Replacement RV Battery for a 1990 Roadtrek?

[Knetski]

Hello,
On my older Roadtrek (`90 Versatile) it looks like we need to replace our RV battery. The current battery doesn't hold a charge very long. We don't use the van too often however so I'd rather not upgrade the existing converter or put in a battery bank either as suggested on a lot of sites I've seen. For information, the van currently has the Progressive 7200 converter in it and a dual purpose RV/Marine type battery (Thompson(?) size 24 I think).

I'm thinking the best bet is to just get a size 27 dual purpose marine battery in (~$150) instead of a deep cycle or AGM battery. Any thoughts on that? It also sounds like if I spend the extra money on an AGM battery my charger may damage it, is that correct?

Any advice on replacing the battery would be appreciated, there's a lot of info out there on putting in golf cart batteries etc. but I don't want to spend more than a couple hrs (if anything) replacing the battery due to the amount we use it right now. I live in Alberta so if anyone has recommendations on specific batteries then please keep that in mind.

Thanks for your help!
Mark

[markopolo]

Sounds like an OK plan to me. Costco used to have (and probably still does) a Group 27 size dual purpose rated 100ah or 110ah for a good price.

Measure your space and then go battery shopping.

You current converter charger looks to charge up to 13.8 volts according to some docs I looked at.

#1 - I would not leave it plugged in for extended periods at that voltage (weeks, months etc.).

#2 - I'd periodically (once a month or once per quarter) hook up an external charger that can get to 14.4 volts to make sure the battery gets a full charge every so often.

[booster]

Originally Posted by markopolo

Sounds like an OK plan to me. Costco used to have (and probably still does) a Group 27 size dual purpose rated 100ah or 110ah for a good price.

Measure your space and then go battery shopping.

You current converter charger looks to charge up to 13.8 volts according to some docs I looked at.

#1 - I would not leave it plugged in for extended periods at that voltage (weeks, months etc.).

#2 - I'd periodically (once a month or once per quarter) hook up an external charger that can get to 14.4 volts to make sure the battery gets a full charge every so often.

We have the Costco group 27 battery as a starting battery in our van. OK battery, definitely a dual purpose as it doesn't come up to very high voltage or specific gravity. The good of that is that it also uses very little water. Unless they have fixed it, the rating of 110ah is really reserve minutes or something, don't recall. It is actually like the other group 27 combo batteries at about 85ah, 20 hour rating.

Definitely a reasonable cost well under $100, and should be fine for the application.