I've only gotten 4 years out of my RV deep cycle battery. I keep it charged up and in the house in the winter but it just won't hold a charge anymore. It is an Interstate. Any recommendations on a better battery? Also thinking of buying two and paralleling them.
I just went with 2 x 6V Golf Cart Batteries from Sams Club, set them up in Series so you get 12V. I'm not sure what is so special about them but that is what they recommend on the RV forums. It is working well so far for me. They are about $80 each.
I've got 3, 4yo Interstates I've gotta replace on my boat, and it has an onboard charging/tender system on it.
Boat batteries... use it or lose it. I simply shut down all the house battery switches in my RV when not in use. Four years and going strong. Not sure why they're doing so good. Nothing to add I guess.
I put a main switch at my Rv battery so I can turn the power on and off directly at the battery. The RV can draw power from the battery even with everything off. I put a battery tender on the battery and still going strong 4 years later.
Optima has gone to crap IMO and I sell them.... Great Idea, I have done this many times in the past and it works great. To be honest 4 years is great for an RV battery, you really cant ask for much more. There real are only a hand full of manufacturers left. Interstate, Sears (Diehard), etc dont make batterys. I sell both Deka (East Penn) and Exide. For the money East Penn is hard to beat. I never have any warranty issues with that them.
I almost went this route myself, but I came to the conclusion that with only (2) of them if one went out while dry camping I would be screwed. You definitely get more amp hours going the 6v route but I couldnt justify buying (4) right now. For now I went with (2) Interstate Group 27 batteries and I never let them discharge past 70% if possible. I use one of these chargers http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-BC4009-Automatic-Battery-Charger/dp/B001U04MWQ to recharge off the generator when dry camping. When in storage the batteries are set on a trickle charger periodically to maintain charge. I still have a spare Interstate Group 24 that I bought 3 years ago that is still holding a charge and is used as a backup battery.
First lesson: Keeping the trailer plugged in when at home obviously isn't keeping the battery charged up...DUH...so much for what the instructions are worth. I have many battery tenders, but they are only about 1.5 amps. My old car battery charger is 2/10/50 amps but there's no brain there. If I leave it on too long it will boil the battery down to nothing. Looks like another charger is in my future. Probably going to go with 4 golf cart batteries. Have to buy or make another battery box too. Thanks
Get a solar panel. Not for the bulk of electric needs perse but to help keep the bank topped off. Solar with a decent charge controller goes a long way in keeping batteries in good shape. 6v have thicker plates that will last for more charge cycles. Love my Trojans T-145's and they're going on 7 years now. A large part of that is due to I never drain them below about 15% even during extended boondocking as I have 320w of panels.
Yes, Interstate has gone down hill it seems. Crown batteries or DEKA (East Penn) are very good alternatives. The Crowns have a full 2 years replacement warranty on both their 6v and RV deep cycles. We sell Interstate, but just took on the Crown line because of some issues, and pricing. SmokeSignal is right though, 4yrs out of an RV battery is not too shabby. I have seen some DEKA's that were still going strong after 8yrs. That says a lot. If you are going the 6V route, 2 will be more than enough if you only had 1 currently.
FYI Johnson controls make all of Interstates, DieHard, Duralast, Everstart, Kirkland, Prostart and a number more.
If you have the room and you don't mind rigging up some extra cables, multiple 6 volts are the way to go. In the Class C I just sold, I only had one 12v coach battery, and it was up under the hood in the opposite corner of the chassis battery. I put a Lifeline AGM battery in -- higher amp-hours and longer life than flooded-cell batteries. And you don't have to mess with checking and adding water. Of course, all that comes with a higher price tag, but it's still going strong after five years. I also upgraded my converter to a newer-spec model with a three-stage charger (many of the older converters had straight-rate chargers), which helps the life of any battery.
If you do this, remember: they'll have to be wired in series to get 12v, but also, if one three cell battery drops a cell, or they aren't close to matched in output, you'll have a parasitic load which will draw on the remaining five good cells. It can make diagnosing problems fun.
