Replacement house battery for 2006 RT190P

[sbslider]

The roadtrek I purchased a couple months ago has a house battery that is a marine starting battery, size group 24. I'm wanting to change it to a proper deep cell battery size group 27 as the RT is designed for. Trojan batteries seem to be highly rated, so I have been looking there.

The battery i am considering is the 27TMH. The only rub is with terminals that have threads to accept the terminal and mounting hardware (wingnut terminal), the overall battery height is 9.75". The opening for the battery tray is just about that height. I'm not sure the battery will slide in with this terminal, and all the other terminal types don't seem appropriate for connecting to camper wiring.

Is this another mod, or are other group 27 batteries with wingnut type terminals that are shorter than the 1.5" tall terminals on the Trojan battery?

[hbn7hj]

If it is too high put a nut on the post and cut off as much as you need to. Removing the nut will clean up the threads. A Dremel with cut off wheel would do the job.

My group 27 battery from O’Reilly’s has terminals shorter than 1.5 inches. Go to O’reilly’s to compare. Trojan does have the reputation of being a better battery.

[sbslider]

Excellent idea to cut the bolt off short as required. Thank you! I have also considered getting something generic for now just to see how this lifestyle will play out over the next few years . . . .

[GeorgeRa]

Check Fullriver, DC series, they have flat female thread posts. Mine are over 10 years old and still running.

[sbslider]

Originally Posted by GeorgeRa

Check Fullriver, DC series, they have flat female thread posts. Mine are over 10 years old and still running.

Am I correct in thinking if I switch to AGM that when the battery is being charged from the alternator that I will not reach a high enough voltage to charge it correctly? Also, the Tripp-Lite manual says, "Auxiliary batteries must be identical to the vehicle batteries if they are connected to each other." Seems like I would need to get a chassis AGM battery also?

[GeorgeRa]

I have MB no maintenance engine battery and Fullriver Battery 1
DC bank charged directly from the alternator, not ideal but works for years.

[hbn7hj]

Everyone I know has destroyed an AGM battery. They just are not very tolerant of abuse so I don’t mess with them as a coach battery. Just an opinion.

[sbslider]

In looking closer at the dimensions of the battery tray, I see some parts that look like rivets or ? They protrude maybe 1/4" into the tray, and seem like would prevent a group 27 battery from fitting in the tray. Ignoring the rivets, the max dimension of the tray is a tad more than 12 1/4". With those protruding in, I can't see how one would get a group 27 battery to sit flush on the bottom of the tray. Is this common in this vintage (2006 popular) Roadtrek?
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1Q...xfTpMgBqdT0mRN

[Bud]

I found with my 05/04 190P that most group 27's won't fit with the slide. So I removed the slide and used 2 of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

[sbslider]

Originally Posted by Bud

I found with my 05/04 190P that most group 27's won't fit with the slide. So I removed the slide and used 2 of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

I would consider that, but I'm cautious of burning up the battery in no time via over charging. I have only 1 battery spot, and the max charge current called out for that battery is 35A. I think both the alternator and Tripp-Lite can deliver more that that, but I'm not readily able to find the specs for the charging current.

[booster]

Originally Posted by sbslider

I would consider that, but I'm cautious of burning up the battery in no time via over charging. I have only 1 battery spot, and the max charge current called out for that battery is 35A. I think both the alternator and Tripp-Lite can deliver more that that, but I'm not readily able to find the specs for the charging current.

You have a 2006 190 so it likely has a separator between the engine and the battery plus 2, most likely 50 amp circuit breakers in that line to battery.


Most wet cells and especially the SLI style can except 2.C or more without major issue. SLI batteries don't, however, have very long life when used in a deep cycle application like a single battery RV will give unless you are a light power user and charge every day. The Trojan should be a true deep cycle and will also be OK to 20% although they recommend 11%. You also should be able to add water to the Trojan which makes it more tolerant to overcharging.


Agms will be good to about .4C without issue and more for shorter times, so it would match the 50 amps available better. If other power is on in the van that also would reduce charging.



Separators and small wiring will also put a pretty high voltage drop at 40-50 amps also so that will slow down charging.


You probably still have the original Tripplite charger which will not be a great charger for either wet or AGM batteries and probably about a wash there. You engine charging is totally uncontrolled beyond the engine controls and will probably be a bit low at the coach batteries. These are the realities of RV charging we all face and either try to improve things to charge better or just accept that the battery life is not going to be very good. The location right above the tailpipe also runs pretty warm so any battery will not like that much.



Of the batteries listed, I would say the Trojan would last the longest, a good AGM not quite as well, and an SLI battery would not last very long. Just my opinion on all of that.


The pop rivets that go into the tray can be replaced with short screws with the heads on the inside of the tray IIRC. I had a Trojan gp27 in that tray in our 07 090P, and I think that is what I did. Easy to cut off the bolts and fairly common to do.

[sbslider]

Thank you for the detailed response booster. Just some feedback on your response.

My 2006 has an isolator, not a seperator. I'm imagining replacing the isolator is in my somewhat near future due to failure from what I've read.

We are fairly light users, as the only things we use are the fridge, lights, water pump, ceiling fan, and possibly the inverter now and then. I imagine not staying in place for more than a couple days at a time. We recently spent two nights parked after driving off and on most of the day. During the 40ish hours of being parked, a few hours use of inside lights (converted to LED) and fan use minimal. My DVM measures 0.23A when using the fridge only. The coach battery measured 12.56V the morning after the 2nd night, and the indicator light inside was still green. This was shortly after doing morning dishes. Estimating the fridge used 10 Ahr during that time, probably another 5 Ahr for lights, and maybe 1 Ahr for the water pump. The current battery is a a group 24 Everstart marine battery. Definitely not a deep cycle, as its rated for 750 MCA and reserve capacity of 120min, or about 50 Ahr.

You are correct I have the original Tripp Lite, 750W inverter. The current battery maybe what you are referring to as SLI, its It seems sealed, and is about 8 months old from what the previous owner told us. I may just let this current battery ride for the near term, as it

[Bud]

'The pop rivets that go into the tray can be replaced with short screws with the heads on the inside of the tray IIRC. I had a Trojan gp27 in that tray in our 07 090P, and I think that is what I did. Easy to cut off the bolts and fairly common to do.'

Often with the group 27's it is the height, thus the removal of the tray.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Bud

'The pop rivets that go into the tray can be replaced with short screws with the heads on the inside of the tray IIRC. I had a Trojan gp27 in that tray in our 07 090P, and I think that is what I did. Easy to cut off the bolts and fairly common to do.'

Often with the group 27's it is the height, thus the removal of the tray.

I think our 07 came with two gp27 Excide marine starting batteries that were already failed after sitting on the lot for 15 months. The manual says 190ah total so that sounds like a gp27 marine battery amount. Maybe Roadtrek changed the trays about then.

[SteveJ]

Li Time has a group 24 size 100AH lifepo4 battery, just sayin'. One would obviously have to re-do the charging set up to suit it.