Newbie Deep Cycle battery questions

[camaraderie]

I would offer the following comments

1. Maintenance free batteries are often thought of as hi quality AGM batteries but the reality is that thay are just cheap but convenient lead acid SEALED batteries that are NOT built for extended deep cycle use AND don't deliver as many amp hours as the same size battery in standard lead acid since they have extra "water" space inside which allows them to be maintenance free. You have a GROUP 24 which will provide 75 amp hours or less...of which 35 or 40 are usable before you need to recharge. 50% on a standard DISCONNECTED from EVERYTHING battery is 12.1-12.2 V on your voltmeter. Don't rely on charging lites...get a V meter.

2. If you plan to go dry camping ...suggest you get a standard TRUE deep cycle battery or AGM deep cycle battery ...or a pair if you have room for them. The larger...the longer you can go without recharging...which is both noisy and time consuming. Get a group 27 or 31 if it will fit. Two of them if possible!

3. If you don't have a converter in your unit...definitely get one or get an inverter charger. The charging section should be able to supply 25 amps for one battery charging or 50 amps if you pop in two batteries. LARGER will not charge you faster. SMALLER will make you charge longer before full. ANY battery discharged to 50% will take AT LEAST 6 HOURS on a decent THREE STAGE charger to get full to 100%. When you don't recharge to 100% you gradually erode the CAPACITY of the battery and it will kill batteries way prematurely if you make it a habit.



Hope this is helpful and good luck with your new camper!

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by camaraderie

I would offer the following comments

1. Maintenance free batteries are often thought of as hi quality AGM batteries but the reality is that thay are just cheap but convenient lead acid SEALED batteries that are NOT built for extended deep cycle use AND don't deliver as many amp hours as the same size battery in standard lead acid since they have extra "water" space inside which allows them to be maintenance free. You have a GROUP 24 which will provide 75 amp hours or less...of which 35 or 40 are usable before you need to recharge. 50% on a standard DISCONNECTED from EVERYTHING battery is 12.1-12.2 V on your voltmeter. Don't rely on charging lites...get a V meter.

Most sources state that the 50% level is 12.06 volts. That's probably at 25C (about 70F). It is, of course, temperature-dependent. See the nice chart Titan Mike posted here.

[camaraderie]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

Most sources state that the 50% level is 12.06 volts. That's probably at 25C (about 70F). It is, of course, temperature-dependent. See the nice chart Titan Mike posted here.

MY chart comes directly from Trojan Battery below and includes specific gravity measures as well. You are NOT wrong...it will vary a little from mfr to mfr depending on their specific paste. I have found the 50%voltage is a function of the 100% voltage which varies by mfr. and line. But the differences in terms of battery CARE and CYCLE LIFE and CAPACITY are neglible between these variations and you don't have to be precise...just attentive and erring on the high side will buy you a bit more cycle life.

[mnoland30]

A Marine/RV battery is not a true deep cycle. It is a hybrid. A true deep cycle is better, but may be fine if you're careful with your use. I highly recommend a solar panel and charge controller. I glued a flexible 100 watt panel to the roof of my slide in camper. It provided all the power I needed just to run the lights, fridge, and heater a bit in the morning. But, I live in the Southwest.

In a pinch, you can use jumper cables from your truck to your camper to raise the roof.

[jlynn721]

Originally Posted by Andrew97754

Hi all,
Yes, excuse my newbie questions, but we recently purchased a used 2020 SS-550 and I'm trying to figure everything out--there apparently not being a user's manual available...

The battery is a Centennial Marine/RV DC24MF 12V. The camper is currently plugged in to external power and my volt-meter shows 13V. The battery is "maintenance free." Can anyone help me out on best practices for keeping the battery in good shape. Here are my questions:

Does maintenance free really mean that? No adding water, no checking anything else...?
Any idea how many times I can raise and lower the roof on battery alone?
Or raise and lower the whole unit? What's reasonable?
On a longer camping trip--say a week--would it be reasonable to assume I need to hook up the camper to my truck and charge the battery one or more times?
Does this type of battery benefit from being regularly charged that way, rather than running down to 12V (50%) on a trip?
In other words, to prolong the battery life, at what voltage should I recharge it?
I guess the worst case would be camping and not being able to run the roof or legs to get the camper back on the rig for going home, but I would imagine I could always hook it up to the truck and recharge, right?
Thanks for any wisdom or answers you can bring!!!
Blessings,
Andrew

Your truck is not going to recharge your battery.
You need another way to recharge the battery if you are not plugged into electricity. It sounds like a small, 2000w generator is what you need.

[camaraderie]

Originally Posted by mnoland30

A Marine/RV battery is not a true deep cycle.

THAT is quite simply NOT true. It is largely the case in auto stores and department stores since their CISTOMERS have small boats and need combo trolling and cycle use dual purpose batteries.
YOU WILL find LOTS of true marine deep cycle batteries in MARINE STORE catalogs and within ALL the DEKA/EAST PENN private label brands and Trojan lines just for starters.



EXAMPLE ...see...dual purpose AND deep cycle. Deka DP27 Dual Purpose Battery - Mikes Marine Supply


Deka DC27 Marine Master DeepCycle (Group 27) 12 Volt 575 ...

[Andrew97754]

Yes, the SS-550 has its own battery. For boondocking, I looked into a generator but major issue is our altitude--Colorado 9,600 ft, so don't think I can afford (or even find) a quiet generator for that. So my current plan is to have a couple of charged spare deep cycle batteries for this trip.

Tom48 - One question--the battery disconnect switch. When you said "ON", did you mean the battery is on (connected) or the disconnect is on? In other words, is the battery connected or disconnected?
I'm trying to understand what happens if you're on shore power and the battery is disconnected. I'm assuming the battery will not charge. So the only reason to disconnect the battery is if I'm not on shore power and don't want any incidental power loss from the battery, right? Or not?
Thanks!

[theHookers]

Originally Posted by Andrew97754

Yes, the SS-550 has its own battery. For boondocking, I looked into a generator but major issue is our altitude--Colorado 9,600 ft, so don't think I can afford (or even find) a quiet generator for that. So my current plan is to have a couple of charged spare deep cycle batteries for this trip.

Tom48 - One question--the battery disconnect switch. When you said "ON", did you mean the battery is on (connected) or the disconnect is on? In other words, is the battery connected or disconnected?
I'm trying to understand what happens if you're on shore power and the battery is disconnected. I'm assuming the battery will not charge. So the only reason to disconnect the battery is if I'm not on shore power and don't want any incidental power loss from the battery, right? Or not?
Thanks!

Our Predator3500 has performed well at 9700'. I do have the high altitude jet installed. We'll be back up to State Forest State Park in about 3 weeks.

We did not have our solar set up last year. We were there for 8 days and the generator kept our 2 Interstate 91amp hour batteries working. Ran the Generator about 2-3 hours per day.

[tomkatb]

Our Honda 2200 was just fine at 8500’.

It only has to produce about 30% of its rating to charge the battery. 5 amps ac. The new Honda 3000, is released in Europe I think, is fuel injected. Would be peachy at altitude. No mods.

Our battery switch, the key is removed to be disconnected.

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by Andrew97754

I'm trying to understand what happens if you're on shore power and the battery is disconnected. I'm assuming the battery will not charge. So the only reason to disconnect the battery is if I'm not on shore power and don't want any incidental power loss from the battery, right? Or not?
Thanks!

If you're on shore power, and the battery is disconnected, it's not going to charge.
We check to see the state of the 'disconnect' by unplugging from shore power. Then turn on the interior lights. If the battery is 'disconnected', the interior lights will not turn on.
I don't know your rig, but most 'disconnect' switches don't eliminate parasitic loads. Physically disconnecting the battery is the only way to eliminate those, but if you've got solar or the rig is connected to the truck battery, that becomes more complicated.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Andrew97754

Tom48 - One question--the battery disconnect switch. When you said "ON", did you mean the battery is on (connected) or the disconnect is on? In other words, is the battery connected or disconnected?

This is always a point of confusion. I prefer to just use "connected" or "disconnected" and avoid "on" and "off."

Originally Posted by Andrew97754

I'm trying to understand what happens if you're on shore power and the battery is disconnected. I'm assuming the battery will not charge. So the only reason to disconnect the battery is if I'm not on shore power and don't want any incidental power loss from the battery, right? Or not?
Thanks!

Correct. the switch needs to be in the "connected" state on shore power to charge.

As you state, the use of the "disconnected" state is for storage. I suppose a fanatical person could disconnect while dry camping, but would have to "connect" to use the fans and water pump and furnace.

NEVER tow with the battery disconnected. It powers the brakes if the trailer comes loose and connects the breakaway switch.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

NEVER tow with the battery disconnected. It powers the brakes if the trailer comes loose and connects the breakaway switch.

The OP is referring to a truck camper, not a trailer and posted this thread in the Truck Camper section.

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