interstate battery bites the dust in two years

I posted some pics of the property for those interested. Check new posts,
Mountain property before and after pad.

Thanks for all the replies, I think I will have better luck with new battery life.

Hi vtr,

Sometimes more is less. Often a 100 watt is cheaper than a 50 watt.

Had the battery checked. It showed a 12.75 charge but only 150 amps. It was shot. Bought a Costco interstate marine/rv battery today, 78.99, nice price. I will be getting a smart charger, and maybe a solar panel (movable) for the property. I have read conflicting opinions on what wattage solar power for keeping a battery up. Should it be 55 watts, can I go lower.

VTR wrote:
Thanks, all. I admit my research has not been battery heavy on this forum.
I will address some of your responses:

It is a 16footer BH trailer. Small, so one battery.
I do not have a hydrometer.
It is not true deep cycle (marine I believe will be the distinction correct?)
We do in fact Boondock, we bought some property in Colo. and that is where I was.
Last year we left everything up there and returned to a working battery even after a week or more. Just did a generator charge. The battery worked like a charm.

I have heard about reviving them?? Thought about putting battery tender on, but heading back up very soon. Because of price I will stay with a Marine type, but in the future think about an upgrade. Plus, no room here at home to have another battery around want to take it in for the core when I get a new one. Seeing how there are two big battery company's its a******shoot on these things. Any suggestions on brands, or is it just a******shoot. Or, would we see quality control in some and not others.

Thanks, all. As always greatly appreciated. I am on a lot of forums for various things, and this is one of the best. I want to post pics soon of the property before and after. Hope to do soon. Some of you might find it really interesting what putting in a pad will do to a piece of property. We use this spot to take of from and go mobile camping.

Sure, I'd like to see your property pictures, Colorado is a beautiful place.

If I was to give an armchair diagnosis of your battery ills, I'd say it was twofold. First you don't mention if their is a voltage meter on the battery so I'm going to assume that the battery is drawn down below acceptable (50%) level when in use. Secondly, as was mentioned, those battery tenders are not battery chargers. They operate at very small current and voltage levels. It probably never charged your battery back to full.

You can try this with a badly sulfated battery but chances are good that it will soon be in the battery hospice. Dilute 2 tablespoons of Epsom salts in a cup of hot water. Evenly distribute it in all the cells--don't overfill. Put a good charger on the battery at higher amperage for two hours (40 amps is a good amount). Lower the charger amperage to trickle or about 2-5 amps and charge overnight or even two days. Repeat this process without the Epsom salts if the battery still lags.

If it was my battery, I'd just replace it. Trojan and East Penn/Deka make good acid filled 12V deep cycle batteries. AGM has it's merits and you may be able to find one on sale with some research.

FWIW, I recently replaced my truck battery. It was mildly abused by the crazy sound system installed when new and the interior light that remains on when I shut the doors to park. It was 10 years, one month old at replacement.

More info at Battery University

Our MH had one very tired house battery when we bought it. I got two Costco deep-cycle batteries that would fit the house-battery bay. They were about $60 each. Still going strong when we sold the rig 4 years later.

BTW, we were't boon-dockers, but on some brief overnights I wouldn't bother hooking up. Never had a problem.

A battery tender may only hold a battery at the charge it has when you hook it up. The battery needs to be fully charged before having a tender put on it.

I have always pulled the battery out of the trailer when it's not in use. I charge it with a auto charger for three days before we go, use solar while we are out and then make sure it is charged after for three days. Once a month I put the charger on for a day to make sure it stays up.

We did do a 16 day trip with electric where the converter tried to cook the poor thing. We also used the converter the next year with the generator for a few hours a day but it never got it full. The converter was turned off when we got solar.

Even with all of the boondocking and the fridge, inverter, solar and A/C testing, our Interstate Grp 27 is 4 years old and is still going strong.

VTR wrote:
What can I expect for a life. I hear some last two years and if lucky some go 5 to 8 years or more. Comments

All I can offer is that my own Interstate G27 is now 7 yrs old and although I was thinking I might have to replace it this year there seems to be no reason to as it still holds a full charge, recharges fine, and continues to power the trailer just as it has since new. Recently I installed a 1000 watt sine wave inverter, wiring it to power the trailer "whole house", and fed by this G27 I can even run the toaster without excessively dragging this battery down so I guess I'll have to wait another season before replacing this Interstate battery.:R

If you leave your trailer in a boondocks location. Solar panel might be a good investment. Would save you from hauling the battery back to charge.

You can get a deep cycle battery at Walmart. A marine battery offen is a combo of a start and deep cycle. A deep cycle will have thicker plates and will take more cycles of charge/discharged.

You do need to disconnect the terminals or install a battery cutoff switch when you let it sit. Parasitic drains will discharge a battery in a week.

posted in error on wrong thread

You can maintain a battery as good as you can, there is one item that very few persons realize, that when they add water to the battery, some times a little splashes on top of the battery and that creates a conductor between the negative and the positive, not much current but enough to discharge the battery on a constant drain.

Auto parts stores sell a special battery water jug that replenishes the water to the correct level with out spilling any on the out side of the battery.

To prevent corrosion, clean the posts and the connectors and then use vaceline or axle grease on all the exposed parts, my 2001 RV has had three batteries and the posts are free of corrosion.

navegator