Re Brands: I have used several brands of batteries.. My motor home came with Interstate U-2200 Work-a-holic golf car batteries I'm impressed with them
I'm told Trojan's are better
Though I've not used Johnson Controls brands in my RV I've used them in cars and I've been 1/Impressed with them (You will not that is inverted) As,, Well.. they just did not last as long as other brands. This included the Sears Die Easy (At least when I used them) and Excide
US-Battery appears to be a good brand
In AGM's Lifeline,, I use East-Penn (MK or DEKA are East Penn) but Lifeline is the leader
As for golf car v/s marine/deep cycle.. .Others have posted very good articles on the internal differences.. I won't bother going into them Search on A N T O M O N Y if I've spelled it properly without the spaces and you should find the article
I will say this.. Most batteries are designed to be cared for by the owner (YOU) Golf Car batteries are designed to be cared for by employees.. People who do not own them and do not have to replace them when they fail. Thus the batteries are designed to take a bit of abuse that other batteries can not survive. Consider this.
Beyond that, to the "pair of Golf Car or pair of 12 volt" crowd
From the view point of your power use, your 12 volt "Stuff" how you get to 232 amp hours is up to you, it don't matter
A paif of 150 dollar AGM's might give around 232 amp hours
A pair of 60 dollar Golf Car batteries.. 232 amp hours.
You decide
Nothin adds excitment like something that is none of your business John is Near Kenwood TS-2000 housed in a 2005 Damon Intruder 377
Dick_B wrote: According to a camping friend who works on RV's do not buy Interstate Deep Cycle Batteries; just about anything else is better.
I would like to suggest that your friend do more research on the Interstate Battery line. I have used the same Interstate batteries for the past 8 years and have put 40,000 miles, driving xcountry Az./Mass. and have not had a problem of any sort. That should speak for itself. I am sure that there are many more users who have had the same experience.
Dick_B wrote: According to a camping friend who works on RV's do not buy Interstate Deep Cycle Batteries; just about anything else is better.
I have Interstate U-2200's, they're 6+ years old and still going strong. I regularly take them down to 11.00 volts and sometimes 10.75 before recharging.
* This post was
edited 08/06/08 12:10am by Deen *
Deen - Vancouver, WA
'02 Dutch Star 4090 (41+', triple slide)
435/1200 ISC Cummins/Banks PowerPak
'08 Honda Civic/dolly
'05 Honda Odyssey/dolly
NRA Benefactor Life Member
FMCA f47302s, Life Member: Good Sam, Newmar DP Owners Group
51st yr of RV'ing
My employer had several thousand electric vehicles around the world. Carts, small tractors, platform lifts, bucket lifts, fork lifts, etc. The People Who Monitor Things there learned that the 6 volt L 16 were best and GC were next best for the use we gave them. Due to shipping, they bought batteries locally, and our station had the best deal on Exides. We got a good employee purchase price on Exide GCs. Several of us RVers there pretty much decided that, despite the extra cost, Trojans were a better deal for us as long as we gave them motherly care. None of us ever changed our mind, and we compared notes often.
I have a ham friend who bought new Costco batts and had too much voltage drop with heavy transmitter loads. Took them back and put in Trojans. Voltage stayed higher. That info might be useful to heavy inverter users, but I have a suspicion that for lighter loads, Costco batts might be a good value.
Bill and Susan
84 Barth 30 tag powered by ht502/Thorley, Gear Vendors OD
Siamese Calvin and Airedale Hobbes
4WD Toyota toad
Quote: I didn't know that 6 volt batteries were a "myth". Can you explain that?
is this an intentional misperception (trolling) or what? Is it necessary to put in page after page of qualifiers and explanations or can we expect some reasonable level of topical awareness based on the content of the many discussions on these threads?
The "myth" is that there is something special about a 6v battery that makes them more suitable or better for RV service. An expression of the myth (for example) is "For boondocking for several days then a true deep cycle (like a golf cart battery) would be a good choice."
This is a myth because there is no true deep cycle battery normally available for RV use (that is, one that is designed for long life to a nominal 80% discharge state) and your battery choice is always a trade-off between capacity, cost, and life no matter the voltage.
For best life, you need to make sure you have enough battery so you don't discharge them too deeply as a normal thing. You need to recharge promptly and properly. You need to store and maintain your batteries properly. Wet cell lead acid batteries such as the 'golf cart 6v' or other RV rated, should last 4 - 6 years or so. An AGM battery might get you a year or two longer lifespan. (re Az Wind Sun FAQ)
now, to figure out why there is such a religious zeal on this topic ...
Quote: I didn't know that 6 volt batteries were a "myth". Can you explain that?
is this an intentional misperception (trolling) or what? Is it necessary to put in page after page of qualifiers and explanations or can we expect some reasonable level of topical awareness based on the content of the many discussions on these threads?
The "myth" is that there is something special about a 6v battery that makes them more suitable or better for RV service. An expression of the myth (for example) is "For boondocking for several days then a true deep cycle (like a golf cart battery) would be a good choice."
This is a myth because there is no true deep cycle battery normally available for RV use (that is, one that is designed for long life to a nominal 80% discharge state) and your battery choice is always a trade-off between capacity, cost, and life no matter the voltage.
For best life, you need to make sure you have enough battery so you don't discharge them too deeply as a normal thing. You need to recharge promptly and properly. You need to store and maintain your batteries properly. Wet cell lead acid batteries such as the 'golf cart 6v' or other RV rated, should last 4 - 6 years or so. An AGM battery might get you a year or two longer lifespan. (re Az Wind Sun FAQ)
now, to figure out why there is such a religious zeal on this topic ...
No trolling here. When one makes statements that mis-state or mis represent facts, they should be questioned. Your opinion is fine as you decided to make an attempt to correct the posture of your previous statement. Well taken...thanks.
The 6 volt myth works fine here! Got my mythical batteries at Costco. My mythical batteries are going strong after 3 years...and we watch DVDs at night.
I wonder if....Mythbusters would do an episode...nah, they wouldn't be interested.
Tim & Sue
Gerry (GSD) & Jammer (Sheltie)
2005 F150 4x4 Lariat 5.4L 3.73 Please buy a Hybrid...I need your gas for my 37 gallon tank!
2000 Nash 19B...comfortably pimped with a real Queen Size Bed Red Wine anyone?
I use twin true deep cycle 100 amp hour Interstate Group 29 AGM 12V batteries heavy wired in balanced-parallel for a total of 200 amp hours. They are model DCS-100 and are so far delivering outstanding performance. I charge them fairly fast through a stock Parallax 7345 RV converter or the Ford V10 130 amp alternator.
I also carry a standalone true deep cycle 90 amp hour Optima Group 31 AGM 12V battery (..that is no longer available on the market), for backup.
I'll probably never use wet cell batteries for my RV coach battery bank regardless of their low price point, as they charge too slow and are too messy.
Dick_B wrote: According to a camping friend who works on RV's do not buy Interstate Deep Cycle Batteries; just about anything else is better.
Gee. I've always heard good things about interstate, and I can tell you I have no complaints about 'em in my rig.
Now OPTIMA, on the other hand.. Has less power per cubic foot (You can see this look at the air) and the highest cost per watt (You can see this too, look at the price tag) of any battery out there.
Great if you plan on running roughshod over rocks, and ruts and the kind of ground where you need kidney support belts, Great if you like to roll your rig over.. but for a motor home or Travel Trailer...
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