Best battery to buy?

[shear]

Looks like the battery that came with my used Eagle is losing some life. The panel keeps beeping and turning red so I think this is low life in the battery. Guess it's time to purchase a new one...so recommendations?

Also curious about the best course of action for maintaining the battery during the cold winter when it's not being used as much? We are keeping the camper mounted on the truck for now as we are doing a few trips down to the desert during holidays and the truck isn't driven much during the week as I can walk/bike to work.

Thanks!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

shear, I won't comment on the 'best' battery to buy, but as far as maintaining a battery during cold weather, it's best to just ensure that it is fully charged, then electrically disconnected (the toggle switch or the battery lug) so there is no current draw. A fully charged battery will resist freezing in most typical climates. If it's really cold, you may want to remove the battery and place it in a non freezing location. Keeping it charged can be done several ways. A solar panel does a good job of keeping the battery topped off, as does a high quality, multi stage battery charger. The converter that came with your Hawk may have the ability to keep the battery at a float (low current) voltage with the addition of another component. PaulT and others have a thread on that. You can also buy a high quality marine battery charger. They are not that expensive, and they have the ability to both keep a battery at float, and recondition a battery by pulsing higher voltage that will remove the sulfides from the battery plates.

If you ever think you will install two batteries, it's best to buy them at the same time, ensuring that they are the same size and rating. Otherwise, a weaker battery could drag down the other one.

 

[cerve137]

I just installed a new agm deep cycle Interstate size 31. Has a 5 year warranty. Pretty sure they are the best now. Being a long time car stereo nerd, I used to be a big fan of Optima, but they have been utter junk in the past few years after production went to mexico. I had 4 optimas go back for warranty. Finally I just sprang for the Interstate and paid the difference from the optima. The new one was $340 I believe. After 2 full days of lights, tv, dvd, water pump and charging small electronics, it still read 80% or 12.5 volts. I would check to see if you have an actual Interstate dealer/distributor nearby.

 

[kmcintyre]

I put in one of the sears agm batteries. Great warrantee and I haven't had to use it yet (2 years). They go on sale every once in a while too.

 

[Trailbob]

My original 2010 FWC single battery started fading a little this fall, so I upgraded to two group 24 agms. I went with Exide for two reasons: FWC now puts them in their campers (so they can't be too bad), and the local BiMart had an amazing price on them. I went with two group 24s as opposed to a single group 31 (or 27) because of the weight difference. A Group 24 is much easier on my back than a group 27 or 31 when lifting it in and out of the battery compartment in my Hawk. So far I have been very happy with the extra capacity that two batteries gives me, vs one. I was satisfied with the original battery, which was a Deka. I may have bought that brand again if not for the great deal I found on the Exides.

Regarding winter charging/storage, I have done it different ways. Last year I upgraded the camper's Iota converter with the multi stage option. I think the new campers come this way. It is very easy and cheap, and I recommend it. My camper was off the truck and I just plugged in the camper and let the Iota maintain the battery most of the winter. On other vehicles (boats, motorcycles, atvs, etc) I usually just attach a Battery Tender and leave them plugged in.That has worked fine for many years. My Hawk now has solar, so that will keep it charged if it is outside. If my batteries are charged, I have never had a problem with them freezing (I live near Boise). If you are going to use your camper every few weeks, you could charge it fully, and disconnect all electric loads until you use it again.

One more thing-- I put an Optima blue top in my truck as the aux battery. I would not buy an Optima again for this use due to the low AH rating for the battery size.

 

[ntsqd]

I put in one of the sears agm batteries. Great warrantee and I haven't had to use it yet (2 years). They go on sale every once in a while too.

I've been told and seen in several places that the Sears association with Odyssey batteries is no more. You may be still able to buy a new production Platinum Die-Hard, but it isn't the re-branded Odyssey that it used to be.

I'm tired of the Trojan T-125's that our camper came with (or maybe they're tired of us) and priced out some direct replacement Odysseys. Ouch!

 

[RC Pilot Jim]

My original battery that came with my Eagle camper is an AGM model "Intimidator" by Penn MFG. Purported to be the last manufacture that makes them in the U.S. and not Mexico. Battery Warranty 3 years. We got 40 months out of ours. Were very happy with it so bought another Group 24.

 

[slimboy51]

Any deep cell battery using the new technology AGM ( absorbed glass mat ) is the best . Check out the reviews. I have one works great , worth the price.

 

[ntsqd]

Did a little poking around the net on the topic of deep cycle AGM batteries, 6 volt versions in my case. Turned up something interesting, a comment on a solar forum dealing with "Renewable Energy (RE)". The statement talked about true deep cycle vs. hybrid batteries and how most "marine deep cycle" batteries are actually hybrids. Commenter said the clue is if the mfg lists CCA, MCA etc. for a deep cycle. If they do, it's a hybrid because a true deep cycle's plates are too thick to have the low internal resistance necessary for instant high current dumps that starting an engine requires. I have no idea of how correct this is, but it does at least seem logical.

I also came across the statement made in several places that the heavier the battery is within any particular group size, the better deep cycle it should be because it has more lead (i.e. thicker plates) in it.

The Lifeline brand of batteries from Concord are not what off the grid types want as they are deemed to be a hybrid battery. The Concord product for them are called Sun Xtenders. http://www.sunxtender.com/xtender_main_dimensions.php Pricing looks roughly comparable to the Lifeline batteries (I only looked at the GC2 group size), that is to say not inexpensive at all, but for our camper use they may be the better choice.

 

[Squatch]

Did a search and thought I'd bring this back to the top.

I had to buy a new AGM battery for my boat this today. I went to the local Battery Warehouse. They've been pretty good to me over the years.

While there I did some homework on Camper batteries. They have always been pretty knowledgeable. Since I've ordered some solar stuff and I'm getting ready to set that up soon.

Just for convenience sake I figured I would try to work with the factory battery compartment in my Eagle shell. It has room for a couple of group 24 sized batteries if need be. Not sure I wanted that much weight in that location though. And I want to be able to place the charge controller and shunt and a switch in the same space.

The Trimetric can be place outside the cabinet just inside the camper door. I bought the surface mount style.

Originally there was just a single group 24 in here.




The pics shows 2 of my old Optima group 34 55 AH batteries hooked up.

An experiment I did recently showed that my fridge(TF51) will run fine for a typical hot weekend trip without charging on 100AH's.

So we discussed 2) 6volt in series, AGMs vs lead acid, 12 volt in parallel, different sizes, and charging, lack of venting in compartment, and my aversion to acid spills and adding water. After all the talk he suggested a 12 volt group 31 SEALED lead acid 111 AH battery. I didn't even realize they still made SLA batteries. I thought AGMs had replaced them.

Per the man at the shop he said these don't need venting or water like regular lead acid batteries. But unlike AGMs they are true deep cycles made for heavy cycling at low current draw. They also have the big plates like a conventional LA. He said this big battery might not have enough cold cranking amps to start the truck because it's a true deep cycle. But with the solar charger set up it should last a very long time.

I'm liking the idea. It seems like a nice compromise of size, weight, storage, price ( just over $200). Is anyone here using one of these at this time? What are you running off of it?

At this time I have the whole Bogart 2030 system coming with Trimetric and a 160 watt panel for the roof.

Normal usage will be running my compressor fridge, a few lights, and running the furnace from time to time in cold weather.

I'm open to input.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

In getting ready for our up coming Alaska trip I decided to get a new AGM battery.
The Interstate 75a that came with the camper in 09 wasn't having any problems but if I needed a new one it might be hard to find on the trip.
I went with the Vmax tanks 100a battery. They get good reviews and have a good price.Shipped right to your home no core charge.
It's a group 27 size so only a little larger than the old one.
I tested it the other day. 5 days no solar and the Fruckfridge TF41on. battery still above 12v.
So I thing it's ready for the long ferry ride at the beginning of the trip.
Frank