Trojan T-105 batteries rock

monkey44 wrote:
Can anyone tell me the difference between the Deep Cycle and the Gel battery?

Which is best for boon-docking?

Deep cycle and gel are two independent terms. Most gel batteries are deep cycle, but there are many other types of deep cycle batteries.

Gel batteries have a gelled electrolyte so they are non-spillable. They require a lower charge voltage than other deep cycle types because they can not be charged or discharged at a high rate or they will be destroyed. They used to be used in power wheelchairs and other portable power devices but they have mostly been replaced by AGM types. I don't think there are many true gel batteries available anymore. Some people mistakenly refer to AGM batteries as gel, even battery dealers do it.

For deep cycle batteries now the 2 most common types are flooded and AGM. Flooded batteries have to be placed upright and need to have water added periodically. AGM (absorbed glas mat) batteries can be placed at any angle and need no maintenance. They also cost more than flooded types. If a battery lists its capacity in CCA (cold cranking amps) or reserve minutes, it is not a true deep cycle battery. A true deep cycle battery will have its capacity listed in AHr (amp-hours).

I always reccomend AGM or sealed maintenance-free batteries in RVs because they are almost always hard to access to add water to a flooded battery. My 845 carries its battery high and all the way to the rear, that will make it bounce around on rough roads. If yours is like that then a flooded battery could spill some electrolyte (acid) on rough roads. That is another reason to go with sealed or AGM.

I boondock a lot, so I have 2 6V AGM batteries in the cabinet under the front dinette seat. I use thae battery compartment for other storage.

The brands mentioned above (Deka, Lifeline, etc.) are all good ones.

I am on my 8th year with my two T105. I leave the camper plugged in all the time to a nice 3 stage charger. I check the water twice per year and keep topped off with distilled water.

Thanks 2oldnslow ...that is exactly the answer I was looking for - I'll go the AGM route this time, sealed and no maintenance because mine is same place as yours - high in rear of an 845. Will see if I can find two that fit if I set them on side ... but tried that before and no size fits two.

I have a wet one - 27 - now, a PITA to check and add water, and is probably what killed it - got five years tho. Will look at Trojan, and the others you mentioned this week and see the sizes that will fit in the box ... Dead as a door nail, and drops charge in two days with zero load.

I bought a pair of T 125's for our TT back in 2004. Installed the Charge Wizard which properly modulates the PW house charger. Plugged in at home all the time. When I sold the TT in 2014 they were still going strong so it was a no brainer to do the same thing on our new to us TT. The key to wet battery usage longevity is to not discharge them more than 50%. Though they are designed to go to 0, this adds to there life significantly. Now I have 428 watts solar on a Morning star controller. We spent a week at the beach, dry camping with tw0 college kids charging there stuff and we never ran the generator. So get a battery meter or plug a VOM into the cigarette lighter socket and measure the batteries charge state. I also feed a 2000 watt Xantrax Inverter so we have 110volts for tv's whatever. Still run the frig on gas but when we get lazy, we do plug in the coffee pot!

A huge +1 and a 'me too' for Trojan batteries!!!

I bought a J150 Trojan battery in 2006 for my camper. I water it every spring, and I keep it connected to the charger. The camper lives in a heated shop when not being used.

This past weekend I noticed the battery was getting a little soft. It went down a lot more overnight dry camping than it had in the past with a similar load. This is probably due to some inadvertent abuse recently - I left a fan running in the camper and the power cord had come unplugged - and flattened the battery. So I went out yesterday and bought a new Trojan battery.

Evidently the J150 is an unusual model that is tough to find. They sold me a T-1275 which is almost the same size (slightly shorter), and they said it has the same core as the J150. The Internet shows it has the exact same specs, so I suspect that is accurate.

Trojan batteries are tough to find, I had to drive most of the way across the metro area to get one. And at $230, they are not cheap. Doing the math, if it lasts 10 years like the last one, that is only $2 a month. Versus a $100 battery that lasts 36 months, it is significantly cheaper. Trojan batteries are not intended for these applications. The J150 was designed to fit a floor buffer, and just happens to fit the battery box on my Lance camper.

Yeah, if you are keeping your camper for a while, invest in a Trojan battery. Money well spent in my opinion.

-Eric

Found out my fifth wheel has two of these.
Trojan 24TM 12V 70Ah Group 24 Marine RV Dual Purpose Battery

It is in a used 2004 we bought in 2010, I think the date code is 2007, and I think it is time to check them and see if they need replacing, but I think they make a good battery, wonder if I would be better off with 2 6 volt instead though.

SoCalDesertRider wrote:

monkey44 wrote:

SoCalDesertRider wrote:
You can barely buy a tiny riding lawn mower battery for $46 these days. The small battery in my Ranger was $120. And they're all made in Mexico or China.

My good old American made pair of Optima red tops in my '92 F350 are still going strong, at least 10 years old for the newest one and over 10 years for the oldest one.

SO how are Optima batteries for the camper? Is this only a starting battery? I see it talks about Boat and RV too, but that might just mean you CAN, not that its a good battery for RV and drain/charge variations. Any advice here ... thanks B

I can only fit one battery in the boot, so need the best/longest discharge time, no maintenance battery I can get - My Interstate 27 just quit on us after about five years.

Optima red tops are starting batteries, but have a good reserve minute capacity. The yellow and blue tops are deep cycle rv/marine batteries, with better reserve minute capacity. However, I doubt I would spend the rediculous amount of money they want for Optimas now days and they're not as good quality as they once were.

And from my experiences, they weren't very good back then either.
I was able to warranty and get a free replacement 3x in a row on Red tops in my boat. Never made it more than 2 years. Didn't matter hot/cold, maintained off season or not.
The 4th battery somehow was golden. Swapped it from the boat to an old Jeep at about 2 years old. Jeep gets started a half dozen times a year at that and maybe 50 mi of driving. Maintained once in a while when I would remember to. That battery just gave up the ghost this year close to 10 years.
Had 2 blue tops that pulled the 2 years and die routine as well and those sat on smart charger/ maintainers in the off season.

By comparison, I've had a better experience with Odyssey/Die hard Platinum batteries thus far. Have a set of mismatched Odysseys 1 approaching 10 years old, the other is maybe 6? Again swapped out of boat to truck and they've kept the truck going strong.
This truck sometimes gets used daily, sometimes sits for a month.

I have 4, group 31 yellow tops in my boat, bought in 2009.2 batteries are in the rear of the boat and run the 5.7 main engine, sonar, kicker, lights, radio, and 4 electric down riggers. They are still going strong.
The yellow tops in the front of the boat run my electric trolling motor and have been heavily abused.
By my calculations, they have run down to 12.1-2 volts 210 times and are still going strong.Just got back from a fishing trip where I ran the 2 yellow tops down to nearly nothing 10 days in a row. Hooked them up to my 30 amp speed charger for 4-5 hours,took them off the charger when they hit 13.25 volts and they were ready for another day.