Scamp 13' battery

[Chita]

I'm restoring my scamp 13' 77. It did not come with a battery. Which is a good and not too expensive one? And where should I buy it from? Thanks again,

[knighth001]

You will likely get a lot of opinions on what battery setup is best ranging from dual 6v golf cart batteries wired in series to newer AGM style batteries. But those can be expensive. I'm about to buy a new battery for my camper. I'm just going to go to Walmart, Sears, or Sams Club and buy the biggest (group27 size for me) Deep Cycle (aka Trolling battery for boaters/fishermen) I can get. I think walmart has a 1 year free swap guarantee and most places let you prorate. So if I'm traveling and it dies, I can just go to the closest big box that I buy it from and swap out.

[glamourpets]

Your question is a little vague. In part depends on how much capacity you need. Are you putting the battery on the tongue or inside? Do you have a battery box? If yes, what size is it?

Your cheapest option is probably a used starting battery from a local wrecking yard. I think around here they sell these for about $10 each. The problem is that a starting battery wont last very long in a trailer. If you are redoing your electrical system from scratch, this might be good enough for now.

[Chita]

Originally Posted by knighth001

You will likely get a lot of opinions on what battery setup is best ranging from dual 6v golf cart batteries wired in series to newer AGM style batteries. But those can be expensive. I'm about to buy a new battery for my camper. I'm just going to go to Walmart, Sears, or Sams Club and buy the biggest (group27 size for me) Deep Cycle (aka Trolling battery for boaters/fishermen) I can get. I think walmart has a 1 year free swap guarantee and most places let you prorate. So if I'm traveling and it dies, I can just go to the closest big box that I buy it from and swap out.

Thank you Sean.

[knighth001]

I should probably have prefaced that by saying that I don't do much off the grid camping right now with a 3 and 4 year old in tow. So a deep cycle trolling battery is enough for me. I'm not trying to make it a week without hookups. just a night here or there.

[Chita]

Originally Posted by glamourpets

Your question is a little vague. In part depends on how much capacity you need. Are you putting the battery on the tongue or inside? Do you have a battery box? If yes, what size is it?

Your cheapest option is probably a used starting battery from a local wrecking yard. I think around here they sell these for about $10 each. The problem is that a starting battery wont last very long in a trailer. If you are redoing your electrical system from scratch, this might be good enough for now.

Thank you Derek.

1- Battery will go inside.
2- I don't have a battery box.

I wish I could only pay $10, however, I think I should spend a bit more though. Any other option?

[Carol H]

Jose, Costco has good prices on the deep cell group 27. But you need a special battery box that vents to the outside if you are going to put the battery inside - they are normally on the outside on the tongue of a Scamp.

[Chita]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Jose, Costco has good prices on the deep cell group 27. But you need a special battery box that vents to the outside if you are going to put the battery inside - they are normally on the outside on the tongue of a Scamp.

Thank you Carol.

Unfortunately, I don't have a Costco card . It looks like it had a battery before. It was under the right back couch. Here is a pict so you know what I'm talking about

[Raz]

Hello Jose. I have to say that looks like a previous owners bad decision. Scamp certainly didn't do it. Buy a battery and a battery box and put it on the tongue. It's the cheapest and safest solution. Raz

[mcbrew]

My Scamp did not come with a battery, either. One had been added to the to the, but it was dead when I bought the Scamp, and I wanted to reduce to the weight. I ended up buying a jump pack from Harbor Freight. It also has a built in light, compressor, and inverter. It was $80 on sale.

The only 12v things in my Scamp are the two lights, which I upgraded to LEDs, and. 12v socket for charging cell phones. I put a male lighter plug on the Scamp wiring so that it will just plug into the jump pack. It can run the two lights for days.

[Bob Miller]

"Cheap" and "Good" are mutually exclusive terms in selecting a battery for your RV.

I suggest buying one from WalMart, they aren't the best battery, but they are fairly easy on returns when they die and there is always a WalMart nearby.

As far as location, I opt for under the seat installs and adding a small battery vent to the outside wall. You have shorter wires, the battery stays warmer and lasts longer in use and no one steals your battery if you have to store your rig. It also keeps a considerble amount of extra weight off of your hitch.

[knighth001]

It's possible the PO had installed a more expensive AGM type battery that from what I understand doesn't need to be vented. But if you pick up a cheap deep cycle, it will need to be vented as Raz mentioned. Adding to the trailer tongue is the easiest solution for most as compared to cutting a hole in the side of their camper to vent.

Mounting to the tongue is fairly easy. depending on the layout of your tongue and propane setup. I'd get a metal battery plate (probably can be found at a auto junkyard out of an old car/truck. And then you can go with a plastic box like this on top the plate: Snap-Top Everstart Marine Battery Box: Automotive : Walmart.com (usually found in most sporting goods stores also in the boating department) or find a heavier duty metal box somewhere that can be used (examples here: http://www.summitracing.com/search/p.../battery-boxes).

I've been contemplating moving one to my tongue but due to the propane tank and tongue layout on my trailer I may actually have to mount a battery box kicked to the side a little so I may use a spare tire mount similar to this turned sideways if I do (Spare Tire Carrier Trailer Cargo Control | etrailer.com)

If you're able to weld, you could probably just weld to the tongue but I don't have the skills or tools to do that so I try to stick with bolt-on applications.

[Bob Miller]

Can't see that digging around a junque yard for a battery tray that will fit (and isn't rusted out) and then finding a battery box that will fit that, and then attaching all this to the front of the trailer frame and then running wires through the front of the trailer to the dist/fuse box, is easier than just putting the battery in the same place it was and adding a vent. (And BTW: Don't even think about welding to the tongue unless you have no other choice and know what you are doing).

A hole saw kit from HF is less than $10 and you will find a lot of future use for one, I use the one I have all the time. 10 Piece Carbon Steel Hole Saw Set

A plastic battery vent plate is about $3-5 from most RV stores and installs in about 10 minutes.

But it's still a good idea to put the battery in a battery box (<$15) rather than just tying it to the floor as the p.o. did.

Not to (re)mention the other advantages of having the battery inside v. on the tongue

[Chita]

Originally Posted by P. Raz

Hello Jose. I have to say that looks like a previous owners bad decision. Scamp certainly didn't do it. Buy a battery and a battery box and put it on the tongue. It's the cheapest and safest solution. Raz

Originally Posted by knighth001

It's possible the PO had installed a more expensive AGM type battery that from what I understand doesn't need to be vented. But if you pick up a cheap deep cycle, it will need to be vented as Raz mentioned. Adding to the trailer tongue is the easiest solution for most as compared to cutting a hole in the side of their camper to vent.

Mounting to the tongue is fairly easy. depending on the layout of your tongue and propane setup. I'd get a metal battery plate (probably can be found at a auto junkyard out of an old car/truck. And then you can go with a plastic box like this on top the plate: Snap-Top Everstart Marine Battery Box: Automotive : Walmart.com (usually found in most sporting goods stores also in the boating department) or find a heavier duty metal box somewhere that can be used (examples here: http://www.summitracing.com/search/p.../battery-boxes).

I've been contemplating moving one to my tongue but due to the propane tank and tongue layout on my trailer I may actually have to mount a battery box kicked to the side a little so I may use a spare tire mount similar to this turned sideways if I do (Spare Tire Carrier Trailer Cargo Control | etrailer.com)

If you're able to weld, you could probably just weld to the tongue but I don't have the skills or tools to do that so I try to stick with bolt-on applications.

Thank you Raz & Sean,
I will think about it, however, it looks like a lot of work and I don't have any tools at all. To me it'd be easier to just maybe make a hole with a hole saw kit, as bob mentioned, and I won't need to change any wires or install the battery on the tongue. It's that I'm not a handy man at all

[841K9]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

"Cheap" and "Good" are mutually exclusive terms in selecting a battery for your RV.

Bingo.

I have Optima red tops in all of my work trucks and a set of blue tops in my Scamp. I got tired of having to mess around with 10 dead batteries every Monday morning. I've only had one truck not start since- the one with a factory battery.

[Chita]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

Can't see that digging around a junque yard for a battery tray that will fit (and isn't rusted out) and then finding a battery box that will fit that, and then attaching all this to the front of the trailer frame and then running wires through the front of the trailer to the dist/fuse box, is easier than just putting the battery in the same place it was and adding a vent. (And BTW: Don't even think about welding to the tongue unless you have no other choice and know what you are doing).

A hole saw kit from HF is less than $10 and you will find a lot of future use for one, I use the one I have all the time. 10 Piece Carbon Steel Hole Saw Set

A plastic battery vent plate is about $3-5 from most RV stores and installs in about 10 minutes.

But it's still a good idea to put the battery in a battery box (<$15) rather than just tying it to the floor as the p.o. did.

Not to (re)mention the other advantages of having the battery inside v. on the tongue

"Cheap" and "Good" are mutually exclusive terms in selecting a battery for your RV.

I suggest buying one from WalMart, they aren't the best battery, but they are fairly easy on returns when they die and there is always a WalMart nearby.

As far as location, I opt for under the seat installs and adding a small battery vent to the outside wall. You have shorter wires, the battery stays warmer and lasts longer in use and no one steals your battery if you have to store your rig. It also keeps a considerble amount of extra weight off of your hitch.

Thank you Bob,

I like the idea of buying a hole saw kit. It looks easy enough for me to do the job!! But I also like Jesse idea of getting a jump pack.

[Chita]

Originally Posted by mcbrew

My Scamp did not come with a battery, either. One had been added to the to the, but it was dead when I bought the Scamp, and I wanted to reduce to the weight. I ended up buying a jump pack from Harbor Freight. It also has a built in light, compressor, and inverter. It was $80 on sale.

The only 12v things in my Scamp are the two lights, which I upgraded to LEDs, and. 12v socket for charging cell phones. I put a male lighter plug on the Scamp wiring so that it will just plug into the jump pack. It can run the two lights for days.

Thank you Jesse,

I like your idea a lot. Question for you. If I want to add a tv in the future, how long would the jump pack last?

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Chita

Thank you Bob,

I like the idea of buying a hole saw kit. It looks easy enough for me to do the job!! But I also like Jesse idea of getting a jump pack.

If the cabinet isn't completely sealed... Jose, you can't just make a hole and install a vent. The battery needs to be in a sealed container and the container is vented to the outside via that hole.

[Bob Miller]

While the sealed battery box is nice, I have ony seen 1 or two actually installed that way and I have never even heard of a Hydrogen accumulation problem in an RV after just installing a vent near the battery location.

I always place the battery under a dinette seat with a vent placed as high as possible and directly in line with the battery

But he battery box with vent shown will install just fine as mentioned. Here's a link to the pic shown: http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/r...xes-vented.htm
It's about $35 but you shoul d be able to do better just buying the individual parts locally.

[mcbrew]

Originally Posted by Chita

Thank you Jesse,

I like your idea a lot. Question for you. If I want to add a tv in the future, how long would the jump pack last?

Here is a link to the one I have: http://www.harborfreight.com/5-in-1-...ack-96157.html

It has an 18 amp hour battery. A 19" LED LCD TV is going to draw around 25 watts running. That's about 2.1 amps at 12v. So, you should be able to run the TV for about 8-9 hours and only deplete the battery to 50%. You don't want to make a habit of draining any rechargeable battery all the way.

I'm on pain meds right now, so feel free to correct my math.