Battery Recommendation

[ericosmith]

I have a 15 year old Bristol Bay that needs a new battery(s). I've been running 2 T-105s in series but they fit so tight in my battery box that I welded a wrench to one the last time I tried to remove them for the Michigan winter. That being the case I need something new and preferably something that I can just leave in place year round without the need for maintenance. I'll probably keep the unit no more than 5 more years so I'm not interested in spending a lot. I dry camp for 5 days a couple of times each summer but don't have anything that draws a lot of 12v current. I also have an Honda 2000 that I use off and on to maintain a charge. Suggestions?

[JUSTWORK]

Odyssey!

[Cummins12V98]

Anything East Penn made. Deka is one and many Napa, AutoZone batteries are made by them.

[laknox]

FWIW, given my charging issues last summer, and the fact that I have power where I store my rig, I just got a cheap lamp timer and plugged it in between the extesion cord and the 50/120 dogbone. Set it so that it charges 2 hours a day. Rig is covered, so no weather issues for the timer.

Lyle

[hondapro]

Do you have room to attach a pigtail to the terminals? A battery tender comes with a pigtail that you can attach to the terminals and leave it attached then you just plug the battery tender charger into the pigtail.

[ericosmith]

I might be able to fit a watering system in if I found some shorter batteries than the T-105s but that still doesn't get me through the winter. I'm not sure how I can keep them from freezing without being able to charge them. Or perhaps the charge will last through the winter?

[Sandia_Man]

My battery storage bay is pretty tight as well, a common design by most RV manufacturers. No biggie as we have installed watering system that does not overfill battery cells, which is the main culprit leading to excessive corrosion of battery posts. We average 8 years on our GC2 batteries from Samclub regardless of labeling, don't plan on purchasing any newer tech batteries until prices are comparable. For the 15 minutes I spend on watering/cleaning batteries twice a year, I am able to purchase a new set for less $$$ than fuel for a single RVing trip, hard to beat for 8 years of reliable 12 volt reserves.

[laknox]

C Schomer wrote:
Mine also fit really tight in the battery box so I tape my wrenches and I use a water fill system to keep them filled. T 105s are hard to beat. My Walmart golf cart batteries are about four years old. They had two sizes of them and I got the bigger ones and I think the specs were nearly identical to the T 105‘s. They are holding up very well. Craig

I've been using the Sam's / Costco 6v golf cart batteries for years with good success on 2 different FWs. My newer KZ, though, needs to have the power converter replaced since it cooked my last set of batteries in < 2 years after leaving it plugged in for the summer at my sister-in-law's house while my wife worked there, out of the PHX heat.

Lyle

[Lwiddis]

The prices for two new Trojan T-105s rivals a 200 AH Lithium. A number of brands are available on Amazon. I'm happy with my new Lithium battery.

[CA_Traveler]

There are a variety of GC2s along with a watering system will be low maintenance. To eliminate maintenance use a higher cost AGM. Remove the negative battery cable first and attach last will just about eliminate a wrench short. A switch on the battery post can help with storage to remove ALL loads.

My switch and battery monitor shunt.

[C_Schomer]

Mine also fit really tight in the battery box so I tape my wrenches and I use a water fill system to keep them filled. T 105s are hard to beat. My Walmart golf cart batteries are about four years old. They had two sizes of them and I got the bigger ones and I think the specs were nearly identical to the T 105‘s. They are holding up very well. Craig