Best Value Lead Acid Golf Cart Batteries for RV Use

[Lou Schneider]

As far as I'm aware, lithium is not a drop in option for a travel trailer without modifying the wiring from the tow vehicle to prevent alternator damage from excessive current draw.
I stand to be corrected.

Voltage drop along the 20+ ft charging wire is usually enough to keep the charging rate in check. In fact, using a DC to DC converter at the trailer battery often boosts the charging rate.

It's motorhomes with short, thick wires between the alternator and batteries that need protection against overcharging. And even here it isn't an issue until you get over about 200 a/h of battery capacity. At least that's what I found with my gas engine Safari Trek motorhome.

 

[tanglemoose]

That's OK; not everybody needs the benefits of lithium.
AGM is a lead acid battery too. The choice you would be making is flooded cell vs AGM. AGM is a sealed type of lead acid battery that requires no owner maintenance and doesn't release corrosive acid fumes. That's a plus, but if you haven't been overly burdened by taking care of your flooded cell batteries, there is no need to spend extra money on AGM.

I agree with the others that 5 years is just middle aged for a 6V deep cycle battery. 7 years is typical and 10 or more years is not unusual. If you usually camp with electric hookups, I see no reason to replace yours early. However, if you sometimes camp off-grid (no electric hook-up), I'd suggest a trial run to see how well they hold up. Doesn't need to be a formal measurement - just try running normal power uses for 24 hours without the RV plugged in.

Brand names mean almost nothing on lead-acid batteries - nearly all are made in the same factories by the same 4-5 manufacturers with different labels pasted on. That includes the well known Interstate brand, NAPA, Everstart and others. In other words, they are a commodity. Buy on the basis of the amp-hour rating and price. Yes, Costco sells 6V GC2 deep cycles. So does Sams' Club and Walmart.

We camp 95% off grid, lead have worked great last 5 years. so decided lead it is. Costco golf has 210 amps, rocket 225 and us2200 is 234. Guessing not much difference. We are going to keep these for a bit, I was thinking 5 years was a push... but sounds like folks get 7...

 

[tanglemoose]

OOn our 2

As far as I'm aware, lithium is not a drop in option for a travel trailer without modifying the wiring from the tow vehicle to prevent alternator damage from excessive current draw.
I

 

[tanglemoose]

As far as I'm aware, lithium is not a drop in option for a travel trailer without modifying the wiring from the tow vehicle to prevent alternator damage from excessive current draw.
I stand to be corrected.

Have seen a couple of rvs, same model, same inverter, kill their inverters etc.. so lead or agm. Lead has been great, we won't be rving another 5 years!

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

We camp 95% off grid, lead have worked great last 5 years. so decided lead it is. Costco golf has 210 amps, rocket 225 and us2200 is 234. Guessing not much difference. We are going to keep these for a bit, I was thinking 5 years was a push... but sounds like folks get 7...

Since you camp off-grid, I'd suggest buying the largest amp-hour capacity that fits in the available space. That's generally about 230 AH for a GC2 size battery like the US 2200. The higher capacity batteries cost more and weigh more, simply because they have more lead to produce more AH.

If you keep your 5 yo batteries, just check the level of the fluid in the cells and top off with distilled water if needed and you should be fine.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

Wonder and guess or measure and know. A simple capacity test will reveal exact merit. I test twice a year and have complete faith in my batteries because you can't fake delivered Ah.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[John From Detroit]

One thing. Question: Why do so many RVs come with GC2 pairs?

Answer: COST mostly but size and weight are also a facot You put a matchd pair of GC-2 in series you get 12 volt at around 210-230 AH (20 hour rate) (yes you can get bigger/smaller ones) And a grown man can likely wrangle the batteries by himself unless the install is real tricky.

You put that much into a single 12 volt case (4D or 8D) you get 210-220 AH and a hernia (slight joke) (Very slight).

You can put 4 of them in a series/parallel arrangement and double your AH (Actually a bit more effectively) or 6 or 8 (or more) just remember that each pair is a single battery for most reasons (IE: replacement) when they are in place. (You would not replace 1/2 of a 12 volt battery without replacing the other half after all ) also both of the pair need to be same make, model, age and so on. NOTE this is pair by pair. Bigger batteries are HEAVIER.

The cost thign
Most 12 volt sizes they make a bunch, re-tool, make a bunch of a different size, re-tool and thus goes the production line.

But due to the GC (Golf Car) part of GC-2 They tool up and run run run run for a long time to supply by the pallet load all the golf cars carrying people around the links.

No re-tooling = lower cost.

 

[Lou Schneider]

One thing. Question: Why do so many RVs come with GC2 pairs?

Size and weight, true. But also the economies of scale. At least until now.

Traditionally they made far more GC-2 golf cart batteries than specialty 12 volt AGM or wet cell RV/marine batteries so mass production efficiencies favored the 6 volt batteries.

This is changing as the world transitions to lithium batteries. The mass produced BMS in the low price batteries fueling the boom handles 4 cells in series, making the basic building block 12 volts regardless of the battery's amp-hour capacity.

Many golf carts are converting to single package 36 or 48 volt lithium batteries, further reducing the demand for 6 or 8 volt batteries.

 

[IBTripping]

I replaced a lead acid battery with a lithium in my stationary 2004 trailer without changing the converter-charger. Converter charges the lithium to 80 percent which is fine with me. When the old converter dies, I'll install a lithium compatible converter.

 

[John From Detroit]

Traditionally they made far more GC-2 golf cart batteries than specialty 12 volt AGM or wet cell RV/marine batteries so mass production efficiencies favored the 6 volt batteries.

Yes. I mentioned that as well. Due to all the golf courses ordering by the truck load they do not re-tool as often ... if ever. This makes it less expensive, and they pass on some of the savings.

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

I changed my four GC2 Interstates last October after owning the rig and the batteries for 7 1/2 years. How did I know they were ready to be replaced? They did not provide the same performance that I got from them when dry camping. This became particularly obvious during our trip to Montana last Summer.

BJ's has GC2s for $129.99 made by Interstate right on the battery, and when I bought mine, I had a $10 discount coupon for each $100 I spent, so I got the batteries for $120 each.

I, too, considered going the lithium route at that time, but like the OP, my Magnum Inverter/Charger does not support lithium. My level of dry camping is Walmart's or maybe a couple of nights at a Harvest Host. So, there wasn't any reason to change what was already working for us.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

BJ's has GC2s for $129.99 made by Interstate right on the battery, and when I bought mine, I had a $10 discount coupon for each $100 I spent, so I got the batteries for $120 each.

Just so you know, Interstate is not a battery manufacturer. They are a private label distributor who markets batteries nationwide. Most recently their GC2 6v deep cycle batteries were being made by Clarios (formerly Johnson Controls). Clarios is one of the Big Four US battery makers. They make other well-known private label brands as well, e.g. Everlast, Optima, AC Delco, and Diehard.

 

[earlbenz]

We have had 2 six volt golf cart batteries, for 5 years... we have solar, so batteries are never drawn down, guessing that's why they lasted so long.

Thinking our rv life is on a shorter thread, as we approach the late 70s.. but guessing we should invest in a couple new batteries now for our 2026 snowbird trip.

With cost in mind, I know AGM are better, but thinking we will just go with another round of lead acid, deep cycle. Lots of brands out there... any better than others? Wondering if Costco sells a deep cycle golf cart?
Thanks!

We got Diehards from Advanced Auto.

 

[CharlesinGA]

AGM is quite expensive. My local Costco sells a lot of 6v golf cart batteries because it is located adjacent to one of the largest and oldest golf cart communities in the US (Peachtree City GA) with about 60 miles of cart paths, bridges, tunnels, etc. They have stacks of them sitting out, and I recall seeing AGM versions also (both Interstate)

As far as I'm aware, lithium is not a drop in option for a travel trailer without modifying the wiring from the tow vehicle to prevent alternator damage from excessive current draw.
I stand to be corrected.

That can be true. It all hinges on the age of the vehicle and if it has computer controlled voltage or internal regulation, size of the wire in the harness to the 7 way connector, etc. Many people are able to safely operate without a B2B charger but I'm a belt and suspenders guy and prefer the B2B charger.

Charles

 

[TonyL]

AGM is quite expensive. My local Costco sells a lot of 6v golf cart batteries because it is located adjacent to one of the largest and oldest golf cart communities in the US (Peachtree City GA) with about 60 miles of cart paths, bridges, tunnels, etc. They have stacks of them sitting out, and I recall seeing AGM versions also (both Interstate)


That can be true. It all hinges on the age of the vehicle and if it has computer controlled voltage or internal regulation, size of the wire in the harness to the 7 way connector, etc. Many people are able to safely operate without a B2B charger but I'm a belt and suspenders guy and prefer the B2B charger.

Charles

If you need to fit a B2B charger for lithium, that means they are not a drop in replacement for lead acid

 

[John From Detroit]

If you need to fit a B2B charger for lithium, that means they are not a drop in replacement for lead acid

Two things I hear a lot
The above
And you shoold only charge Li to 80%

Check out what 80% is

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The B2B need is a real concern but rather overblown. It's mainly to prevent a problem that can occur if you have a large battery bank but a relatively small alternator. If you know little about alternators and battery charging rates, it's best to be what CharlesinGa suggests and cover the worst case scenario. But if you are willing to educate yourself somewhat and research your alternators amp delivery limits vs the battery banks max amp acceptance rates, you may find you don't need a B2b charger at all. Or that it's so rarely needed that you can use a simpler and cheaper preventative, like a fusible link or a resettable breaker.

As for an 80% SOC limit, I see that recommendation for longer term storage. In normal use, limiting the max SOC yields more charge cycles but they are each shorter and thus deliver less power. That's true of any battery, whether lead or lithium. There's no free lunch there.

 

[TonyL]

I never actually checked to see what gauge wire fed the seven pin towing plug on our F350. I know the truck had a high output alternator but I would guess that the fuse (assuming one was fitted) would have been around 20 amps.
In nearly 7 years of towing the fuse never blew. If lithium are the magic bullet everyone proclaims, are they saying nothing at all would need to have been altered on the tow vehicle if we had decided to go away from the 440 nominal amps of lead acid to an equivalent lithium supply?

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

If towing, then its the alternator on the tow vehicle that is at risk. And since any properly installed tow harness will have a fuse on the +12v charge line, that worry about alternator damage goes away. I'd suggest an auto-reset breaker rather than a fuse, though. Much more convenient. If you use a fuse, either manually check on arrival that it has not blown. Consider adding some sort of telltale to make it easy to determine the charge line is still functional.

 

[DonTom]

And you shoold only charge Li to 80%

Maybe. It depends on the type of cells used. My 300 AH Ampertime battery manual says charge to 100% and also store at 100% SOC. That is the one I installed in both of my motorhomes.

Other battery styles, even if from Ampertime (now renamed as Li-time), use 80%. But my cells are extra heavy making the battery size smaller and are different than most other Ampertime batteries. It's a 300AH battery built in their 200 AH pack.

My Zero electric motorcycles say store at 60% when not in use. Zeros before 2016 use 100% SOC. Zero switched to a different type of cell since then.

My Energicas say 85%.

One number for SOC% does not fit all.

IOW, RTFM that comes with your battery.

-Don- OPCNM, AZ