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I am evaluating different battery options. I think I am settled on 4 6v batteries. I have a few options available for batteries. I am looking at 232 ah us batteries u2200 vs interstate u2400 251 ah vs Deka 190 hr AGM batteries. First two are lead acid batteries. I have not looked at sams/Costco batteries yet. I am looking at the possibility of 4 150watt panel options. Looking for input from people with experience.
We went with Four 6V lead acid Energizers from COSTCO. Cheap but have actually lasted over two years now. A rule of thumb I told was 100 watts of solar per battery, four 150’s would be great. Don’t pass up on a battery monitor like the Trimetric. If you haven’t already, check out “Handy Bob’s Blog” I have found him to be a credible source of information. You probably already know this but placement of the panels to minimize shading, wiring and quality of components are very important. Good luck.
Hi Justin!
We run (8) T-105 RE’s in two banks linked for a 900 AH power storage system.
Happy Trails!!! :good:
I guess the more important thing to ask is on average what time of day does your batteries indicate 100% again when boondocking? I understand there are a ton of variables but generally speaking when not relying on grid resources or generators, do you find your batteries get back to 100% with just solar or is a boost often required. My logic seems to be pushing me to try leaning towards bigger panels to help in compensating for the cloudy/rainy days.
[quote quote=34945]Hi Justin! We run (8) T-105 RE’s in two banks linked for a 900 AH power storage system. Happy Trails!!!
[/quote]Do you keep them all in the front of the trailer? Has anyone seen an option to shift them to the rear of the rig maybe in a bumper mounted storage box. Still carrying the weight but not on the pin.
Hi Justin, Our 900-AH bank is normally 100% full by 11:30 or noon on a good sunny day in the winter with our 840 watt solar array. We have some big loads, we have a full time 120-volt 5.5 cubic Deep freezer that runs all day until we go to bed, I drink coffee by the tanks full with our Keurig, we love to get up and watch weather/news on the 30″ flat screen TV (Dish), and all our phones and computers are charging by first light. The rule is you wake up to the sun and live like king’s & Queen’s, then go to bed like poppers!
We have been picked on about being “Power Hogs”, that thay could see the Sun dim when our trailer drives up! The truth is this is our home for three + 3-dogs, 2-cats, and one rabbit. This is not a wild trip for a year or two then we burn out and get a sticks & Bricks. We live this way because we love the life, and could not settle on one place in this wonderful country of ours.
I have our Battery banks up front in two areas, one in the right side of the front compartment. The second bank was tricky, our hydro pump for the slide-outs was stopping me from that area, so I put it on the side “Basement” compartment in a sealed (vented) box I made out of 3/4″ plywood. As for the weight in the front, we have a washer/drier stack unit,(oh yea, Aileen also washes the cloths in the morning on the inverter) the deep freeze, and our tank rack behind the rear axle. It is balanced and no pin box hammering going down the road.
The only reason I could think of that would be a problem with a rear battery bank box is if the inverter, solar charge controler, and converter/battery charger couldn’t be in the rear of your 5th wheel. These need to be as close to your Battery Bank as possible!
Happy Trails!!!
We have 4 LifeLine AGM GPL4CT, they are 6 volt and are 220 Amps Hours.
We watch TV, use the microwave, computers and even from time to time use some tools like electric saw, drill chargers or other.
580W of solar on the roof and 3000W inverter.
When we went with Eddie our batteries were charged at about 10-11 am in the same condition and the 2 trailers oriented the same way ( MPPT charger)
Since them, we changed trailer, my 0 cents advice is to have as big batteries as you can…we have the 4 CT because they were in our truck camper and if I add knew I probably would have gone with the 6CT or even bigger.
One good think is you can always had an extra bank down the road…
Thierry
Can you tell me a bit more about your batteries and your sealed plywood box. Our RV is in the shop now having Solar installed. When we get her back I will be installing a battery bank. I am interested in how you did yours.
Thomas aka Black Dog
Howdy Black Dog! We run two banks of (4)-Trojan T-105 RE 225-AH deep cell batteries for a total of 900-AH of power storage.
The box was made on the “fly” when we added the second bank and we where out in the desert installing it.
Happy Trails!!!
I understand this is an old post, but in 2016 we upgraded f/w’s and took the system off our old unit and had Mobile Homestead solar service install a new system on the new F/W. Well I had four Trojan T-105’s under the recommendations of Mobile Homestead and we needed to add some more batteries account of a Residential Frig. The area battery stores had no Trojan’s so I went cheaper and installed Duracell Batteries. Well those Duracells had began to burn a lot of water and as I walked by the front cap of the RV I could here those batteries frying. After checking all out it was the batteries failing.
We are in Alaska and are near Anchorage. Well I contacted a local battery store and come to find out there really an off grid supplier. They had what we needed and wanted. Trojan’s T-105’s RE. Being in Alaska we expected the batteries to be higher and that wasn’t true. They are priced as in lower 48. Sure feels good to have the complete battery bank now all Trojans(8-6 volt).
You are going to love those T-105 RE’s! We have been running ours for
3 years now. We went 3 months before I could top the water off because of the weather, dust and the wind down here in the South West. When I finally got a chance
to PM the battery banks I only needed 3/4 gallon of distilled water for (8)-batteries.
Best battery “Bang for the buck”!
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