12 V Battery & Bad Back

I too have bad back and have 4 GC 6v batteries. I would not sacrifice efficiency for something you will only lift a few times. Get some help installing that sucker(or suckers) and go for the biggest capacity battery you can physically fit in the space you have.

My primary complaint about the optima is kind of why you want one.

Though the optima is less heavy than a same size say Lifeline, it costs more.

But the amp hours per pound are the same

So you have a battery that weighs only 60% of what say a Lifeline of the same size would weigh.. It also holds 60% of the amp hours.

BUT, IF you do not use the batteries (Save for emergency stopping) and always park at full hook up sites.

And if weight is a factor

Two options are an optima, or a smaller square battery (Which would be much cheaper) OR... Let someone else install it.

for your use a wall mart battery will do the job. and they have free ibstall.

How often do you guys need to pick up and move your batteries anyways??!!

I had my dealer, who sold me the batteries put them in and when I buy replacements, they'll change them out too. If they charge for the service, fine.

In the mean time, if weight is a real concern for you, consider getting lithium on batteries. They weigh less than half, hold double the amps and only cost a small fortune for the technology.

optima is a very good battery. We use them in boats when the owner will spend the money for it. I like them.

Skip~

I keep my TT in an open storage yard so I remove before the winter freeze and take it home. I lift it up to the bed on my 2010 F-150 4X4 and unload it at home. The lift from ground level to the pickup bed is rough. There was a time in my younger days when I would load and unload very heavy materials solo without a problem and perhaps that is what caused the L-4 & L-5 disc and vertebrae problems that I have now. A lighter weight battery might be worth the extra money if will do the job for me. I appreciate all the feed back!

Thank you,

Mike

A battery that is lighter has less lead. Therefore less capacity. Optimas have a good name but it's for being able to take a pounding in off road and racing vehicles. For your use a group 24 would be fine and cost a lot less.
I guess if weight is the ultimate determining factor then you'll have to pay a lot of money for a less capable (amp hour wise) Optima battery.

Get two big fat heavy batteries from a battery store that will install them for you.
Full service wet cell battery installed will have more capacity and lower price than self installed Optimas.

And yes I have used Optimas. Great battery but not worth the price for light weight.

Even tho you may not plan on camping off the power grid you still may have a need for the trailer battery.

You will need to have enough battery 12VDC power to activate the trailer brakes in case of a trailer disconnect when being towed.

There are a few trailer setups that depends on the installed battery to aide in opening the slides or other high current DC operations you may have installed.

In my case my OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer setup with multiple batteries installed becomes my emergency source of 120VAC and 12VDC power for the house requirements when extended power outages are on-going from bad weather and hurricane periods. It certainly has been a blessing for us having this PLAN B setting in the back yard when these Power emergencies come up...

The battery you chose must also be compatible with the charging characteristics of the on-board converter/charger system as well.

Just a couple of my thoughts...
Roy Ken

I have not had good experiences with Optimas. From what I have read its not unusual.

My two 6v batteries are original from the mfg. They have been the battery compartment for 6 years and are probably going to stay there for another year or two.

When it comes time for new, the seller will install the new batteries and hopefully the new batteries will stay in the battery compartment for another 7-8 years.

Another option is to buy much smaller marine batteries and hook them up in parallel.

Good luck.