Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
Jayco RV Owners Forum
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 04-22-2017, 10:10 AM   #1
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: milwaukee
Posts: 120
Can you use a 12V starter battery instead of a deep cycle

Hi. Is it ok or safe to use a 12V starter battery on my pop up for lights, heat, etc? Or must you use a deep cycle battery? Thanks, I appreciate your answers.
adwizard is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2017, 11:23 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
RoyBraddy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: King George
Posts: 2,761
Sure you can.... 12Vs is 12Vs...

However (HA) if you run a standard truck start battery down below its 50% state of charge (around 12.0VDC) after the second or third time you do it is probably hostory for the standard truck battery.

The Deep Cycle batteries are designed to do 12-14 Cycles from 50% charge state to 90% charge states which takes around threes of charing using a smart mode charger. Then you will have to a full 100% charge state which will take around 12 hours or so if you want your deep cycle battery to keep doing this for you.

Your choice - buy another Truck start battery every couple of months or buy a couple of deep cycle batteries every 5 years or so...

You da man with the billfold...

Roy Ken
__________________
Roy and Carolyn
I claim Horse Creek Country in Southern Ill - Momabear is from North Texas
We live in King George VA
RETIRED DOD DOAF DON CONTRACTOR Electronics Tech 42YRS

"We're burning daylight" - John Wayne
2008 STARCRAFT 14RT OFF-ROAD POPUP with PD9260C and three 85AH 12VDC batteries
2010 F150 FX4 5.4 GAS with 3.73 gears - Super Cab - Towing Package - 2KW Honda EU2000i Gen
K9PHT (since 1957) 146.52Mhz
"We always have a PLAN B"
RoyBraddy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2017, 02:30 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
JPBeck's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 527
As he said you can, but you shouldn't because you'll kill a starter batter fast because they aren't designed to take deep discharges.
__________________

Regards,
JP
2007 20BH Jayco JayFlight
2009 F150 5.4L SCrew Cab XLT
JPBeck is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-23-2017, 07:31 PM   #4
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Grand rapids
Posts: 8
As others have said - yes you can.

We do it because we are on shore power 100% of the time - but is needed for the electric brakes and any small thing we do - for example: Today we de-winterized the camper and used the battery for the sink and fan.

Works great!
dudman5703 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-2017, 07:41 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
Seann45's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Saskatoon Sask Canada
Posts: 10,714
IF you are on shore power all the time then you can get away with using an automotive battery.. as it would only be really necessary to have for the brakes
__________________
Seann
2004 Chev Silverado Duramax optioned past the max. 2009 Jayco Eagle 308 RLS 900watts of solar, Lithium batteries (400amp hour), 2000 watt (4000 surge) whole house inverter.
145days boondockinig in2023 2022/151 2021[/COLOR]
93/2020,157/2019219/2018 206/2017,215/2016, 211/2015, 196/14, 247/13, 193/12

Seann45 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-2017, 07:55 AM   #6
Site Team
 
Mustang65's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Clearwater, FL area
Posts: 5,196
Quote:
Originally Posted by adwizard View Post
Hi. Is it ok or safe to use a 12V starter battery on my pop up for lights, heat, etc? Or must you use a deep cycle battery? Thanks, I appreciate your answers.

Well you have both sides of the YES/NO replies...

In your question you did not mention as to what your camping lifestyle includes... 100% shore power.. dry-camping... over night travel only? 2-3 days.. week? Your decision should be based on that answer.

If you just have the battery ONLY to meet the need for emergency braking, then there should be no issue. If you do some dry camping, well that will eventually lead to the early demise of a starting batteries life. Automotive batteries are limited in rated Ah's, and have much thinner plates in them.

Wait... you did mention using the heater... that would automatically put you in the deep cycle battery category.

Don

My Registry

RVing with SOLAR
__________________
2013 Jayco Eagle 284BHS
2012 Ford F150XLT, EcoBoost w/3.73,Max Tow Pkg.
Our Solar Album https://www.jaycoowners.com/album.php?albumid=329
Mustang65 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-2017, 08:25 AM   #7
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Dale Hollow Lake Tn/Ky
Posts: 2,525
You could chain 8 D cell batteries together and create 12V that would be enough to light up one light for a few seconds. Battery AH capacity and discharge recovery cycles are the issue. You will kill a starting battery after just a few cycles and the capacity would probably not support a furnace fan overnight.

Bite the bullet and get a deep cycle.
Bassdogs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-2017, 08:35 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
northwindone's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: California High Desert
Posts: 183
Probably way more information then you want, but when we bought our first TT, a 1977 Layton, the seller had installed a standard automotive battery just to show us that everything worked and so we would have pull-away brakes for our 100 mile drive home. I didn't think much of it and left it installed for several camping trips and it worked fine since all we needed were lights (which I converted to LED) and the water pump. The furnace had no blower and the 3-way fridge didn't require 12VDC while on LPG mode.

On our third outing (making the battery about 4 months old) I went to do dishes after breakfast and noticed the water pump didn't sound right. I check the analog battery meter and it was in the yellow almost to the red. This was especially disturbing as we had been camped for less than 12 hours and we had left everything hitched up as we were headed to a new boon docking site first thing after breakfast. Went to start up the TV and it wouldn't turn over so the trailer battery was dead and had killed my TV battery as well. We were also the only ones in the entire campground so there was no way to get a jump start. I disconnected the trailer plug and there was just enough left in the TV battery to slowly turn over the TV, which fired up by some miracle (I love my Triton V10 ).

We went to NAPA and picked up a cheap "marine/deep cycle" battery and had a good trip. I planned on buying a true deep cycle, but sold the TT a year later. The Jayco has 2 Interstates on it as I learned my lesson, that being deep cycle batteries are a must for any dry camping no matter how little they are used, and don't leave your TT plugged into your TV while stopped for the night. Though I realized it should have been isolated with the ignition off and remedied that problem later.
__________________
2006 Jay Flight 29BHS
1999 F350, XLT, 4x4, 6.8L V10, AT, CC, LB
northwindone is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-2017, 10:44 AM   #9
Senior Member
 
Jagiven's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 9,736
As you probably gathered a 12V automotive battery has limitations. It is designed to allow for a quick heavy amp pull to start a big engine, then just maintain power levels for things like lights and other ignition items while the engine is running. Their construction is made of thin plates.

You can purchase a Dual purpose starter/marine battery, this is the standard battery that comes with new campers. The plates are heavier, they allow for enough current flow for starting an engine, but can be cycled down many times. However, they usually are not strong batteries, and have a lower Ah rating.

Next you can purchase a dedicated Deep Cycle Battery. The plates are much thicker, and is not designed for engine starting, as you cannot pull a quick discharge from them. However, they do store a larger charge.

The heater is the biggest consumer of 12V power. The fan can run down a battery in one day/night. This is even more evident in a PU, as the furnace cycles on a lot more than a hard side TT. You will also use a lot more propane.

The frig uses a little power for the control board, not too bad. If you have incandescent lights they use a lot more power than you think. I switched my lights over to LEDs. Then there are lots of parasite power drains on the battery.

I use a dual purpose battery, we know how to be power conscious when we need to, and often we can go 2-5 nights on a single battery. Two nights if we need heat, up to 5 days if we do not. If you are going to be off the grid often a good deep cycle battery would be recommended if only once in a while a dual purpose battery will do nicely. Just to toss it out there, if you will be off the grid often, you could also use two 6volt golf cart batteries for even more reserved power.

Good luck.
__________________

2012 Jayco X23B
2020 Ram Laramie 3500 SRW Air ride 50Gal fuel tank.
2007 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab (sold)
Equal-I-zer 4-Point Sway Control
Jagiven is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Jayco, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:57 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright 2002-2016 Social Knowledge, LLC All Rights Reserved.