I know,I know another Battery question.

[rollieboy]

I know this forum is overloaded with battery questions but I hope our situation is fairly simple. We've got the original Interstate batteries which have served us well. We don't have any solar panels,don't boondock,and have a Champion generator if needed. We stay at places with full hookup and plug in at home where we keep it. I've read a lot of different choices but I'm thinking that a couple options out weigh the others. Thanks in advance and travel safely.

[pcskier]

In your case and type of usage, good old interstates or other deep cycle batteries from Costco is all you need. Anything more is a waste of money if you don't boondock/almost always have hookups. Just take care of them (check water, keep them charged, don't run them down below 12.1 volts or so too often...and they'll last a few years.

[ROBERT CROSS]

How long are you planning to use this AS?

Our two Lifeline AGM batteries tasted 11 Seasons, and now provide B/U for the basement sump pump.
No adding distilled water, no off gassing, no converter upgrades needed.

Bob
🇺🇸

[BayouBiker]

The stock converter is matched to wet cells so that is a factor. Five years is not a bad battery run, but maybe there is more life in them, have you checked the batteries with a load test or hydrometer? Have you equalized charged them ever? Perhaps now is a good time to start.

If you have been and don't mind continuing to check water level regularly and added distilled water when needed and you are careful not to let them discharge below 12.1 volts, stay with wet cells. If it is worth $200 more to you to not have to check water level, AGMs are a choice.

[rollieboy]

My thoughts were to switch over to AGM batteries. Love the unit and don't plan to get rid of it anytime soon.

[rollieboy]

My other question was if it would be wise to change the converter if I switched to AGM's.

[BayouBiker]

I'm not sure I'd go as far as calling it wise. The basic charge modes are similar. The differences are in the maintenance modes.

Then given the description of how you intend to camp, I'd say no. You won't need your batteries to give everything they can. If you decide to go with AGMs it would mostly be for the extra life and ease of use.

[Skyhook]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

How long are you planning to use this AS?

Our two Lifeline AGM batteries tasted 11 Seasons, and now provide B/U for the basement sump pump.
No adding distilled water, no off gassing, no converter upgrades needed.

Bob
🇺🇸

Wow that is amazing! Our two Lifeline AGM batteries that came in our 2019 Flying Cloud lasted less than a year. The manual is woefully lacking in battery maintenance especially AGM. I've had batteries in things for 60 years and have not dealt with the finicky AGM. I guess what we didn't know was that the Airstream has an amount of low amps even when in "storeage" mode. The batteries need to be fully charged and disconnected when storing or the battery will be killed if left to be discharged for a time. The batteries become sulfated. I'm thinking of conventional batteries instead of $600 of AGMs next time. Lessons learned

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Whatever *true* deep cycle battery is on sale this week / next week at Costco pretty much tops the list in this case. They will have the same capacity / expected life as what you have. They will match up with the setup in the trailer.

Indeed you *might* only get 4 years instead of 5. On a "dollars per year" basis that's still very much a winner. Another upside is that if something goes nutty wrong with this or that and the batteries get fried ... less money down the drain.

AGM's will cost noticeably more and (if the others were doing fine) deliver you no real benefit. Lithiums are also wonderful, but again, if what was there worked ok .... not needed in this case.

Bob

[Wazbro]

Frankly with the way you say you use your trailer you could be better off just getting 1 battery. The second only helps by adding capacity for boondocking and quite often when 1 battery dies it kills the second.

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by rollieboy

I know this forum is overloaded with battery questions but I hope our situation is fairly simple. We've got the original Interstate batteries which have served us well. We don't have any solar panels,don't boondock,and have a Champion generator if needed. We stay at places with full hookup and plug in at home where we keep it. I've read a lot of different choices but I'm thinking that a couple options out weigh the others. Thanks in advance and travel safely.

We are pretty much the same, maybe an overnight at Cracker Barrel, Walmart or Cabelas. I got new Lifelines in 2014 and we have a solar panel that keeps them charged up when in storage (provided the building doesn't cast a huge shadow in winter ). I expected them to hold a 12.7 charge but they seem to drop quickly. I have the originals in my garage on a charger in maintenance mode. They drop to 12.4 overnight with no load and I think that's what the newer ones drop to also.

I have had very good luck with Deka deep cycle, which makes Duracell deep cycle batteries sold at Batteries + Bulbs. I use them in my bass boat which is kept in my garage. I put a timer on the charger for a half hour in the morning and evening. I also added independent voltmeters so I can monitor them. I check water levels quarterly. In another year or so I'll replace the Lifelines with Deka deep cycle and pocket the difference.

[rollieboy]

A lot of people seem to lean toward Costco for their batteries. Any particular ones I should zero in on?

[Wayne&Sam]

Originally Posted by pcskier

In your case and type of usage, good old interstates or other deep cycle batteries from Costco is all you need. Anything more is a waste of money if you don't boondock/almost always have hookups. Just take care of them (check water, keep them charged, don't run them down below 12.1 volts or so too often...and they'll last a few years.

This.

[jeffmc306]

Originally Posted by Skyhook

Wow that is amazing! Our two Lifeline AGM batteries that came in our 2019 Flying Cloud lasted less than a year. The manual is woefully lacking in battery maintenance especially AGM. I've had batteries in things for 60 years and have not dealt with the finicky AGM. I guess what we didn't know was that the Airstream has an amount of low amps even when in "storeage" mode. The batteries need to be fully charged and disconnected when storing or the battery will be killed if left to be discharged for a time. The batteries become sulfated. I'm thinking of conventional batteries instead of $600 of AGMs next time. Lessons learned

Skyhook, I hope you contacted Lifeline about the warranty for your dead batteries. They will stand behind them even if they were abused unknowingly. You’ll find their technical manual for the batteries here.

The “finicky” part is they shouldn’t be discharged over 50%. That’s true for flooded acid batteries as well. Airstream should install a device like the Victron BVM-712 in all units to let the owner know where they’re at rather than just a useless voltage readout. Knowledge is power. Some will draw down their batteries below 50% knowing they’re shortening the life and accept that.

We had a set of Interstate lead acid batteries in our first Airstream. Two sets if you could the replacements because they got abused before we took delivery. I do not miss having to keep a bottle of distilled water onboard and check them regularly. Our Lifeline AGM’s are zero maintenance.

Another way to lengthen the life of lead acid/AGM batteries is to use a PulseTech battery charger that desulfates batteries. This one will manage two 12V batteries in parallel at the same time. I use one during off-season storage to keep them in good shape. You could call it “battery maintenance” I guess.

[Beewee]

I bought two Duracell deep cycle AGM batteries at Batteries + Bulbs for $480 in October when ours old non-AGMs died on the start of a road trip. 10% off when you buy online and pickup in a store. Love the no-maintenance.

Use them in my street legal golf cart, too, and those have performed way better than the old lead-acid painfulness.

[rollieboy]

Beewee,
Mind asking if you had to make any other changes or just swapped out the batteries. I'm a very handy guy but electrical has never been my forte.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by rollieboy

A lot of people seem to lean toward Costco for their batteries. Any particular ones I should zero in on?

Hi

It's not the brand in this case it's the price. They rotate what's on sale month to month. They also *seem* to put some things on sale in one region, but not in the whole country. The "recommendation" is simply to get a cheap generic deep cycle RV battery. You are buying "generic" not a brand name.

The gotcha is that "ok, here's the list for today". That's great, but it's entirely the wrong list by next week. It also *may* be a fine list for Pennsylvania, but completely useless in Arizona.

The one thing you want to avoid are batteries that are not rated for deep cycle use. They may say RV on them, but you also need "deep cycle" in the ratings. Without that, they likely will not stand up to the sort of use we put them to.

Bob

[Beewee]

Originally Posted by rollieboy

Beewee,
Mind asking if you had to make any other changes or just swapped out the batteries. I'm a very handy guy but electrical has never been my forte.

We simply replaced them. No mods to AS.

[Rich W]

Here's a link to a site that lists battery manufacturers, brands and contacts. It looks like Interstate makes the Costco Kirkland batteries. Interstate makes a lot of different brands of batteries, like most of the others. Private branding, where a company will take a trademarked name like Kirkland, Die Hard, etc., is common. These brands can be made by different companies under different contracts in different locations, primarily to reduce shipping costs.

http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/batbrand.htm

[rmkrum]

I went with two GC-2 6 volt golf cart batteries in series from Sam’s Club. They just fit in my aftermarket battery box.