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Old 03-10-2016, 07:55 PM   #1
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378 replacement house battery option

I posted several weeks ago inquiring of suggestions for replacement of house batteries. Did not receive feedback so continued researching what would be my best option as far as performance and value. My 2013 378 came with two exide group 27 batteries mounted under entry steps. I took measurements on battery holing tray and found sams club sells a group 31 agm ( no water check needed sealed unit) deep cycle battery that will fit in place of group 27's the coach came with. The batteries are Duracell made by east penn manufacturing which I'm told also make the Deka brand batteries. (Much more expensive than SAMs I'm told) The batteries have a 20 amp reserve capacity of 105 ah each. The price at SAMs club is just a few cents less than 180 each. The progressive industries converter/charger that came in coach meets the requirements to handle charging on agm batteries from everything I can gather on charger. The batteries come with an 18 mo replacement warranty and fit perfectly.
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Old 03-10-2016, 09:36 PM   #2
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Get two 12 volts from Walmart and save your money.
Or
You can buy the more expensive ones and still have to replace them in 3-4 years.
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Old 03-10-2016, 11:12 PM   #3
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We had to replace ours on our 2014. We do have 4 batteries, group size 27. We went to our local tractor supply store. You can always go with the lithium ones. The way I understand it is, you can spend a little every now and then, or a lot now and less over time.
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Old 03-10-2016, 11:28 PM   #4
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We had to replace ours on our 2014. We do have 4 batteries, group size 27. We went to our local tractor supply store. You can always go with the lithium ones. The way I understand it is, you can spend a little every now and then, or a lot now and less over time.

If you change to anything other than lead acid type you may have to look at the type of battery charger you have. May need to be upgraded or changed. Most Georgetown's have two 12 volts with a 70 amp charger.
If you change to four 6 volts to get more amps that will need an upgraded charger.
Anyway, lead acid batteries depending on their us or Non-Use and how they are maintained all deteriorate over time. If you get 4-5 years out of them you are doing great.

Lots of great information here.
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Old 03-11-2016, 05:16 AM   #5
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As long as you stick with lead acid you should have no problem. The PD converter will handle 2,4 or even more flooded or AGM batteries. You can put in 2-6 volt in series or 2-12-volt in parallel or 4-6 volt units in "series parallel." You will rarely see the max current from the converter, but that is not really an issue. Personally I stick with flooded lead acid since the disadvantages of AGM override the advantages as far as I am concerned, but many feel differently.

The biggest issue is room to put them. My 335 has a tray that will hold 4 batteries since I have a residential reefer. If you have 2 batteries now, best bet is 2 deep cycle 6 volt flooded lead acid (Trojans, Sams's club, etc.)
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Old 03-11-2016, 06:19 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by Iggy View Post
If you change to anything other than lead acid type you may have to look at the type of battery charger you have. May need to be upgraded or changed. Most Georgetown's have two 12 volts with a 70 amp charger.
If you change to four 6 volts to get more amps that will need an upgraded charger.
Anyway, lead acid batteries depending on their us or Non-Use and how they are maintained all deteriorate over time. If you get 4-5 years out of them you are doing great.

Lots of great information here.
Depends on the charger. I have 4 6 volts in my Gtown and have the Progressive Dynamics 9270, all of which are stock items.
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Old 03-11-2016, 07:31 AM   #7
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Iggy,
The wal mart route could be best for some. Guess that depends on how one defines "value". If value is defined only as price there may be even cheaper ones available. I decided on the group 31 agm's at SAMs club considering, maintenance ( sealed vs not), capacity, warranty and price. The biggest factor for me was finding more capacity in a battery that would fit the tray without fabricating a new one. The group 31s have more capacity than what was provided from forest River. The result should be longer inverter run time for the frig without using generator. This was my goal. If the new ones turn out to be lemons I'll post later.
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Old 03-11-2016, 02:51 PM   #8
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We have no info on how the OP uses his coach and WHY he has opted for AGM's.
IMO...there is no need to spend on AGM's or even Premium Quality lead acid batteries unless you boondock a good deal. If you are plugged in most everywhere, cheap house batteries suffice just fine as they will never be "cycled".
If you DO boondock a lot...the most amp hours for the buck are in wet cells and you do need TRUE deep cycles batteries...not dual purpose. Many prefer a 6V array which gives you true deep cycle at a good price. Personally, I'd only do that if I were getting four...but many do it with just two.
The CASE for paying TWICE as much or more for an AGM CANNOT be made on extended battery life as some think. Under lab conditions they get around 10% less cycle to 50% life. HOWEVER:
1. Since they require no maintenance...many people who would otherwise be negligent ...DO get longer battery life in the real world. And some are willing to pay for no watering hassels.
2. IF you have a large enough charger....you can charge an AGM almost twice as fast as a wet cell (some faster than that....see Lifeline and Odyssey) which lets you save a lot of generator run time in the boonies and do more fishing! In this case...a pair of Group 31 wet cells could be charged in bulk at around 45 amps MAX acceptance. The same batteries in AGM can probably take a 90 amp charger. If you want save some time charging in the campground...you can upgrade to a charger with 50% of amp hour rating total but make sure your wiring from converter to batts can handle it.
3. AGM's are also superior for long term storage since they self discharge at 10% of the rate of wet cells and resist sulfation. After 6 months of storage at room temps....you'll still be at 90% capacity and immune to freezing if stored full in colder climates.
4. They can be mounted sideways or up and down which lets you carry more amp hours in some cases.

Hope this is helpful
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Old 03-11-2016, 07:18 PM   #9
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When ever I need a battery I go to my local Interstate battery distributor and get what they call a blem battery. Battery's have a shelf life when they are not sold from a selling dealer the go back to the distributor after a year and they are marked as a blem and you can get a 5 years battery, deep cell or 6 volt all battery's are $45.00 with core. so what in 4 years it goes bad your 60 bucks or more ahead. That's where I go for ALL of my battery needs boat, camper, truck, car, tractors, lawn tractor, motorcycle
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Old 03-12-2016, 07:16 AM   #10
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I have a 2012 378, and replaced my batteries last year with Advance auto deep cycle batteries 27 for 80.00 each, they work great. Before I put them in I equalized them on a charger for 10 hours up to 14.4 volts,installed them and they work flawlessly. Rv Sat for 3 months and they were still charged at 90% .I figure I will rellace them again in three years. I agree with Iggy why spend the xtra money. I don't mind checking water level,not a big deal.
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Old 03-12-2016, 11:03 AM   #11
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I just checked all four of my wet cell 12V, kind of a pain to do so I am going to install the Flow Rite Qwik Fill system:


https://flow-rite.com/battery-wateri...e-rv/qwik-fill
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Old 03-12-2016, 01:33 PM   #12
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I added two Trojans 6 volt batteries to my two 12 volt battery setup that came with the coach. The 6 v are wired in series and the 12 V are parallel. Does anyone see a problem with this? I have herd mixed reviews.

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Old 03-12-2016, 02:33 PM   #13
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I added two Trojans 6 volt batteries to my two 12 volt battery setup that came with the coach. The 6 v are wired in series and the 12 V are parallel. Does anyone see a problem with this? I have herd mixed reviews.

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Yes...you don't mix battery types and ages and get good results. There is nothing to fear electrically but I expect you will experience significantly shorter cycle life from your 6V's.

An alternative is to configure them to a battery switch as 2 separate banks and use and charge them independently. Or simply get rid of the originals and get another pair of new 6V's.
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Old 03-12-2016, 07:03 PM   #14
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378 replacement house battery option

The batteries will charge at different rates so not really a good idea to mix sizes. Best to go with 4 6 volts or 4 12 volt of the same age and size. Either the 6 or 12 volts will give you the same results. Very little difference.
The biggest question is, are you doing more dry camping or will you be always hooked to shore power?
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Old 03-12-2016, 08:09 PM   #15
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Hopefully more dry camping. I'm working on my SolarSystem now. I just hated to not do anything with the brand-new 12 V. So I guess I will go get two more 6 V. :-(


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