misterKTM

My stock (1998) trailer batteries are about at the end of their life....wonder if anyone has any comments on any of these new fancey batteries that are on the market. Are they worth the extra money ? I assume they hold a charge longer ? Thoughts ??<br><br>Rob<br>

KATOOM

What do you mean by fancy new batteries. If you mean Optimas because of the gel design, then I think guys are having luck with them but I dont think they hold a charge any longer than a regular deep cell. But they do cost a lot.

dersequim

I'd take this question over to the RV.NET Forum

wheezer

If you have room for two 6V's (golf cart batteries), use them wired in series. Works great.

FiverBob

The general concensus seems to be the lead-acid cell gives you the biggest bang for the buck and most converters will not truly charge the gels correctly. Unless you are going with big solar cell charging units and planning to be in the boonies a lot, lead acid should be fine. Just follow the rules in not running them too low and ride with it. You got great life out of your first set - - wow, mine usually go after 3 years. We do camp a lot with no power but have solar and generator to keep them up.

misterKTM

Thanks for the good input Bob. I did get lots of good use out of mine...and it has NEVER been to a full hook up campsite. I do have solar panel on the roof though. And, when not in use the trailer is in my shop plugged in 24/7. I think I'll go with the lead acid again.<br><br>Rob<br>

jigdog

i put two new 6v deep cycle on my old trailer last year and had good luck with them .they lasted good for dry camping. they stayed with me when i sold my old trailer and are in the new one.

pwabbott

I'm installing a 3rd 12V Group 27 Deep Cycle maintenance free with a 1000 watt Inverter. Wife likes to watch Satellite TV in the evening and we frequently stop overnight without hookups. The three batteries are a $175 investment every third season. That would buy only one Optima gel. Frankly, if properly maintained my batteries hold a full charge for three seasons and after that they should be replaced as they hold only a partial charge. <br><br> misterKTM, you said &quot;My stock (1998) trailer batteries are about at the end of their life . . .&quot; I would say your batteries were departed sometime ago, only their spirit remains and keeps your trailer going.

pwabbott

The TV installed in our 5er at factory is a 25&quot; RCA &amp; Direct TV receiver. While wife is watching TV, I may be on notebook computer recording days expenses in Quicken, write e-mails, downloading digital photos from camera and recharging NiMH batteriees. With !000 watts I don't need to wait until 11:00pm when she finishes her TV. <br>

jigdog

We used to have to deal with always having 110 but got a ac/dc tv/vcr that works great but the screen is only 15inch.Does any body know of a bigger one that is ac/dc? :

FiverBob

Since Uncle Phil strayed over onto inverters, and since we are still also talking about batteries, let's take it one step farther. We have a 2000 watt Prosine inverter which also includes a 100 amp battery charger. This unit replaced my converter. The charger on some of these new inverters are the new &quot;smart&quot; chargers with three stages. It can also be programmed to try and bring back a battery that is marginal due to excessive sulphation. It will monitor the temperature of the batteries being charged and adjust the charging current to a safe level. It also will top them off without boiling off water. The stats say this will extend the life of our batteries quite a bit. Since this is only about six months old, I can't vouch for that claim. This allows running all the stuff Phil was talking about plus we can run the microwave. Works great when stopping for lunch. Sure saves firing up the generator as often. We push this with 3 - 12v deep cycle batteries. I would rather have four 6v, but the compartment will only hold three - - hence we stayed with the 12 volters.<br><br>We also carry a small 300 watt unit in the truck for charging the GPS, cell phone, computer, FRS radios, and flashlight batteries while rolling down the road.

RAFTEN

Sierra Phil, you and I share the same ideas on batteries. Speaking of converters, does anyone know for sure, as in measured it, what the output of a Magtek 7300 series is. I have heard they will put out up to 45 amps to a discharged battery.

misterKTM

WOW, I guess I should have replaced the batteries sooner <br><br>The new ones work like a champ. 5 nights of camping with the furnace runing and I never needed to run the generator. The solar panel on the roof was enough to recharge to full capacity during the day....just like it used to do :