Deep cycle batteries

Connor24 wrote:
I use it for lights and refrige while boondocking. Refrige running on gas.

Hi,

No one asked yet, and you did not state, so in case you did not know,

Regardless of what battery you get, if you are using the battery for lighting while boondocking, I suggest if you are on incandescent 921 light bulbs, convert them to LED lights. Many, if not all, older campers were set up on incandescent 921 light bulbs. You can save 4 to 5 times the power, per bulb, by converting to LED.

Only asking "the best brand" questions leaves a lot of info out of the answers you will get. Nowadays, many folks are converting to more expensive battery technology to get other benefits from the battery that fits their camping needs. Converting to the new Lithium or other technologies costs more, gives other benefits, and the brand's change. The brand alone does not indicate what you need to get good service for how you use your camper.

If you stay with older technology and go with lead acid deep cycle batteries or a Marine/deep cycle (if you cannot get a true deep cycle,) the cost is less, and they can last a long time if the battery is maintained and used correctly.

I have not leaped yet to the new technology; I do not use an inverter, but I have a slide motor and a power tongue jack to run when boondocking. I am still on the old-school lead acid batteries and use and maintain them to get the longest life. Only draw down to 50% state of charge before recharging, use a good power converter with a desulfation mode, keep the electrolyte level where it needs to be, and when not camping, put the batteries on a battery maintainer with desulfation mode to keep the batteries stored at 100% state of charge. We also camp in freezing weather but plugged into shore power.

For our needs, we boondock using 2, group 27 marine/deep cycle batteries connected in a balanced configuration from Walmart. Johnson Controls makes them. The set I load-tested last week comes up with the marine cracking amps still above the rated batteries from my Walmart batteries installed in 2014. That is nine years from a Walmart set of batteries. The first set went seven years, and I changed them due to age, as I did not have a load tester then. They fit our needs and do not cost that much. But you must use and maintain them to get this kind of life out of them.



Suggest figuring out your battery use requirements and how to use and maintain them properly. Then figure out what cost and style battery fit your needs. On the older technology of LA batteries, most die a short death mainly from improper use and no battery maintenance. Some brands may handle more abuse than others.

Hope this helps

John