Camper Battery Selection

[rock and roll]

It's time to connect a battery to the 25-amp converter/charger in my camper. I've done some searching in the forum and it seems like the Sears DieHard Marine Battery, Platinum PM-1 - Group Size 31M is a popular choice.

I'll be doing mostly boondocking, but weight, size and money are an issue. I plan on installing it next to the water tank. I also plan to charge the battery from my truck alternator using the 12v feed wire (powering the camper when the truck is running) and a SurePower 1314 battery separator.

Does anybody have any recommendations for battery selection?

 

[HERR42]

Deka

 

[Vic]

I've never had great luck with wet cell batteries. I always forget to charge them when I get home, or when in storage, etc, and I end up killing them. For the past several years I have been running dual optima blue tops and have been happy. I needed something that could handle several days of dry camping and run the furnace for several nights. First year we had the camper we did a Thanksgiving trip to the South Rim. The deep-cycle that came with the camper died after the first night and we froze. Thank goodness the NPS store sold big bottles of schnapps.

I would have probably gone with 2 Trojan 6 volts if my battery boxes had the room, but they are a bit taller if I recall and didn't fit well.

Best price I could find a few years ago was at CostCo, but they are still spendy. There may be 'better' solutions out there but I like the abuse these Optimas put up with.

-Vic

 

[K6ON]

Funny you should ask at this time. Overland Journal arrived on my doorstep last Thursday and has a nice comparison of Optima, Interstate, Deka, Sears D.H. Platinum, and $2,200.00 Valence Lithium-Ion batteries.

The Sears Die Hard Platinum P-4 came out on top of all the others. I put a pair of Platinum's in the truck last year, and a new pair in the camper a couple months back. Don't know how long they'll hold up, but have got to be better than the old wet deep cycle marine batteries I had to replace after only 2 years.

I'm kind of hard on my batteries with a 1.5 KW inverter in the camper, a compressor that draws 100 amps under load, a ham radio amplifier that draws over 100 amps, and a Warn 12000lb winch that sucks down a few amps when working hard.. We'll see how long these Die Hard's last

 

[DirtyDog]

This may be a dumb question - but do some types of car batteries need to be vented outside, making them unsuitable for camper use?

 

[HERR42]

thats correct. only the sealed types (VRLA) should be installed insidea camper. Gel or AGM.



http://www.dekabatteries.com/assets/base/0139.pdf

 

[UglyScout]

I just bought a CarQuest XTReme AGM battery and confirmed that it is DEKA AGM. And the price was right.... So if you have a CarQuest near you - it is worht a look.

 

[pods8]

If you want to pinch pennies go flooded cell batteries, put you need to vent/maintain them.

If you can spend a bit more AGM for sure. I'd call some battery distributors and see if they are having any close outs, when I was looking for my batteries I managed to find some 6V 210amp hour batteries closing out for $75/ea (normally ~$225) so I have two of those in series. If I was going to quickly grab a single battery on very short notice I'd go with sears platinum probably just because its easy to find.

With AGM/gel batteries don't ignore the charge profiles recommended by the manufacturer either.

 

[rock and roll]

Wow, thanks for all of the shared knowledge! What a great thread for the search function, we even have the Overland Journal sourced (Thanks Deltarat).

Because of battery placement I've decided to go AGM. Based on specs I'm going with the best Sears Diehard Platinum 31M. Finding out that Sears Diehard Platinum = Odyssey sure helped. They're made by the same factory.

I'll probably replace the truck battery with a DieHard Platinum while I'm at it.

 

[SunMan]

I'll probably replace the truck battery with a DieHard Platinum while I'm at it.


Looks like you have a Tundra, FWIW they don't make a group 27f Platinum that fits the Tundra yet. They can put a different size in but they will have to rig it to work. Just a heads up.

 

[brett13]

Got a dumb battery question as long as we're discussing batteries:

I know your battery will perform better and last longer if you try not to discharge it below 40-50%.
I also have many of those voltage charts you can get off the web that show the voltage and what percent of discharge that represents. For example, I attached one that has a full charge at 12.6v and down to 50% at 12.06v.

So, should I be trying not to go below 12.06v (50%) in order to keep the battery in good condition or can you safely use a battery down to say 11.6v (where the detectors start chirping- I know from experience )?

I ask because one night of good furnace use and I'm down to around 12.1, which makes two nights without driving a close call.

 

[pods8]

Keep in mind most batteries are more like 12.8V+ rather than 12.6V (mine are actually ~13.06-13.1 range when full), just an FYI on that.

As for the main question, its all about cycle life. The farther you cycle it down the less cycles you'll get out of the battery. For instance with my 6V deep cycle batteries they are rated for 200-300 100% discharge cycles, 425-525 50% discharge cycles, or 1050-1200 30% discharge cycles.

 

[brett13]

Keep in mind most batteries are more like 12.8V+ rather than 12.6V (mine are actually ~13.06-13.1 range when full), just an FYI on that.
Even after a full day of driving, mine don't go much higher than 12.6-12.7.

As for the main question, its all about cycle life. The farther you cycle it down the less cycles you'll get out of the battery. For instance with my 6V deep cycle batteries they are rated for 200-300 100% discharge cycles, 425-525 50% discharge cycles, or 1050-1200 30% discharge cycles.

I wonder how that compares to the battery that came with the camper? I'll have to try and look it up.

 

[pods8]

Even after a full day of driving, mine don't go much higher than 12.6-12.7.

I wonder how that compares to the battery that came with the camper? I'll have to try and look it up.


Assuming you have an interstate DCM battery I didn't find a lot of detail on their product data sheet, probably would take a call to customer service to get the more detailed info.

 

[leadsled9]

I managed to find some 6V 210amp hour batteries closing out for $75/ea (normally ~$225) so I have two of those in series. If I was going to quickly grab a single battery on very short notice I'd go with sears platinum probably just because its easy to find.


I went with the Sears Platinum....but was curious about the two six volt setup. What is the footprint of the two six volt batteries? Would that set up fit in the original battery box of the Hawk? Or, is more space needed?

 

[pods8]

I went with the Sears Platinum....but was curious about the two six volt setup. What is the footprint of the two six volt batteries? Would that set up fit in the original battery box of the Hawk? Or, is more space needed?


No idea how big the standard battery box is, mine never had anything like that. As for dual 6V batteries it depends on the size you buy, they have different ones just like there are different 12V batteries but overall you'll be looking at the same ball park as just doubling up 12V batteries (ie you don't save space or anything like that). The difference is there are less cells packed into each individual battery (3 verse 6) and 6V deep cycles usually have thicker plates which should hold up better over time.

The golf cart 6V type batteries are a bit taller with a smaller footprint (~10.5"L x ~7.25"W x ~10.5"H) verse the more shorter/rectangular footprint associated with most 12V batteries. My 6V batteries have the more classic Group 27 12V battery footprint though (~12"L x ~6.5+"W x ~9"H).

 

[brett13]

Assuming you have an interstate DCM battery I didn't find a lot of detail on their product data sheet, probably would take a call to customer service to get the more detailed info.

FYI, attached is the spec sheet for the Interstate DCM0075 battery that came with my camper:

 

[brett13]

Ok, so I've been a bit obsessed with batteries. Mostly because I'm trying to avoid working too much today. Anyway, attached is a spreadsheet with battery specs for most of the batteries mentioned here. It's got me curious- why is my battery so crappy? My guess is because I fried it when I ran it until my alarms beeped not knowing the wire to the truck had come loose.

Interestingly, the Interstate doesn't seem like a bad battery spec-wise. In fact, it seems as good or better than the Blue Tops, no?

The DieHard 29HM Deep Cycle seems awesome though- $105 for 115AH?! Why is it so much cheaper and have more capacity? Doesn't seem right.

 

[Barko1]

The DieHard 29HM Deep Cycle seems awesome though- $105 for 115AH?! Why is it so much cheaper and have more capacity? Doesn't seem right.



I'll check tonight but I think the Sam's Club 6v are around $80 and even more power.

 

[pods8]

FYI, attached is the spec sheet for the Interstate DCM0075 battery that came with my camper:


Yeah I saw that on the manufacturers site. They don't list life cycles on it though.

The DieHard 29HM Deep Cycle seems awesome though- $105 for 115AH?! Why is it so much cheaper and have more capacity? Doesn't seem right.


Its not an AGM battery and the other one is.