What battery should I buy?

[jstaffon]

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.

[pianotuna]

If using 12 volt batteries it is important to wire them in a balanced manner.

[jstaffon]

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?

[babock]

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]

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.

[marcsbigfoot20b]

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]

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]

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.

[azrving]

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]

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]

The Trojan SCS225 weighs 66 pounds while T105 comes in 62 so why are you considering the SCS225? The Trojan 27TMX Is 55 however.