Help me choose a batttery(ies) for my FR Stealth Toy Hauler

[hammick]

We have a FR Stealth 2313 that is right at one year old and has a crappy factory battery that I think is shot. We have the factory solar option and the built in Onan 4000 watt generator.

Most of our camping is dry camping at elevations between 5000 - 10000 feet. Temperatures can drop into the low 20s during some of our camping and it would be nice to use the propane heater during the night without killing the batteries or having to run the generator.

I was thinking about getting two of the Trojan T-105 batteries. This would require another battery box and the wiring to put them in series. I then started thinking this might be overkill and a waste of money with the built in solar system.

Would I be fine with one Trojan 12v 27tmx?

Am I correct that the 20hr amp rating of the 6v batteries would be halved when wired wired in series?

Specs below of some of the batteries I am considering.

FYI our empty trailer tongue weight is 1,100 lbs but our WDH can handle the extra tongue weight of dual 6v batteries if needed.


T-105 | Trojan Battery Company

27TMX | Trojan Battery Company

T-1260 Plus | Trojan Battery Company



Thanks for any advice!

[camaraderie]

The Trojan 6V's are a good choice for QUALITY...but I'd only use them if you plan on 4.
If ONE of the two fail...you are up the creek. Not so with a pair of 12V's. You'd have half the capacity if one failed...but a still usable battery.
In your situation the Trojan group27 or 30 would be fine.

One thing you apparently don't know is how many amp hours you use when boondocking. Two Group30's will give you about 100 amp hours of USABLE power. Is that enough? Could you get by with less? Do you need more? What size charger will you need? How many hours of charging will you need to do daily? What is the output of your solar panels and how many amp hours will they contribute daily to charging your batteries. (My guess is you are thinking they will do more than they can).

My point is YOU NEED A TRUE BATTERY MONITOR before you make an investment in new batteries...NOT a VOLTMETER. Buying new batteries should be the LAST thing you do after figuring out all of the above.
A monitor will tell you all of that AND will also do it AFTER you buy the batts so you know WHEN to charge, and how much you are using NOW, and how long that use can last, and when you are exactly fully charged so you can turn off the generator or engine. It will also insure your Trojans last and pay for itself that way alone!
Try Victron or Trimetric.

[ironj]

I run dual 27s.....if stat is at 70 all night that will run the 2 in parallel to 67% by the morning...I generally try and run the genny for 4-5 hrs in that case....if u dont have led's that will eat up some amps too.....also I have a 1000w pure sine inverter I use to watch tv for 2-3 hours as well....so that uses some Amps.....

I alreadt had one 27 and it was practically new so I just added another. ..but 6v would have been a few more amp hrs. ....for what i use it for it wasnt worth the investment ....

[hammick]

Thanks for the responses. The TT is at the dealer with some warranty claims. One of them is to load check the battery and warranty replace. I doubt FR will give me a new battery so that is why I am researching what I will replace it with.

The Solar is the 160v factory kit. Seems to bring the battery up to full charge pretty quickly everyday.

Where we dry camp we don't have any TV signal. We use the stereo sometimes and I have changed all bulbs to led. I need the cranking power to start the built in 4000w Onan generator.

[DAISY BOYKIN]

Forest River will not warrant your battery. The dealer where you purchased your RV should do the warranty on the battery for he is the one that installed it. I may be wrong (not the first time, was wrong only once before), The dealer is the installer of the battery not Forest River.

NOTE: I use 31 series AGM batteries from SAM'S, cost almost 1/2 as a TROJAN of equal quality.

[camaraderie]

Thanks for the clarifiacation Hammick...the factory solar should give you around 40 amp hours a day and your usage sounds light.
You can do your own load testing with one of these cheaply if the dealer says nothing is amiss. 6 Volt/12 Volt Battery Load Tester

Sounds off hand like a couple of group27 or 31 TRUE deep cycles should be able to do the job. Comments about the need for a monitor ESPECIALLY with solar coming in remain valid to preserve them!

[Kevin & Judy]

Hello
Just installed 2 of the Trojan 27TMX. A great improvement over the OEM factory batterys. Before i could barely get through a night with the furnace on and not much else used. 40 deg at night and 65 deg on the stat and by 6 am was don to 10.9v. With these new Trojans i do the same thing and the batterys are still around 12V . But i had later found out the the MH i purchased had sat on the dealer lot for 11 months, No telling how bad the battreys really were.

[hammick]

Are the true deep cycle batteries from Trojan or the clones at Costco and Sams up to the task of starting the built in Onan 4000? It's my understanding that the group 27 battery that came with it is really a marine starting battery rather than a true deep cycle.

[hammick]

Originally Posted by camaraderie

Thanks for the clarifiacation Hammick...the factory solar should give you around 40 amp hours a day and your usage sounds light.
You can do your own load testing with one of these cheaply if the dealer says nothing is amiss. 6 Volt/12 Volt Battery Load Tester

Thanks. I need to go to Habor Freight to get some tools and will pick one of these up.

[hammick]

I'm leaning towards two of the Trojan T-105 6v or the Costco clones. Also looking at getting a bettery monitor that can also auto start my generator if the levels drop below a certain point: Battery Chargers | LinkPRO Battery Monitor | Xantrex

I would like to hear from anyone running two T-105s that is reliably starting their built in Onan generator in the morning or when needed. Thanks.