The TC I purchased new in July 2009 had a Lifeline GPL27T battery. Lasted until Oct. 2011, when Rex told me I needed a new one. I was at factory getting a window put in my door. Last fall, October 2012, this battery would not hold a charge, so this spring I am forced to start looking at batteries again. Have put off using the camper until now because I can't afford to keep buying $300 batteries. Any suggestions??

$300 for a single Group 27? Way too much, check Costco, Walmart, SamsClub, etc.I would suspect your battery charging is the issue. Bad charger? Leaving it uncharged but connected for weeks/months?

IMHO opinion the best bang for the buck is normal flooded wet cell batteries especially if you can't or don't know how to care for the speciality batteries (they require special charging conditions dependant on the battery type). Any battery must be properly cared for, for example do not leave a battery connected to your TC allowing it to completely discharge due to parasitic loads. A few completely dead cycles and left that way will kill any battery quicklyUnfortunitely getting 2 to 3 years out of battery is about normal if you don't pay attention to battery maintence. Get as big a marine duty 12 volt FLA battery as will fit in your TC (cost about $100), make sure you charge it before storage and disconnect it during storage would be my general recommendation

You might want to check your charger system or your battery charging/maintenance routine. I have two of the same batteries in my TC purchased in late 2007. Both batteries still going strong.Jim

Did your batteries have caps? Or was it maintenance free? If it has caps, you need to frequently check the levels and top up with distilled water. I use a system that replaces the caps and allows me to pump water into the battery shutting off when each cell is at the proper level. It is surprising how much water I have to add. I have solar, but it has a good quality controller. I suspect that my truck may overcharge the batteries while driving, but not sure.

We have had excellent service from Deka AGM Batteries from Penn Manufacturing. They were considerably less expensive than other brands we surveyed.

Spending too much $$ on batteries. | Good Sam Community

realter
Explorer
Jul 02, 2013
The local Lifeline distributor quoted me $323 plus tax this morning, so hope to find a battery more reasonable. I would guess freight from CA is outrageous.
full_mosey
Explorer
Jul 02, 2013
Huntindog wrote:

The Trojans are not the batteries in question This is the one.Lifeline group 27

a little better than the typical 12 volt group 27, but nothing to get excited about.

Lifeline grp 27 and 31 are available online for $290 and $300.

Discount clubs are now selling a grp 31 100AH AGM for $170. That is my current AGM replacement choice. You can get 200AH for $40 more than a 100AH Lifeline. I hope this downward price trend continues.

HTH;
John
realter
Explorer
Jul 02, 2013
MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
THE NEW BREED OF "APPLICATIONS ENGINEER"

On 6/29, BFL asked me who this Rex guy is who is taking all my money. I believe this is his picture:B
Huntindog
Explorer
Jul 02, 2013
HiTech wrote:
Reddog1 wrote:
wa8yxm wrote:
... That group 27 has around 90 if you are lucky. (That's total) no matter what it says on it (20 hour rate)...

What resources do you base this on?

Trojan lists 2 group 27's. The 20 hour rates are 105 and 115 amp hours.

Trojan group 27 battery 20 hour amp hour ratings

Their 117 Ah 100 hour rate battery is still 105 at the 20 hour rate.

Jim

The Trojans are not the batteries in question This is the one.Lifeline group 27

a little better than the typical 12 volt group 27, but nothing to get excited about.
BFL13
Explorer II
Jul 02, 2013
MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
THE NEW BREED OF "APPLICATIONS ENGINEER"

Hey, I know that guy! He sold us the slide-in camper that was perfect for our 3/4 ton truck. Turned out that camper needed an 18 wheeler, so we had to go 5th wheel. (We love the 5th wheel as it turns out)

Good to see he is still there helping newbies get into the RV lifestyle! :)
HiTech
Explorer
Jul 02, 2013
Reddog1 wrote:
wa8yxm wrote:
... That group 27 has around 90 if you are lucky. (That's total) no matter what it says on it (20 hour rate)...

What resources do you base this on?

Trojan lists 2 group 27's. The 20 hour rates are 105 and 115 amp hours.

Trojan group 27 battery 20 hour amp hour ratings

Their 117 Ah 100 hour rate battery is still 105 at the 20 hour rate.

Jim
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Jul 02, 2013
THE NEW BREED OF "APPLICATIONS ENGINEER"
Huntindog
Explorer
Jul 02, 2013
Reddog1 wrote:
wa8yxm wrote:
... That group 27 has around 90 if you are lucky. (That's total) no matter what it says on it (20 hour rate)...

What resources do you base this on?

That's about right, and only half of it is usable.

The higher rated ones , don't use the 20 hour rate, which is kind of the standard. They use a 100 hour rate which allows them to advertise a higher rating.

Smoke and mirrors.
Reddog1
Explorer II
Jul 01, 2013
wa8yxm wrote:
... That group 27 has around 90 if you are lucky. (That's total) no matter what it says on it (20 hour rate)...

What resources do you base this on?
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Jul 01, 2013
If you have the room for them (You will need a new battery box) a pair of GC-2 Golf Car batteries (Six volt flooded wet cell DEEP CYCLE no marine) will set you back about 160 bucks. they provide 230 amp hours total capacity 115 usable.

That group 27 has around 90 if you are lucky. (That's total) no matter what it says on it (20 hour rate)

Converters.. Many older low end or trailers have a Magnatek 6300 battery killer, Recommendation if you have one is http://www.bestconverter.com and look at how to upgrade to a PDI 9200 (Same last two digits as what you have now) scroll down to the "Additional Info" or whatever it's called frame.

Other converters are generally better but without knowing what you have I can't say more

Parallex 7300 Does not meet my "Minimumn" standard, the 7300T however, does. Just. I'd still upgrade with those.