New Replacement Batteries

[NavyCorpsman]

Originally Posted by lewster

Interesting that I replace more Interstates due to premature failure than any other brand.

Just sayin'..............


Lew Farber
RVIA/RVDA Nationally Certified Master Tech
Master Tech Energy Systems, Inc.
AM Solar Certified Installation Center
Lifeline Batteries**Magnum Inverters
541-490-6357

Don't know what to say... I have a 7 year old interstate in my 72 Sprint, 3y/o in my Suzuki DR650, Honda Goldwing, FSuperduty, and Yukon.
The original purchase for the GMC Sprint had a cell go bad, and was the easiest exchange I have ever made on anything. I use to buy WalMart PowerMaxx, and they just didn't last. It was a one hour process to swap it out. Batteries are imperfect at best, and there will be issues with any brand. Interstate has done a good job for me.

[gandttimes]

My next batteries are going to be Crowns.





George

[KJRitchie]

My two Interstate 27s with a manufacturer date 3/13 while hold a charge don't seem to have any capacity left. When I purchased my preowned 2008 Classic 25fb the converter didn't seem to be charging the batteries. I took it back to the dealership (AS dealer mind you) and all they ended up doing to putting in new Interstates. Thinking the issue fixed I went out on the weekend to a campground with electricity and found the batteries running low to where even the LP leak detector was indicating too low voltage. I went out and bought a battery charger in the town closest to the campground and put the batteries on the charger but I think the batteries may have been damaged.

Then last year I determined the tow vehicle wasn't charging the batteries while towing. I traced the 12v wire as it entered the trailer and it went straight to the hydraulic brake actuator. I ended up connecting the black wire from the trailer harness and the power wire from the brake actuator to the 12v positive bus next to the Store/Use relay.

I took the batteries out this winter and checked the cells with a hydrometer and found two cells specific gravity low. I put a 15v charge on the battery and the cells seem to have recovered. I left the batteries on a smart charger for a couple of months. This weekend I put the batteries back in the AS and went camping. The site had electricity and I have a PD 4655 3 way converter. It charged the batteries for two days.

When I returned home I dumped and checked the battery voltage while at the dump station without the TV running and it showed 12.8v. Then drove home about 45 miles. When I finished parking the AS in storage I checked the batteries and now they are 12.6v. So from the time I left the dump station at the campsite to home it went from 12.8 to 12.6. The ambient temperature was in the 50s. I turned on the overhead lights where are converted fluorescent to LED strips (2 12" strips in each light) and noticed the voltage down to 12.2v. Not sure why so much drop. The only appliances running and the trip home was the fridge circuitry and the LP leak detector.

I have the LP leak detector 12v wired so when the Store/Use switch is on Store the leak detector is off.

With two batteries with a total of 160 amp hours I can't believe a few LED lights can draw down the voltage from 12.6 to 12.2 or am I wrong?

I have a trip out west in June and a couple of campgrounds have no hookups so I'm wondering if I should replace the batteries. I don't think I'll go with AGMS due to price and weight and continue to use flooded grp 27. I'll probably try another brand instead of Interstates.

Kelvin

[lewster]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

My two Interstate 27s with a manufacturer date 3/13 while hold a charge don't seem to have any capacity left. When I purchased my preowned 2008 Classic 25fb the converter didn't seem to be charging the batteries. I took it back to the dealership (AS dealer mind you) and all they ended up doing to putting in new Interstates. Thinking the issue fixed I went out on the weekend to a campground with electricity and found the batteries running low to where even the LP leak detector was indicating too low voltage. I went out and bought a battery charger in the town closest to the campground and put the batteries on the charger but I think the batteries may have been damaged.

Then last year I determined the tow vehicle wasn't charging the batteries while towing. I traced the 12v wire as it entered the trailer and it went straight to the hydraulic brake actuator. I ended up connecting the black wire from the trailer harness and the power wire from the brake actuator to the 12v positive bus next to the Store/Use relay.

I took the batteries out this winter and checked the cells with a hydrometer and found two cells specific gravity low. I put a 15v charge on the battery and the cells seem to have recovered. I left the batteries on a smart charger for a couple of months. This weekend I put the batteries back in the AS and went camping. The site had electricity and I have a PD 4655 3 way converter. It charged the batteries for two days.

When I returned home I dumped and checked the battery voltage while at the dump station without the TV running and it showed 12.8v. Then drove home about 45 miles. When I finished parking the AS in storage I checked the batteries and now they are 12.6v. So from the time I left the dump station at the campsite to home it went from 12.8 to 12.6. The ambient temperature was in the 50s. I turned on the overhead lights where are converted fluorescent to LED strips (2 12" strips in each light) and noticed the voltage down to 12.2v. Not sure why so much drop. The only appliances running and the trip home was the fridge circuitry and the LP leak detector.

I have the LP leak detector 12v wired so when the Store/Use switch is on Store the leak detector is off.

With two batteries with a total of 160 amp hours I can't believe a few LED lights can draw down the voltage from 12.6 to 12.2 or am I wrong?

I have a trip out west in June and a couple of campgrounds have no hookups so I'm wondering if I should replace the batteries. I don't think I'll go with AGMS due to price and weight and continue to use flooded grp 27. I'll probably try another brand instead of Interstates.

Kelvin

Kelvin,

If you want to stay with flooded cells in the group 27/31 range, look locally for a Trojan battery dealer. For flooded cells, they seem to be the best in their class.

BTW, how did you have your 27's oriented in the battery box? I have a new solution for mounting 27/s and possibly 31s without ANY box modification. PM me if interested!

[Arcticfox]

I just bumped into this thread......
We are beginning our search for good replacement batteries in our 28' FC. Anyone got any recommendations ? We just changed out the inventor / charger to a multi-stage unit, so that end of things should work better for the new batteries also.
Thanks in advance for any input

Cheers
Doug


Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[KJRitchie]

I'm able to mount my grp 27 Interstates so they are aligned 90 degrees to the center line of the trailer. I don't have to remove the threaded hold down rod either. I put the first battery to the back of the box behind the threaded rod. The next lowers straight down into the front of the box. I find it easier to do this with the propane cover and tanks removed. I'm not sure if the previous owner had done anything to make this happen. I can't tell if the lid has been modified. Maybe this orientation doesn't work for other models.

I went and looked at a local battery dealer in Springfield, MO that sells batteries. They have the Trojan 27TMX. They quoted me $140 ea. 105ah at 20amp rate and the specs state they weight 55lbs which are only 2lbs heavier than my Interstates.

They also carry their own brand of RV batteries including AGM. Grp 27 is about $220 100ah but they seem heavier than the Trojan probably 10lbs more. I believe they are made by Johnson Controls.

One thing on the spec sheet for the Trojans is the absorption rate is 14.8v but my PD 4655 converter/charger absorption voltage is only 14.4v. Will that be a problem? If it is maybe I should buy their deep cycle brand. its about $45 cheaper. My understanding at lower voltage rates will never completely charge the battery which causes it to slowly decline. All the Progressive Dynamics inverter/charger modes use the Charge Wizard feature with absorption rates of 14.v, normal mode 13.6v and float 13.2v.

Kelvin

[Arcticfox]

Further to my post above. I thought I would mention that my (guess) on needing new batteries is based on plugging my trailer into shore power for a few days and let the inventor/charger do its thing and charge the batteries....

At the end of the charge I plugged a little battery meter into the cigarette light plug in the trailer and it told me the batteries were putting out 12.5v Then let the trailer sit all night with the switch in storage mode and this morning I plugged the meter in again and today its reading 6.5v.
so with this in mind i'm guessing my batteries are not holding their charge and intern need to be replaced.
Does this sound correct?

Thanks

Doug

[Airstream Dad]

Re-bumping this thread, the batteries in my 2005 International CCD died, need to replace them.

Advice on the best replacements? Presumably a high quality AGM deep cycle battery, recommendations on specific brands appreciated.

Best

Airstream Dad

[KJRitchie]

Lifeline, Trojan are two name brands. Trojan offers an AGM as well as flooded 6v and 12v grp 24 and 27. If you have the single stage inverter/charger then you may not want to put the money into AGMs. You really need to invest in a decent 3 or 4 way inverter/charger that will match the AGM charging specifications. See my post #46.

Kelvin

[Arcticfox]

Thanks for the info Kelvin - I changed out my inverter/charger last month with DLS-55 3-stage charger. Now its time to go our and see what batteries cost...... ouch.....lol

[lewster]

Originally Posted by Arcticfox

Thanks for the info Kelvin - I changed out my inverter/charger last month with DLS-55 3-stage charger. Now its time to go our and see what batteries cost...... ouch.....lol

That's a CONVERTER/charger that you have. DLS55-IQ4 from IOTA.

[Arcticfox]

Thanks Lew - Yes your right. I just purchased what was recommend as a replacement for the stock unit that came with the trailer. Does this impact the type of battery I should be purchasing? I tried again to charge both batteries and one seems to charge up just fine with 13.66 after fully charged according to my Multi Meter. The other one not so good as I can only get it to go to 11.66 out of it. So I'm assuming that one might very well have a dead cell. At least that's what it looks like from what I have read on the net.
As yo can tell I don't know the first thing about these things so any help would be great.
Thanks

Doug

[lewster]

Sounds like one is bad, which would require both being replaced. Every battery has different voltage requirements for proper charging. ANY converter is a compromise, as they are 'one size fits all' solution to widely varying charging parameters, so you will not get EXACTLY what a specific battery requires.....just close enough to approximate it's needs. The BEST solution is a fully programmable charging system like those found in quality solar charge controllers of Magnum INVERTER/chargers.

[Arcticfox]

Originally Posted by lewster

Sounds like one is bad, which would require both being replaced. Every battery has different voltage requirements for proper charging. ANY converter is a compromise, as they are 'one size fits all' solution to widely varying charging parameters, so you will not get EXACTLY what a specific battery requires.....just close enough to approximate it's needs. The BEST solution is a fully programmable charging system like those found in quality solar charge controllers of Magnum INVERTER/chargers.

So with this in mind, am I best to stick the interstate battery of head a different direction?
Thanks
Doug


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[carl2591]

search interstate batteries issues on google.. most of the boat living people do NOT use interstate batteries.. they use trojan golf cart batteries or the more expensive models, mostly 6 v size, which are a better product and provide longer life with more voltage over the same time frame.

plus changing out to a good mangum type system with a bogart Trimetric TM-2030-RV meter will give the best of both worlds is the wiring is sized properly, which in most cases is NO...

http://tinyurl.com/nempghp get the 500 amp shunt

Originally Posted by Arcticfox

So with this in mind, am I best to stick the interstate battery of head a different direction?
Thanks
Doug


Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[lewster]

You don't need a Trimetric if you have a Magnum. You can install the integrated Magnum BMK-N battery monitor system that reads they the ME-RC remote.


Lew Farber
RVIA/RVDA Nationally Certified Master Tech
Master Tech Energy Systems, Inc.
AM Solar Certified Installation Center
Lifeline Batteries**Magnum Inverters
541-490-6357

[KJRitchie]

ArcticFox, does your Iota have the IQ4 feature on it with the flashing LED that lets you know what charging phase the charger is in? The output in the user manual indicates shows Float - 13.5v, Absorption 14.1v and Bulk 14.7v. Looks like a good match for a Trojan 27 flooded cell battery. They are under $150 each and weigh about the same as the Interstate Grp 27 (55lbs) but have 105ah @ 20amps rating.

See my post 43 above for my experiences with my Interstates.

Kelvin

[Arcticfox]

Thanks for this Kelvin! Yes my Charger has the flashing LED light feature.
I was in the shop again this AM and noted that the battery that is only charging to 11.66 actually have a cell that needs water. I'm guessing that will not help the cause - so I'm about to head to town to see if I can find some distilled water someplace.
I'm not sure if it will give me the ability to bring the battery back but I'm guessing its worth giving it a try. If not I will look around for these Trojan 27 batteries. I don't live in a big place so finding them might be a trick.
Thanks again Kevin for your help

Cheers
Doug

[KJRitchie]

You may be able to salvage the Interstates enough to get you by until you switch them out. Buy a hydrometer (cheap purchase), add distilled water to the cells and put each battery separately on a standalone charger that can ramp the volts up to 15v. Pull off the caps to let the cells vent then run the charger for a couple of hours. Take the battery off the charger and let it sit for an hour then see if the specific gravity has returned to normal.

Kelvin

[gandttimes]

I see that Trojan also has a Group 27 TMH that is 115AH. Thinking that would be the way to go as it it slightly better than the T105 6volt and no battery box mods now that Lewster has pointed out the solution?


George