New Battery Question....

Ok Thanks to everyone who responded !! You have given me a lot of info to consider and Santa will be bringing me a new Battery for Christmas !!! Merry Christmas to All !

I noticed you got a couple pieces of advice on "trickle charging."

It is just me, but the last thing I would do to a batt is keep it on trickle charging.

However I am a firm believer in the batt maintainer.

Read up on trickle charging before you jump in, then do what makes you feel comfortable.

Hi..I use interstate. I get 4 to 5 years from them... We always stay at campgrounds (full hook up,). In the off season I remove the battery and put it on on trickle. Charge. Jim2007.

theoldwizard1 wrote:

SidecarFlip wrote:
If your converter is charging correctly, you should not have to check the water constantly. I check mine in my flooded cell deep cycle Group 31's every 3 months and I have yet to have to add water though I probably will this spring in as much as the unit is shore powered and in inside storage right now.

Batteries consume water (gas off) only when overcharged or are rapidly discharged. A good converter and reasonable discharge rates and a conventional battery will 'consume' little water.

I have often wondered about this ! I always suspected the "standard" converters (WFCO) were overcharging.

Actually, they undercharge not overcharge and WFCO's are noted for that. I kept mine but installed a Progressive Dynamics front end (it's plug and play) you pull the WFCO guts and replace them with PD guts and you pick up the PD 'Charge Wizard' as well. Mione would struggle to go into bulk mode (14.4 volts all the time) so I replaced / upgraded ir). Best converter sells the upgrade kit and it's worth it in my opinion.

I did it because I want the batteries to 'top off' in a reasonable amount of time when camping off grid and recharging with my generator and the stock WFCO would never top off the batteries, even on genny for 4 hours. Thats important to me because I run 2 CPAP machines mightly and I need full house batteries to do that.

Best I could get (in a reasonable time) was 80% according to my SeeLevel battery gauge. Not acceptable in my case. A few days off grid and I was flirting with 50% charge in the morning. No good.

I know you said you don't boondock but if you have a Residential Refrigerator, you'll need more than one battery for those on the road overnight stops without hookups.

SidecarFlip wrote:
Interestingly, I have 'maintenance free and I check the water anyway. The 'caps' which are actually baffles, pop off to exposed the cells. Takes a second at best...

I do this on my car battery about once a year. Then I wash the outside. If there is any corrosion I use baking soda and water and then a good rinse.

SidecarFlip wrote:
If your converter is charging correctly, you should not have to check the water constantly. I check mine in my flooded cell deep cycle Group 31's every 3 months and I have yet to have to add water though I probably will this spring in as much as the unit is shore powered and in inside storage right now.

Batteries consume water (gas off) only when overcharged or are rapidly discharged. A good converter and reasonable discharge rates and a conventional battery will 'consume' little water.

I have often wondered about this ! I always suspected the "standard" converters (WFCO) were overcharging.

The original battery was probably a Grp 24. Dealers generally install the cheapest (aka 'smallest') battery at delivery. First take a look at the battery box to see if a larger battery will fit. Mine came with a grp 24 battery but a Grp 27 fits easily - so I upgraded to that size.

I personally would still go with a flooded 12 volt battery since you do not dry camp. And as stated above, you only have to check them about every 3 months or so. I would suggest a Grp 27 (as long as it will fit) as that will give you a decent AH increase for very little additional money. One overnight stay while running a furnace can knock down a Grp 24 pretty fast.

If only a Grp 24 will fit, consider getting a new battery box - they're cheap.

Try and get a Deep Cycle battery as they withstand repeated deep discharges far better then a regular starting battery.

I got mine from Walmart - Everstart Grp 27DC for $82 (just looked).

The next step up would be a Grp 29, then Grp 31.

Interestingly, I have 'maintenance free and I check the water anyway. The 'caps' which are actually baffles, pop off to exposed the cells. Takes a second at best...

One Lifeline should work well for you unless conditions turn extreme during the overnight stay in transit.

http://lifelinebatteries.com/products/marine-batteries/gpl-31xt/

For longer life I also recommend a three stage converter if you do not have one already.

http://www.bestconverter.com/4600-series-Upgrade-Kits