5th wheel battery replacement
Battery in my 08 durango finally bit the dust this year ,won't hold a charge. What do most of you use as a replacement brand? Thanks for any reples,John
Forum Discussion
- I've been using dual 6V Costco GC batteries and am VERY happy. They also have a very good warranty. Going on 4 years now and still very strong.
Big Thumbs Up! - I think Costco may be selling Interstate batteries now. Not sure.
- How a bout the 6V golf cart batteries that Costco sells?
- It is true that there are only a very few battery manufacturers left in the US. And EPA is doing their best to drive them out of business.
Having said that, I don't know why people assume the batteries must be the same with different labels. It is obvious to me they are not. They will build a battery to any price point you want, if you distribute enough of them. - I replaced my 2 12v batteries with 2 6v golf cart (true deep cycle) batteries from Sam's Club. I'm very happy with them and can dry camp for almost 5 days with a bit of help from a 45w solar charger.
Lyle - Got a Duracell from Sams Club for two different vehicles this year. Bth have been great and had good ratings.
- Since we travel FHU to FHU and the only place I could find late one evening in rural South Carolina was a Wal Mart; we have been using a WM marine deep-cycle battery for three years and it shows no sign of weakening.
GASMAN6674 wrote:
I have had good luck with Interstate (so far)
Put me down for an Interstate user.- B.O. Plenty is exactly right. There are only a couple manufacturers. Johnson Controls is one of them and they make a lot of batteries that are sold under several different brands. I believe they used to make the Sears Diehard batteries.
Most important - Don't get a 'starting battery'. Preferably, get a Deep Cycle battery. But what you will mostly find are 12 volt RV/Marine combination deep cycle/starting batteries. Just don't get a battery that is strictly a starting battery. And get the largest one that will fit in the battery box.
If you have 2 boxes, then you could get 2 12-volt batteries and hook them together in parallel, or 2 6-volt batteries (golf cart batteries) and hook them in series. The 6 volt batteries will work best and last longer because they are true deep cycle batteries, meaning they can be discharged to a 50% level and then recharged without damage many times, compared to the 12-volt combo battery options. Making a habit of discharging a starting battery to the 50% level before recharging will shorten it's life drastically. You can get 6 volt batteries for around $80-85 each at Sams or Costco.
Tim - Depends on how much you depend on the battery. If all you care about is enough to operate for a few minutes between FHU campgrounds, just get whatever is cheap. If you want to boondock off the grid, you're going to need to upgrade the system.
