We've got 2 Interstate batteries on our 4+ year old trailer. We rarely dry camp but when we do we have a Honda 2000 we use during genny hours. One of our batteries is shot and we're looking to replace both of them. We have led panels in all our light fixtures but we try to use as little power as possible when dry camping. We'll usually plug our trailer into a 300W pure sine wave inverter when the genny isn't running just so we still can charge our phones, watch tv, run a fan, or power a cpap at night. We don't do all those at the same time but those are things we MIGHT do. lol We'll usually have to use our water pump when dry camping too but again we try to use it sparingly and take navy showers. I'm not interested in golf cart batteries so please let me know what you suggest.

I like to go to Costco and get the ones that will fit, and have the longest warranty. Yes, they are vehicle batteries. The need for deep discharge batteries is not called for, you don't need anything special.

Costco has a good price on group 24 or 27 that should serve you well.As long as you are charging with a generator it might also be a good thing to review your converter is charging properly with 14.2+ volts.

Whatever the largest marine/RV 12v batteries that will fit since you don't want 6v.I wouldn't use vehicle starting batteries. They aren't designed for that service. I really don't agree with knowingly using a starting battery for a deep cycle type of application and then taking advantage of the warranty when it fails.

For $170 you can get 220 amp hours of 6 volt deep cycle at sams or costco. It's a step above a group battery because it's a actual deep cycle. The only draw back is that they are taller than gp batteries. No matter if 12 volt or 6 volt, when using a generator it's beneficial to be sure your charging system is working well. A converter upgrade is about $125.00 and can take your charge voltage from 13.6 to 14.4 or more. Often times converters that put out 13.6 will only have 13.5 or 13.4 hitting the battery which is slightly over float voltage of 13.2. Part of the issue can be resistance in the wire from the converter to the battery. Resistance is determined by wire size, distance and temperature, with temperature not being a concern for those of us who are not working in a laboratory with super conductors.

rjxj wrote:For $170 you can get 220 amp hours of 6 volt deep cycle at sams or costco. It's a step above a group battery because it's a actual deep cycle. The only draw back is that they are taller than gp batteries. No matter if 12 volt or 6 volt, when using a generator it's beneficial to be sure your charging system is working well. A converter upgrade is about $125.00 and can take your charge voltage from 13.6 to 14.4 or more. Often times converters that put out 13.6 will only have 13.5 or 13.4 hitting the battery which is slightly over float voltage of 13.2. Part of the issue can be resistance in the wire from the converter to the battery. Resistance is determined by wire size, distance and temperature, with temperature not being a concern for those of us who are not working in a laboratory with super conductors.How do you even measure that?

Need New Camper Batteries.... | Good Sam Community

29 Replies

Landroamer1
Explorer
Apr 25, 2017
I just put a group 29DC in mine from WalMart for $99
BizmarksMom
Explorer
Apr 25, 2017
Just get a new pair of the batteries that have worked well for you.

I do primarily dry camp and boondock, so my set up is geared toward that. I do run 2 deep cycle batteries, charged during the day with a solar cell. I don't have or use an inverter. If it doesn't run on 12V or propane, I don't use it. I actually make a game of seeing how long I can go without starting the genny. (2 1/2 years so far!)

But that's me. If you are primarily plugged in, you have different battery needs.
tinner12002
Explorer
Apr 25, 2017
If your not sure about what your doing with checking the battery current and such, then I recommend taking it to an RV shop and let them check it for you and replace both batteries so they will charge and drain evenly.
2012Coleman
Explorer II
Apr 25, 2017
I buy my batteries from Auto Zone. They keep track of your warranty so when/if the battery fails, I take it back there and they automatically apply a discount for the remaining warranty time. The last time I took one in, it was replaced for free.
westend
Explorer
Apr 25, 2017
I'd suggest, as a first step, to buy an inexpensive hand-held meter. You will need that to make sure your 12V system, including the converter, is working correctly.

With no charge in either battery after being plugged in and then traveling, you may have blown a fuse or tripped a circuit breaker in the charging circuit.

Since you are always plugged in when camping and assuming you disconnect the batteries from any parasitic loads when stored (or operate a battery maintainer on the batteries), I'd suggest to buy two batteries similar to these: Everstart 27DC deep cycle

You stated that you don't want 6V batteries but the GC2 6V battery sold at Sam's Club or Costco is a better solution, IMO.
OLYLEN
Explorer
Apr 25, 2017
If the ones you have served you well why not just get another set. Sounds like the batteries are just shot.

LEN
longislandcampe
Explorer
Apr 25, 2017
I'm kind of clueless when it comes to everything you guys talked about. Can you dumb it down for me and just link a great battery for me please? :-)

We were camping with a full hookup site all week. When we left this morning I unplugged the camper power cord from the pedestal and went right to the battery light on the camper and it was reading 1/3. That was immediately after unplugging.

About 50 minutes later I had it backed up in my driveway and checked the battery meter after unhooking from the truck and before plugging in to my house. I got nothing from the meter and my CO2 alarm wasn't even lit.
time2roll
Nomad
Apr 04, 2017
If you go to WalMart get the deep cycle trolling not deep cycle starting.
longislandcampe
Explorer
Apr 04, 2017
JimK-NY wrote:
I am not sure I can help with the batteries. I use AGMs since I do mostly dry camping. For occasional use I am sure you would not want to make that expense.

When you do dry camp you might want to reconsider your power use. First I would think about that sine wave inverter. It could waste more power than you are using. You are better off with 12v appliances such as fans and TVs. They will use less power that way. Think twice about your TV hours. A TV (or a computer screen) will draw a lot of juice. A CPAP also uses a lot of power but there are ways to get by. First I hope you got a 12v CPAP. They use much, much less power than trying to run an inverter and a 120v unit. You should have no problem getting a 12v unit (except most providers don't understand) and it should not cost any more and of course it can be used with a power supply and a standard household outlet. I also use 12v chargers for computers.

Unfortunately I also have some camera and other batteries that must be charged with 120. I use a very small, non-sine wave, inverter. Even that inverter blasts out wasted heat and even needs its own cooling fan.

Using the inverter wasn't a problem for a few years. Batteries would still be at 2/3 in the morning and occasionally drop to 1/3 but that was rare. Something happened with one of the batteries last winter and while it does charge, it seems to drain out fairly quickly.

When we dry camped last summer we tried to be even MORE frugal with power and a few days the batteries were completely dead with nothing registering on the panel in the camper.
azrving
Explorer
Apr 04, 2017
Matt_Colie wrote:
If you are going to have to 12V batteries in parallel, also have two boxes of backing soda on hand. Chances are you will need some for the clean up.

Matt

Why is that? What are we missing? Two 12's in parallel, voltage stays the same, amps double.