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Jayco Jay Flight, Swift, Swift SLX owners (2013, possibly 2014) - undersized battery?
So I just took delivery of my Swift SLX 184bh last week and have been reading manuals, tinkering around and generally driving my wife crazy ("why do you take everything you buy apart before you even use it!?!").
While looking into the approximate amp draw for different 12v items in the trailer (page 6-6 of the spiral bound/blue cover book in your documentation packet) I noticed a phrase that got me on the facing page (6-7) that got me on the phone to my dealership right away.
Under the heading "Auxiliary Battery (Customer supplied) I caught the phrase in the last sentence:
"The 12-volt DC electrical system is designed for usage with a Group 27, deep cycle battery."
... mine, like most of yours, came equipped from the dealership with a rather anemic Interstate HD24-DP Group 24 battery which is a 69 AH battery at the 20 hour rate (small even by Group 24 standards). The dealership agreed with my assessment and swapped me the Interstate HD24-DP battery and size 24 case that was provided with my travel trailer for an Interstate SRM-27 battery and size 27 case. The real world difference is going from 70 to 95 amp hours in the battery (35 to 53 usable if you keep it above 50% discharge to avoid early battery death) and adding 10 pounds. It was a pretty easy project to disconnect the battery, unscrew the two self tapping screws and pop the works in my trunk, your mileage may vary with your dealership.
Anyway, just thought I'd point this out to other prospective/recent Jayco Flight buyers - you might have a similar option to swap batteries on your trailer if you got stuck with a small Group 24 battery, or if you haven't taken delivery, insist that they install a proper Group 27 deep cycle battery when they set up your trailer for delivery following Jayco's own specifications/documentation that comes with the trailer. Even if you only rarely run off of shore power it's about a 35% increase in battery capacity if you need it and was how the trailer was originally supposed to be equipped.
I was already eyeballing a group 29 Everstart battery from Wal-Mart ($83, it's got a higher AH rating than the "Maxx" version in the same size for those careful label readers) to replace the original Interstate Group 24 but will probably hold off and see how the Group 27 Interstate fares. Instead of the 29 I might just jump to a pair of Everstart Marine DC24's in parallel (will JUST fit on the existing shelf in a pair of Group 24 cases) and give 180 (85-90 usable) amp-hours at the cost of 40 pounds extra weight and about $135, so far the best bang for the buck I've found assuming one never runs their batteries below 50%.
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