Made a poor decision today on batteries...

[Bill M.]

Sort of a frustration post. Spent a lot of time looking at different battery decisions. Finally decided what I wanted to do. Two good choices, actually. Lifeline or AGM from Batteries and bulbs. But...nobody here or at Amazon has batteries in stock. Batteries and bulbs would not even take an order on their brand or on the Lifeline. So I went to Walmart and bought a pair of deep cycle flooded cell group 27 batteries. The only 2 in stock at the 2 Walmarts I went to. Walmart website said that they are 109 amp batteries. Pretty darn good, eh. They are what I had in the trailer before. Sorta cheap. $82. But when I got them home and installed them I read the fine print and checked some reviews. Walmart lies about the rating. They say 109 amp hours. Yeah, at 1 amp discharge instead of 5 amp. So I have a new pair of probably about 60 amp hour batteries. I was hoping to do better At least now I understand why I have to run the generator so much to keep the batteries up.

Certainly a big sting to my pride to find I was take in so easily by a catalog description,

Going to use them until people restock and I can buy some better ones. Maybe I can keep the fridge and WH on and get a night on my CPAP. I do not have any planned boon docking this summer yet. At least they will make a good core charge.

[Wayne&Sam]

I also just had to buy new batteries and had trouble finding them in stock.

I did find AGMs at NAPA Auto. About $225 each for 79Ah batteries. Lifelines are 80Ah and all the others I saw were way lower.

[DKB_SATX]

In college one of my jobs was at Wal-Mart. considering the amount of stuff they don't even sell that they would take back, you can probably return your day-old batteries. It's worth asking them at least...

I have had good luck so far with the Group24 flooded Interstates I got at Costco 3 years ago... about the same price that you paid for those Group27s.

[kidjedi]

AGM's are out of stock everywhere. Return those lead acid batteries to WakMart and go pick up two 6v Golf Cart batteries to run in series (12v). It's the best "cheap" option there is.

edit: I was going to correct my WalMart typo, but now I'm deciding WakMart is better.

[Ch47d1sg]

Originally Posted by Bill M.

Sort of a frustration post. Spent a lot of time looking at different battery decisions. Finally decided what I wanted to do. Two good choices, actually. Lifeline or AGM from Batteries and bulbs. But...nobody here or at Amazon has batteries in stock. Batteries and bulbs would not even take an order on their brand or on the Lifeline. So I went to Walmart and bought a pair of deep cycle flooded cell group 27 batteries. The only 2 in stock at the 2 Walmarts I went to. Walmart website said that they are 109 amp batteries. Pretty darn good, eh. They are what I had in the trailer before. Sorta cheap. $82. But when I got them home and installed them I read the fine print and checked some reviews. Walmart lies about the rating. They say 109 amp hours. Yeah, at 1 amp discharge instead of 5 amp. So I have a new pair of probably about 60 amp hour batteries. I was hoping to do better At least now I understand why I have to run the generator so much to keep the batteries up.

Certainly a big sting to my pride to find I was take in so easily by a catalog description,

Going to use them until people restock and I can buy some better ones. Maybe I can keep the fridge and WH on and get a night on my CPAP. I do not have any planned boon docking this summer yet. At least they will make a good core charge.

You should check the classifieds here. There are several for sale

[vintage6t]

I'd just use them until things settle down and what you really want becomes easier to get. I'm sure even after a year you can sell them used for half or more of your purchase price. I know they are deep cycle but people are always looking for good used batteries.

[Bill M.]

I decided agains the 6 volt option because I did not want to rewire the trailer. Was looking for a easy way for more power. Now that I understand the 6 volt option better it might get reconsidered. I can get a group 31 into my battery holder so the BB were 105 amp for about $260. Lifeline lists a 125 amp group 31xt at about $500. That is better than you get with golf cart batteries, I think. Part of my stumble was I was hesitant to order batteries on line. I was going to order the Lifeline from BB too. I do not really like flooded cell batteries and was willing to pay a premium for AGM. Now I am looking at the purchase of the Walmart batteries as a shanked 10 yard punt and I will revisit things in a couple off months. New poor batteries are bound to be better than 3 year old poor batteries that have been discharged deep a few times. I just view the $170 as a penalty for being hesitant at the wrong time. Lithium batteries may get back on the table. Uncle Bob's suggestion of 1 lithium to replace 2 lead acids might be an option too. But...rewiring will be required. Right now I am going to reserve sites with power and camp some. Maybe talk batteries with people at the International Rally. And....I am going to hook up my CPAP and get some actual measurements of consumption instead of guessing like I have done so far. Right now it looks like the generator has to run a couple of hours every day after the second day.

I think I a also going to join COSTCO. Might be worth it just to look at batteries. I read so much about their sales.

[bweybright]

I work for an autoparts store chain. There is a true shortage of AGM batteries. We are selling a ton to a place that only does hybrid battery replacements because they can't get them from their regular supplier so take every one we can get them when they come in to us. I really hate it when I have to deliver 12 agm batteries on one run...... So if you see them that fit your needs I suggest snagging them.

[bweybright]

Now also keep in mind that hybrid and electric is the "wave of the future and our salvation" so pump some new batteries into that vehicle when it runs out at the next battery station and you will be good to go......something is wrong with the "wave of the future" supply chain right about now.
Actually I did read where there is a startup that is based on battery replacement stations. Trying to get venture capital money as I write.

[Wayne&Sam]

Originally Posted by bweybright

Now also keep in mind that hybrid and electric is the "wave of the future and our salvation"

But they don't use AGMs, flooded batteries or even the Lithium batteries we use in Airstreams.

[Wayne&Sam]

Originally Posted by kidjedi

AGM's are out of stock everywhere.

In many places, yes. But I got two delivered to my local NAPA Auto parts in a couple of days.

[ZOZ]

I just replaced the Interstate SRM-24s that came stock with my 2018 FC23FB with two new ones for $200 and one of the originals was VG on a load tester. The LifeLine GPL-24T (AGM) are $312 each. No AGM is three times the cost of an Interstate battery.

I'll check the fluid monthly for that cost savings.

zoz

[Daquenzer]

Originally Posted by ZOZ

I just replaced the Interstate SRM-24s that came stock with my 2018 FC23FB with two new ones for $200 and one of the originals was VG on a load tester. The LifeLine GPL-24T (AGM) are $312 each. No AGM is three times the cost of an Interstate battery.

I'll check the fluid monthly for that cost savings.

zoz

I agree. I just keep a trickle charger on the batteries and check fluids regularly.

[TerraYacht]

I did not dig in to what happens if you try and order but Mr. Google showed several sources for Lifelines. My repair shop installed mine a few months ago along with an updated Parallax multi-stage charger so I don't continue to boil batteries dry. The 100 watt solar now means I don't have to plug in the TerraYacht while in storage.

[Shiny16]

Originally Posted by Bill M.

I decided agains the 6 volt option because I did not want to rewire the trailer. Was looking for a easy way for more power. Now that I understand the 6 volt option better it might get reconsidered. I can get a group 31 into my battery holder so the BB were 105 amp for about $260. Lifeline lists a 125 amp group 31xt at about $500. That is better than you get with golf cart batteries, I think. Part of my stumble was I was hesitant to order batteries on line. I was going to order the Lifeline from BB too. I do not really like flooded cell batteries and was willing to pay a premium for AGM. Now I am looking at the purchase of the Walmart batteries as a shanked 10 yard punt and I will revisit things in a couple off months. New poor batteries are bound to be better than 3 year old poor batteries that have been discharged deep a few times. I just view the $170 as a penalty for being hesitant at the wrong time. Lithium batteries may get back on the table. Uncle Bob's suggestion of 1 lithium to replace 2 lead acids might be an option too. But...rewiring will be required. Right now I am going to reserve sites with power and camp some. Maybe talk batteries with people at the International Rally. And....I am going to hook up my CPAP and get some actual measurements of consumption instead of guessing like I have done so far. Right now it looks like the generator has to run a couple of hours every day after the second day.

I think I a also going to join COSTCO. Might be worth it just to look at batteries. I read so much about their sales.

If you install 2 6 volts in series do you really need to re wire anything in the trailer?

[Bill M.]

I guess not. You would have to run a wire between the battery boxes and then just do not use one of the positives and one of the negatives. That still might be an option. I think I am done with it until this fall.

Incidentally, I tried hard to compare the Interstate flooded cell and the Walmart flooded cell. The common number I could find to compare is that they both have 160 reserve min at 25 amps. So I expect they are both about the same in capacity. 100 amp hour flooded cells do not seem to be real common. If I had realized the difference I would have bought the flooded cells at BB for this year. But I do not think they were in stock either.

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by Shiny16

If you install 2 6 volts in series do you really need to re wire anything in the trailer?

In the 88 or 87 AS in his signature not everything but yes some, two separate battery boxes built into front of trailer. The actual wiring fairly is easy, once you get to it. In my trailer you would need to remove the couch to get to it.

[Bill M.]

To actually get to the battery wiring you would need to remove the interior skin and maybe the belly skin. Removing the couch just gets you to the converter and the back of the battery boxes. The battery wires disappear into the area between the skins. The battery cables look light pretty light wire for that usage. I changed the converter but just used the wires to the old one.

[Mark of SJC]

Originally Posted by DKB_SATX

In college one of my jobs was at Wal-Mart. considering the amount of stuff they don't even sell that they would take back, you can probably return your day-old batteries. It's worth asking them at least...

I have had good luck so far with the Group24 flooded Interstates I got at Costco 3 years ago... about the same price that you paid for those Group27s.

I just bought them at Costco last month for something like $73 each. This is my "stop gap" until I take the lithium plunge (one had shorted out internally and created all sorts of havoc!)

[Jerrylax]

Perhaps look for 6 volt AGMS…we have two sets… a lot of capacity.