Camper Batteries
 

Recently purchased a 2310. Came with 2 batteries hooked in parallel. One which is a service free battery, and the other you can access cells through top. Both batteries do not have any indication of how old they are. (i.e. dates are not punched out) Can someone tell me whether the original battery that came with the camper would be service free or not.

Hi Cathy -

My battery was NOT "maintenence-free". So, it's possible you have one OEM battery and one new one.

Everything I've read about RV batteries says if you install two in parallel (which I've done), you should ALWAYS use the same kind of battery and they should be the same age. This would insure they have the same Amp-hour rating and so on.

Now, I suppose you can get away with a few deviations to this rule. If your batteries seem to be working, I'd say you are doing this, and I wouldn't be in a huge hurry to replace them.

But, if you DO decide to replace them, you should buy the "deep-cycle" kind of batteries, not the standard automotive batteries. And, I'd recommend you stick with the standard "flooded, wet-cell" design, rather than getting more expensive ones like "gel" or AGM. You will probably have a hard time finding true deep-cycle batteries, and will have to settle for "marine" type batteries, which are a close hybrid. I buy my batteries at Costco and recommend that source.

- Jack

Our 2310H came with the optional dual batteries. They are Interstate Deep Cycle, Group 24 size. I don't recall the model number. Hi-Lo used Interstate as standard issue, at least in later years. You can go to a larger battery but you can run into fit problems which could require battery compartment modifications. As said above, keep your batteries matched.

Thanks everyone! We just couldn't decide if these were the original or not. They seem to be working. We have that solar charging thingy in the closet and it appears to be functioning also. It is frustrating since no records were kept, but we were lucky to get a packet of info that is issued when the unit is new.

Our batteries didn't have the date things removed either but I know the trailer was built late in 2009. So that would date the battery to about then. The average battery life is about five years but with proper care and feeding the life can be extended. Our batteries are not delivering as much energy as they used to so I expect a replacement will be coming up this year.