Trojan T-105 vs T-125 vs T-145 Batteries

[325BH]

Amazon Prime baby!

Just kidding... 🤣

[Scottybdivin]

If you look at the Ah / LB, they are almost equal across the board. If I could have fit T125 or T145 I would have went that way. You should be able to do better than $179 on the T105 if you call around. I paid $140 EA for 8 of them at Battery Giant.

[Vette Racer]

I started the winter boondocking with 6 GC2 batteries from Sam's club that were only 2 years old, after using them to watch TV for 4-6 hours off a 2000 watt inverter, then run the furnace overnight we were down to less than 12 volts. Changed them all out to T-145 Trojans and never below 12.5 volts at the same usage, using 580 watts of solar and backup generator. Bottom line the Trojans made a believer out of me, unless we really abused things at night we had more than enough battery power, I am sold on the T-145's. You could buy them for 179 at Discount Solar in Quartzsite in 2018.

[vito.a]

This guy sells T-105 batteries for $129. He has several distributors.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Trojan-T-10...19.m1438.l2649

[Sneelock]

When I bought my current RV about 4 years ago (a 95 class A DP) both the house and chassis batteries were due for replacement. At that time the rig had 2-12v conventional FLA batteries for the chassis, and 2-12v marine deep-cycle for the house. All the batteries were in a single compartment common with the engine and all in roughly a group 31 size.

The chassis batteries were replaced with 12v maintenance free of roughly the same size and located in the orignal compartment.

For the house batteries I also homed in on Trojan products for some of the same reasons as you. Because I wanted the greatest capacity available within the available footprint I went with the T-145s and I haven't regretted it. During that production year the T-145s spec was 260Ah so a pair would give me 130Ah of 12v to work with. I also upgraded my old Todd Engineering converter charger to a PD9245 at the same time and added a Trimetric SD2030 battery monitor.

After our first year using the coach (we tend to go in the winter) my wife and I realized we liked boondocking much more than campgrounds and RV parks so the following year we reconfigured the house electrical system, and dedicated one of the small basement compartment for the house batteries. We also added 640 watts of solar and Victron charge controller and inverter at this time.

To increase battery capacity I added another pair of T-145s doubling my useable amperage to 260Ah. By careful searching I was able to determine that the Mor-Ryde SP60-043 sliding tray would just barely accomodate the 4 T-145 batteries albeit a tight fit. The whole arrangement fit into the assigned compartment perfectly.

I felt the sliding tray was essential to facilitate regular battery maintenance - an important consideration to anyone choosing FLA batteries over AGM or lithium.

Bottom line, Trojan FLA batteries and a newer smart charger like the Progressive Dynamics are good choices. Adding a battery monitor would also help.

I personally don't use an autofill on my batteries because I believe that having chosen FLA batteries I need to put more effort into monitoring their true SoC closely cell by cell with a hygrometer.

So far this system has worked flawlessly despite so very taxing conditions.

[TriMoot]

Wow..Awesome information everyone!

I did purchase two T-145's for $154 each from Commercial Batteries here in Spokane.

I ordered them with the EHPT terminals (high profile) in order to make sure I had enough room for all the connections as the 1st positive terminal has so many (Starter, Generator, Inverter and connection to the next battery).

Yes, a battery monitor is on my list to get asap as I'm completely in the dark other than the default monitor which only shows percentage levels.

I'm 'planning' on making my own cables and will attempt to find a crimping tool (hoping the autoparts store has them to rent) or worst case, use a vise and then solder them as the existing ones appear a bit corroded.

Also thanks for the info on the larger sliding tray. Part of this project is to pull out the existing tray, scrap it and paint it and perhaps consider enlarging it to allow for two more T-145's, although that might be overkill and I might be better off getting LED bulbs to replace the 1157's (I think) that are inside the coach. And there are a TON of them! (Any hints on which bulbs to buy is greatly appreciated as there appears to be a bunch of different kinds. I'm just looking for LED's that are easy on the eyes..not too bright, but not too dim...easy right?)

Thanks again for all the help. Man I love this place!

[twinboat]

[QUOTE=TriMoot;4132320]Wow..Awesome information everyone!

I did purchase two T-145's for $154 each from Commercial Batteries here in Spokane.

I had enough room for all the connections as the 1st positive terminal has so many (Starter, Generator, Inverter and connection to the next battery).

QUOTE]

With 2, 6 volt batteries in series, the positive that would have the starter, generator and inverter cabled WOULD NOT have a connection to the next battery.

The negetive terminal of " that " battery would go to the positive of the second battery to create 12 volts.

[TriMoot]

[QUOTE=twinboat;4132374]

Originally Posted by TriMoot

Wow..Awesome information everyone!

I did purchase two T-145's for $154 each from Commercial Batteries here in Spokane.

I had enough room for all the connections as the 1st positive terminal has so many (Starter, Generator, Inverter and connection to the next battery).

QUOTE]

With 2, 6 volt batteries in series, the positive that would have the starter, generator and inverter cabled WOULD NOT have a connection to the next battery.

The negetive terminal of " that " battery would go to the positive of the second battery to create 12 volts.

Oops! You are RIGHT! I misspoke. BUT...If I threw in a 2nd set in Parallel, THEN I'd have another connection...right? (But of course I didn't mean that then, I was just wrong...good catch!)

[Sneelock]

Just wanted to follow up on 1. the sliding tray and 2. battery connections.

1. The MorRyde tray I mentioned is a reasonably decent product, not the worst, not the best as far as sliding trays go. For me it was just one that fit both the batteries and my compartment. There's something you'll need to do before trying to stuff the four T-145s into it though: the tray is fastened to the sliding mechanisms and frame with pop rivets. They need to be drilled out and replaced with 3/16" d x 1/4" long low profile truss head sex bolts (yeah, I know. see attached). You'll need to either go to a real hardware store or find them online, probably won't find them at Ace or Home Depot. Unfortunately the slides are not full extension but they're good enough for my application.

Also, four T-145s weigh something like 300 lbs, make sure your compartment can support that.

Lastly, keep the drawer geometry in mind when mounting. If your compartment has a lip or coaming make sure the drawer will clear when opening.

2. All the various leads that need to land on one of the battery terminals is definitely a challenge. Places like Battery Exchange, or possibly where you got your batteries have something called a "battery post extender". I typically attach my main heavy gauge battery terminals right to the battery, add one of the extenders, then attach lighter leads such as the battery monitor to the extender.

[BigBillSD]

Trimoot, your original post said you were buying deep cycle batteries for the chassis. Did i miss something? Deep cycles are not usually very good for starting engines like a high capacity 950 CCA 12 volt does. Starting needs the juice in one big wallop. Not a slow drain like we all need for house batteries. Was that Chassis a typo?

I use 2 12volt 950CCA batteries for my Chassis and 4 Crown 260 AH batteries for the House side, giving me 520 AH of capacity.

-Bill

[vito.a]

Where are you getting your battery sliding tray?
I need a tray to fit either two or three Group 31 batteries. (I could also put two battereis in the slide tray and just set the third one next to them in a plastic battery box.) Each group 31p battery is 12.9" x 6.8", so I need a tray about 13" deep X 14" wide, or 13 X 21" wide for all three.

My plan is to move my chassis batteries (three group 31P) to the adjacent storage compartment and then add four more Trojan 6v batteries to the lower tray that currently has the chassis bateries.

[TriMoot]

Originally Posted by BigBillSD

Trimoot, your original post said you were buying deep cycle batteries for the chassis. Did i miss something? Deep cycles are not usually very good for starting engines like a high capacity 950 CCA 12 volt does. Starting needs the juice in one big wallop. Not a slow drain like we all need for house batteries. Was that Chassis a typo?

I use 2 12volt 950CCA batteries for my Chassis and 4 Crown 260 AH batteries for the House side, giving me 520 AH of capacity.

-Bill

Again I mis-spoke..it's for the house batteries. Thanks!

[TriMoot]

Sneelock, thanks for the picture and the info. I did read that as one of the comments on Amazon in regards to removing those rivets and replacing with some kind of flat headed screw, but the picture really helps.

My plan this weekend is to pull out my existing tray, clean and repaint, and see if perhaps it might fit 4 batteries. Should see the new batteries (only two at this point) by Tuesday of next week.

Thanks for all the help!

[Shawn6596]

I'm look into the L-16p. planning on getting 4.
https://webosolar.com/store/en/deep-...SABEgIUQ_D_BwE