 off. Received an email notification today. I don’t want need the AGM but some might so thought I’d give a heads up. Hopefully the regular wet cell batteries will also go on sale soon.

[Winemaker2]

Originally Posted by Unplanned Tourist

The 6 volt batteries will give you the most reserve power.

I like AGMs because they are maintenance free.

Whatever you get, keep them charged at least to 1/2 charge.

Nice graphic but it doesn't support your contention of 50% DOD limit.
In fact 60% DOD is green... same as anything less and even 80% DOD is yellow so still not a problem if you don't exceed it on a regular basis and don't leave it in that state for extended period.
Don't go beyond that into 80% thats where it turns Red and not advised (even then it won't be fatal if infrequent and recharged soon.

[Unplanned Tourist]

Originally Posted by Winemaker2

Nice graphic but it doesn't support your contention of 50% DOD limit.
In fact 60% DOD is green... same as anything less and even 80% DOD is yellow so still not a problem if you don't exceed it on a regular basis and don't leave it in that state for extended period.
Don't go beyond that into 80% thats where it turns Red and not advised (even then it won't be fatal if infrequent and recharged soon.

Just saying that it's best to not drop any lower than 50% if it can be helped. The lower you go it will take life out of the batteries.

Many times you hear of car batteries going completely dead (0%) and being jump started and used for years after.

Discharging to 0% will not kill a battery immediately, it will just shorten it's life.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by Unplanned Tourist

Just saying that it's best to not drop any lower than 50% if it can be helped. The lower you go it will take life out of the batteries.

Many times you hear of car batteries going completely dead (0%) and being jump started and used for years after.

Discharging to 0% will not kill a battery immediately, it will just shorten it's life.

EVERY discharge shortens its life.

That's how batteries work. Take a little out lots if times or take a lot out less times.

Its only when you go below 10.6 volts that your critically effecting battery life.

[Winemaker2]

Originally Posted by Unplanned Tourist

Just saying that it's best to not drop any lower than 50% if it can be helped. The lower you go it will take life out of the batteries.

Many times you hear of car batteries going completely dead (0%) and being jump started and used for years after.

Discharging to 0% will not kill a battery immediately, it will just shorten it's life.

No argument and not endorsing ever running to 90% or 100% DOD

You state 50%... Better yet stop at 25% you get even more "cycles" but cycles don't matter its the total AHs delivered that matter.

As twinboat states very well...
Lots of small AH cycles vs fewer large AH cycles are very close to the same total AH delivered over projected life of a battery.

Think about it... instead of recharging once / day when boondocking do it twice / day (AM & PM). No argument you WILL get more cycles when discharging half as much... HOWEVER... You also "use up" twice as many of those cycles doing it.
Where is the gain?

Do the math it is very enlightening or let me know I'll repost the complete analysis of a few cases.