I need your help again, this time with batteries.

[OnTheGo]

I'm going to replace the Group 24 flooded battery that came stock with my x17Z. I'll probably go with a Group 27. After looking at new batteries, the AGM technology looks good to me. They are twice as expensive, but have 3 times the life span. Does anybody have experience with the AGM type?

[tlhdoc]

I have one and so far I have not had any problems with it. I bought mine at Sams Club over a year ago. I paid $138 for it. It is either a group 31 or a 29.

[LilBigfoot]

I use the Lifeline Group 27 AGM battery and am very pleased with it. A nice piece of equipment.

http://www.lifelinebatteries.com/rv.php

[SmokerBill]

It would be best to go with a true deep cycle battery and not a "marine" battery. Marine batteries are made for both starting engines and for handling the loads encountered in an RV. And being dual use, the are not the best choice for RVs since an RV battery is never used for engine startups.

Batteries for starting engines have honeycombed, or porous lead plates, and can discharge large amounts of current quickly. A deep cycle battery has solid lead plates, which are perfect for the slower, steady discharges an RV requires. A marine battery uses plates that are somewhere inbetween, so they can be used for both purposes but are optimum for neither.

If you have to go with a single battery, call Interstate batteries, or a Trojan battery dealer. There are true deep cycle 12 volt batteries available. If you would like greater battery capacity and can fit two batteries on your trailer, consider a pair of 6 volt golf car batteries.

Another benefit of true deep cycle batteries, besides providing greater amp hour capacity is that they typically provide longer life.

[tlhdoc]

Originally Posted by SmokerBill

It would be best to go with a true deep cycle battery and not a "marine" battery.

The battery I have is a "true" deep cycle battery.

[tslarson]

"Marine" batteries come in starting, combination starting/deep cycle, and deep cycle. One of the important specifications when choosing a deep cycle battery is the "amp hour rating" some AGM batteries don't do so well here, so look at a variety of brands and their spec's. Buy the battery with the most 'amp hours" for the money.

[Mustang65]

I have been researching deep cycle batteries for some time now and a general rule of thumb is that if a battery is rated in "CCA" then it is not a true "Deep Cycle" battery. As mentioned earlier, the difference is in the thickness and design of the plates. When looking, I use the "Minutes @ 25 Amps" and the "AH (20hr rate)" for comparison. I will be replacing my existing (2) batteries prior to our trip to CO this spring and since I like to buy as many products that are MADE IN THE USA as possible, the only Battery manufacture that I have found that meets this requirement is a company called USBATTERY. I have included a link to their HomePage and Specifications Page. I am going to purchase 2 of the 6 volt US 250HXC . It has a rating of 636 minutes at 25Amps (10.6 hours @ 25Amps). This should be more than enough to satisfy our dry-camping needs. They will have 245 Watt solar panels charging them with a Schneider Trace C40: 40A, 12/24/48V 3-stage Charge Controller.
Good Luck!
Don

USBATTERY HOMEPAGE - http://www.usbattery.com/usb_index.html
USBATTERY SPECIFICATIONS - http://www.usbattery.com/usb_specs_deep_cycly.html

Buy AMERICAN!!!

[Mustang65]

Sorry, I posted the wrong link to the US 250HCXC (Slip of the fat fingers) . Here it is
http://www.usbattery.com/usb_us250hcxc.html

Don

[Seann45]

IF you have the room a pair of 6 volt golf cart batteries will give you better life and more power than any single 12 will ( it will even beat out a pair of 12's)

[clubhouse]

Battery selection has more to do with how you use your trailer than anything else. If you mostly have a Elec Hookup then a single Grp 24 is mor than sufficient. If you dry camp for days at a time then you need to think more about battery selection. For primarily dry camping the best are (2) 6 volt GC2 batteries or banks of (2) GC2.

For our family we do a little of both so I wanted to go the GC2 route but moving the batteries became problematic. We store our TT in a public storage lot, and whenever the TT is stored I pull the batteries and keep the on my Battery Tender at home. GC2 batteries don't have a handle the way Grp24 or 27 do and they are much heavier. My 2 Grp 24 Costco batteries provide ~170 AH vs ~220 AH for the GC2. Clearly I would prefer the extra 50AH but being able to move them to protect and maintain the batteries won out with me.

We used a GRP 27 AGM on out sailboat and it was awesome. Didn't have much of a load to support, mainly lighting and radio. Also we had a small 5W solar battery trickle charger on it at all times and that kept it charged and ready to go.

[RoyBraddy]

IF you plan on any camping off the power grid you really should look into a real "DEEP CYCLE" battery.

When camping off the power the grid you will b e running down your battery to the 50% charge state and then re-charging back up to the 90% charge the next morning. You can just do so many of these cycles before having to do a full 100% charge state otherwise you will start loosing performance of your batteries. this is where true "DEEP CYCLE" batteries are at their best.

You can re-charge your 50% depleted deep cycle battery about ten times before you have to do a full 100% charge. If you are setup for smart mode technology charging then you can re-charge each day in a short three hour generator run time. A full 100% re-charge will take a 11-12 hours generator run time...

Cost is a big factor for most of us and the golf cart 6V batteries are everywhere so this keeps the cost down. You can get a good GC2PLUS 6V Golf cart battery now from CostCo and SAM.s club for around $90. This is equiv to the Trojan T105 6V battery. Costco and Sam's club also has the next level down GC2 6V battery that runs around $70 each. These batteries are close to the same size as your original GP 24 battery just taller. If the MARINE battery has a START CURRENT rating then it is a COMBO type deep cycle battery. The true DEEP CYCLE batteries only lists the AH rating.

If you have the combo batteries probably like the one you have now you really have to watch when discharging them. These kinds of batteries will NOT withstand very many times going below the 12.0VDC levels... You probably already have experienced draining your car battery down overnight for one reason or another. It is never the same after you do that and will have to be replaced pretty soon. The GP24 combo battery is designed to be alittle better at this but not much more better haha... The true "DEEP CYCLE" batteries are designed to be able to drain down and be re-charged back up. That is what the "DEEP CYCLE" in their name referr too.

If I was going to do some camping off the power grid I would go for the two GC2 6V Golf Cart batteries... Two in series makes a large 12VDC 220AH Battery for around $140. Its all about the AH rating (more is better) and how long they will run producing 12VDC @25AMPS (RC rating).

In my simple case with my OFF-ROAD POPUP I can draw 12VDC @20AMPs from 8PM to 11PM and then drop back to 1-2AMPS until 8AM the next morning and my 255AHs battery bank will be discharged down to around 12.0VDC which is a good reference of about 50% battery charge state. Then I re-charge my battery bank back up to 90% charge state in about three hours using smart-mode charging technology using my 2KW Honda generator so that I can do this all over again for the next day/night battery run. We do just about everything we do at an electric site but without air conditioner or high powered microwave. Everything else is fare game... Watch HDTV everynight and light up our corner of the camp ground.

Works very successful for us camping off the power grid.
Roy Ken

[OnTheGo]

Originally Posted by tlhdoc

I have one and so far I have not had any problems with it. I bought mine at Sams Club over a year ago. I paid $138 for it. It is either a group 31 or a 29.

Tracy,

Although my x17z is a 2011, we probably have the same battery charging capabilities. My TT is equipped a WFCO 8735-P power converter that includes a 3 phase charger.

Do you know how long it takes to charge your battery from 50% DOD to a full charge using the power converter?

Regards,
Dale

[Charlene]

Our 2004 Granite Ridge MH originally came with one 12 volt battery. In 2009 we switched to two 6 volt LifeLine (GPL4C)Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) batteries and couldn't be happier. Since we only had one battery tray originally, we had to not only use that location but had to put the 2nd battery in the outdoor storage bay to the right of the original battery's location. Hated to loose the storage, but best modification was have done. Good luck. Charlene