I need help in battery selection

[Telstar Ranger]

    I purchased a 1993 ford Telstar, 27'.  It has an Onan Microlite 4000 ky generator.  Here's a link to the craigslist sale ad http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/rvs/5129261520.html  .  IT has a new Walmart Everstart battery.  It is this one here :
http://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart-24MS-6-Marine-Battery/16782694 . Group size 24, 625 Marine cranking amps.
    I am trying to figure out how many amps I need, but that is confusing. Instead i looked at the performance of popular 6 volt batteries. I did some research and decided that I might go for two 6 volt Trojan t105s, or something similar.  However, my battery compartment slide tray is 12x13 and 11 inches high.  Most of the 6 volt batteries seem to come in at close to 11 inches or more.  And 11 inches would be touching the top of the battery compartment.

So:

DO I buy another Walmart battery of the same size and parallel/series wire them? 

Do I buy some 6 volt batteries? and if I do do I need any special charger?

Are there any affordable true 12 volt deep cycle batteries?

I am interested in any ideas or suggestions, especially economical ones, not being cheap, but best value kind of thing.

Ride On,
TR

 

[bucks2]

How are you going to use it? Are you going to be using big draw items? Will you have any problem running the generator daily to keep the battery(s) up? Since the one battery is new, unless I was going to be a heavy user and needed the additional capacity of the 6v batteries, I'd just add another new identical 12v battery and use them until their life is over and then upgrade to the 6v pair.

As a long term solution the 6v is the best way to go for most folks, but I wouldn't throw away a new battery just to do it now, unless I had a good reason.

Ken

 

[Telstar Ranger]

How are you going to use it?

This is hard to determine for me, as I do not fully understand how my system works.  I don't know if I have a converter that would allow me to plug in my tv to a 110 socket and power it from house battery, or will I need to turn on the generator every time I want to watch TV? If I don't have a converter, and I have to use the generator every time I want to use 110 plug, then maybe I won't be using that much electricity other than lights, fans, or whatever.  But I would like to be able to watch a couple hours of TV, power some lights, and run the electric vents, and run a small coffee maker without turning on the generator.

 

[John From Detroit]

You might see if you can modify the battery compartment. A group 24 MARINE/deep cycle has only about 75 amp hours (Forget what Wal*mart prints on them they cheat) at the C/20 rate and you can only use about w25 to 30 of those before serious battery damage starts.

With the GC-2's you get 220 amp hours (same C/20 rate) give or take 10, and you can use half of them safely. That is a LOT more power.  So if you can modify the battery tray or find a better location.. i'd go with the GC-2s.

There are some other formats too but the battery tray really limits you.

 

[John From Detroit]

This is hard to determine for me, as I do not fully understand how my system works.  I don't know if I have a converter that would allow me to plug in my tv to a 110 socket and power it from house battery, or will I need to turn on the generator every time I want to watch TV? If I don't have a converter, and I have to use the generator every time I want to use 110 plug, then maybe I won't be using that much electricity other than lights, fans, or whatever.  But I would like to be able to watch a couple hours of TV, power some lights, and run the electric vents, and run a small coffee maker without turning on the generator.

with only a single Group 24 battery the odds of having an INVERTER that will let you make coffee or watch a 120vac TV is very very very low (For coffee it's zero)  There are 12 volt coffee makers and 12 volt TV's but with only a Group 24 you really should not do anything but lights water pump and furnace.  and may not even have enough for the furnace.. Lights should be LED type.

I'm serious. At most if you use 1.5 amps your battery would last 20 hours.

A 1141 light blub..  1.5 amps (roughly)  JUST ONE BULB.. If you paln to do anything  you need more battery.

 

[Telstar Ranger]

According to the owner's manuel I have some kind of converter.  IT says the power center will transform and rectify 110 ac to 12 dc, but it doesn't work the other way.  The 12 volt system can be powered by the generator or being plugged in, but the 12 volt system won't power the 110 plugs?

 

[Telstar Ranger]

I'm serious. At most if you use 1.5 amps your battery would last 20 hours.

So two would only create 3 amps?  Yeah, the guy just bought the cheapest battery he could.

 

[BoomerD]

According to the owner's manuel I have some kind of converter.  IT says the power center will transform and rectify 110 ac to 12 dc, but it doesn't work the other way.  The 12 volt system can be powered by the generator or being plugged in, but the 12 volt system won't power the 110 plugs?

Right. Your generator makes 110 volt AC power. Your converter turns some of that into 12v DC power. To go the other way, you need an inverter...and as mentioned above, with only a single group 24 battery, you ain't gonna make very much 110 v. AC.

 

[oldme]

A true 12V DEEP CYCLE

http://usbattery.com/products/12-volt-batteries/us-31dc-xc/

 

[cgmartin]

Telstar Ranger.....you will likely spend a lot of time researching different batteries, and get some recommendations, but most likely, you will be pointed to the Trojan T105 batteries. You cannot go wrong with those. While there are some good batteries out there, my personal preference would be Trojan.

 

[8Muddypaws]

I've been using a bank of four 6v golf cart batteries from Costco for 5 years.  Great batteries.  At under $90 each they're a steal.

 

[quadrider]

If you do alot of camping where theres no power you will want two 6 volt battery. You will also need an inverter to power your 110 volt items. Another thing to check is what type of charger the rv has. I put 4      6 volt battery in my rv and the magnetek 1 stage charger kill them in less than two years from over charging. we have two banks of 4 6 volt battery a 2500 watt pure sine wave inverter, and a progresive 9200 charger.

 

[Telstar Ranger]

OLDME,

US Battery is right down the street from me, but I believe it is a distribution warehouse.  I will check it out.

CGmartin

Trojans will most likely not fit.  I have seen two different measusrements on them; one was 10 something and the other was 11 something.  My bat compartment has only 11 inches of height.  Maybe there is a side post model?

quadrider

I have many manuals for 22 year old vehicle, but none on the charging system.  How would I find this out?

 

[Telstar Ranger]

8 muddy paws

Does Costco still sell golf cart batteries?  When I went to their website I couldn't find any. But maybe its a regional thing.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Here is an article I wrote for the RVForum Library about choosing an RV battery - it may help with the basics: http://www.rvforum.net/miscfiles/Choosing_right_battery.pdf

The 6V batteries we are talking about are size GC2 "golf cart" batteries. The GC2 size is 10-3/8" x  7-3/16" x 10-5/8", so they may not fit in your battery compartment.  There are plenty of 12v deep cycles, but they are a specialty item and relatively expensive.  Any AGM type battery will hold up well in RV use (deep cycling), but they are pricey too. Sam's Club has a size 31 12v AGM for around $170. Costco may too, if they sell batteries in your area (not all Sams or Costco's carry batteries).

A good sized pair of batteries will have an Amp-Hour (AH) capacity of around 230, but for max battery life you should avoid using much more than half of that before recharging. That's not a lot of AH to run an inverter because it takes over 10x as many battery amps as the 120vac amps the inverter produces. If the tv uses 1 amp (about 120 watts), then the inverter pulls nearly 11 amps from the battery. Add that to other 12v uses and you can see that you may only get a couple days from a 200+ AH pair of batteries. It all depends on how frugal you are - some people manage more.

 

[8Muddypaws]

8 muddy paws

Does Costco still sell golf cart batteries?  When I went to their website I couldn't find any. But maybe its a regional thing.

Not sure since I haven't looked since I bought mine.  I don't think they've ever appeared in their web catalog though.  They sell lots more 'stuff' than they show online.

 

[Wigpro]

Not sure since I haven't looked since I bought mine.  I don't think they've ever appeared in their web catalog though.  They sell lots more 'stuff' than they show online.

I just bought two at Costco - about $89.00 a piece and they work great...

Jim

 

[Artstang]

I just replaced my two interstate batteries with these Duracell Deep Cycle batteries http://www.samsclub.com/sams/duracell-marine-battery-group-size-27dc/prod3590231.ip.
So far so good but have not really tried it to see how it will perform. There is a 2000/4000 watt inverter to power 115 v fans, 26" flat screen, directv receiver, and maybe a coffee maker if I need to make coffee. Otherwise the pot will be turned off. With the pot turned off "Kill A Watt meter reads 175 watts usage all of the above, besides running a few 12V LED lights. Also the batteries are connected to 2 x 100 watts solar panels which charge the batteries on good sunny days at least 10.5 amps nominal until it trickle charged. I plan to install 2 more 100 watts panels in the future as funds permits. I'm not a full time RVer yet, but fully retired.
If these batteries will not perform, I may replace them with what this forum best recommends.

 

[Telstar Ranger]

The local Sams club has duracell batteries, but not that one.  I am not a member of either Sams or Costco. I lived too far away from either, but now have them both down the street from me.  I will call Costco and see if they have the batteries. 

Gary, I will check out your article. Thanks.

 

[Telstar Ranger]

My local Costco does carry the battery despite their website. SO I may go this route, as I like Costco. But now another question,

If I go the 6volt route (run in series) , do I need to do anything different in regards to charging? Or am I going to be good to go?  I am excited about this!

Also, does anybody with the costco batteries have the dimensions?  I am looking for height specifically.