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Old 05-26-2018, 10:22 AM   #1
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House battery group size

I need to replace the house batteries in my Winnebago 38R. Currently there are NAPA part 8231 installed deep cycle 650 CCA group size 31. Is there any reason not to replace with the Auto Craft deep cycle 675 CCA group size 29 from advanced Auto?
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Old 05-26-2018, 10:34 AM   #2
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If it fits it ships! More capacity is always better as long as it fits. Make sure to check height as well. Also the hold down straps might need to be moved or adjusted. Again measure, measure.
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Old 05-26-2018, 10:44 AM   #3
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Try to stay away from dual purpose batteries such as marine batteries. They may work but golf cart batteries are better. Look for amp hours ,not crank amps.
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Old 05-26-2018, 11:31 AM   #4
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Any battery that states it’s CCA isn’t going to work well as a house battery. Buy a true deep cycle battery/ies and as much battery/ies as fits.
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Old 05-26-2018, 01:09 PM   #5
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Marine batteries have deep cycle and starting just like auto. The key is if it has cca on the lable stay away for your house.
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Old 05-26-2018, 02:32 PM   #6
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Thanks for the advice everyone, I am going to see if Costco has any of the interstate deep cycles in stock. I am very new to motorhome ownership and am not sure if I am storing the RV properly. While it is parked in the driveway, I have it plugged into 20amp shore power. Does the inverter act as a battery tender or am I over charging the batteries? Should the inverter be on or off at this time?
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Old 05-26-2018, 02:54 PM   #7
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You should not be concerned about cranking amp on house batteries. Your main concern should be amp hours.
A suggestion would be do your due diligence before you make a large investment like purchasing batteries.
Check and see if you can fit a couple 6volt golf batteries. I purchased two Trojan T-105. They work great and produce more amp hours than 12 volt deep cycle. You can get replacements if needed just about any city in North America that has a NAPA store.
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Old 05-26-2018, 03:18 PM   #8
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If 20 amp hours matters to you, Trojan T125s are the same size as T105s.
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Old 05-26-2018, 03:34 PM   #9
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The 38R is a fairly big rig. You may want to look into 4 Trojan T-1275's batteries.
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Old 05-26-2018, 03:46 PM   #10
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The T1275 are 12 volt batteries packing 150 AHs. Four would give you 300 usable AHs to 50% SOC. Pretty good.
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Old 05-26-2018, 04:03 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jmjones311 View Post
Thanks for the advice everyone, I am going to see if Costco has any of the interstate deep cycles in stock. I am very new to motorhome ownership and am not sure if I am storing the RV properly. While it is parked in the driveway, I have it plugged into 20amp shore power. Does the inverter act as a battery tender or am I over charging the batteries? Should the inverter be on or off at this time?
Typically the onboard charger will not have a battery tender mode. They cook batteries in most cases. Find it and check the specifications. Storing it as you described is what dammaged our batts.
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Old 05-26-2018, 05:02 PM   #12
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Unwise to upgrade batteries or install solar until you determine your AH use times 1.5.
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Old 05-30-2018, 05:34 PM   #13
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RV usage vs AH

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Originally Posted by LarryW View Post
Unwise to upgrade batteries or install solar until you determine your AH use times 1.5.

Since it appears as if this thread will be inconsequential by the time I write this the thread of mine will be aimed at future plans of various magnitudes:
1: Yes, know how you will use your vehicle, e.g. 100% off grid or 50% off grid or 10% off grid. Things get more expensive as you approach 100%
2: Know how much AH you really use in your vehicle, e.g. Is it 50 AH/day or 150 AH/day or 300+/day. AH/day are expensive.
3. Can you modify your behavior by using less expensive consumables? In other words can you use a generator or propane?
4. How much money does your budget allow for off grid usage, e.g. $100's/year or $1000's per year or $10K's per year?


These are questions you should ask yourself before you throw $$$$.$$ for batteries, solar, wind. I have bought upwards of 100K AH of battery capacity for various sailboats and RV's I have owned and operated on land and sea. Here is what I would do in these times if I really wanted to be off grid:
1. Go Lithium car batteries at 24VDC or 36VDC or 48VDC or higher. There are many, many good reasons to do this. Prices are coming down.

2. Buy a high quality (efficiency) 24VDC to 12VDC buck converter of around 100A to tap into the Lithium power. They are cheap at $<200.
3. Buy a good 2000 W Inverter to convert whatever voltage Lithium you have into 110VAC (or 220VAC 50/60Hz) . These are also in the $200 range.
4. Buy the best Lithium specific charger you can find for 110VDC. These are not so cheap but are less than $<1K.
5. Buy as many solar panels as you can afford (like max of 1600W) in whaterever voltage your Lithium battery voltage is. This could be higher VDC. Panels are reasonably cheap these days if you shop around.
6. Buy a really good solar charger system (like Morningstar or better) that charges the Lithium battery. Not so expensive and $<1K.


OK, remember to be kind to me. This is what I would do if I was going off-grid for a long time in a sailboat or RV. In lieu of all this remember; The generator is your friend and stick to lead acid batteries in the 350 AH range (160AH usable).
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Old 05-30-2018, 05:58 PM   #14
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OK, I’ll stick to wet batteries since that’s your last position after mucho regarding lithium.
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Old 05-30-2018, 06:20 PM   #15
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After decades of sailing 6VDC golf cart batteries are hard to beat. My last sailboat was a AH hog. Using the autopilot, refridge and all electronics we used a whopping 300+AH/day. That took 6 golf cart batteries (cost $600 every 4 years) but you could buy them at any port in the world (almost). The generator charged them every day using a 5 stage charger. The generator did several other useful things while charging the batteries for 4 hours.


Still, today, I would go Lithium route since they charge faster and almost 100% of power in batteries is usable plus they do not have the charge/discharge curve of Lead acid and get thousands of recharge cycles. Cheers 2 u.
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Old 05-30-2018, 06:35 PM   #16
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“Does the inverter act as a battery tender or am I over charging the batteries?”

A little basic RV electrical education should be on your “to do” list.
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