Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 11, 2025 ...

Battery advise needed

February 12, 2011, 10:15:38 pm

I currently have two flooded 8D cranking batteries that are supplying the house with power, but I'm considering replacing them with two AGM's.  The person I purchased the coach from this past January put the batteries in place a couple of weeks before I took delivery.  Will the current batteries suffice for the next year or so, or will they die an early death because they are not designed for deep cycling?  Jennifer does quite a bit of dry camping at dog shows, so I need to make sure she'll not be left with batteries that will not supply her the power she needs.  I was able to locate a Deka dealer that will sell the Sea Mate 8D's for $400 each.  He'll also give me $50 for each of the flooded batteries.  Is Deka a good brand?  The price is much lower than other brands I've investigated.

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Re: Battery advise needed

Reply #1 – February 12, 2011, 10:21:48 pm

What breed of dogs. Sorry, can't answer your battery question.

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Re: Battery advise needed

Reply #2 – February 12, 2011, 10:37:25 pm

Brian,
Deka batteries are just fine (I have these).  They actually manufacture the batteries for MK which supplied Foretravel for some time.  Both MK & Deka 8D's are spec'd the same (Gel).

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Reply #3 – February 12, 2011, 10:53:41 pm

Brian,

Do the deal.  It's a good deal.  Jennifer will be much better taken care of.

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Reply #4 – February 12, 2011, 11:07:09 pm

It's off to the battery shop on Monday!

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Reply #5 – February 12, 2011, 11:13:34 pm

George,

Little Swiss Mountain Dogs.

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Reply #6 – February 13, 2011, 12:19:57 am

Basically batteries are batteries. If you want to maintain the water level and are not concerned about acid around the area the batteries are stored, you will get a long life out of your flooded batteries. You will not get a lot more dry camping capability out of swapping. You may even find that flooded may charge up quicker as they can take a higher charge voltage.

Nothing wrong with moving to AGM. Deep cycle and starting batteries have different thickness of plates where each has advantages, but both will work for day to day operations.
If you want to save the money, give the flooded a chance to show you what they can do. I think you will be surprised.

The weight of the battery is the better indication of how much lead it contains which controls how many amps you can expect to draw. Learning to dry camp with your batteries may be a better lesson than ruining a new pair of $400 batteries.
Easy to shorten the life any any type of battery if mis handled in discharge and charge.

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Reply #7 – February 13, 2011, 12:51:31 am

To quote Aspenpilot: "The person I purchased the coach from this past January put the batteries in place a couple of weeks before I took delivery."
As I understand it, your batteries are not much more than 2 months old. They will give you 2-3 years of good service if you treat them well (check the water levels, don't allow extreme discharge). I used two 8D flooded acid batteries as coach batteries for over 5 years with few issues before I got a good deal on 8D gels (used) and switched over.

The AGM's will serve you well, but really unnecessary for the time being, since they are so new, IMHO.

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Reply #8 – February 13, 2011, 10:15:38 am

I agree with Don Hay. I use one 8D in my U225 for three years and it was several years old when I got it. I never ran out of power dry camping for over a week and using the generator for two hours every other day. The battery is still working fine.

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Reply #9 – February 13, 2011, 11:50:43 am

All engineering is a trade off. Don't believe all batteries within the same type are the same, either.
With respect to flooded cell vs AGM/Gell, your decision is basically over what you are willing to put up with. IF you are a tinkerer and relatively anal, AND you are willing to routinely test specific gravity of each battery and add water then you can save money on flooded cell systems. What is your time worth? I would say monthly basic checks would be a minimum requirement. If you decide to go this route you also need to design in some forced ventilation as later model Foretravel battery bays would suffer with the gassing produced from high charge rates and equalization.

If you don't want to fuss with all this, then you are better off with AGM/Cell. Any 95 up coach have good 3 stage chargers and annual maintenance will get 4-7 years life out of a quality battery.

Better quality batteries have thicker plate design, more room at the base to collect sulfate corrosion products, etc etc.

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Reply #10 – February 13, 2011, 01:01:41 pm

Something that should be considered with batteries IMHO is that the starting and house should be of the same type, either flooded or Gel/AGM so that the charging method and voltage is the same for both for proper charging and maximum life.  Flooded batteries require a higher charging voltage than Gel/AGM.  The alternator charges both through the battery isolator and it can only be set for one voltage.  The same holds true for the inverter/charger if one wants to charge the start battery via the boost switch.  Flooded batteries last longer with an occasional equalizing charge which the Freedom inverter/charger can do, if programmed that way via the dip switches on the back of the control panel.  Gel/AGM though should not receive an equalizing charge.  Starting batteries either flooded or Gel are designed to produce a lot of amps in a short period and recharge quickly.  House or deep discharge are designed to produce fewer amps over a long period and recharge slowly.  All types last longer if they are not deeply discharged, which is why over capacity is needed.  As batteries age, they effectively become a smaller battery.  A new battery will take longer to charge up than an older battery.  Foretravel thought about all that when they designed and built the coach.  No need to add additional house batteries, unless you like to dry camp for long periods and not run the generator.

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Reply #11 – February 13, 2011, 01:57:53 pm

Got to go with the guys that say give the flooded 8Ds a chance. I know a guy with a Foretravel that just replaced his 8Ds for the first time since new in 1993. A lot depends on how they are treated, especially when the RV is stored on the off season.

Pierce & Gaylie
93' U300/36

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Reply #12 – February 13, 2011, 04:25:19 pm

Anyone that does not have a owner's manual for the older Heart Freedom Inverter Chargers can go here and print one.  http://www.xantrex.com/documents/Discontinued-Products/Freedom_combie_Owner_manual.pdf

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Reply #13 – February 13, 2011, 04:50:21 pm

Everything kinda depends on what your spouse is going to be doing and the environment in which she is doing it. The primary thing is, that when she is drycamping, HOW MUCH POWER IS SHE GOING TO USE.
Based on that info, you need to know HOW LONG she is able to run her generator without driving herself and everyone else nuts with irritating generator noise. Then, there is the issue of FUMES in a crowded environment with prize animals (some hunters, I suppose) causing your spouse to become a pariah in dog circles. Generally speaking, people HATE people who run generators, anytime, anywhere. Most are forced to put up with it.

I would continue to use the new 8D flooded batteries for coach power and MAKE SURE that she has a fresh engine starting battery. Then, depending on circumstances, she can either start the engine (in an emergency) and then start the generator using the boost switch to bring the coach batteries back up to full charge.
I would not install expensive AGM or GELs until you have installed some solar on your roof top to keep the EXPENSIVE batteries charged up to FLOAT on a daily basis if possible OR as much as possible. The only time you will get them charged to float now, will be when you are plugged in to the grid. If you are dry camping, you can't do that. The generator will most likely NEVER be run long enough to get them to float. When that happens you have sulfation starting incrementally to become a PROBLEM. Over time, the batteries DIE. However, if money is no problem, then replacing your batteries every year or two will resolve the issue.

We have been living off of our batteries for over ten years. We are on our second set and are in the process of replacing them in the near future.
My coach batteries are three (3) gels and my engine battery is a flooded 8D. The two batteries in the trailer are currently flooded 8D unit which I will hopefully switching back to GEL's. There is 480 watts of solar on the motorhome and 350 watts on the trailer and I hope to add another panel. We live off the above full time without any hookups. We use GELs due to the increased number of duty cycles.

8D Flooded batteries are CHEAP. All of my charging systems are set up for the Gel batteries because they are much more charge critical than either the flooded or AGM types. If my flooded batteries never actually get to the optimum charge situation it is MUCH less critical to me than how my GELs are treated. The flooded 8D battery does not actually do much work at all compared to my GELs on daily, monthly, yearly basis. Therefore it will last a long time, even IF it is being slightly abused in the charging method. I can replace the flooded 8D for about $150 at Sam's Club. I sure can not deal with my GELs for THAT kind of money. My guess is, that most owners have ignored the effect that the improperly set engine alternator can have on their batteries, especially the GELs. I have seen some coaches charging their batteries and 14.8 and some even higher.
My engine alternator is set for 13.5-13.6 so I can't over charge anything. The solar controller is set for float at 13.8 and bulk of 14.1 temperature compensated. The solar is top place for battery charging. Wind generator is set at 13.6 max voltage. Inverter/Charger is set for GELs. Engine batteries are charged by alternator or on solar/ boost or inverter/charger/boost. The above is about all I can comment on due to lack of info on your situation and location. Adequate quiet power is elusive.

Regards,
Jon Twork

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Reply #14 – February 13, 2011, 05:21:28 pm

Hey John,

We have 3 solar panels on the roof.  Foretravel installed them in 2000 and I have no idea what they are rated to do.  There are probably a few others on the forum that have the same configuration.  We have three 8D AGM house batteries.  I am wondering if these solar panels actually keep the batteries topped off?  I have no way of knowing this.  What do you think?

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Reply #15 – February 13, 2011, 05:43:17 pm

1. Find out what "watts" that the individual panels are rated for. 2. Find out what kind of solar controller you have and the manual to go with it. 3. Find out if a "remote" is available for your solar controller if, you don't already have one. After you have the pertinent info we can discuss it.

Read these manuals and see how much data that they can provide......
http://www.bogartengineering.com/sites/default/files/docs/TM-2025%20Users%20Instructions8-4-10.pdf
http://www.bogartengineering.com/sites/default/files/docs/PentaMetric%20Instructions.pdf

Regards,
Jon Twork

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