mike4947 wrote:

The major objection I have with Optima batteries is their price versus their capacity.
They are made with curved plates which will hold up better to vibration and shock loading than your regular flat plate battery, But the manufacturing cost is quite a bit higher. Which translates into a higher selling price per amp.
Also that for any equal sized battery..ie group 24, group 27, etc they have apx 70 percent of the capacity in amps as your "regular" AGM or flooded cell battery.
Since I have no intension of taking an RV offshore boating or motocross racing I'll stick with the lower cost AGM's like Concorde/Lifeline or regular flooded deep cycles.

Campalong wrote:

Soooo, in summary:

Dry camper = battery with plenty o' AH.
Non-dry camper ie. myself = at minimum, starter/deep cycle.
Gotcha

bryanl wrote:

It is interesting that the simple question of asking for objective definition and useful empirical measure generates such scorn ....

re: "I totally agree, although I am sure Bryan will be back in with "no such thing as a true deep cycle battery"." -- not what I assert. What I do is to ask for a definition to match the label that has use to an RVer looking to purchase a battery. Does that label mean a longer warranty? Not that I can see. Does it indicate a greater energy density? Not that I can see. Why is it that such a simple question only gets this sort of comment and no productive response?Folks have repeatedly given you definitions of "true deep cycle" batteries, but you refuse to accept them. Last time I looked, warranties didn't determine the type of battery, so what do you mean? Energy density is also not a valid point, as it is the durability at the intended usage that is the major factor in style of battery. Your responses don't relate to the issues. You have consistently denied that what others (including mfgs) define as a true deep cycle battery has any benefit in the RV world.

re: "So Bryan, just how do you use your batteries to not take them below 50%?" -- what I suggest you do is to head over to http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/ and look through Chris's technical documents for the analysis regarding the optimum discharge cycle depth for best cost effectiveness. Then consider the reserve requirements necessary for RV use. Then take a look at the available battery energy capacity compared to the variables involved and usage patterns to gain some insight into why RV use profiles generally involve cycle depths much less than 50% SoC.Impressive diatribe, but you again totally ignored the the question. I have done all those calculations, and that is how I know many, many, folks would have to make major camping style concessions that are not really necessary. I just want to know how you do it.

re: "on another thread, you just stated that driving for many (100+) hours with full batteries seeing 14.1+ volts would not affect battery life. If that was the case, you wouldn't need a multistep charger other times. So what do you think about the high voltage while driving, and what do you do about it." -- I sure wish some folks would think first and respond later .... Consider, for example, how many TT folks have batteries connected in parallel with the engine batteries while on the road; why it is that engine batteries usually have much better warranties than house batteries, and the precision required for battery charging. So I should think about what you said on the other thread, OK, just did, and that is what you said. Sure trailer folks may be disconnected from the alternator (or not), but they don't get charged while driving then, and must find a place to plug in, or they will, God forbid, go under 50% SOC. How do you handle that when booddocking? But you must consider a lot of motorhomes do connect to the alternator while driving. This is a real problem, and you can't just say it doesn't exist, because you don't want to answer the question. As to warranties, they mean pretty much nothing, as most are sales gimmicks. They count on you losing the paperwork before the battery fails. Any battery that is cycled deeper is going to have a shorter life. Your house batteries go way deeper than the starting battery, which should have very shallow discharges, and is designed to handle higher voltage better (not well) than deep cycles are (different lead compound).