Which Battery Do You Use?

[Lord-Dogbert]

Originally Posted by dbahn

I thought that the power controller directed some current from the chassis battery to the house battery (although not as effectively as the generator). If so and you're travelling down the road won't the alternator keep the chassis battery charged and wouldn't that keep the house battery safely charged?

Is that arrangement something that differs from model to model? I have a 2016 29mv and have never worried about maintaining 12 volts or more in the chassis battery during drives, even for a full day of driving.

The house and chassis batteries are charged by the alternator in normal operation. The house batteries have to be switched to provide power to the chassis in the event that the chassis battery dies while parked.

[extrachrispy]

I have a pair of the internally-heated 100Ah Battleborns. Yes, they are spendy, but they're less than half the weight of the largest deep-cycle lead-acid that you can fit into the stock battery box (that far forward--at least in my Pinnacle--they contribute quite a bit to pin weight), and with a screwdriver and some judicious tapping with a dead blow mallet, you can get the Battleborns into that same battery box (the carry strap brackets are what necessitate the tapping--they'd slide right in without them).

With my use pattern, they will probably be the last batteries I ever have to buy for this 5'er, and thus are cheaper in the long run than lead-acid or AGM deep cycle batteries, and will perform better (particularly in the cold).

[Shackrat]

I'm using 4 Renege 100AH lithium batteries. These are the model with RS285 connections that predates the newer heated model. Installed them during the summer of 2020, so they'll be turning 3 years old in a few months.

I have left them in year-round since installation. The Upstate NY winters have not hurt them. The BMS turns off charging when it's too cold and back on when it's safe to charge. I know there are a couple schools of thought here, but its served me well for 3 winters.

Total available capacity as of tonight is still 99.87% according to the BMS. We boondocked for a few days last summer in a what turned out to be a fully shaded site. After 5 days, of keeping the 12v system hot 24/7, bedroom fan running all night each night, running them pump to take showers each of the nights, etc., we left the campground with just below 50% left, with virtual no solar input during the day due to cloudy days and a fully shaded site.

[Smitty0]

I went with the Renogy 12v, 100ah, AGM batteries. Man these jokers are heavy. Im hoping this works out well and I don't kick myself for not taking the lithium plunge. I guess selective marketing worked out for me this time. Since my phone was listening I got a 10% off deal with Renogy on Amazon. We shall see how it goes. Thanks for all the great insite.

Now I've got to figure out why my fridge ignitor keeps going off as if its trying to go to propane while I have it hooked to shore power. I probably shorted something and popped a fuse. LOL!

[extrachrispy]

Originally Posted by Smitty0

I went with the Renogy 12v, 100ah, AGM batteries. Man these jokers are heavy.

Try lifting 100Ah lead-acid batteries.

My BattleBorns are 29 pounds each. The huge lead-acid batteries I bought for my old camper were nearly 70 pounds each.

[Slurugger]

We have the 120V Whirlpool res fridge and on multiple occasions it ran for 10+ hours on the original 2 lead acid batteries. Ambient temps would have been everything from 50 to 80 degrees in those instances, however, opening and closing the door would have been limited to a few times. I never had an issue with with the lead acids running the fridge and a few lights while we slept over night somewhere.



I finally replaced the 2 original 2018 lead acids with 2 Interstate AGMs from Costco for a little over $200 for both. I could not justify the significant investment in lithium as we don't boon dock. Also, don't overlook the previous comment about requiring a change or upgrade in your charger to be able to charge lithiums fully/appropriately.