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Old 01-06-2020, 10:47 AM   #1
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Time for new batteries.

My two group 24 12volt dealer provided batteries are sucking wind, especially with the residential refrigerator on board. I’ve exhausted myself researching batteries and amp hours etc.... Yes Lithium is definitely the way to go but I just can’t stomach the $3000+ price of admission at this point. I’ve come across an interesting alternative though and I thought I’d ask your opinion.
Lifeline makes a 12v 8D AGM battery that is 255ah. That’s 510ah (255 @50%) that would set me back about $1200. I would also add the MorRide battery tray. So call it $1400 plus new wires. I could use the same PD charger as well. A few questions:
Is this basically a truck battery (start) given that’s its 12v? It doesn’t really specify in the spec sheet other than to say it’s designed for deep cycle operations.
I only plan to boondock about 10% of the time so I’m not too worried about cycles on the battery. I would also imagine that Lifeline could probably tolerate a dod of greater than 50% better that most. I am concerned about weight at over 300lbs for two batteries.
Any input or opinions, particularly in the $1500 price range?
THANKS !!

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Old 01-06-2020, 11:55 AM   #2
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I have seen a ton of posts discussing batteries and residential fridges. Try the search bar above with something like "AGM battery residential" and mark posts. Then scroll through a few to get some idea of what others have asked and replied.
Always good to include your make, model and year of rv and tow in your signature and/or question
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Old 01-06-2020, 12:51 PM   #3
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Good idea on the signature. Working on that. My real question I guess is the advantage of two giant 12v vs 4 medium sized 6v batteries. Is there a practical advantage to either setup? I searched and there’s not a whole lot on the 8D battery size.
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Old 01-06-2020, 02:05 PM   #4
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I’ll be following this. My Eagle FW started life with the 2 group 24 12v’s as well. Wasn’t enough. I installed two Duracell 6V, and have had great luck with those. I’ve not tried to boondock with this setup. They did however work great on a 10hr drive where as the old 12v struggled.

I’d ideally like two more of those batteries.
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Old 01-06-2020, 02:05 PM   #5
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Pchansen, I'm an electrician up here in Snohomish and I've done a full blown battery MOD for my Precept. I can post photo's after I get home from working in Freeattle.
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Old 01-06-2020, 02:28 PM   #6
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That would be fantastic! And I might add that since I’m using a single wheel TV, weight is at a premium. I may end up going Lithium. The plan there would to be to buy one battery and a compatible charger and just go from there by adding batteries to the system as my budget allows. As far as the fridge goes, with only one 100ah battery to start with I will probably “cruise” by shutting the compressor down at night and starting it up again in the morning until I get at least two batteries installed. Still contemplating.
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Old 01-06-2020, 05:52 PM   #7
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(2) J185 AGM's, Noco Genius Charger etc.

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Old 01-06-2020, 05:56 PM   #8
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OEM Coach batteries and Battery Tender

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Old 01-06-2020, 06:30 PM   #9
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My Northpoint has a singke Duracell AGM group 31 battery that just finished its 5th season. It's the main battery for the trailer. My residential fridge is on it's own seperate batteries that are charged by the Xantrex inverter when plugged into shore power. Those batteries are a pair of 6v wired in series to give me 12v for the inverter. I've never seen how long I could run the fridge on batteries but I'm sure I could go for a few days. Just going off the monitor screen watching how much useage for a 6hr time frame while travelling down the road, I'd say i could run it for a few days. The batteries are a pair of 6v Interstste batteries that the dealer put in. I've never had to add water to them either. Maybe I've just gotten lucky with batteries so far.
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Old 01-06-2020, 08:53 PM   #10
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It could just be a poor signal on my end but nothing is coming through.
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Old 01-06-2020, 08:56 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Lake Huron View Post
My Northpoint has a singke Duracell AGM group 31 battery that just finished its 5th season. It's the main battery for the trailer. My residential fridge is on it's own seperate batteries that are charged by the Xantrex inverter when plugged into shore power. Those batteries are a pair of 6v wired in series to give me 12v for the inverter. I've never seen how long I could run the fridge on batteries but I'm sure I could go for a few days. Just going off the monitor screen watching how much useage for a 6hr time frame while travelling down the road, I'd say i could run it for a few days. The batteries are a pair of 6v Interstste batteries that the dealer put in. I've never had to add water to them either. Maybe I've just gotten lucky with batteries so far.
Interesting concept. When you plug into shore power, does the charger charge both the house and refer battery bank simultaneously? If so, how is that wired so the current is split when not hooked up and drawing from their respective loads. In other words, how do you prevent the batteries from trying to balance each other out without the physically disconnecting them from each other?
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Old 01-06-2020, 09:11 PM   #12
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I took out my 2 6v last summer and got 4 new 235ah 6 volts.
I also have 520 watts of solar.
I built a sliding tray with heavy duty slides.. the MorRyde was too much $ from my dealer.
You could get 6volts a lot cheaper than 2 big 12v

Running my residential fridge on the 2 6volts wasn’t good. Much better with twice the ah’s now.
With the solar and full sun, I’m sure I could go a week boondocking. I made it 3 days without a problem this summer. I could never do it with my old 2 6v setup.
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Old 01-06-2020, 09:30 PM   #13
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I took out my 2 6v last summer and got 4 new 235ah 6 volts.
I also have 520 watts of solar.
I built a sliding tray with heavy duty slides.. the MorRyde was too much $ from my dealer.
You could get 6volts a lot cheaper than 2 big 12v

Running my residential fridge on the 2 6volts wasn’t good. Much better with twice the ah’s now.
With the solar and full sun, I’m sure I could go a week boondocking. I made it 3 days without a problem this summer. I could never do it with my old 2 6v setup.
This is exactly what I’m looking for! Thank you! So 470ah of usable capacity. Of course I’m prewired for solar and I want to incorporate solar at some point. Just trying to figure out the order of operations. In addition to the batteries and solar, I need to plan for a solar charge controller, monitors etc. it’s gets to be a little overwhelming. But I want to plan where I can just plug and play as funds become available and increase my capability as I move forward.
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Old 01-06-2020, 10:20 PM   #14
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Well 470ah over all. Still 235ah with the 50% rule.
I’m still waiting for this lithium battery thing to get reasonable.
Soon..
If your looking at solar, look at residential type panels. The 36v type. They are cheaper.
I’m in Canada and I paid a little under a $1/watt, in the US you should easily find them for well under that.

Here’s my four new babies.
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A6AF3233-DB78-4673-A930-F345EB63DA58.jpg  
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Old 01-15-2020, 01:08 AM   #15
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Originally Posted by klassic View Post
I took out my 2 6v last summer and got 4 new 235ah 6 volts.
I also have 520 watts of solar.
I built a sliding tray with heavy duty slides.. the MorRyde was too much $ from my dealer.
You could get 6volts a lot cheaper than 2 big 12v

Running my residential fridge on the 2 6volts wasn’t good. Much better with twice the ah’s now.
With the solar and full sun, I’m sure I could go a week boondocking. I made it 3 days without a problem this summer. I could never do it with my old 2 6v setup.
I run with 4 Trojan 6 volt batteries as well. No issues so far and have boondocked overnight a few times with the fridge and the heater fan running. Batteries didn’t hit 50% dod. If you have researched batteries have you also researched how many DC amp hours you use a day? That will help you decide on the right battery pack.
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Old 01-15-2020, 01:20 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by TxLoser View Post
I’ll be following this. My Eagle FW started life with the 2 group 24 12v’s as well. Wasn’t enough. I installed two Duracell 6V, and have had great luck with those. I’ve not tried to boondock with this setup. They did however work great on a 10hr drive where as the old 12v struggled.

I’d ideally like two more of those batteries.

Hey TxLoser, you don't by any chance have pics of your setup on the batteries?
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Old 01-15-2020, 07:47 AM   #17
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When you considered lithium, did you take into account that with lead acid and agm that you should only discharge the batteries 50% but with lithium you can go 100%? That means that a 400 amp hour agm/LA bank is equal to a 200 amp hour lithium bank. For me, that meant $2k for lithium vs $1.2k for agm. When I took into account the longevity and less weight of lithium it made it make sense to me. If the lithium lasts twice as long as the agm, which they are supposed to, I’ll be money ahead in a few years with the bonus of saving a couple hundred pounds and some space.
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Old 01-15-2020, 01:03 PM   #18
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We replaced our 12 volt wth two six volt. What a difference it makes as to power the six volts last more than two times the length of what the twelve volt battery lasted. Never have 12 volt again.
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Old 01-15-2020, 02:13 PM   #19
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Battery

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pchansen View Post
My two group 24 12volt dealer provided batteries are sucking wind, especially with the residential refrigerator on board. I’ve exhausted myself researching batteries and amp hours etc.... Yes Lithium is definitely the way to go but I just can’t stomach the $3000+ price of admission at this point. I’ve come across an interesting alternative though and I thought I’d ask your opinion.
Lifeline makes a 12v 8D AGM battery that is 255ah. That’s 510ah (255 @50%) that would set me back about $1200. I would also add the MorRide battery tray. So call it $1400 plus new wires. I could use the same PD charger as well. A few questions:
Is this basically a truck battery (start) given that’s its 12v? It doesn’t really specify in the spec sheet other than to say it’s designed for deep cycle operations.
I only plan to boondock about 10% of the time so I’m not too worried about cycles on the battery. I would also imagine that Lifeline could probably tolerate a dod of greater than 50% better that most. I am concerned about weight at over 300lbs for two batteries.
Any input or opinions, particularly in the $1500 price range?
THANKS !!

2019 377RLBH
I use 3 group 32 battery and they will run my fridge all night I run the 3500 watt predator generator 4 about 4 hr a day they and camp all week with no issues just make sure to start with full charge
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Old 01-15-2020, 03:44 PM   #20
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A good Marine deep cell may be your best bet. At $120 a pop they are cheap to get into and cheap to replace down the road. Watch out for AGM’s- not all are created equal and not all are good for House banks (Significant draw)
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