Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote: Measure your battery box H, W, D, to determine the largest size battery/batteries that will fit inside those dimensions. For me, it was 2 group 31 SEARS PM-1 AGM deep cycle RV/Marine batteries. They speked out well and were the most reasonably priced. They are rebranded Optima batteries. My battery box was about a quarter inch to short in height to fit the Lifeline group 30 batteries which would have given 300 AH capacity but they were about $200.00 each more than the SEARS PM-1's. I went with 12 volt batteries because if one dies, you still have power, If one of your 6 volt dies, you're out of luck.
The marking "RV/Marine" on batteries is a big red flag...
They are not true Deep Cycle batteries.
These batteries spec out well. There are plenty of folks on the forum that have purchased these and are very happy with them. They have performed very impressively for me thus far. The price for them was reasonable compared to other AGM batteries. We'll see how they hold up and perform over the next few years. They do have a very good warranty.
For what it's worth, I've been using three Deka AGM 12 volt type 29's from Penn Mfg. for the past three years. I was able to negotiate a nice discount I think I paid $ 140.00 for each. They have been effort less, I rarely think about the batteries very much any more. Next week I'll take apart the terminals and clean them and coat with dielectric grease. That's it.
We are constantly on the roads and beaches from next week on, and use a combination of solar (120 watts) and a propane Onan genset to keep the system adequately charged, when not underway. Two batteries are mounted in the TC's battery compartment. The other I fitted before the wheel well with a golf cart type quick disconnect plug set from Granger. The battery is mounted in a strapped down marine battery box. I used fairly heavy guage wiring, fused. I keep track of the state of charge with a simple digital lighter type meter, plugged in to a receptacle in the galley so it's easily seen. We keep the batteries from falling below 12.2 volts. The short-coming of the 2/6 volt system, as I see it, is, if one battery fails, for any reason, the system's down. With our 12 volters, it one fails, two more are available. We run a satellite TV nightly, a laptop daily,charge our cell phones , the lighting and the water pump, the system performs to provide our needs with little thought or concern. Our refrigerator stays on propane mostly, except when we're on shore power using very slight 12 volt DC.
* This post was
edited 04/07/12 08:06am by skipbee *
skipbee
2004 F350 Diesel CC SRW 19.5" Rickson W/T 4WD
2005 Lance 1121 well found.
12' Porta-Bote alongside
All that glisters is not gold. All who wander are not lost. See us on YouTube" Living the Lance Life" 3 of 4.
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