cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

What battery should I buy?

jstaffon
Explorer
Explorer
My new Rockwood came with two Exide batteries, 12v wired in parallel. I've thought about going to 6 volt batteries in series but they are too heavy for me to lift in and out of my 5th wheel...not to mention the cost. I'm interested in everyone's opinion on the best brand and configuration. I've looked at Trojan 27TMX and SCS225 and other brands like Interstate and Exide. Haven't been too impressed with my current Exides. Someone also told me about "Deka Marine/RV" but haven't ever heard of it. Any thoughts and opinions would be greatly appreciated.
2020 GMC Sierra 3500HD Denali, Duramax
2016 Forest River Rockwood 8299BS

Jeff
Idaho Falls, Idaho
---
24 REPLIES 24

pianotuna
Nomad III
Nomad III
If using 12 volt batteries it is important to wire them in a balanced manner.
Regards, Don
My ride is a 28 foot Class C, 256 watts solar, 556 amp-hours of Telcom jars, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter, Sola Basic Autoformer, Microair Easy Start.

jstaffon
Explorer
Explorer
marcsbigfoot20b27 wrote:
How much money is too much for a battery? as in what is your budget per battery?
Why do you have to move the batteries so much? .....to fill them with water?

For $180 each you can get an AGM deep cycle 105 amp hour 12 volt made by East Penn/Dekka that has almost ZERO maintenance and is more forgiving than flooded batteries....made in USA.


I guess I don't move them much but when I do move them it's very hard for me to bend over with that much weight. I've had a couple back surgeries. I guess the more I think about it, I only moved them in my old camper. My new Rockwood has a switch to isolate the camper from the batteries so I can leave them in the camper. $180/each is well within my budget. Would the DC31DT be a comparable battery?
2020 GMC Sierra 3500HD Denali, Duramax
2016 Forest River Rockwood 8299BS

Jeff
Idaho Falls, Idaho
---

babock
Explorer
Explorer
jstaffon wrote:
I've thought about going to 6 volt batteries in series but they are too heavy for me to lift in and out of my 5th wheel
They really only need to be put in once and then removed years later when they need to be replaced.

jstaffon
Explorer
Explorer
rjxj wrote:
I think many GC2 are 62-65 pounds and 12 volts are probably about the same. Biggest issue with gc2 is head room. How are you using you RV? In campgrounds a lot? How much dry camping? How much inverting?


During the winter we spend our time in RV Resorts. During the spring through fall we dry camp. We go several times during the summer for about a week at a time. I have a 100W portable solar system and a Honda generator to keep the batteries topped off the best I can. We don't do any inverter stuff when we dry camp.
2020 GMC Sierra 3500HD Denali, Duramax
2016 Forest River Rockwood 8299BS

Jeff
Idaho Falls, Idaho
---

marcsbigfoot20b
Explorer
Explorer
How much money is too much for a battery? as in what is your budget per battery?
Why do you have to move the batteries so much? .....to fill them with water?

For $180 each you can get an AGM deep cycle 105 amp hour 12 volt made by East Penn/Dekka that has almost ZERO maintenance and is more forgiving than flooded batteries....made in USA.

KD4UPL
Explorer
Explorer
If you always camp with hookups then just get 1 cheap 12v battery. If you camp a lot with no place to plug in then 6v would be the way to go.
I really like Deka batteries we use them a lot in the solar systems we build. I've installed literally hundreds of them with good results.

dclark1946
Explorer
Explorer
I have been using Trojan SCS series batteries since 2005. They are higher quality, weight and AH capacity compared to generic 12V deep cycle batteries. They do of course cost more. We do fine with a single SCS 200 when we dry camp for 2 weeks. We need 12V power for fans, water pump, fridge etc. No inverter use and we charge daily.
Dick & Karen
Richardson,TX
2017 KZ Spree 263RKS
09 F250 V10

azrving
Explorer
Explorer
I think many GC2 are 62-65 pounds and 12 volts are probably about the same. Biggest issue with gc2 is head room. How are you using you RV? In campgrounds a lot? How much dry camping? How much inverting?

Grateful_Camper
Explorer
Explorer
I prefer interstates. I have used them for years in my boats now campers. IMO they are the best bang for your buck. When I went up to a group 29 on my pop up, I went with exide. After a year, it would not raise the roof - switched back to interstate and never had that problem again.

Lwiddis
Explorer II
Explorer II
The Trojan SCS225 weighs 66 pounds while T105 comes in 62 so why are you considering the SCS225? The Trojan 27TMX Is 55 however.
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad