Question For Joshua Cavitt Re Solera Coach Batteries

[riverrat958]

I worked at a rv dealership- tt and 5er batteries were put in at the dealership- the one I worked at used interstate.group 24 were usually put in unless customer wanted 27 or it was a big unit and needed 27

[benagi]

We have a Forester 3171ds that is only 5 months old, ordered from the factory, so it didn't sit on the lot but a week. The batteries are already weak. I put a full charge on both of them recently with a commercial charger and after a 100% charge they start dropping voltage right away. Overnight they will go from 12.5 volts to 11.5 volts. Not good. Anyway to get these changed out under warranty??

[Pod2Vibe]

Keep in mind that RC is in minutes, not amps.

If you have a Solera or similar, the Group 27 house batteries are from the factory.

If you happen to have the ones with the label that states D27DC-160, as mentioned above, the caps do come off and cells can be filled, if needed.

Cheers

[427creston]

great info thanks Cam , 427creston

[DaveJordan]

For what it's worth...

I just checked the coach batteries on my 2015 24R.

They're Interstate ECL Professionals, size 27. I'm not sure that they're still sold by Interstate, but I did pick up a hint of a price around $140/battery.

According to a chart on the Interstate web site, and on the batteries themselves, the specs are as follows:

Model: Pro-27M
CCA: 675 Cold Cranking Amps (for 30 seconds at 0 F)
MCA: 845 Marine Cranking Amps
RC: 180 Reserve Capacity (minutes of 25 amps at 80 F)
RRC: 100 ????

These are listed as 12 volt "dual purpose" batteries. Probably not the best choice for coach batteries in a motorhome, but at least I know what they are!

Dave

[sanpedroflyer]

Originally Posted by Joshua Cavitt

The batteries are unbranded but made by Exide. They are distributed by Worldwide Batteries Co.
*EDITED

I just did some research on the Exide Battery site and believe that the Batteries in my 2016 Solera are indeed Exide Model Number 27MDP, Here's a Link to the Spec sheet on their site:

Find a Battery

The Exide name is: EXIDE NAUTILUS DUAL PURPOSE

Here's their Brochure:

http://www.exide.com/media/partscata...Marine7-14.pdf

Hopefully this will be helpful in setting up the Charge Parameters in the Trimetric Battery Monitor.

I previously posted pictures of the Solera Battery Box in the entry stairs. It was a mess with wires criss crossing each other and with the vent/water holes almost impossible to get to. I have since re-arranger the whole thing by rotating each of the batteries 189 degrees so the vent holes are more accessible for checking water levels and electrolyte checking of the batter charge state.

I am posting a picture with the Battery box modifications and the Trimetric Monitor Shunt resistor. I only had to buy one new cable to connect the shunt and had to cut two cables which were too long. The bad news is I had to buy a heavy duty (hydraulic) cable crimper. The good news is Harbor freight had one for $45 plus tax. It will come in handy when I add solar panels to the rood and a Solar Charge Controller.

sanpedroflyer

[camaraderie]

Nicely done...good luck with the new setup.

[sanpedroflyer]

I sent an email to Exide with pictures of the markings and stickers on my batteries.
Within a couple days, someone from Exide sent me a very nice email with a Spec Sheet and another doc. I'm on the road ATM and will post when I return home in a few days.

Bottom line: they are Exide Marine/RV batteries, their number is 27MDP and they have a name which I can't remember. But will post with the Docs I received. I will also post links to the battery on their site; they have a lot of marketing stuff on the battery as well.

sanpedroflyer

[sanpedroflyer]

Originally Posted by Joshua Cavitt

The batteries are unbranded but made by Exide. They are distributed by Worldwide Batteries Co.

*EDITED

In Reply to Joshua's Post:

I sent an email to Exide with pictures of the markings and stickers on my batteries.

Within a couple days, someone from Exide sent me a very nice email with a Spec Sheet and another doc.

Here is the content of the email:

Hi Peter,
Here is a specifications sheet for that battery along with our battery charging and storage guidelines. Hopefully this will give you the information that you need for your solar charger. Please let me know if you need additional info.
Thank you for choosing Exide!
Dawn/Customer Marketing & Activation Manager.

I will (hopefully) be attaching two files that Dawn sent to this posting.

By the Way, The sticker on My batteries with the Bar Code and the Number 27MDP is the number that Exide uses to identify the battery.

The two files are:

Battery Specification Sheet 27MDP.pdf

Battery Charging & Storage Specs 11.13.15.pdf

sanpedroflyer

[Sagecoachdriver]

Originally Posted by benagi

We have a Forester 3171ds that is only 5 months old, ordered from the factory, so it didn't sit on the lot but a week. The batteries are already weak. I put a full charge on both of them recently with a commercial charger and after a 100% charge they start dropping voltage right away. Overnight they will go from 12.5 volts to 11.5 volts. Not good. Anyway to get these changed out under warranty??

Ben, your batteries probably have a lot of sulfation thereby giving you the readings you are getting. I had that problem with my 04 Winnebago as the converter charger never really gets the batteries fully charged. They only get to 14.7v under boost and the batteries need 14.8v daily and periodic equalization at 15.5v.
I used my Renogy solar 100 watt suitcase to fully charge the batteries and equalize.

[Sagecoachdriver]

Correction for Benagi, the Intellipower charge wizard max on boost is 14.4 not 14.7v.