[laverdur]

Batteries can fail at any time but starting with good batteries can go a long way to getting good battery life. My Monty came with two Centennial Group 27 deep cycle, maintenance-free batteries (DC27MF). These are standard flooded lead-acid batteries. The key is that they are truly maintenance-free. My rig stays plugged in to shore power or the TV all the time except when it is in the shop for annual axle service. I got 6 years of reliable service out of my original batteries. Last year I had to replace then with Interstate batteries. They were also deep cycle batteries but they were not maintenance free so it required checking electrolyte levels every 90 days. Not a huge problem - just an annoyance. After 11 months with the Interstate batteries, I remove them and put new Centennials back in after having the batteries discharge to the point of tripping the 50 amp breaker for my hydraulic slides after being off shore power for 8 hours while a window was being replaced. Never had the Centennials do that. And yes, I've seen all the posts about upgrading the auto-reset breaker to 80 amps. I did that yesterday. I'll sell the Interstate ones for whatever i can get. Someone can use them for a trolling motor or some other low current purpose and they will do just fine.