My luck with reg automotive or deep cycle is that i get abt 2 yrs and then have to replace.
i usually leave my trailer plugged in at home. on the road, i always use hook ups. except for set up or tear down, i don't put any extra load on them for any length of time.
will they out last the lead/acid bat? are the worth the roughly $150 price?
In my opinion, yes they are better. Running them completely dead in no way hurts them. I have them in our motorhome now but I'm only going on the 2nd year of use so I can not give an honest answer on how they hold up in the RV, but........... Before my son started racing motocross and I still raced stock cars I used the Optimas in the stock cars. These cars had no alternators so you just had to recharge them during the week between races. One is 6 years old and the other is 7 years old and I still use them today, one is in the wifes car and the other is in my truck. Money well spent in my book.
Be aware though their best battery only has 66 amp hour capacity. Yes you can run them dead without damage; but it will happen more often.
Replaced mine last year with the Blue Top batteries. We don't dry camp very often so the lower amp hours wasn't too much of a concern. They performed very well last year.
I also noted from their spec sheet that they are limited to a 10 amp recharge rate. Those who like to "fast charge" with a 20 amp (or larger) charger should avoid this type of battery.
Using the 10% of bank "rule" for charging amps, a single 66 AH battery should be recharged at 6.6 amps max; so a 10 amp max charge rate is in the ball park.
Two 12 volt blue tops in a stack would have a bank size of 132 AH and could take a 20 amp charger since 10 amps would be the max hitting any one battery.
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Lou & Freya the wonder dog
2008 GMC Sierra 3000HD Allison Duramax
2019 Flagstaff 8529FL
i installed the yellow top last yr. will see. don't usually have bat problems until 3rd season.
i read some post abt using them for wenches etc and they have held up for 5yrs.
my worse enemy is keeping it plugged in. i'm hoping the optima is more forgiving.
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