May have to replace my House Batteries, what's good?

[supercub]

I have 4, 6V house batteries. I may need to replace them in the near future. What's good? Gel Cells? AGM's or ?? What about amp hour rating? Thanks
Brian PS, I have a 2000 watt invertor.

[hohenwald48]

DSDP Don wrote:
Brian....What do you have now? If they worked well, why not replace with the same thing. Makes life easier.

Personally, I like the Interstate or Trojan batteries. Lifeline if I had a need for something that exotic.

I always ask this question....if the doctor had your chest cracked and was installing a pace maker, which Costco battery would you have him chose.....the Duracells or the Kirklands.

Remember, next to your engine, the batteries are the second most important component when it comes to powering your coach.

I think your analogy only applies if dead coach batteries are fatal. For most of us that's not the case. 🙂

Additionally, 95% of batteries are made by Exide, Delphi and Johnson Controls. Johnson Controls makes the batteries sold by Duralast, Diehard and Kirkland and other brand names.

[w4phj]

I've been happy with my inexpensive GC-2's from Sam's.

Make sure that the battery caps are compatible with the connection wiring. I found that the "ganged" caps couldn't be used because of clearance problems so I installed conventional individual bright yellow caps.

[chuckftboy]

I'm a fan of Trojan T-105 Plus. Always figured you get what you pay for. Mine are 6 years old and still doing fine. But then, I usally buy Oddsey starting batteries for my vehicles. Makes the price of T-105's seem inexpensive.

[DSDP_Don]

Brian....What do you have now? If they worked well, why not replace with the same thing. Makes life easier.

Personally, I like the Interstate or Trojan batteries. Lifeline if I had a need for something that exotic.

I always ask this question....if the doctor had your chest cracked and was installing a pace maker, which Costco battery would you have him chose.....the Duracells or the Kirklands.

Remember, next to your engine, the batteries are the second most important component when it comes to powering your coach.

[pianotuna]

Hi gary,

Therefore you can only use two six volt jars. That is quite limiting from a capacity point of view. Better to go with an 8D AGM 12 volt.

I successfully use 12 volt jars in parallel. It matters how they are wired.

garymunson wrote:
6 volts are the best to use for RV duty (wired in series). No battery performs at it's best wired in parallel with another matching battery because as they age, the difference in voltage between the two produces a constant current flow between them resulting in a constant charging situation as one discharges the other.

[time2roll]

Costco and low cost Sam's are about 208 amp hours. Excellent for the price.
If you need capacity get the Sam's Gold GC2 for 232 amp hours.

[msmith1199]

I vote for the Costco golf cart batteries. I bought 4 about three years ago and they're still going strong. Can't beat them for the price.

[prstlk]

Costco 65 each after core no problems in our full time rig

[hohenwald48]

Be careful to not over analyze. Go to Sam's or Costco and get some reasonably priced batteries and get back to camping. 🙂

[Snomas]

I used Costco golf cart batteries.I replaced them w/the exact same size!

[garymunson]

6 volts are the best to use for RV duty (wired in series). No battery performs at it's best wired in parallel with another matching battery because as they age, the difference in voltage between the two produces a constant current flow between them resulting in a constant charging situation as one discharges the other. Golf cart batteries are capable of lasting a LONG time but, forgotten under the steps, don't get taken care of like they should. They need to be checked for water on a regular basis and the tops and terminals kept clean. People always used to talk about how setting a battery on concrete would 'draw the electricity out of it'. That's not exactly true, but, sitting on a cold surface will discharge a battery. As batteries charge, they 'boil off' electrolyte. If you remove the cap of a charging battery, you will see it bubbling. The fumes will vent out of the battery and some will condense on the top of it. Over a period of time, it builds up and, if the battery is colder than surrounding air (which sitting on concrete overnight generally causes this condition since the concrete will be at earth temperature), moisture can condense as dew on the battery top. When this happens, the combination dirt/moisture/electrolyte becomes a conductor and the battery will discharge across it's top. Using a digital meter, you can measure the voltage by putting the negative lead on the negative battery post and touching the positive lead to the crud. You will read a voltage! This is why it is so important to keep the tops of your batteries clean! The harder you use them, the more condensed electrolyte is formed and, un-maintained, the faster they will self-discharge across the dirty top. Any battery only has so many charge/discharge cycles until the electrodes get 'worn out' so minimizing the charging/discharging by keeping the tops clean is vital for getting the most out of batteries. I'd bet most of you reading this will find the tops of their batteries dirty if you go out and pull the step..

[pianotuna]

Hi,

The real answer is "it depends".

If you are like me and use your inverter LOTS then 12 volt jars may be better.

If you go AGM because of low maintenance be aware that charge protocols need to be followed "to the letter". There is essentially no difference between 6 and 12 volt jars in agm chemistries, but the 12 volt will double the number of cells and may be better for heavy inverter use. You could do a lot worse than two 12 volt 8D agm's.

If you boondock and have some solar the batteries will last a lot longer. My banks are 5 and 9 years old now and still meet my needs.

If you have deep pockets, then consider LI technology. It saves on weight but again--you need deep pockets.

So, examine your camping style and then pick a battery type.

[Crespro]

My six-volt deep cycle batteries were eight years old, so I decided to replace them. IMHO it was time to move to sealed batteries without maintenance and without corrosion issues. So I ordered three (the size that fit my compartment) and a rubber exercise pad that I cut to fit on all four sides. I also ordered heavy-duty battery cables, with three positive and three negative the same size that connect for a balanced load.


Clicky

[J-Rooster]

Brian, I can't help you on the Gel Cell! I just installed my Interstate Gel Cell 4 months ago! My last batteries I got 4 years and 2 months life. I'm trying to get 5 years with the Gel Cell!