House Battery Replacement 2016 Spirit 31K

[Siman00]

The lead-acid batteries on my 2016 Spirit 31k are getting very near retirement age and need to be replaced.

I'm looking for advice on what to replace them with? New lead-acid? AGM lead-acid? Lifepo4? 6 volt lead-acid?

What are your thoughts and advice based on experience?

[Morich]

That's a tough one to figure until we get to know ourselves and how we use the RV!
So some questions to get the ideas flowing?
How do you use the RV?
Travel from one full hookup site to the next and most of the time you have electrical ? Not much need to spend heavy on more battery supply but just stick with what is cheaper and still gets you overnight on the few occasions you may want to go without power.
Lead acid is far cheaper and far easier to shop and replace when needed. But they also need watching things like water to not let them go dry and die too soon!
AGM is one way to go for far less watching and maintaining the water and not terribly more expensive. They also need little change in other parts of things like wiring and charging.
Going big to get the most long lasting battery supply will also make you go big on the whole plan. Some of the new lithium batteries can do a great job of letting you go to the woods and not come back to recharge! But the full blown idea will also make you leave your wallet out there in the woods somewhere! It can require lots of study and a fair amount of work to get a good system built to take advantage of what you build.

Part of the question has to be knowing yourself and doing a real close look at what you want.
By the time the newer batteries came around and we also moved into motorhomes, we had done about all the "natural" stuff we felt needed and we were not going to go back to limits that we once considered "luxuries"!
Things like lots of water, plenty of heat and all the electricity we wanted were no longer anything but REQUIRED!
Our coach batteries were just to get us power as we moved, so a couple cheap lead acid were right for us!
So step one for me is to set out what you WANT and NEED and then check to see what fits your needs best!

[Siman00]

Sorry--I meant to say that we boondock some, particular at Harvest Host sites for 2-3 nights maximum. I don't see us truly boondocking for several days to a week at a time. And we have an on-board generator fueled by the gas tank.

On our last trip, we camped two consecutive nights and used the furnace to heat the unit overnight. Both mornings when we got up, there was insufficient voltage to start the generator. Starting the vehicle engine for 15 minutes or so charged the house Batteries enough to start the generator. We'd like to be able to start the generator without having to start the vehicle engine.

Sorry for this omission in my original post.

[Morich]

Ok, more info gives better idea of what you might need.
Not good to run the batteries too low as it tends to shorten their life.

But on a different thought? The coach battery being low may keep from starting the genserator but one way to go is try pushing the dash switch that connects the two battery strings together. They have used different names at different times but it may be AUX, BOOST, or something near that?
there is often a mode solenoid which closes contacts between the coach and start batteries at two times. One is when we have the RV engine running as a way to get a little bit of charge back into coach batteries as we drive.
But the other may be enough to get the generator going without starting the RV engine. It is meant to "boost" or "jump start" a weak start battery by connecting it to the coach batteries, but it could also be used to start the generator .
If the coach is too low to crank the generator, try push and holding the switch to connect in the start battery.
One word of caution, though?
If the generator takes too long cranking, don't get caught running BOTH sets of batteries down! Normally the RV engine starts much quicker as the generator may need to pump fuel and if it has not been started recently, it can take some time to get around to starting. With the RV engine running you will have all kinds of power as well as time from the engine alternator , start battery AND coach batteries.
It comes down to being much better to start the engine unless there is reason not to want that!
If engine is running they should be connected and no need to push the switch!

[Eagle5]

Hi Siman00,
If it were me, I would just replace the batteries with a new set of Lead-Acid batteries. I currently have two size 24 NAPA Lead-Acid batteries, and they are now four years old and still working well enough. Yours at seven years old have reached the end of their service life. As both of our Class C Minnie Winnies are equipped with chargers intended for Lead-Acid batteries, and we both do not mind running the built-in generator, I would just replace same with same.
Thanks, Eagle5

[wahoonc]

I am partial to AGM due to the fact they are sealed. If yours are easy to get to the regular ones are fine, and cost effective.

If you boondock a lot LiFePO4 and solar is the way to go. It just costs more.

Aaron

[Four Seasons]

We almost always boondock, and I find the AGM batteries are more than satisfactory. There were two lead-acid under the the stepwell, and when I upgraded to AGM I closed the exterior vents to keep out the road slop, and ventilated the battery box to the interior, so the batteries can operate at room temperature when it's really cold out.

[Siman00]

Thanks for the help. 2 AGM batteries ordered!

[PbassBetsy]

Best battery warranty and they work fantastic in my 2019 Era 70B (three solar panels, Zamp charge controller 50amp). Very good in cold weather. Best!