Deep Cycle 12V Batteries

wa8yxm,

I've been doing this for 20 years. Obviously I need to know if it will fit the batt box. My question was is there something about this battery that precludes just using one? The web sites I found all have them in sets of 4.

steveh27 wrote:
I only have room for 1 12 v battery. Will these work for me? Their data sheet keeps saying a bank of 4 batteries.

NON-SUFFICIENT INFORMATION

one 12 volt battery.. I have 12 volt batteries I can hold in one hand.
I have also used 12 volt batteries I can hold with one fork lift (Over 1,000 pounds of lead in that battery). In fact one of them POWERED that fork lift. Long story omitted. (it was fun though).

So "one 12 volt battery"
Group 24, 27. 29 31, 4D, 8D, all different sizes .

Enough rant.. now advice

YOu need to go to a battery company web page and look up the sizes of the assorted batteries US.Battery. INTERSTATE or DEKA or Trojan. all have battery specifications sheets.

These sheets list, among other things Length, Height, Width and Weight.

Once you know what fits. THEN you are in a position to decide.

What you want:
As many DEEP CYCLE (NOT MARINE/deep cycle) amp hours as you can fit.

I only have room for 1 12 v battery. Will these work for me? Their data sheet keeps saying a bank of 4 batteries.

Y'aint gonna eat Kansas City filet mignon for $1.99 pound.

Meaning what's CHEAPER 2 Rolls batteries or SIX US batteries?

In my thoroughly embarrassing case -- one Michelin or THREE Douglas rags?

Or, how much money and time is a warranty going to do to your wallet?

Or NINE PAIR of Wal-Mart pants or one pair of Dickies pants? Eight additional trips to Wal-Mart isn't going to cost $20? Keep dreaming. My $20 Dickies pants are serving as work pants and around the house plodders. They were purchased in 2002.

Rejects and replacements COST EXTRA MONEY. I cannot tell you the number of times I heard. "We have problems. It's going to cost us our dream vacation"

So the low priced spread may very well be a budget buster. Nine times out of ten the real-bargain in the bunch will sit at a boarding house table and eat four times his worth.

If I had purchased ZOT-ZINGER 2 volt cells at half price of the Rolls and they lasted a third as long (22 years) did I get screwed? After all they were thousands cheaper? And then I had to kiss their butt for hundreds of additional maintenance hours do I write those hours off as a charitable donation?

Remind me to avoid going shopping with you thank you very much

The only "Complaint" (note the quotes is that you used CROWN CG-12s and Trojan CG-2s Might have been more fare if you used Interstate or Deaka CG-2's

or better yet Chrowns.

EXCEPT FOR PRICE..... Let me do some math. This is higher level than I've done in a while (Least common demonator stuff)

150/220 Let's go with 3 pair GC-2 (660 amp hours) and 4 GC-12s (600 amp hour)

The only real difference other than price is 10% Amp hours. Both will perform nearly identically If the GC-12's get you there for less $$$. GO FOR IT.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
When I tested cyclability of Trojan T-105 Golf car versus floor scrubber batteries in the early nineties (32 batteries each type) it was found the golf car batteries significantly out cycled the scrubber battery.

= They lasted longer and the difference between the 2 exceeded 15%

The significance was attributed to excess acid of the T-105

The scrubber was designed to fit floor scrubber machines -- a very limited amount of room. Per cubic inch of space taken the scrubber batteries gave significantly more ampere hours at the ten hour rate and significantly less at the 100 hour rate than the golf car battery.

No studies were conducted with improperly maintained batteries of either type.

your data is consistent with the life chart for trojan 12V deep cycle vs 6V GC. when discharged to 50% Although the trojan cycle life for 12V is probably long enough for many user that the battery will die for other reasons before dying from cycle life.

12V "true" deep cycle Advantage- much better when used in applications having high draw, microwave etc.

Disadvantage:
lower cycle life, many not be an issue for many applications
Not as readily available as GC.

Bigger one is that Trojan, at least the last data I had indicated the 12V does NOT like being discharged below 50%. While the GC still has a life cycle >500 cycles at 75% DOD. So useable AH advantage goes to the GC.

But then my experience is that 2GC don't like driving a 900W microwave once down below about 80% SOC. and others have seen similar. 4GC will work down to near 50%. I suspect a pair of 12V would run the microwave fine down to 50%. Each battery only supplies 50% of the draw, and much lower resistance.

So...... pick what fits your application. Have to trade off something.

That seems to confirm that the 12v T-1275s were better at high draw with inverter (microwave etc) than the 6v batts.

Gets complicated choosing the optimum set for your house batts if you camp with a mix of high draw inverter, low draw RV stuff, and with a mix of shallow cycles (with solar) and deep cycles (50-90s no solar).

When I tested cyclability of Trojan T-105 Golf car versus floor scrubber batteries in the early nineties (32 batteries each type) it was found the golf car batteries significantly out cycled the scrubber battery.

= They lasted longer and the difference between the 2 exceeded 15%

The significance was attributed to excess acid of the T-105

The scrubber was designed to fit floor scrubber machines -- a very limited amount of room. Per cubic inch of space taken the scrubber batteries gave significantly more ampere hours at the ten hour rate and significantly less at the 100 hour rate than the golf car battery.

No studies were conducted with improperly maintained batteries of either type.

I was pleased with my two much-used (beat up) T-1275s (from a golf car set of four) that lasted me five years in the 5er. I think starting with new T-1275s would be great.

Actually, the golf car shop had either four T-1275s to make the 48v or else six 8 volt batts. They said (was in 2013) they were going to the 8v choice because that gave the golf cars more scoot. Don't think that applies to RV house battery banks.