Which battery to buy

[MitchB]

What's everybody using for group 24 or 27 deep cycle batteries these days?  It's about time for me to buy a new one and I'm not going down the golf cart battery path right now. Going to stick with a single 12v probably group 24 although I'd go to 27 if it would fit in my current battery configuration which limits me to about 11 1/2 inches.

Mitch

[DavidM]

A Group 27 tprobably won't fit. So look at the top and bottom batteries on this page from Batteries Plus: https://www.batteriesplus.com/battery/marine-and-boat/deep-cycle/bci-group-24m

The top one is a simple flooded cell and although I have my doubts about any 12V flooded cell being truly made for deep cycle use, at least this one has filler caps where you can check and add water and check charge state with a hydrometer.

The bottom one is a reasonable cost AGM battery. There is little or no difference between deep cycle and starting batteries in the AGM types, so that is a plus in addition to never having to add water. The negative is cost and the inability to check charge with a hydrometer.

David

[khughes222]

What's everybody using for group 24 or 27 deep cycle batteries these days?  It's about time for me to buy a new one and I'm not going down the golf cart battery path right now. Going to stick with a single 12v probably group 24 although I'd go to 27 if it would fit in my current battery configuration which limits me to about 11 1/2 inches.

Mitch

What is the golf cart battery path? Im interested in alternative options.

[MitchB]

You can wire two 6 volt golf cart batteries together to get 12 volts, the result is a significant increase in amp hours that you can use between charges which is nice if you boondock. In terms of numbers you go from roughly 80 amp hours to roughly 200 amp hours. The downside is cost and weight but it's an easy upgrade and many folks do it.

[FastEddieB]

What is the golf cart battery path? Im interested in alternative options.

My recent 2x6v rear bumper install:



Recent thread about it - if you can't find it easily I'll dig it up.

[Merlin]

What's everybody using for group 24 or 27 deep cycle batteries these days?  It's about time for me to buy a new one and I'm not going down the golf cart battery path right now. Going to stick with a single 12v probably group 24 although I'd go to 27 if it would fit in my current battery configuration which limits me to about 11 1/2 inches.

Mitch

What is the golf cart battery path? Im interested in alternative options.

Run a search on this forum using either "golf cart" or "GC2" as the search terms (without the quotes) and you'll get several threads on substituting 2 golf cart batteries in place of the original single battery.

[Merlin]

A Group 27 tprobably won't fit. So look at the top and bottom batteries on this page from Batteries Plus: https://www.batteriesplus.com/battery/marine-and-boat/deep-cycle/bci-group-24m

The top one is a simple flooded cell and although I have my doubts about any 12V flooded cell being truly made for deep cycle use, at least this one has filler caps where you can check and add water and check charge state with a hydrometer.

The bottom one is a reasonable cost AGM battery. There is little or no difference between deep cycle and starting batteries in the AGM types, so that is a plus in addition to never having to add water. The negative is cost and the inability to check charge with a hydrometer.

David

Those are good choices for replacements. Costco sells Interstate batteries which are also a good choice.

You paint with too broad a brush when describing AGM batteries, however. The vast majority of the AGM batteries available in big box stores or local retail stores may fit your description. However, There are a number of high quality battery companies that make 12V, 6V, and 2V true deep cycle construction AGM batteries now, including Concorde, Trojan, Rolls Surrette, FullRiver, and Crown. They are not practical for the RV world because they are very spendy and heavy, but they exist and are really, really good batteries for dedicated deep cycle use.