Best deals on batteries?

[Lakelife]

We are picking up our new Montana next month and have researched extensively which battery is right for us. We'd like to go with 4 wet lead acid 6 volt batteries. Our initial thoughts are Interstates (which are made by Trojan) or Trojans. Looking at group L16 batteries with around 400 AH each. Just wondering where folks are buying theirs. Our local dealer doesn't carry anything like what we want. Tried Sam's same thing. So far the local Interstate dealer is the only place we've found. Open to suggestions. Hoping to lessen the pain as much as possible. Thanks!

[Hblick48]

I get ours at Costco, they sell Interstate. Around $90 each.

[lightsout]

Originally Posted by Lakelife

We are picking up our new Montana next month and have researched extensively which battery is right for us. We'd like to go with 4 wet lead acid 6 volt batteries. Our initial thoughts are Interstates (which are made by Trojan) or Trojans. Looking at group L16 batteries with around 400 AH each. Just wondering where folks are buying theirs. Our local dealer doesn't carry anything like what we want. Tried Sam's same thing. So far the local Interstate dealer is the only place we've found. Open to suggestions. Hoping to lessen the pain as much as possible. Thanks!

Costco sells Interstate 6V 210 AH (4 would give you 420AH over all) for only $98 ea however the reviews are horrible, I would be surprised is they are made by Trojan. Although with Costco's warranty might be worth a try as the bad reviews could be over discharge related, who knows, hell of a price though. I cannot believe Costco would sell something with such bad reviews. As bad as the reviews are maybe better to take that $$$ to Vegas put it in Red on the roulette wheel try and double your $$$ and buy quality batteries.

https://www.costco.com/interstate-6-...100476406.html




I am also in the battery market however will be going with AGM as I do not want to deal with installing new vented battery box's

[Lakelife]

That is a smoking price for the amp hours. I'd really like to be in the 800 amp hour range though. We'd like to do a lot of dry camping. I don't know that I could fit enough in the battery storage area to get to the AH I want though. Awesome price though!

[Carl n Susan]

I, and several others in our camping group, have been using Costco batteries for over 10 years. I replaced the last set after 7 years of use only because I thought it was time.


When you do pull the trigger, take a look at this battery box *LINK* IT nicely holds four 6v batteries in one container. They also have other size combinations. You will have to add a top vent, but that is pretty simple with a couple of PVC pipe connectors.

[prndl]

I researched a lot and found that the most bang for the buck was at Batteries Plus. I bought the 6V 230AH. They also have 10% off if you buy online but they also give you the 10% in store if you ask for it. Find some old cores to bring along as the core charge is steep.
I also go by weight and these are heavier (more lead) than the Comparable Trojan T-105 and more AH. You can get a 235AH for a few bucks more but in the long run 5AH more won't make a difference.
https://www.batteriesplus.com/productdetails/sligc115

[Lakelife]

This is the battery We've been looking at.

https://www.interstatebatteries.com/...ategoryid=true

420 AH at 118lbs but the same foot print as the Duracell's at Batteries Plus and the Costco Batteries.

The downside is the cost $341.00 ea. I know you have to pay to play but darn it i'd like a groupon for them!

[prndl]

Originally Posted by Lakelife

This is the battery We've been looking at.

https://www.interstatebatteries.com/...ategoryid=true

420 AH at 118lbs but the same foot print as the Duracell's at Batteries Plus and the Costco Batteries.

The downside is the cost $341.00 ea. I know you have to pay to play but darn it i'd like a groupon for them!

Wow. What do you plan on doing when you are boon docking?
Do you plan on doing some welding?

[Lakelife]

Originally Posted by prndl

Wow. What do you plan on doing when you are boon docking?
Do you plan on doing some welding?

The simple answer is whatever momma wants. We just love the idea of being out on BLM land with the scenic views. Oh yeah and it's free.

Being in the service for over 20yrs I'm probably over preparing. We are adding a 2nd Jaboni 265 watt solar panel to our factory Solar Flex package and we went with the Onan from the factory as well. I'm hoping the only limiting factor to enjoying Boondocking is water issues.

[prndl]

Originally Posted by Lakelife

The simple answer is whatever momma wants. We just love the idea of being out on BLM land with the scenic views. Oh yeah and it's free.

Being in the service for over 20yrs I'm probably over preparing. We are adding a 2nd Jaboni 265 watt solar panel to our factory Solar Flex package and we went with the Onan from the factory as well. I'm hoping the only limiting factor to enjoying Boondocking is water issues.

Where is the emoji for ENVY.

[lightsout]

Originally Posted by Lakelife

This is the battery We've been looking at.

https://www.interstatebatteries.com/...ategoryid=true

420 AH at 118lbs but the same foot print as the Duracell's at Batteries Plus and the Costco Batteries.

The downside is the cost $341.00 ea. I know you have to pay to play but darn it i'd like a groupon for them!

WOW only a 6 month warranty, that would be a huge red flag for me.

[lightsout]

I just realized the 6V batteries the OP is asking about are double the size of standard 6V they are 370AH ea and twice the weight and twice the height.

[lightsout]

An Onan and 800AH of batteries and Solar, you must be preparing for doomsday. That is a lot of added weight as well as redundancy. If you have the Onan 5500 with solar you can easily get by with 1/2 the AH of batteries. That combination will be close to 1000lb of added pin weight also. If you go with 800AH of batteries scratch the Onan and buy a small portable just for back up charging.

[Lakelife]

Originally Posted by lightsout

An Onan and 800AH of batteries and Solar, you must be preparing for doomsday. That is a lot of added weight as well as redundancy. If you have the Onan 5500 with solar you can easily get by with 1/2 the AH of batteries. That combination will be close to 1000lb of added pin weight also. If you go with 800AH of batteries scratch the Onan and buy a small portable just for back up charging.

I could certainly be wrong but from what I've read when you add weight to your trailer you can generally account for 20-25% of the added weight added to your original pin weight. So in this case if I had 1000lbs of cargo to my camper I'm upping my pin weight by 200-250lbs.

[BiggarView]

Originally Posted by Lakelife

I could certainly be wrong but from what I've read when you add weight to your trailer you can generally account for 20-25% of the added weight added to your original pin weight. So in this case if I had 1000lbs of cargo to my camper I'm upping my pin weight by 200-250lbs.

For overall trailer weight yeah the 20-25% pin calculation is more or less valid. In this case the batteries are much closer to the pin. Usually in front storage bay. Therefore the percentage of the added weight going on the pin will be much higher. Think 50-75% of the battery weight or more. Yes you can load additional weight at the back of your rig to counterbalance this, but that loading drill kind of defeats the purpose of the autonomy one would be looking for doesn't it?

At this point, I'd suggest you look in LFP batteries to save weight. Expensive yes, but might meet several potential needs you seem of have overlooked like payload on your tow vehicle rear axle or potential trailer overloading. You do not mention what trailer you have, what truck you have, nothing except doing a lot of boondocking. Without out more info it is hard to give specific recommendations. Its all a big balancing game. What works for one person's situation may not work for another.

The factory pin weight that is published does not include optional equipment. so the Onan will add 250 lbs, if you add 500lbs of batteries less the 60 or so that came with it, then add the weight of the inverter and other electrical gear and wiring you could be upwards of 1000 lbs but not likely. if you use the 50% for this front stored equipment and batteries then figure on ~400 lbs of additional pin weight just for those items. Can your truck handle it now??
JHMO.

[Lakelife]

Originally Posted by BiggarView

For overall trailer weight yeah the 20-25% pin calculation is more or less valid. In this case the batteries are much closer to the pin. Usually in front storage bay. Therefore the percentage of the added weight going on the pin will be much higher. Think 50-75% of the battery weight or more. Yes you can load additional weight at the back of your rig to counterbalance this, but that loading drill kind of defeats the purpose of the autonomy one would be looking for doesn't it?

At this point, I'd suggest you look in LFP batteries to save weight. Expensive yes, but might meet several potential needs you seem of have overlooked like payload on your tow vehicle rear axle or potential trailer overloading. You do not mention what trailer you have, what truck you have, nothing except doing a lot of boondocking. Without out more info it is hard to give specific recommendations. Its all a big balancing game. What works for one person's situation may not work for another.
JHMO.

We have a 2015 Ford f350 Dually Diesel. The rig is a 2020 Montana 3813ms. Shipping weight 13685. Carrying Capacity 3165. Hitch weight 2820. I do plan on adding airbags to reduce suspension drop and keep everything level. Also adding a rack to the back of the camper to bring along a smoker amongst other things. It'll only have a 300lb capacity though. The hitch weight is a concern for sure. The only consistent advice I've seen is weigh it ourselves and see what the real numbers are. Although this solution doesn't really tell me what a safe hitch weight is.

[BiggarView]

Originally Posted by Lakelife

We have a 2015 Ford f350 Dually Diesel. The rig is a 2020 Montana 3813ms. Shipping weight 13685. Carrying Capacity 3165. Hitch weight 2820. I do plan on adding airbags to reduce suspension drop and keep everything level. Also adding a rack to the back of the camper to bring along a smoker amongst other things. It'll only have a 300lb capacity though. The hitch weight is a concern for sure. The only consistent advice I've seen is weigh it ourselves and see what the real numbers are. Although this solution doesn't really tell me what a safe hitch weight is.

Well congrats on the 3813MS... we have one too. Your truck is more than capable. Airbags will smooth the ride but not add to payload capacity. My best guess on hitch weight puts us at about 3500lbs when we are "all in"... we will be getting weighed soon. we will be adding 1200 watts of solar, 400-600AH of LFP batteries and we carry a champion 3150 genny in the truck for when we need more power to run A/C (with soft starts). I considered AGMs but my concern is weight, and LFP fixes that. At a price, steep too. The problem we have is the CCC numbers. with all the goodies on boards we have only about 2100 lbs of CCC left for our stuff, food etc. This why the LFP option works for us. YMMV as they say.

Engineering friend of mine says the pin weight should not exceed 25% of the total OEM trailer axle weight rating. So we should be good. we are also considering an air-ride pin box.

[lightsout]

maybe start with 2 batteries and then see what the demand needs are as you can easily add batteries if needed.

[twindman]

How about 3 pairs of GC2 6V batteries. almost as much AH, 60 lb. less and depending on where you purchase them, $200-400 less money. Maybe you could figure how to stack them a little to save space and match the L16's.
Also it seems much easier to find these.

[BiggarView]

You say you will be boondocking a lot. With a residential fridge on board you need 140 AH @ 12v every day just to run the fridge. Add in Tv's and laptop(s), other electronic devices, hair dryer, microwave, crock pot, toaster, coffee maker and so on... you could easily push 300AH a day. Four 6v 400AH AGMs (giving you 400ah @ 12vdc usable) would be a bare minimum and you need to recharge from your genny daily for at least 3 and maybe 5 hours a day just to keep up. That will suck down propane at an expensive rate. Also, you risk premature death of those batteries if you drain them down past 50% every day. LFPs do not have that issue. If you only boondock in moderate climate that will help with LFP because they do not like being charged in very cold weather or extremely hot weather. AGMs less of an issue. With LFP, they take a full charge quickly and all the way to nearly topped off so you can cut genny time in half or more... the extra cost up front can now be measured by significant savings in propane costs. Plus you are off the noisy genny more hours every day, if you don't enjoy that benefit... your neighbors certainly will. With a decently sized inverter/charger or a converter you can put back 100Amps every hour until you are near topped off with LFP, not so with AGMs which is why AGMs take so much longer to charge up. With 500+ watts of solar adding into the mix you might get 100-200amps a day in good weather further reducing genny time. If all of this allows you to boondock even more then you can figure in savings from less time in per night campground fees. But for now, your only real savings will come from less run time on the genny and less propane consumption. To see the real benefit of the larger battery bank you need will need spare battery capacity with AGMs to prolong their life, not so critical with LFP. You can get by with nearly half the battery bank with LFP than AGM.

So with 4 6v 400AH AGMs weighing ~500 lbs vs the weight of LFPs at ~115 lbs there is a huge weight savings. True the AGMs will cost about half the LPF but they will not last as long, will not charge as fast and they take up more real estate in volume than LFP. But it is the weight penalty that for us was the final nail in the AGM coffin.

If you are only a recreational RV user then the weight issue may be a non-issue. Full timers with moderately capable rigs like yours and mine 3813MS with ~3100 lbs of CCC those few extra hundred lbs could be the deal breaker... it depends. If AGMs work for your situation, by all means get them. We are going LFP because they work for us. YMMV

One final thought on the AGMs. You are looking at four 6V 400AH(presumably) and placing them in the existing battery compartment on the front left side. The 3813 MS already has a potential weight issue on the left side... 2 long slides, the fridge and the pantry are both on the left side slide. Mix in the fact that the rig has only 7k axles. that is 3500 lbs per tire position. The fact of the matter is there is real potential to overload either the tires or the axles and bearings on that side of the rig if you load the trailer to it's GVWR. Many load way over their GVWR. It does sneak up on you especially when full time RVing, or so the anecdotal evidence suggests. You are increasing the likelihood of a driver side tire failure with all the potential damage that entails... food for thought. An overloaded tire will most definitely ruin you day at an unexpected moment. Factory "nevr lube" wheel bearings tend to fail catastrophically without warning and that will destroy an axle and tire almost instantly. Cha ching. Or you can avoid that by regular bearing replacement (also cha ching) These are potential side effects of piling more weight into your rig. Sorry if I drove into the weeds with these other considerations but your battery choice also affects these things. Weight is your enemy. You choose your poison.