Batteries - Bang for the buck/weight?

i have had both and say go with the interstate agm as opposed to the optima.
just find a battery distributor in your area.

get the biggest one you can fit.
 
Thanks Davinski,

I finally read your post closely and checked Sears website. It's the Die Hard "PLATINUM" and comes in both an automotive and marine deep cycle.

I just installed a auto Platinum in the Tundra and after testing my furnace on the current Optima Blue top, I am going back tomorrow to by a marine Platinum for the Hawk. Group 31M with 100 amp hours weighing a whopping 75lbs.

It will just barely fit where the old battery is, under the front settee next to the water tank. There is a battery box for the Optima in there and I will have to remove it to fit this monster in. I assume that since this is a sealed battery that I don"t need a box and will just put down some rubber mat to keep it from sliding.

There is a good thread at Expedition Portal about Odyssey vs. Die Hard Platinum where guy's called Enersys (the manufacturer of both) to verify that they are the same batteries.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14285

My Sears sells the 31M for $239. Not cheap but I'm hoping for peace of mind!

Kevin
 
I've installed 2 Optima blue tops under the truck. The camper was delivered with a blue top and I wanted the second battery to match the first. I've also had very good luck with the red top I've got in the Jeep. It's been in there over 15 years and has never let me down. It's also a PITA to remove the batteries so the maintenance free AGMs are an advantage.
 
I always buy used batteries if they are available. Drive a manual transmission so you can push your vehicle off.
 
Herr42,

I had to go out to the Jeep and check the sticker on that battery and it was '94. So I guess it's just under 15 years old. The secret to long battery life is proper care. You let the vehicle sit for months and then take it out and beat the crap out of it. Keep repeating the procedure and before you know it it's been 15 years. It also helps to be running a quadrajet carb so you have to do a lot of cranking on the initial start. On the plus side since I put in the red top I haven't had to repaint the acid etched valve covers.

Dick
 
Another question if anyone is in the "know" on batteries it says that if you run multiple axillary batteries in a bank they should be as close to exactly the same as possible (age, manufacture date, size, etc.) Seeing as all batteries don't last the same what happens when this is not the case (ie one battery dies sooner and you don't want to replace the other battery just because)? Is it a major issue to run differing battery ages and such? Is it worth(or needed) looking into a three way battery isolator for the alternator side and then I guess some sort of diodes after the batteries too so they don't feed back into each other there?

sam, which trojan is that? which model #?

The only 6V agm battery I see by them is the 6V-AGM http://www.trojanbattery.com/Products/6V-AGM6V.aspx Kinda curious what this one runs, I know the local store carries the normal 6V battery for around $119. Where as the normal deep cycles are around $160-200 an their agm counter parts are $200-240. If those 6V agm batteries retailed for $160 (based on the seeming $40 increase in the other product line) or so that could be a nice combo for the price.
 
Right about now I'm leaning really heavily towards a set of flooded golf cart batteries, I haven't exactly decided where I'll mount them but for the price/AH/deep cycle ability its getting hard to turn away for that option. If I can't work on the engine compartment fitment I'll likely just end up working them into a vented compartment in the camper so they are readily serviceable. Probably will end up with what appears to be the same cells as snow hunter: Crown golf cart batteries. The local stores are carrying those for $85 which will run under $170 for 200+ AH. Still have some more reading I want to do before pulling the trigger.

On a different note in all the reading I've been doing its talking about charging off the alternator not really being the ideal for deep cycles. If they are really depleted the alternator can charge them too fast which sounds like its not recommended unless you have no other choice and then it doesn't have high enough voltage to fully charge the batteries before dropping down to float charging. I see there are some nice high amp DC-DC chargers out there but they are also spendy. I'm wondering if something like this wired up to an ignition relay so it only activated while the engine was running http://www.powerstream.com/DCC.htm would be a good consideration to use the vehicle as a maintainer/top off charger. For short trip larger draw scenarios I could just charge things back up once at home with a shore power charger. If down the road it looks like I'll be doing longer boon docking trips without alot of vehicle run time I could look into either connecting to the alternator with some sort of disconnect to get an initial rapid charge (or some other charge source like solar or such). Anyone have more experience on this front? (Edit: I see that charger I linked actually only goes to 13.8V max so there really isn't a whole lot gained over an alternator I guess plus it has a DC cooling fan which would have potential for taking a crap... But if anyone has thoughts on other versions of this same concept I'm still intrigued.)
 
What I did with my 6volt Crowns was buy a Schumaker 10 amp charger with both 6volt and 12 volt settings.This way I can get a full charge with more accuracy on voltage to both by charging seperatly on 6volt.I did this when they had different volt readings.When there both reading full I charge them in 12 volt series.This seem to work well for when I am near shore power.

As far as on the road charging I wired a marine battery switch to the crowns.Then that goes to a breaker under the hood and then to the battery.
I leave the switch turned off when camping and will use it driving if there is a need to charge, like after a night of camping.This is not the ideal way to charge so monitoring is a must but that is what my digital volt meter is for.This is mounted inside the camper near the battery box and is always on.

As far as solar charging I have a 15 watt panel which is not even close to enough watts to charge the batteries but will act as a trickle charger when there fully juiced.I can use this panel to charge my cell and my poratble air compresser/battery starter/power device so it does have some purpose but mostly for charging small devices and trickle charging/maintaining the truck or camper batteries.
 
As far as on the road charging I wired a marine battery switch to the crowns.Then that goes to a breaker under the hood and then to the battery.
I leave the switch turned off when camping and will use it driving if there is a need to charge, like after a night of camping.This is not the ideal way to charge so monitoring is a must but that is what my digital volt meter is for.This is mounted inside the camper near the battery box and is always on.


Yeah this is the area I'm looking to improve upon. Looking around for an affordable DC to DC smart charger type deal...
 
go for the dual 6V golf cart batteries (in a well vented enclosure, of course.) Costco sells 220ah@ 20hr 6volts for $75.99 a piece. They are manufactured by Johnson Controls and are 63lbs. Additionally, they are rated at 100min@75amps and 425min@25amps respectively.

No, they're not spiral or gel cell or AGM, but those are the best numbers you're going to get for the money. By a LONG shot. With an 80 or 125W panel and an efficient controller/converter setup, I think you could pretty much live indefinitely in the boondocks with this rig.
 
You Could Do This

If battery size matters, and you don't want to deal with the possibilty of toxic fumes.
 

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The Answer

Yeah this is the area I'm looking to improve upon. Looking around for an affordable DC to DC smart charger type deal...

BATTERY TENDER .COM
 
Trojan AGM

sam, which trojan is that? which model #?

I don't see any model info on the batteries. I bought these 3 years ago so I don't remember the details, but it looks same as the one in Pods8 link, here is a photo if that helps?


Update: Found this link, I think this is where I bought my batteries, though the price has gone up. Wow expensive! But it seems to be the going rate to get a 200ah AGM batt.

http://www.ebatteriestogo.com/Trojan_Golf_Cart_Batteries.htm
 

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go for the dual 6V golf cart batteries (in a well vented enclosure, of course.) Costco sells 220ah@ 20hr 6volts for $75.99 a piece. They are manufactured by Johnson Controls and are 63lbs. Additionally, they are rated at 100min@75amps and 425min@25amps respectively.


Hmmm, I should look into those too.

If battery size matters, and you don't want to deal with the possibilty of toxic fumes.

Don't like the AH ratings on optima's but I get your point on having alot more mounting potential with AGM's.

BATTERY TENDER .COM

Call me blind but I don't see a DC to DC charger on their site...
 
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