Battery Advice

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Which battery would be best for use in Teardrops?

I have done some searching, however thought I'd ask. I have found "use the biggest marine available", Seen Optima "Blue Tops", etc. Just looking for thoughts and opinions.

I plan to install a single battery and use the Deltran tender when shore power is availble.

Thanks!

[madjack]

Earl, iff'n it were me and I could go with what I want, it would be an Optima yellow top D51/35...however, I don't know if the price/performance thing would beat out a deep cycle group 24 battery from Wally World, which is probably what we will end up using 'cause'a bein' to broke too pay attention...
madjack

[mikeschn]

I'd like to hear from George and some of the other battery experts on this forum...

At the store the other day I saw some small AGM batteries that seemed to be higher rated than the larger Marine Batteries... Optima pops up when I do that search...
http://www.1st-optima-batteries.com/

In fact, I have a Hawker Pond Prowler, I guess that would be one of these...
http://www.enersysreservepower.com/ody_ ... ?brandID=5

So what's the better battery to get? And are all battery amps rated the same way? My deep cycle battery on the TAB is an 84 amp battery. Yet my trolling thunder battery, which is the size of a motorcycle battery is rated 650 amps.



Mike...

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I have noticed that, Optima is "right proud" of their batteries! You are right, price vs. performance is an important point to consider. I guess I'll have to do some more research, as I don't know all the different group types out there or what they are to be used for.

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I'd like to hear from George and some of the other battery experts on this forum...

So what's the better battery to get? And are all battery amps rated the same way? My deep cycle battery on the TAB is an 84 amp battery. Yet my trolling thunder battery, which is the size of a motorcycle battery is rated 650 amps.



Mike...

That's exactly why I'm confused! Is an amp an amp, and what should we be using I know of/heard of Hawker products, in fact they have been used in aviation applications.

[madjack]

I'd like to hear from George and some of the other battery experts on this forum...

So what's the better battery to get? And are all battery amps rated the same way? My deep cycle battery on the TAB is an 84 amp battery. Yet my trolling thunder battery, which is the size of a motorcycle battery is rated 650 amps.



Mike...

That's exactly why I'm confused! Is an amp an amp, and what should we be using I know of/heard of Hawker products, in fact they have been used in aviation applications.

...the 84A is amp hours, the 650A is cold crank amps...don't ask me the representational deference 'cause I sure as heck don't know...
madjack

[mikeschn]

So is anyone here smart enough to make a list of all the good batteries, with the calculated amp hours? I would think we are only looking at a list of about 6 batteries or there abouts... And I would think we would want to stick with the small size; I think it was a size 21.

Mike...

[Guy]

Here are six Battery Manufacturers well known and highly respected in the RV world.

Lifeline Batteries Inc. http://www.lifelinebatteries.com/
AC Delco
Trojan Batteries http://www.trojan-battery.com/
Interstate Batteries of America http://www.ibsa.com/estore/default.asp
Optima Batteries Inc. http://www.optimabatteries.com/
GNB Technologies Inc. http://www.gnb.com/

Here is a link to the popular website for Poop Sheetsx by Phred http://www.phrannie.org/phredex.html

You will see from these links that the most highly rated battery for bang for the buck are the six volt golf cart batteries which are true deep cycle, unlike the "deep Cycle" marine batteries or the hybrid marine batteries like the one posted above.

[mikeschn]

Hey Guy,

Can you convert that into a simple chart...

Perhaps something like this...

Interstate, Model 123, 84 amp hours, $159.00

etc...

Mike...

[goldcoop]

Earl, iff'n it were me and I could go with what I want, it would be an Optima yellow top D51/35...

I sprung for the Optima D51 yellow top...

Couldn't be happier!

Out for 6 nites, 7 days this past summer at a park with NO hook ups, still had a fair amount of power left (we were fairly conservative with lights, but ran the fan alot).

The up side for me was the ability to put the battery inside without the fear of outgassing.

Cheers,

Coop

[madjack]

Coop, that is good to hear...I really like the D51 for it's small size(only 5"thick) and lightweight(26#s)...........

[48Rob]

I used two 6 Volt golf cart batteries, wired together to give 12 Volts,
Each is rated at 105 Amp hours, but since they are 6 Volt, the total available 12 Volt Amp hours is still 105.
Bear in mind though, that only 50% of the total Amp hours are available for use...assuming you're trying to follow the "rules" for keeping your battery in the best possible condition, for the maximum number of years.

They cost $54.95 each.

They were, on all the RV. web sites I visited, touted as the best, and longest lasting batteries for the money.
Time will tell...

Rob

[GeorgeTelford]

Hi Goldcoop

Been drinking and tired so post may need revising tommorow

Beware advertising blurb, just had a quick look at Optima site

Will not off-gas in normal operation, eliminating fumes, odor & corrosion. Its their definition of normal for their battery

The D51 is a 41 ah battery normal size 24 Battery is 75-85 Ah so there claim of charging twice as fast is true, but only because half the Ah


CCA is that amount of amps it can put out reliably when cold

Ah is this, say 100 Ah in theory it could supply 1 Amp for 100 Hours or 100 Amps for one hour there is a depletion effect called Peukerts which means the 100 for one hour cannot happen and also If you want your battery to last you do not discharge below 50% ie dont use more than 50 Amps out of a fully charged 100 ah battery.

Spiral cell, starting batteries need large surface area to release ampage quickly spiral cell packs a big surface area into small space, but consider Deep cycle requires thicker plates and less surface area (pro rata) do you see the contradiction?

AGM's do last longer in abusive situations (poor chargers and leaving discharged, over discharging), but treat a normal battery right it will last as long, treat em badly and the AGM will last longer.

Get the biggest standard lead acid you can fit in and buy a decent charger.

Wally world battery and decent charger will cost less than one fancy battery on its own and will last as long. If you want to splash out get a true deep cycle and decent charger and this will outlast will outlastr wally world, still not sure it would be enough to warrant the extra cost.

[cracker39]

I am not a battery expert. But, from the threads posted on batteries, I decided that I will be conservative in price as I won't be using it a lot. I'm not sure that going with the expensive gel batteries is worth the money unless you will be on battery power quite often. WM has two Everstart group 27 deep cycles and I will probably get one of them. One is 750 MCA for $54.93 and the other is the Max with 875 MCA for $64.95. I've had good service out of the Everstart starter batteries.

[oklahomajewel]

Earl, iff'n it were me and I could go with what I want, it would be an Optima yellow top D51/35...

I sprung for the Optima D51 yellow top...

Couldn't be happier!

Out for 6 nites, 7 days this past summer at a park with NO hook ups, still had a fair amount of power left (we were fairly conservative with lights, but ran the fan alot).

The up side for me was the ability to put the battery inside without the fear of outgassing.

Cheers,

Coop

Cool.... can you give me an idea of the price on those???
I don't know nuthin 'bout buying no batt'ries....