Replacement battery for 2015 Casita SD17?

[Borden]

We started out with an interstate 27 it was ok to start out with and then went to a agm marine battery but found it did not last when furnace, hot water tank, lights and/or water pump are needed. Water pump is the biggest single drain when used. Then we acquired a battery that originally designed for alarm systems and a gel pack unit. Our current battery can be placed on its side etc.. Its a M31 size battery (61lbs) it can go fully empty and still recharge according to the warranty unlike the marine battery. Cost was more than double but battery life is more than double it has no fumes can be used inside as well as outside. Some members of the group know a lot more than I do about battery's but battery capacity is important if you plan on using it for extended stays. Wilderness campgrounds have no water or pwr hookups. We also have two 20lb propane tanks to run our 4 burner top oven, fridge, hot water tank for showers, and furnace as propane life is also important to us. Our idea of boon docking is not a free location, its camping at wilderness campgrounds with no hookups available. Battery capacity and propane volume mean more days can be spent an a single camping site. In the north it can get cold at night even in the summer. Plus winter camping can be a lot of fun if you are prepared.
Hope this helps
P.S. We do not have a generator with take with us

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by whoot

To what level do you charge the battery?...

Originally Posted by gordon2

Start here.. The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)

Originally Posted by whoot

What level do you charge your battery to?

Again, Start here..The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)
The answer you seek is there, in part I and part II.

[whoot]

Originally Posted by Borden

We started out with an interstate 27 it was ok to start out with and then went to a agm marine battery but found it did not last when furnace, hot water tank, lights and/or water pump are needed. Water pump is the biggest single drain when used. Then we acquired a battery that originally designed for alarm systems and a gel pack unit. Our current battery can be placed on its side etc.. Its a M31 size battery (61lbs) it can go fully empty and still recharge according to the warranty unlike the marine battery. Cost was more than double but battery life is more than double it has no fumes can be used inside as well as outside. Some members of the group know a lot more than I do about battery's but battery capacity is important if you plan on using it for extended stays. Wilderness campgrounds have no water or pwr hookups. We also have two 20lb propane tanks to run our 4 burner top oven, fridge, hot water tank for showers, and furnace as propane life is also important to us. Our idea of boon docking is not a free location, its camping at wilderness campgrounds with no hookups available. Battery capacity and propane volume mean more days can be spent an a single camping site. In the north it can get cold at night even in the summer. Plus winter camping can be a lot of fun if you are prepared.
Hope this helps
P.S. We do not have a generator with take with us

Did you have to make any modifications to your Casita to get the M31 battery to fit? (like expand the battery compartment) If there is a no-maintenance super-battery that will fit in the Casita, I will get it.

[whoot]

Originally Posted by gordon2

Again, Start here..The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)
The answer you seek is there, in part I and part II.

The answer I am seeking is an answer from someone who ideally has a Casita and has experience charging it. I am not looking for webpages explaining everything about 12v batteries. I don't want to know about every possible configuration and situation that a battery might be used. I am looking for a single number.

[Borden]

Originally Posted by whoot

Did you have to make any modifications to your Casita to get the M31 battery to fit? (like expand the battery compartment) If there is a no-maintenance super-battery that will fit in the Casita, I will get it.

Our 78 boler had a battery box just big enough to fit the M31 "gel pack" deep cycle battery the cost was almost $700 at the time; price may have gone up by now. The old M27 had allot of extra room in the battery box that was on the trailer. Measure your box and check with the supplier as to size of battery. We like the extra days we get out of a charge with this battery upgrade in type and size. I would have changed the box to make it fit had it been required.
Happy camping
P.S. This type of battery has no openings to test through so you can only do a voltage check

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by whoot

The answer I am seeking is an answer from someone who ideally has a Casita and has experience charging it. I am not looking for webpages explaining everything about 12v batteries. I don't want to know about every possible configuration and situation that a battery might be used. I am looking for a single number.

Trailer brand is a non-issue. Battery is fully charged when it reads the voltage shown in the chart after resting as described in the article. The other way to check for full charge with unsealed batteries is the specific gravity of the cells. However if you don't want to take ten minutes to read the article and learn how to maintain your battery then I doubt you will want to measure the SG with a hydrometer. If you only get an overly simplistic answer then your results will be inferior.. but if you are OK with that, then number is 12.6 volts (or more). Good luck.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by whoot

My new battery is


DieHard Silver
Deep Cycle Marine
600 Cold Cranking Amps
750 Marine Cranking Amps at 32F
160 Reserve Capacity
Part Number 27DC-2

If you had read the 12V side of life, you wouldn't have bought that battery, which is a combination starting ( cranking ) and deep cycle. A true deep cycle battery would have served you much better.

[Mike_L]

Bordon and Carole, I'm an avid lifetime boondocker. Where I camp there are never any hookups and I camp for months at a time. I have a generator and have used it once just to try it out but found it noisy to use and fuel consumption was about a dollar or a little more per hour of use. Adds up and no ready supply in the back country!
Over the past forty years here is what I have found.
Flooded lead acid batteries work well and are probably your best value. They do require maintenance but properly cared for can last up to 10 years with minimal capacity losses.
AGM batteries have some advantage and can be used in different positions but I have found them to have a lower deliverable power content and a shorter life span.
Starting batteries are damaged and their life span reduced every time they are seriously discharged.
Deep cycle marine batteries are a compromise between the two and actually barely suitable for either application over the long term.
Deep cycle batteries are the only ones suitable for this application/ deep discharge.
No battery should ever be discharged below 50% capacity with the possible exception of lithium which also have cut off levels however I have yet to try this type.
Deep cycle batteries take a long time to charge and this isn't a reflection on the charger but rather the battery which will only accept a slow charge.
If you spend more than 2 or 3 days boondocking per trip, battery power ISN"T likely to work for you. While you can minimize your power consumption you will likely have to carry multiple batteries which are heavy and need to be recharged when you get back.
Each discharge/recharge cycle ages your batteries even when properly maintained, in proportion to how far it is discharged.
I have found solar to be a better way to go. I camp for months at a time with a single deep cycle battery and always have lots of power. It also seems to work well for the battery too as it has never been discharged more than 30% according to the gauge.
I started with 40 watts solar which took all day to top up my battery and added additional panels until I got the power supply I wanted. I now have 5 and plenty of power for spring, summer and fall camping but likely not winter. Actually, the cost of the five solar panels was about the same as a good deep cycle battery.

[zack sc]

I would like the second what Gordon2 says; 12 V batteries are really interesting and worth learning about. And I have a question: In the 12 V, group 27 Lead-acid world for Boondocking, is there anything better than a Trojan 27TMX ? Are there other batteries just as good as the Trojan 27TMX?

[Mike_L]

Everyone has a favorite battery brand. I have tried many. I have found Trojan works well.

[Glenn Baglo]

Ditto. Happy with mine. 27 TMX

[zack sc]

Originally Posted by Mike_L

Everyone has a favorite battery brand. I have tried many. I have found Trojan works well.

What are some of your other favorite true deep cycle batteries?

[John in Santa Cruz]

If I have to charge a batteries external to the trailers power supply, I use a smart charger that does a multi phase charge typically takes about 6 hours to do a 27 m size battery that's 50% discharged. When it's green light comes on, it's done.

The older Casita is like our 2008 had a poor power converter. That could overcharge batteries. I replaced ours with a PD forget the number. 4645? This does a true multi-phase smart charge and won't overcharge the battery.

Oh, my smart charger is a NOCO genius 10. This has modes for flooded lead acid, agm, and lithium.

[mitchd]

My 2019 Casita came with a Interstate group 31 AGM