Batteries for 5th Wheel

[RWorth]

Got back from a 5 day outing yesterday. After un-hooking the trailer from the truck I went to open the slide out and it got half way out and ran out of power from the batteries. Of course after releasing the button and the hydraulic pump load is gone the batteries recover pretty quick. Battert voltages 12. 7 and 12. 55. The trailer has A\C Delco Marine and RV batteries right now. What is a good battery for RV use?

 

[RADdodge]

I would vote for the biggest deep cycle battery you can fit. For me it was the little Blue Top Optimia for a Lance Camper. They don't give you much room for the battery. Big drawback on that one, but it's the best I've had in there so far. No substitute for capacity though.

 

[Boldt's Wagon]

If they will fit, use two 6 volt golf cart batteries hooked up in series. This will give high capacity and longest life.



(They are too tall to fit in my battery compartment. )

 

[Dane]

I replaced my OEM Interstate with a Blue Top Optima because the Interstate would go flat after 3 days in Baja running only the lights and water pump. The Optima is much stronger imo. I have not been able to run it flat yet and it's smaller that the Interstate.



When buying trailer/camper battery's the reserve capacity is the key number. Bigger is better. The Optima is only 130 minutes, but I think thats under rated from my experience.

 

[DHawthorne]

If you have a inverter and let it run while hooked up to the shore tie at the camp site, the battery will over charge and shorten life

dramatically. Don't know if you have a inverter or not. I installed

a knife switch in the battery space and when I'm plugged in, I turn the back feed from the inverter to the battery off. I also turn it off after its back at the house to keep that LP gas alarm from draining the Battery while the rig is parked. I cooked one battery already last year.



Dave

 

[Forrest]

2 ea ... 6v

We were camping early in the season & it snowed on us. The 2 - 12v batteries were fairly new & couldn't hack the mission with the furnace fan running that long.



I went into Nevada Battery & told him the scoop. Told him the rig is out there, draining fast & no hook ups. He sold me 2 grande' 6v golf cart batteries. These babies sit in the plastic battery holders but the lids don't fit anymore. They are way taller than the 12v'ers. Talk about work. Come on cold weather ... no worries.



That has been years ago & never once noticed that dreded 'dimming' of the lights when the furnace fan switches on. I replaced them with golf cart batteries from Wal Mart & all is 'no more worries'. Oo.

 

[Rogue Ram]

I've been fighting this issue also....

... ... . and here's some things to think about:

DHawthorne: don't most inverters have a sensor that allows the batteries to charge then maintain a float, only charging them when their capacity drops to a certain level? I cooked TWO batteries---the inverter was a Todd Engineering well out of warranty. Sent it to Todd, came back rebuilt. I can't recall the name of the part that had gone out, but it is what allowed the inverter to keep from overcharging the batteries.



If you are using "Marine/RV Batteries" like most of us, there's your problem. The cheesy stupid 24 series batteries supplied by the RV makers don't work worth beans for any type of real camping. True "deep cycle" batteries ain't cheap, but they do work. Interstate makes some, Rolls, and Concorde do as well ($$$). I re-welded my battery box to allow for series 27B batteries... ... . great capacity. One problem though you'll still have with your inverter... ... which is that it'll only supply so many amps back into the batteries. If you are plugged into shore power, so what. If not, and use a generator (like my Honda 2500) you've got issues with using lots of gas and run time to get a decent charge back into them.



My solution was to get a forklift battery (twice the capacity of BOTH the 27b batteries) with quick connects and run 'em all. When capacity gets low, disconnect the forklift battery, put it on a charger and the the inverter charge the others. Can swap around and do it the other way if needed.



Sorry for the long post---I froze on a hunting trip over this issue and was resolved to FIX it for good.

 

[JWhitcomb]

Those voltage readings indicate about half your charge is gone but when asked to power a high amp load they can't do it. If I had to guess I would say those batteries are two or three years old. I think two years is about all you can depend on fifty buck deep charge battries. Of course id all you use them for is some lights you will get four or five years out of them.



I have heard good things about installing two 6V Trojan 105 units. They seem to be less than $100 each and have a five or six year life span. They have the same footprint as a group 27 but stand taller. Speaking of standing taller, has anyone found a box made for the Trojans, one that the battery will fit and be contained.

 

[bombero]

I have been running 2 group 27's from Interstate. They are three years old and are getting weak. I need to replace before a winter trip to Az. i cant go with 6volts because of the height problem. I was thinking of some type of commercial battery (like maybe a forklift) that would last longer and have more juice. I heard that real marine batteries, would be the way to go. Has anyone had any experience with them?

 

[Fish]

Get a solar panel. Your batteries will never go flat in regular use. I have two and the trailer could sit there for months and never be anything but full and ready to use. It doesn't matter if you are hooked up or not. It will run the furnace fan every night for at least two weeks plus the water pump and lights. I did this in Nova Scotia two years ago. Of course, I have 4 batteries (see below).

Warren

 

[SRehberg]

Your voltages of 12. 55 & 12. 7; was this resting voltage at least 24hrs. after the run with the trailer? One of the replies indicated this represented about half charge; I've always read that a resting voltage of 12. 6 was a fully charged battery..... what voltage would be needed to represent 95-100% if 12. 7 is "half"? Charging voltage is only 13. 6 and above to a safe level. I know I've had some deep cycle that wouldn't turn a starter over, show 12. 6 which had no "umph" left in them; they were 3yrs old. With wing nut connections, cleanliness is paramount, especially if any washers etc. are used.

 

[JWhitcomb]

OK, I dug out my battery manual instead of going on failing memory as to open circut voltage and state of charge. The manual is put out by the Battery Council International. Remember I said "about half charged".



12. 6 or greater = 100% charge

12. 5 = 50-75 % charge

12. 1 = 25-50% charge



Next time I post numbers I will look them up first.

 

[SRehberg]

Thanks for the update; I am still trying to learn how to make my batteries live as long as possible. It seems the trailer and my boat go through batteries about every 3yrs. The boat has one of the multi-step chargers that is suspose to keep them at peak performance. I so far haven't seen any extended life with it over the conventional chargers. I don't leave them on continuously though either.



Any tips on extending the battery life in the trailers?

 

[JWhitcomb]

No tips from me that will help. I am just like you, three years for a Costco deep cycle is a full life. I run my newest battery as my main one for starting and keep two others that are older in the rotation as units for the trolling motor. I try to keep my best battery no more than one year old. I am thinking of mounting two golf cart batteries in the wheel wells of the truck bed to extend the slide-in total amps in winter. Trouble is no one makes a box for those big batteries that I can find.

 

[clem]

Originally posted by RWorth

Got back from a 5 day outing yesterday. After un-hooking the trailer from the truck I went to open the slide out and it got half way out and ran out of power from the batteries. Of course after releasing the button and the hydraulic pump load is gone the batteries recover pretty quick. Battert voltages 12. 7 and 12. 55. The trailer has A\C Delco Marine and RV batteries right now. What is a good battery for RV use? [/QUO The place to start is why was your trailer Batts. low when you got home. They should have been charging on the trip hame. Check the charge line,If it is good the batteries need to go. If you do not do much camping with out 110 volt power. Go to Wal-mart, Sears or K-Mart (You don't need gold plated ones that work upside down in 40 below weather) some place that is every whare and get a couple of Deep Cycle Batteries that fit so the next time they go bad. You can take them in for exchange. Joe's Batteries is not in every small town USA

 

[SRehberg]

JWhitcomb; I just bought two 6volt golf cart batteries for my boat this last summer and so far I like them. They just fit in the battery compartment there, but for the trailer, they won't come close to fitting. I'm like you, I try to keep the freshest for the hardest work, but seems like three years is about it. On my boat, the refrigerator is 120V/ 12V, so it's pretty hard on batteries when out for a weekend, but so far the golf cart ones have the others beat hands down for endurance.



The trailer I've been looking for a spot to install some there, but hate to give up a side compartment space for them.

 

[shoveljunk]

I use 2 6v HI-TECH scrubber/sweeper batterys. they are about $150. 00 a peice . Also have a portawatts inverter that I plug my cord into. That makes 110 power. I had to go big because I have sleep apnia and use a CPAP resperator for sleep. GO to your local battery shop, not kragens. Ask lots of questions. (Batterys-#8L16 ,20 amp hr rating=370, 113 lbs wet).

 

[ronco]

Originally posted by SRehberg

Your voltages of 12. 55 & 12. 7; was this resting voltage at least 24hrs. after the run with the trailer? One of the replies indicated this represented about half charge; I've always read that a resting voltage of 12. 6 was a fully charged battery..... what voltage would be needed to represent 95-100% if 12. 7 is "half"? Charging voltage is only 13. 6 and above to a safe level. I know I've had some deep cycle that wouldn't turn a starter over, show 12. 6 which had no "umph" left in them; they were 3yrs old. With wing nut connections, cleanliness is paramount, especially if any washers etc. are used.

SRehberg,



Lemme throw in my . 02 here. A bad battery can show 12. 6 volts with a volt-meter. In my experience, that is because the battery has an internal problem (broken connection, warped plate, etc... ... ... . ) and will not allow or deliver much current. The batteries with the "green eye" only show state of charge for the one cell the "eye" is looking at. A volt-meter can tell you of a battery problem (charge, discharge, etc... ... . ) but it cannot, in my opinion, show that a battery is good. Only a device that will load the battery electrically, while monitoring voltage, can tell battery condition. It is possible to check specific gravity of the battery's cells to determine charge condition, and be fully charged, but if the battery has internal connection problems between the cells, it may not deliver the current necessary to start a motor. At 34 years old, I am not the "Battery Master" by any means, but I have some experience and would like to share it here. If anyone disagrees, speak up and teach us something.



Ronco

 

[JWhitcomb]

Ronco,

I have seen the testers you are talking about but never had to opportunity to get my hands on one. They seem to have some sort of dummy load which is covered by a heat shield and a analog meter. I have been under the impression that they are for testing cranking batteries but often wondered if they work well for deep cycles. Do you use one for deep cycles?

 

[SRehberg]

Re: Re: batteries for 5th wheel

Originally posted by ronco

SRehberg,



Lemme throw in my . 02 here. A bad battery can show 12. 6 volts with a volt-meter. In my experience, that is because the battery has an internal problem (broken connection, warped plate, etc... ... ... . ) and will not allow or deliver much current. The batteries with the "green eye" only show state of charge for the one cell the "eye" is looking at. A volt-meter can tell you of a battery problem (charge, discharge, etc... ... . ) but it cannot, in my opinion, show that a battery is good. Only a device that will load the battery electrically, while monitoring voltage, can tell battery condition. It is possible to check specific gravity of the battery's cells to determine charge condition, and be fully charged, but if the battery has internal connection problems between the cells, it may not deliver the current necessary to start a motor. At 34 years old, I am not the "Battery Master" by any means, but I have some experience and would like to share it here. If anyone disagrees, speak up and teach us something.





Ronco: I agree with you whole heartedly, and the statement I made in my post reflected that with the battery voltage at 12. 6V, the batteries didn't have any "bang" left in them for heavy use. Just a nice resting voltage that couldn't do much work. Mine usually get sulfated, or a cell goes, then it's replacement time.





Ronco