Battery Questions

SoundGuy wrote:

Gjac wrote:
If bad replace with 2 6 volt Golf Cart batteries (wired in series to make 12 volts) from Costco or Sam's Club as enblethen suggested.

Why would he do that? :h The OP said in his original post - "We do NOT dry camp but we do overnight sometimes in a rest area to get some sleep. We use the lights to get ready for bed. Once in bed no lights are on. The refrigerator is on propane. Once in awhile, we will take quick showers to freshen up. Water heater on propane." That being the case he has absolutely no need for dual 6 volt GC-2 batteries when his single 12 volt will serve his purposes just fine, particularly if his rig is equipped with LED interior lighting which draws very little. It would also help enormously to turn off the fridge climate control heating element which is an unnecessary load on his battery. Rather than wasting $$$ upgrading his battery what he should be doing is find the source of this draw down on his battery even when his battery disconnect switch is off. Somethin' ain't right and upgrading his battery isn't going to solve it, fixing the problem will. ;)

I never told the OP to waste his money upgrading his battery, I explained in detail how to check for parasitic draws and how to check his battery before replacing anything. There are several reasons to replace with 2 6v GC batteries instead of a 12v marine battery IF his battery is bad even if you don't dry camp often. The first is if you ever have to run the propane furnace over night at a rest stop with 12 v battery you are libel to have a dead battery in the morning. Also your refer and WH need battery power to operate even on propane. The second is that the GC batteries will last a lot longer and will start of with 230 or so amp hrs. Both will lose capacity over time but the plates are thicker in the GC batteries. The GC batteries can take deeper discharges and more often than the 12 v battery, especially when dealing with parasitic draws or a light in a storage bay or something being left on accidentally. When you compare the cost of 2 6 V GC batteries at Sam's Club at $160 vs a marine battery at $113 it just makes more sense to me to spend at little more for more longevity and more amp hrs when needed.