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Old 10-16-2019, 08:52 PM   #1
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battery condition (deep cycle)

I need a little advice on a deep cycle battery characteristics, (this is a lead/acid deep cycle). Do they just get weak, not wanting to stay full charged after charging kind of thing. Here's the scoop; we had trailer 3 years, battery was in it, date on battery wasn't punched out, had trailer plugged in while winterizing a couple weeks ago for probably 2 day then switched battery disconnect too off till yesterday when I moved the trailer to its winter hibernation spot, removed battery (Interstate batteries, group 24,cca-550,rc-140, ca-600) into the shop and with my multi meter battery read 12.87V. put charger on a couple hours, disconnected and a hour later read 13.17, charge another 2 hour, disconnect again and leave sit on wood bench a hour it read 13.36V, I figured I was gaining so this morning check again and battery dropped to 13.07V. So put the charger back on today for 2 hours then disconnected for an hour and read 13.57, 2 hours later read 13.22, then a hour ago it read 13.16. Ok now this is my thoughts, correct me if I'm wrong !! Full charge should be around 13.5V and a deep cycle should be considered dead at 12.5v and time to get your generator fired up so trailer can charge battery before you ruin a battery. This fall it seemed to have trouble serving just the fridge/freezer when we were boondocking, nothing else running, I have a battery monitor installed in trailer. and I don't know how much time it should take to draw down a battery just running fridge'freezer on propane but I'm thinking the draw said 0.6A which I don't think is very much, but I really don't know, and thinking this battery must be showing the signs for replacement.
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Old 10-16-2019, 09:06 PM   #2
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Voltage is one thing but get battery load tested. One dead or weak cell will make a difference.
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Old 10-16-2019, 10:38 PM   #3
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Deep cycle batteries life span is 3-5 years even if properly maintained water levels.
Nearly all RVs the OEM disconnect does not completely disconnect the battery, disconnecting the + or - cable is the only way to totally disconnect battery.
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Old 10-16-2019, 11:49 PM   #4
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Yikes, by comparing the graph above and my belief of 12.5 being considered dead, was still 90%. This battery was probably never under 80% and might still be better than expected. I don't own a battery load test but will take it in to the local garage for a load test. I'll also see what the V drops down to sitting in the shop over winter keeping a close eye in drain. Now depending sources, there's always some drain and a point per month sounds like the norm. I also sent a email to the manufacturer on there specs and percentages, but since this manufacturer moved to Mexico undoubtedly for safer working standards than Canada or the US I'm not going to hold my breath on a reply. The battery part number isn't listed since the move and all battery info is vague.
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Old 10-17-2019, 03:22 AM   #5
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Canadian Tire sells testers. I bought one after having issues with boat batteries (3) and then following year, my RV one. I switched to an GRP 27 in camper as it did fit in battery box. I got 5 years out of my original GRP 24 Deka.
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Old 10-17-2019, 07:07 PM   #6
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If you are taking the battery out for the winter, I use and recommend this. All tho, I leave my batteries in the camper all winter with this hooked up to them.
https://www.amazon.com/BatteryMINDer...8BFCD4YQ2CF4KE
Here is a link with some good info.
https://deepcyclebatterystore.com/ho...ain-batteries/
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Old 10-23-2019, 05:32 PM   #7
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Had an extra hour to kill while the better half went for coffee this morning which took me to the battery rack, so after about 15 minutes comparing everything with a tape measure in hand got me to thinking I just might be able to make enough room for that larger battery, so purchased the last group 27 battery box from the shelf, and after about 3 short hours this afternoon everything is complete and ready for a new larger group 27 battery come spring. The big instant deciding factor after comparing the deep cycles (only) was the 40% MORE Amp hours. The group 24(65AH) compared to group 27 with (90AH) . This was at Walmart Canada and there might be a better brands out there and will hunt that down closer to spring. Thanks to 660catman it was a tip worth looking into also.
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Old 10-23-2019, 08:14 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aceallenk View Post
Had an extra hour to kill while the better half went for coffee this morning which took me to the battery rack, so after about 15 minutes comparing everything with a tape measure in hand got me to thinking I just might be able to make enough room for that larger battery, so purchased the last group 27 battery box from the shelf, and after about 3 short hours this afternoon everything is complete and ready for a new larger group 27 battery come spring. The big instant deciding factor after comparing the deep cycles (only) was the 40% MORE Amp hours. The group 24(65AH) compared to group 27 with (90AH) . This was at Walmart Canada and there might be a better brands out there and will hunt that down closer to spring. Thanks to 660catman it was a tip worth looking into also.


Good to hear you have more power!!
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Old 10-23-2019, 10:46 PM   #9
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Do your research before you buy. Look at how much you use the battery and for how long.

The camper I just got rid of had 2X 12vdc type 31 deep cycle.
The new camper (to us) that I just bought has 2 X 12vdc AGM 100Ah. holes were punched and they are 3 yrs old. and I would consider them 10X the battery of lead flooded type 31.

Testing deep cycle can be tricky if they give a number for CA/CCA then chances are they are not a true deep cycle. I have only ever seen a Ah rating on true deep cycle.

I see your from Sask, so I will say that all the batteries I have put in campers have been from saskbattery. They sell the 100Ah AGM for 249.00.

But going 2 X 6vdc AGM @200Ah might be a better choice if off grid is mainly what you do.

I'm still researching which way to go for mainly off grid. 6vdc X 4 running series paralell or just 4 12vdc running paralell. both come out to same Ah rating.
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Old 10-23-2019, 10:47 PM   #10
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LOL, funny but tonight I was pricing out a few batteries and noticed my battery box I just installed and it can hold up to a group 31 battery. So a group 31 is what we'll stick in it. and is 105Ah, so as I'm no battery expert but math tells me that this is about 60% more juice than group 24 so this should be definitely quite an improvement. I'm not certain here but maybe someone knows if this would keep a fridge/freezer operating on propane for a couple days if need be? I ask for boondock reasons and were not there to start the generator for the inverter to charge the battery.
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Old 10-23-2019, 11:01 PM   #11
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105Ah should give you good length of time. there is a bunch of math to figure out what everything will run and for how long.

Is that a flooded or AGM battery? AGM are gas-less and from what I'm told will not require vented boxes. So I will lean more towards AGM in the spring.

Also from what I've been reading draining down past 80% will harm batteries. Over time that is. The 2 type 31's I had would run the fridge for a week on propane with out trouble.
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Old 10-23-2019, 11:43 PM   #12
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Miniozzy, up till your last post I was only considering flooded acid. BUT I just sent an email off to Sask Battery, but will also probably call them tomorrow also. I Wonder if you would know if these AGM batteries need a different charging system or are they fine with original charging systems, they are still an acid battery..
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Old 10-23-2019, 11:53 PM   #13
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I still have the factory charger in my camper. And the batteries are 3 years old and tested good
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Old 10-24-2019, 10:41 AM   #14
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Miniozzy, thanks for the tip one more time. Phoned Sask battery this morning and they literally blew the closest competition right out of the park by $40 bucks for an identical rated 220 minute Deep Cycle flooded acid battery, and by $70 bucks with the local big chain store locally in the city next to me that was selling 185 rated minutes. The biggest selling feature is he literally guaranteed there batteries are always fresh, He said there deep cycle batteries never never ever get older that 2 months as turn around is just too fast especially with the deep cycle. The final decision will be when I get into Regina next month or again in Feb. Wish I'd have known about them 2 months ago when bought 2 quad batteries and another utility battery for the fishing boat fish finder, and the month before the truck got a old off the shelf $325 Delco shafting from the local dealer, lol. I can bet I know where every future battery will be purchased from this day forward !!
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Old 10-24-2019, 11:05 AM   #15
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They have treated me good. I thought I had a bad battery a year ago and after speaking to them. They helped me diagnose a cable issue to the battery.

I was a high resistance in the cable, which caused charging issues.
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Old 10-25-2019, 12:52 AM   #16
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Battery

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Originally Posted by Aceallenk View Post
Miniozzy, thanks for the tip one more time. Phoned Sask battery this morning and they literally blew the closest competition right out of the park by $40 bucks for an identical rated 220 minute Deep Cycle flooded acid battery, and by $70 bucks with the local big chain store locally in the city next to me that was selling 185 rated minutes. The biggest selling feature is he literally guaranteed there batteries are always fresh, He said there deep cycle batteries never never ever get older that 2 months as turn around is just too fast especially with the deep cycle. The final decision will be when I get into Regina next month or again in Feb. Wish I'd have known about them 2 months ago when bought 2 quad batteries and another utility battery for the fishing boat fish finder, and the month before the truck got a old off the shelf $325 Delco shafting from the local dealer, lol. I can bet I know where every future battery will be purchased from this day forward !!
JUst put a deep cycle Interstate on it. If your system isn't charging it enough and you have power(electric) keept a trickle charger on it.
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Old 10-27-2019, 12:24 PM   #17
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Also your meter readings make me suspect you need meter replaced? 12.6-12.7=100% on lead acid; my coach battery replaced 2017 at 7yo and chassis still strong at 8yr+ in Aug (date label says "8/11")
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Old 10-28-2019, 12:22 PM   #18
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Battery charger should be DISCONNECTED 30+ minutes before checking battery voltage to allow FALSE HIGH SURFACE CHARGE VOLTAGE to dissipate. A fully charged Lead-acid battery will read 12.6-12.7vdc. (From what I read, a AGM (AcidGelMat) battery will be closer to 13.0 volts when fully charged, but requires a different AGM charger, and cost x2-3) as much?
Lead acid batteries should not be allowed to discharge below 12.0 (50% charge) to provide longest life.
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