Bill,
I agree with Chuck. I have 4 Deka 6 volt golf cart batteries in my coach. I bought them in Oct 2002. They are still working good, but I know their life is about up. I do not leave my coach on shore power when not in use and have installed a separate battery switch to shut off all ghost circuits.
Chet Geist
1981 FC33 / 3208 NA Cat
Austin, Texas
Bill,
As you can see, and some one else said, you can get as many opinions as folks you ask. If you do little or no dry camping it probably does not make a lot of difference. We dry camp a lot and I have used both interstate and Trojan batteries. If I get them from the local distributor there is about $15 a battery difference. Our Wanderlodge is about 6 years into the set of Trojans and they are starting to gas excessively so I will probably replace them this fall before we make our winter trips north. I usually get about 6-7 years on Trojan and about 4 years on Interstate batteries. Lead acid batteries are the most tolerant of charger and discharge abuse so I stick with them. We dry camp quite a bit in the winter, but do not run inverters. When I store the Wanderlodge it is not on shore power unless we are expecting a severe freeze. The four six volt batteries are golf cart batteries that can handle deep discharge and the high starting current that the CAT needs. They have a lot of lead in them to provide this capacity. You can also get the high starting current by using less lead and a different mix of electrolyte and this makes the battery less expensive but you lose the deep discharge capacity. This is common in automobile batteries that have to hit a price point.
- Chuck Wheeler-
1982 FC 31SB Fort Worth TX
From: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com [mailto:WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Markus Meyer
Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 11:20 AM
To: wanderlodgeforum@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [WanderlodgeForum] Battery Replacement 3208cat
If you are dry camping only, right? Otherwise, the alternator is recharging the batteries while you are on the road, so that shouldn't be an issue. My logic was I don't plan to do a ton of dry camping, so the additional expense versus savings didn't work out. Usually I am driving, or hooked up to shore power.
Markus
________________________________
> To: "WanderlodgeForum%40yahoogroups.com"
> From: "dangw%40att.net"
> Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 11:12:45 -0500
> Subject: Re: [WanderlodgeForum] Battery Replacement 3208cat
>
>
>
> The cost savings in AGM's is in the recharging
> time. An AGM will accept a higher rate of charge so the generator runs
> less. For example, the generator runs three hours instead of six to
> recharge the bank. There is the savings.
>
>
>
> Dan
>
> 88WB38
>
> Jackson, MS
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