Which "true" deep cycle battery do you use for dry camping?

[MK Evenson]

I was somewhat surprised to find that my new Casita battery, which I upgraded to an Interstate AGM group 31, is actually not a true deep cycle battery, but a hybrid, starting and deep cell. Not only that, but after speaking with a rep from Interstate, find that the battery is the bottom of the line Interstate group 31 AGM battery.
I guess I had no idea before I bought the upgrade, but in reality, I needed a battery upon PU. I guess not going with the upgrade by Casita and choosing a true deep cycle battery after purchase may have been a better idea.

Just wondering what true deep cycle battery other Fiberglass Travel Trailer owners have chosen, specifically those of you who dry camp (boondock), for longer than 2-3 days in a row.

Thanks for your reply in advance.
If you care to, please include the reason you chose the battery, ie. cost, project life, easy of charging etc.

Mark

[John Linck]

I am using the battery that shipped with my Scamp. When it dies I will replace it with two 6 volt Trojan T105s. $134.00 each is probably a good price. Two of these will more than double my amp hours.

On second thought I would choose the TROJAN SOLAR SSIG 12 120 [27TMX] 12V 105 AH BATTERY. Last time (decades ago) I bought Trojans the golf cart versions were state of the art. Seems they have solar versions now. Cool.

[Byron Kinnaman]

According to Trojan's web site you can expect 3-5 years of life. For your trailer you need 2 cost of $268. Replace them in 4 years for another $300. That would be about $600 tp $700 for 8 to 10 years worth of use.
A single 12 volt marine deep cycle batter less $100 lasts about 10 years.

Your money spend as you wish.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

According to Trojan's web site you can expect 3-5 years of life. For your trailer you need 2 cost of $268. Replace them in 4 years for another $300. That would be about $600 tp $700 for 8 to 10 years worth of use.
A single 12 volt marine deep cycle batter less $100 lasts about 10 years.

Your money spend as you wish.

More fake news..

First, Very few people get ten years out of their battery. Further, since you did not precisely cite your reference its hard to check. But I’ll bet that is in Golf Cart use which is a very demanding application.

So lets take a look at the chart, “Typical cycle life in a stationary application” from the data sheet and lets consider 30% discharge as a typical RV daily use. According to the chart we could then expect 2,000 recharge cycles. That is 5.6 years of DAILY use. And very few people use the battery daily.

Even if you always discharge to the maximum recommended level (50%), then according to the chart you can expect about 1,200 cycles. That is over 13 years of camping 3 months out of the year. Of course other factors wil shorten that some, but ten years is very possible.

There are many variables including depth of discharge, temperature, maintenance, and on and one. But a good quality battery like this will serve very well and also be cost effective.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by MK Evenson

...
Just wondering what true deep cycle battery other Fiberglass Travel Trailer owners have chosen, specifically those of you who dry camp (boondock), for longer than 2-3 days in a row. ...

A good question, but if your power usage is such that you can get by for three days on the grp 24 or grp 27 battery, then a 100 watt solar panel will very often extend that to weeks, depending on weather location, time of year, etc. Regardless if it is a Deep cycle or hybrid, 100 watts solar matches well to a 100 amp battery and in maybe 80-90% of cases will keep you going for at least a few weeks.

[Al and Cindy K]

This will be our fourth year on a pair of GC-2 Duracell 6V’s from Sam’s Cub in our 19’ Scamp. Current cost is under $85/ea plus tax; I think mine were a bit less. Rated at 215AH. These have performed better than the deep cycle Group 29 they replaced (based on how long I could go without needing to recharge). The Group 29 is still going strong in my Jeep where it’s frequntly used to power a winch.

We typically camp without hookups and have gone as much as ten days without recharging. All bulbs are LED and we did not use the furnace during that time. We have done four days with furnace and temps in the thirties at night.

[RV Doctor]

AGM batteries are quickly becoming the choice in the RV industry. For good reason. No gassing off of Hydrogen gas. No leakage potential and no topping off with water as they don’t lose water.
But, for conventional trailer installations there is a huge benefit. Conventional trailers experience large vibration and vertical shaking while on the front of the trailer A frames.
Most people would argue that there is no shaking or strong vibrations because while they are comfortable in their car driving along, the A frames are bearing the brunt of equalization and moderating between the two suspensions.
The biggest problem with all of this shaking is it can cause the plates to shed their lose metal where it goes to the bottom of the cell.
This metal causes the plates in many cases to become shorted and no longer beneficial but rather, detrimental to that cell and in turn, the whole battery.
AGM batteries on the other hand have Fiberglass matting in between the plates which greatly reduces if not eliminates metal shedding and cell shorting.
For the extra cost of AGM technology it is really a no brainer to go that way.
I have used FullRiver DC series and found them to be very good.

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

According to Trojan's web site you can expect 3-5 years of life. For your trailer you need 2 cost of $268. Replace them in 4 years for another $300. That would be about $600 tp $700 for 8 to 10 years worth of use.
A single 12 volt marine deep cycle batter less $100 lasts about 10 years.

Your money spend as you wish.

The duty cycle for dual 6V deep cycle batteries is relatively the same as a single 12V of the same type. And typically, you have more amp hours at your disposal. The only way a cost comparison is fair is to compare not only cost, but amp hours and charge/discharge cycles. If you can make a single 12V deep cycle last 10 years, you can also make dual 6V deep cycles last 10 years. The 3 to 5 year estimate is most likely for a more demanding application than an RV.

[John in Santa Cruz]

do note, if you get GC-2/T105 golf cart batteries, you'll want to get one of these, they are about $7 at Amazon, dunno what they cost at other places...
https://www.amazon.com/Battery-lifti.../dp/B00JA0FXKS

[Raz]

Lifeline AGM. Top shelf, U.S. made, not cheap. I have a group 24. With a sunny site and a 60 watt panel I can stay forever.

America's Best Deep Cycle RV Battery| Lifeline Batteries

[Joe & Cherie]

We use (2) Trojan T-105's, which I just installed last spring. No issues what so ever, but they have been used lightly so far. I was having sticker shock when I bought them so I didnt opt for AGM's. Had I do it over again I would have gone with (2) Trojan T-105 AGM's (or Lifelines) just for the convenience of never watering, never checking.

Also, one of the best investments we have installed was a Trimetric TM-2030-RV battery monitor. Highly recommend it to monitor that new battery investment.

[Franswa]

I took a walk in my local auto parts store the other day and looked at batteries.....the same Group size AGM was more than DOUBLE the price of a "Marine, deep cycle" battery.....

unless this was a one-off pricing "accident"....AGMs are never going to see the inside of my trailer !!!.....I have venting, I don't mind checking water level now and then (and get "paid" very well for doing it looks like)

the other issue of vibration /rough ride in an RV sounds a little bit like a red herring to me.....my batteries are "Golf Cart" batteries....Has anybody taken a ride around a golf course in a cart lately??? Man, talk about a rough ride /vibration central !!!....and in boats ??? "torture test" in that application...

Thirty five dollars for lifting straps ??? Sheeesh, my batteries haven't moved in THREE years....and when they did I used a short length of 3/8" yatchbraid.....maybe I'm just cheap...I dunno.

Power use / battery capacity / solar panel size...great riddle to work on / resolve.........or you can just spend a lot of money / carry more weight / complicate your set up routine......it all depends on our own individual circumstances. There is no one/best answer.

[RV Doctor]

Not all GC rated batteries are true “Golf Cart” batteries.
With the flooding of the RV battery market with six volt batteries comes imitation and poor quality.
It used to be years ago that Trojan was about the only manufacturer and now everyone is making them. Why? Because the market has a need and so the manufacturers built various price point products to fill the field.
Case in point.
Trojan. $150
Costco. $90
Energizer. $100

The difference on these batteries is all in the plates. Virgin lead is one benefit over recycled product but plate thickness is the biggest point. If you cut open a Trojan and look at the plates they are far thicker than a Costco, WalMart or Canadian Tire battery. Basically you get what you pay for.

AGM batteries have come down in price. Way down in price. Perhaps not in Canada yet but the US market for sure.
Another point I failed to mention on AGMs. If you live in areas where it freezes, AGMs are vastly superior as their water content is less than flooded, wet cell technology. This doesn’t make them freeze proof but freeze resistant.

Battery Systems in Arizona sells the FullRiver GC2 232 for around $250. The 252 for around $280. More than a low cost flooded battery for sure. Once again, you get what you pay for in anything.

Francois, with your batteries inside your trailer the vibration factor is minimal as it would be in a fifth wheel etc. When batteries are on an A frame with Equalizer hitch setup the vibration can be brutal.
Case in point. My Bigfoot. I put in two GC2s (232) and after six months had two shorted cells (out of six cells total). I cut open the batteries at my battery distributor. There was so much slag in the bottom of the cases! This slag had caused shorting on the plates and result was cooked plates.

I’m not saying that ALL conventional trailer A frames vibrate badly but why take the risk is my point?

That is why I use AGMs on my Bigfoot.

[MK Evenson]

Thanks for all the comments. Very helpful. I have a Battery Systems store close to me and will go by today to see their wares.
Next step for me is to try to figure out my average daily amp usage in the Casita. I have read many detailed ways to do that and I think it is time to tackle the task.

Mark

[Wayne Collins]

I am no expert, but I do know that two 6v batteries connected in series can be a problem if they are not equally charged. If , for some reason, one discharges more than the other - for example: you have a 6v device connected to one - and your are charging them as if they are one battery, one will over-charge and the other will never reach full charge. The only way to get them in balance is to charge each one separately. And there are special devices for that.

My experience was with two 12V batteries in a 24V application. The tractor had 12v lights and a 24v starting motor.
So, for more capacity, I think your are better off to use two 12v batteries connected in parallel.

[Larry C Hanson]

Hello,

My Trillium has been happy with a Trojan SCS225 130AH deep cycle
Group 31 battery that is on its 8th year. With careful maintenance and
not too many deep discharges this has been a great investment.
I use a BlueSky 2000I MPPT charge controller and a 150W
portable solar panel to charge the battery. At home I use the
same setup for maintenance but just hook up a 10W panel to
keep the battery floating every day. All have been great investments
with the system costing about $600 to build (8 years ago).
$75/year... Not bad. I use the rig for about 2 months per year.

Larry H

[Jon Vermilye]

Originally Posted by Wayne Collins

I am no expert, but I do know that two 6v batteries connected in series can be a problem if they are not equally charged. If , for some reason, one discharges more than the other - for example: you have a 6v device connected to one - and your are charging them as if they are one battery, one will over-charge and the other will never reach full charge. The only way to get them in balance is to charge each one separately. And there are special devices for that.

My experience was with two 12V batteries in a 24V application. The tractor had 12v lights and a 24v starting motor.
So, for more capacity, I think your are better off to use two 12v batteries connected in parallel.

Actually, this is more of a problem with a pair of 12V batteries in parallel than 2 6V batteries in series. Since current is series will be the same through each battery, they generally charge the same.

The only difference between 2 6V batteries in series & a 12V battery is the wire between them, and that they are in different cases. Since the basic voltage of a lead acid battery is 2V, all 6 or 12 volt batteries are made up of a group of 2V cells in series.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by MK Evenson

I was somewhat surprised to find that my new Casita battery, which I upgraded to an Interstate AGM group 31, is actually not a true deep cycle battery, but a hybrid, starting and deep cell. Not only that, but after speaking with a rep from Interstate, find that the battery is the bottom of the line Interstate group 31 AGM battery.
I guess I had no idea before I bought the upgrade, but in reality, I needed a battery upon PU. I guess not going with the upgrade by Casita and choosing a true deep cycle battery after purchase may have been a better idea.

Just wondering what true deep cycle battery other Fiberglass Travel Trailer owners have chosen, specifically those of you who dry camp (boondock), for longer than 2-3 days in a row.

Thanks for your reply in advance.
If you care to, please include the reason you chose the battery, ie. cost, project life, easy of charging etc.

Mark

We use one Group 27 Marine Deep Cycle battery like what came in our 2007 Casita. It will last 3-4 days of dry camping with LED light bulbs, fridge on propane but uses 12V for the igniter, water pump as needed and not using furnace. Furnace will wipe out battery in one or two nights depending on how cold it is and how often the furnace comes on. We've replaced the battery twice in 11 years. Original one lasted 3-4 years was all. We use a 2000K generator to top off battery if needed. We have seen a lot of Casita people use a small portable solar panel about 8X12 inches with a small controller to prevent over charging. They hook to battery with clips and we have seen them permanently mounted in the back window but if in shade you won't get the charge you need. We have one of these solar panels that we put in our pickup windshield to keep battery charged before we could figure out what was draining the battery. It worked great. We got it at Harbor Freight along with the controller. All total about $75-100. We haven't dry camped with the Casita since we got the solar.

[stude]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

According to Trojan's web site you can expect 3-5 years of life. For your trailer you need 2 cost of $268. Replace them in 4 years for another $300. That would be about $600 tp $700 for 8 to 10 years worth of use.
A single 12 volt marine deep cycle batter less $100 lasts about 10 years.

Your money spend as you wish.

:But what ever you do don't buy Interstate they seem to be having some problems with them.
Stude

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by stude

:But what ever you do don't buy Interstate they seem to be having some problems with them.
Stude

My Interstate dual 6V 232 Ah batteries work flawlessly.