Battery Recommendations for a new UHaul owner?

[knighth001]

Hey everyone,

I've only done tent camping before so now that I own a UHaul camper for the fam, I've got a little bit of learning to do. I was wondering about the best type and size of battery that some of you veteran's would recommend. I've got a deep cycle that I used for a trolling motor rated at 75 Amp Hours. Wondering if that would work ok.

Someone local mentioned AGM batteries but I haven't heard of them. Not sure what's overkill for this little guy not looking to last a week off batteries or anything probably one or two nights max. I have several repairs (leaks and stuff) I need to sink money into before I can go camping in it so not looking for the most expensive thing out there. I expect to change some of the lighting out to LEDs in the future but I haven't calculated what the pull from the current lights, fridge (it's a dorm fridge the previous owner stuck in there, figure if I don't have hooks ups I'll keep it off an use a cooler with ice) and the swamp cooler would be.

Appreciate any suggestions.

[RogerDat]

You only want to draw you battery down to about 50% charge so you have 37.5 amp hours of reserve. You can run a 1 amp light bulb for 37.5 hours a 2 amp one for half that time. If you have a water pump that draws a fair amount but does not run for hours. You really have to estimate what you use each day to come up with how long you can support that use from the reserves of a given battery.

It will work fine, just for half the time of a 150 amp hour battery you might want to purchase eventually for a longer stay. Provided the fam wants to spend that long in the woods boondock camping.

75 amp hours is less than most people would purchase if buying for a camper but since you already have it... I would give it a try at a campground with 110 and take a battery charger with you. Nothing lets you know how well it will work like trying it out. With 110 available it's a low risk test. If it last one, two or three days by the end of the weekend you will know.

You don't really need AGM batteries, unless battery is inside and unvented. They don't vent hydrogen (explosive) and can tolerate deeper discharge but cost a butt load more money than conventional lead acid deep cycle. Is overkill and a waste of money IMHO.

Oh and when trying it out use a volt meter to test voltage, that will give you a good idea of when it reaches 50% charge, or by a device for that purpose.

Hopefully someone will weigh in with what the voltage is on a half discharged battery, I don't recall off hand.

[Thomas G.]

I put a size 27 in my UHaul, but if I already had a battery, I'd use it and make sure I didn't discharge it past 1/2 full. You can monitor this with the voltmeter in a multi meter or buy one purpose built for that task. Your UHaul may even have an original battery condition meter by the front door.


http://www.energymatters.com.au/rene...-discharge.php

[RogerDat]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

Battery voltage and state of charge - Energy Matters

Hee hee I knew someone would have that info. BTW - Nice article and chart Tom.

[john warren]

well, i would say first you have to decide exactly what your 12volt usage will be. are you going to camp primarily in state campgrounds and private campgrounds , where you will be plugged into 120 most of the time? if so, you really don't need much battery.
or are you goung to boondock and dry camp most of the time? in which case you need a monster battery. or some combination of the above?

so style of camping first.
then equipment.
are you going to want every gadget you can figure out a way to hook up?

or is 1 light to get undressed by enough?

see its a little hard to just say,,,go buy xyz battery.

you will need to calculate your expected load to determine exactly the right battery. but concidering the difference in price, always get the most battery you can afford. you will never be sorry you have more battery then you need.

[Raz]

Originally Posted by RogerDat

You don't really need AGM batteries, unless battery is inside and unvented. They don't vent hydrogen (explosive) and can tolerate deeper discharge but cost a butt load more money than conventional lead acid deep cycle. Is overkill and a waste of money IMHO.

Since I find my self connecting and disconnecting my trailer battery far more often than my truck battery, I bought the AGM. They are far less likely to explode in your face which was a big selling point to me. Also they are no maintenance. No up keep or trickle charge. The manufacturer, in my case Lifeliner, claims 300 to 1000 charge/discharge cycles which is far more than the run of the mill marine battery. That said they are pricey. For an 80 amp-hr group 24 you will pay $200-250. You can shop online as they are UPS shippable. I am on year 5 and am hoping for at least 5 more years. We'll see. Raz

[knighth001]

Thanks guys, just what I needed. To begin with, probably going to be mostly near hookups (state parks), though I do like to camp in the national forests too. But we have a 4yr and 2yr so I think my wife will appreciate the more comfy campgrounds when I take them. If I go with my buddy, we're used to tents so no big deal on the battery side I think. I'll stick with what I've got for now but will make sure to step it up. I'll definitely test it out first. I thought about putting a couple of those little stick on LED lights for reading anyways.

So one last question on this topic, in my UHaul the battery box is inside under the seat I think the original one). when I opened it up it has a hole to the outside in the bottom of the box (again this all looks original to me). I assume that's vented enough?

Mine does have the original battery tester near the door. guess I'm lucky

[Darwin Maring]

Go to Walmart or some other store that has a Nationwide 3 year total replacement guarantee. You can draw it down to completely dead, over charge and do whatever you want then if it goes bad B 4 the warranty runs out, take it back and get a new one for no charge.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by knighth001

..........So one last question on this topic, in my UHaul the battery box is inside under the seat I think the original one). when I opened it up it has a hole to the outside in the bottom of the box (again this all looks original to me). I assume that's vented enough?

Mine does have the original battery tester near the door. guess I'm lucky

Those original vents should be adequate unless they are obstructed. You should have a hole in the bottom of the case and a tube on top that leads to a plastic vent in the rear trailer wall. Batteries don't off gas that much unless you charge them vigorously. That said, the original charger / converter is a "dumb" charger and will boil the battery dry if left plugged in for long periods (days).

[David Tilston]

I bought two 95 A-hr group 24 batteries for $78/ea at Costco. They even sell golf cart batteries for about $100.

[knighth001]

Thanks Tom,

I'm apparently missing the hose from the top of the box to the vent. I'll go to Home Depot or Lowes and find something compatible to rig in there.

I appreciate all the info and recommendations guys. I've heard folks talk about using two batteries Dave, I'm assuming I might have to mount a second one outside on the bumper if I were to do that so it's not too far from the current battery. sounds like a future project.

[rgrugg]

I have two group 24 batteries in our Egg Camper. I've boondocked in the past with one and I use a cpap machine and the only time I ran one dead in one night was running my cpap through an inverter. I really want two for our Egg Camper is because it's all electric.

[Bob Miller]

Please don't see the fear factor of wet cell batteries "Blowing Up" to go to much more expensive AGM's. It's very, very rare.
About the only time the hydrogen from a charing battery will reach an explosive state is if it is drastically overcharged and is in a very enclosed space.

I have actually seen 1 battery blow up in the past 50 years, when I was a teen working in a gas station, and the 12 volt battery charger was connected to a 6 volt battery for about 10 minutes. When the "Mechanic" saw that the battery was boiling and disconnected the + cable from the charger without turning it off first, the spark did ignite the escaping hydrogen and blow off the top of the battery, but you usually have to work very hard to have that happen.


That said, considering the cost of any new deep charge battery, if a rig doesn't have a multistage smart charger it's time to up grade, just to save money on battery life.

And for the 210th mention, get a Voltminder (voltminder.com) to accurately monitor battery voltage and set alarm limits. About $35. A 20+ year old battery condition meter has almost no chance of still being acurate.

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

Please don't see the fear factor of wet cell batteries "Blowing Up" to go to much more expensive AGM's. It's very, very rare.
About the only time the hydrogen from a charing battery will reach an explosive state is if it is drastically overcharged and is in a very enclosed space.

I have actually seen 1 battery blow up in the past 50 years, when I was a teen working in a gas station, and the 12 volt battery charger was connected to a 6 volt battery for about 10 minutes. When the "Mechanic" saw that the battery was boiling and disconnected the + cable from the charger without turning it off first, the spark did ignite the escaping hydrogen and blow off the top of the battery, but you usually have to work very hard to have that happen.

I think the AGM battery will be less expensive in the long run. I view lead acid batteries as one of the most dangerous things people own and far too often they are treated casually. With the increase of parasitic loads comes an increase in terminal sparking. I saw that on my trailer which added to the appeal of the AGM. Longevity and low maintenance were also factors. Whether it was money well spent only time will tell .Take care, Raz

[Darwin Maring]

Here's one for you. The lead acid battery in my Son's Miata (It's in the trunk) blew up one day when he attempted to start the car.

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Darwin Maring

Here's one for you. The lead acid battery in my Son's Miata (It's in the trunk) blew up one day when he attempted to start the car.

Wow, I bet that was nasty.

[Bob Miller]

The OEM battery in a Miata is a Panasonic AGM Battery.
There are extensive posts on the Miata battery question, with many questioning the wisdom of installing non-AGM batteries in he trunk battey compartment.
For those with Miata FGRV's, here's a link:
The Miata Battery

In the world of lead acid batteries, the majority of explosions that do occur are caused by sparks igniting hydrogen escaping from an overcharged or inproperly ventilated battery. Pretty much in the same way, and much less often, that fires start from leaking gas tanks.

But each owner should continue to follow due diligence and make decisions that make their own FGRV experience most enjoyable to them.

[knighth001]

So I fixed my venting issue with some plumbing pvc pipe. looks like my old trolling battery is not going to hold a charge very long. It's about 8 yrs old so guess it's time to replace it anyways.

I'm looking at Sam's Club at a Grp 27 or I saw they make a 12v Golf Cart battery. (I had read numerous threads about wiring 2 6v GC's together but hadn't seen anything about 12v GC's). Looks like the 12v GC might be a better deal here (even though its more expensive). Anyone had any experiences with them?

(I've swapped out my lights over the sink with LED bulbs, have the single fluorescent over the closet door, and will probably be using the swamp cooler fan which I assume to be the biggest drain next to the stock heater blower. I may eventually put a 12v receptacle in for phone chargers or the occasional portable DVD player use for the kids for a movie.)

I've only been shopping online and haven't found the physical dimensions yet so I'm not sure if it will fit the factory Uhaul battery box or not.

Here's the two batteries I'm looking at:
12v Marine Battery:
Duracell® Marine Battery - Group Size 27DC - Sam's Club

12v Golf Cart battery:
Duracell® Golf Car Battery - Group Size GC12V - Sam's Club

[Thomas G.]

If the golf cart battery will fit, I'm pretty sure that it is a better deep cycle battery.

[Byron Kinnaman]

There's pretty good size difference between the two. Group 27 = 12 1/16 Long x 6 13/16 Wide x 8 7/8 High. GC12 = 13 7/8 Long x 7 1/16 Wide x 11 3/8 High. I didn't see a weight specification for either, but GC12 has to be a lot heavier than the Group 27.
Also, I can't see the price but that has to be factored in.

As for me, I use a Group 24 Marine battery, which I managed to run down once in several hundred nights without electrical hook ups. There just isn't much in a 13' trailer to use a lot of battery current, unless you're trying to run heat devices, then neither battery will last very long.