64 replies to this topic

[Jon R]

It sounds like your AGM is sulfated beyond the level where it can be recovered with a desulfation cycle based on the resting voltage you stated.

If you are having to replace your battery anyway, that’s the ideal time to switch to lithium. There are a lot of companies selling lithium batteries, but read reviews, check out the Will Prowse videos on youtube, and choose one with good reviews from a company with some good history. You can’t go wrong with Battleborn if their form factor works for you, but most camper installations don’t require the extra ruggedness provided by their cylindrical cells and very high quality plastic case. There are other good choices with prismatic cells for less cost that are adequate for camper conditions.

A 100 amp hour lithium battery, a 30 amp dc to dc charger, and 6 awg wire from the truck battery to the camper battery is a good starting system you can add to later.

[Vic Harder]

Jon R, i would have thought our campers would benefit from rugged batteries. After seeing screws backing out, and stuff flung all over the insides of the camper, rugged and vibration proof seems like a good idea.

What am I missing?

[dennis 221]

Most are probably camp ground king's

[mcgee]

It sounds like your AGM is sulfated beyond the level where it can be recovered with a desulfation cycle based on the resting voltage you stated.

If you are having to replace your battery anyway, that’s the ideal time to switch to lithium. There are a lot of companies selling lithium batteries, but read reviews, check out the Will Prowse videos on youtube, and choose one with good reviews from a company with some good history. You can’t go wrong with Battleborn if their form factor works for you, but most camper installations don’t require the extra ruggedness provided by their cylindrical cells and very high quality plastic case. There are other good choices with prismatic cells for less cost that are adequate for camper conditions.

A 100 amp hour lithium battery, a 30 amp dc to dc charger, and 6 awg wire from the truck battery to the camper battery is a good starting system you can add to later.

 

Thank you for your responses!  I'm sure it is time to replace the battery. Decisions to make, ha.  

[Jon R]

Jon R, i would have thought our campers would benefit from rugged batteries. After seeing screws backing out, and stuff flung all over the insides of the camper, rugged and vibration proof seems like a good idea.

What am I missing?

I agree you want an adequately rugged battery in an offroad pickup/camper combination, but really the g loads and vibration at the battery location in a camper aren’t that high (as long as it stays put, as you point out). I guess I’m assuming a battery in any vehicle is fastened down properly. My prismatic cell battery from bigbattery.com is plenty rugged for my truck and camper in off road conditions, as are most good quality prismatic cell batteries when properly secured. I’ve run in fishing boats and experienced way worse pounding than I’ve ever experienced in a truck. Those batteries take a beating, especially when people mount them forward to reduce the weight at the transom.

I was really just respecting the fact that Battleborn is probably in a different league from all the other choices I saw when i was shopping. I would have bought their batteries if i could have made the form factor work for 200 ah in my battery compartment. A few hundred extra bucks for the best battery isn’t an issue for many of us, but I recognize some people are stretching to do a lithium conversion. I think there are lower priced choices that are adequate for most FWC users.

Edited by Jon R, 16 February 2022 - 03:50 AM.