Best Battery

[tnickels]

Simple question...I have a 2006 Airstream Bambi. Want to have some back up 12 volt batteries. What would you suggest as to the brand name of best battery? Thanks, Tom

Also, is there a way to confirm that when trailer is plugged into tow vehicle that is in fact charging the batteries ?

[JackMac]

Hello, I have no preference for name brand batteries, but have found over the years with many autos and motorcycles, that none seem to be any better than others. I have had good luck with batteries from Batteries Plus, and they are less expensive.

As for your battery charging, plug the trailer into the tow vehicle, and with the TV engine running, measure the voltage at the battery terminals. It should read approx. 14.5 volts. It takes 14.5 volts to properly charge a 12 volt battery.

[Kajtek1]

If the have the space, nothing beats golf cart batteries in RV. You need 2 and Sam's sells them for about $65.
Costco is selling automotive batteries with 100 months warranty and they really last.

[markdoane]

LOL! On these forums, there are no simple questions, and certainly no simple answers.

I would say buy a Rolls if price is no object. But then, why would you pay a couple of hundred $$ for a "back-up" battery.

The best combination of power and value is a Trojan.

Or maybe you would prefer an AGM battery? Lifeline batteries seem to be the preferred brand.

[Kajtek1]

Trojan battery bis having good ratings, but when I researched them, all golf cart dealers in my county dropped Trojan for poor customer service.
Sure picking up $60 battery at local Sam's beat driving 40 miles for $120 Trojans.

[campadk]

Originally Posted by tnickels

Also, is there a way to confirm that when trailer is plugged into tow vehicle that is in fact charging the batteries ?

Install a Link 10 monitor. It will answer all your charging / discharging questions. There are other similar products to choose from as well.

See Xantrex Technology Inc. - Link 10 - Product Information

[mandolindave]

The world of batteries according to Dave...........

1) The most expensive high performance auto batteries usually don't outlive the medium priced medium performance auto batteries. The expensive batts use thinner plates to achieve better performance. ( studies show )

2) Don't mix old and new batts even if they are the same model.

3) Auto batts can be run down from 10 to 20 times before they are shot.
Auto batts don't usually get run down very many times. Trojans and Optima AGMs can be run down several hundred times.

I use Trojan golf cart batteries because the are cheap, and they perform
I use Optimas AGMs because they don't need venting, and they perform

[Dwight]

I have 8 of the Optima group 27 D31M batteries and they have worked great and no venting.

[lewster]

lifeline !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[azflycaster]

Originally Posted by lewster

lifeline !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ditto.

[bryanl]

Not a bad start! We have the TDCGC (true deep cycle golf cart) and AGM (Lifeline. Optima) advocates in early. This can get interesting ;-)

Dave has some good observations.

What you should look for in batteries is a reputable retailer who will stand behind warranties and sells a lot of batteries. Get the biggest that will fit. Get batteries rated for RV/Marine deep cycle type use. Get enough battery so you don't run them down more than 50% before recharging. Don't get so much battery that you don't normally discharge less than 15%.

The first place to put your money, though, is in a good converter and battery maintainer. You want an intelligent 3 stage charger with storage maintenance features that minimize sulfation. The WFCO and PD+ChargeWizard are two examples. The Battery Minder Plus is an example of a maintainer only that has a desulfation technique.

There are only a few manufacturers for these batteries and it is a mature business. They all produce good batteries. Which battery you get in a particular line is going to make more difference than which brand name you go for.

If you want a long and happy relationship with your batteries, don't abuse them.

[Kajtek1]

Originally Posted by Leipper

If you want a long and happy relationship with your batteries, don't abuse them.

On the contrary, I have experience that batteries are like women.
Good treatment doesn't make good relation.
I used to have diesel wagon with 2 batteries. I bought a pair of batteries for it, but about 3 years later famous Oldsmobile 350 diesel gave up.
So after junking the wagon I separated the batteries. One went on the shelf where was regularly charged, the other to my wife car.
My wife was abusing the battery quite a bit. Once she went shopping and 3 hr later I've got a call that she forgot about headlights. When I arrived even the dashboard lights would not glow. The battery survived that just fine.
About year later she drove the car on rainy Saturday afternoon with lights on and parked it at house. Following morning we couldn't turn the engine for church trip (about 18 hr battery was shorted) . I jumped the battery from another battery and drove to the church. The battery survived that.
So the battery babied on the shelf died in about 5 years, while the one shorted several times gave us 7 years of service.

[bryanl]

ya' know, it really gets amazing how far some go to create a contest - or is there perhaps a misunderstanding here?

What you illustrate is that float service is indeed more abusive than occasional deep discharges. That is well known.

Yes indeed abuse your batteries: run them down dead regularly; let them sit for weeks in a discharged state at desert temperatures; overcharge regularly and don't keep the electrolyte level up; -- you really think that is the way to getting the longest life and best service from a battery?

The data I have seen is that more than 80% of battery failures are due to sulfation. Whether this aging is nominal, premature, or whatever, it is reduced by not abusing your batteries.

When you buy a new battery, one thing you really need to look for is the manufacturer's date code. The longer that battery has sat being babied on the shelf waiting for you to buy it, the more abused it is in starting its service with you.

Lead acid batteries need proper care. That means that discharge cycles bring them down at least 15% but no more than 50%. That means that they are recharged promptly, vigorously, and properly. That means that they are given sulfation prevention charging if not in use for more than a couple of weeks. That means that they are not overcharged or held at too high a float so electrolyte loss is minimized. That means distilled water is used if necessary to keep the elelctrolyte above the plates and below the fill tube. That means that they are not subject to hot conditions.

I would really like to know what it is about my message that prompts an immediate " On the contrary" response. I tried to offer something useful, pertinent to the thread, well known, well founded, and well accepted yet the first response does not even make a base attempt to find anything constructive? Maybe I am getting oversensitive but, good grief, what do I do that stimulates this sort of thing? I'd like to think I am contributing something worthwhile and responses like this hurt.

update: edited to fix a few typos, probably still a few more. must be upset. time to take a break

[Kajtek1]

You sound like "don't confuse me with the facts, I have my mind already set"
Nothing personal, but facts are facts. To add to my point, this winter I went to my motorhome storage. Turned out that although I pulled the main switch off, the engine 2 batteries got discharged by electronic circuit. Don't know for how long they have been shorted, but I parked the motorhome 3 months earlier.
The 5-years old Costco batteries charged back to full performance.
How is that tor the theory? Nothing personal, I know "scientific research" as well.

[bryanl]

You sound like "don't confuse me with the facts, I have my mind already set"

and "nothing personal" on top of that.

just what fact is it in my posts that causes you to assert that I am a bigot? did you even consider any other alternative?

It is well known that float service is abusive to lead acid batteries. Look for threads about how the old style converters often fried batteries, for instance.

Also, one example does not deny a statistical average, a generalization.

I suggested a means to constructively interpret your experience and you again come back with a personally abusive response.

I see this so often I wonder just what it is I say that stimulates such a response - one that doesn't even interpret the words I say in their common meaning.

Why do people have to attack others in these forums trying to contribute to a conversation with responses such as " On the contrary" and personal accusations (complete with denials)?

Why not look at your experience and try to fit it into the conversation instead of attacking someone? I did not deny or denigrate your experience, question your facts, or impugn your character. Instead, I tried to further define what I meant by abuse and to fit your experience into the general statement that you contested.

Again, what facts are supposedly confusing me? The fact that you can run a battery dead once or twice and not totally kill it? The fact that you can sit a battery on a shelf with a trickle charger and significantly shorten its life?

Is it possible to have a polite conversation around here without this kind of hostile response?

They wonder why there are so many lurkers in forums like this. Who'd want to chip in when there is such a risk that someone will jump all over them without even trying to see if their perceptions were on base? Why participate in a conversation with others who just don't care how much hurt they cause?

[Kajtek1]

Sorry if the way I presented the fact offended you. Occasionally I am guilty of "spicing" the discussion, but that wasn't mine intention here.

[tnickels]

Thanks for all the advise, Tom

[Wayne&Sam]

Originally Posted by tnickels

Simple question...

OK, by now you get the idea that there are none.

I suggest your next question be about the proper tow vehicle, balancing your running gear or politics.

[BobbyW]

Originally Posted by Wayne&Sam

OK, by now you get the idea that there are none.

I suggest your next question be about the proper tow vehicle, balancing your running gear or politics.

....Or motor oil for your Tow Vehicle.

[davidz71]

I had good luck with a set of Delco Voyager deep cycle grp 27 batteries made for RVs. They were installed in a '77 Excella 500 31' for 4 years without problems. Charging was done only by a BatteryMinder unit while at home or a Pulse Tech Solargizer 5 watt solar charger. This trailer spent months at a time in a deer camp with no shore power yet was used Fri. evening, Sat. and up to Sunday afternoon before leaving. A number of times I spent 4 days in the trailer before going home. Granted, I used lights sparingly and the '77 unit had no battery draw from the RM100 Dometic refrigerator, radio display or propane detector like you have today. I've heard that some people have used this maintenance free (not sealed) for up to 10 years before they failed. I believe it. I'm currently using one Trojan 27TMH with good results in my '86 Sovereign.