need advice on heavy duty car battery I saw somewhere

[Chris Anne the Mum]

Somewhere I saw (on a youtube vid) the idea that you can replace the current car battery with something more heavy duty for running extra stuff, such as chargers, laptop, fans, or lights.  I had never heard of this kind of car battery, don't remember where I first saw this, and am wondering if maybe I dreamed about this LOL.  This is what I remember:

1. I think the battery was yellow
2. It was around $400 as I recall

My understanding was you could run basic electrical items off it without the same effect as taxing a normal car battery.  This appeals to me for several reasons.

1. I'm new to this and am looking to travel minimally for a few months without a huge investment.  I want to go to the RTR in Jan 2020 as my first adventure.  Once I'm there, I'm sure I'll get tons of ideas for adding power in my Chevy Traverse.  I'm very interested in solar.  
2.  I'm just about due for a new battery anyway.  Is this overkill to get it and travel only 2 months?
3.  I'm traveling alone and don't want to get stuck somewhere because I drained the battery.

I don't plan to have large electrical needs although I really like my Kindle and need my phone charged at all times, which I know can be charged while I drive. I don't need the internet for this trip.  I'm looking to unplug in a lot of ways.  But, I have to have a fan if it's hot or humid. LOL  I don't want to have to run the car to run a fan.

After the RTR I'll will travel to south of Houston to see family and visit some of the beaches on that side of the state.

Any information on a battery like this, tips on power usage, or advice on going a different direction for my electrical needs would be appreciated.

Love this forum and thank you! :heart:

 

[geogentry]

It sounds like you saw an Optima brand battery. They have 3 types all together. Red, Yellow, Blue. The yellow and blue are designed for just what your talking about.

I talked with the company and they did they have tested the Blue in RVs and found them adequate to do the jobs like you are wanting.

I have the red in my car and have had zero problems with it.

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[tx2sturgis]

That purchase will probably get you there, but still leaves you vulnerable to a dead starting battery.

For about the same money you could buy a Jackery 240 and a 50 watt solar panel and have plenty of power to recharge a phone and a tablet, run a small fan, and no worries about depleting the starter battery. 

Plug and play!


https://www.jackery.com/collections.../products/explorer-240-portable-power-station

 

[Trebor English]

I have a single battery set up.  My Ford Windstar needed a new starter battery and the new one was going to be $100.  I got an $80 deep cycle battery instead.  I paid $20 less, not hundreds more.  The battery I got is group size 24 and it is the largest size that would fit in the original location with very little effort.  

The starter battery I had was adequate for use as a house battery as long as the loads were very low.  I used a small inverter to run my electric shaver 3 minutes per day and charged my cell phone.  I have learned to use my cell phone for almost everything I used to use a computer for.  

The lead acid starter battery was used to start the engine and be a house battery.  The maximum 50% discharge recommendation for lead acid batteries is for substantial deep cycle batteries like golf cart batteries.  For starter batteries, based on my experience, 5% discharging with occasional 10% discharging reduces the battery life a little bit.  That means I had 3.8 amp hours at the most, typically more like 2 amp hours.  

The new battery was 75 amp hours, way up from 38.  In addition I decided that my 5% to 10% limit could be relaxed.  I thought that going to a full 50% to 80% discharge might still give adequate battery life but then decided to go for only a 25% limit.  It had a 2 year warranty and that ran out last fall so I'm well on the way to 3 years with this cheaper battery.  

I have a fridge and a MaxxAir fan.  I have one 100 watt solar panel and a PWM charge controller.  I would not recommend a fridge without solar.  You would have to drive many hours every day for that to work.  Solar makes it so that you never have to drive to charge the battery.  You can stay parked for a month or until you run out of water or food.  I have a standard panel mounted on the roof.  Portable panels can just clip on to the battery.  

Since this lead acid battery replaced the original lead acid battery there are no compatibility issues.  Lithium batteries with a battery management system can turn off the battery.  A car alternator is likely to fry itself or other electronics if the battery disconnects while charging.  

Since this is now the battery under the hood it is already hooked up to the alternator.  I have no voltage sensitive relay or solenoid or isolator.  

A $400 yellow battery will work as well as the one I got.  If you have to mount the battery upside down then you need AGM or gel.   That's not a problem when replacing a flooded battery.  Flooded batteries make fumes and hydrogen.  That's not a problem mounted under the hood where it is very well ventilated outside.  Deep cycle batteries are made of a lead / antimony alloy.  Maintenance free starter batteries are made of a lead / calcium alloy.  A lead / antimony flooded deep cycle battery will need to have water added.  I spend 5 minutes per month doing that.  $80, add water, $400, don't need to add water.  5 minutes per month, 1 hour per year, 3 hours over the 3 year battery life for $320.  

Cold cranking amps may be an issue.  My mini van had a small battery to start with.  It had more cold cranking amps than the bigger deep cycle battery.  Since the deep cycle battery was larger the loss of cold cranking amps was small.  I avoid North Dakota in January.  I went to New Jersey in November once.  If you spend a lot of time in really cold places you might want to do the traditional 2 battery system to keep all possible cold cranking amps.  As long as I have elderly relatives needing assistance I will be staying in Florida.  We only need regular cranking amps or marine cranking amps, never cold ones.

I posted about this before.  See:
https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=32307
If there is anything different between that post and this post, that one is more likely correct.  

Whether you use a $400 yellow battery or an $80 black one there is still the possibility of running down your battery.  The yellow offers no protection.  I have never had the engine fail to start.  When the old starter battery died It failed to start but not because it got run down.  I tend to be a bit obsessive about paying attention to the battery.  I recommend keeping a cheap multimeter and using it to keep track of battery loading.  A $10 meter is good enough.  Go to Amazon.com and search for"low voltage disconnect" to see what's available.  The first one that popped up is 30 amps, 12 volt.  With the little switches you set how low you want it to allow your battery to go.  Then you connect your cigarette lighter sockets and USB chargers to that thing.  That will keep your stuff from running down the battery.  If you leave the key on so the radio works and the air conditioner blower is on they will kill your battery just like usual.

My Ford Windstar has an electrical system that is very unfriendly.  Every time a door opens or closes a 30 minute cycle starts with 4 relays, quarter amp each, being on.   I added a battery disconnect so the van foolishness wouldn't run down the battery.  That was particularly important with the 38 amp hour starter battery.  Solar makes it not a problem.

 

[Chris Anne the Mum]

It sounds like you saw an Optima brand battery. They have 3 types all together. Red, Yellow, Blue. The yellow and blue are designed for just what your talking about.

That's it!  Thank you!

 

[Chris Anne the Mum]

For about the same money you could buy a Jackery 240 and a 50 watt solar panel and have plenty of power to recharge a phone and a tablet, run a small fan, and no worries about depleting the starter battery. 

The solar panel sold me!  I checked this on Amazon and can get set up with both items at just under $400.  I'm a big fan of using solar but I have no experience.  This is a great way to start.  Can also use it in power outages at home.  Thanks much!

 

[Chris Anne the Mum]

I have a single battery set up. ...Solar makes it not a problem.

This whole post is packed with good info!  Thanks for taking the time to reply and I'm going to check out the link you sent!  Cheers!

 

[highdesertranger]

I know several people who have tried Optima batteries. unlike Geo Gentry not one of them lived up to their expectations. of course most people cause battercide. highdesertranger

 

[WalkaboutTed]

Yeah, back in the day with my first trailer, I thought that since the yellow battery was the most expensive, it must have been the best. I killed it. Then I returned it to Costco, thinking it was defective and got another one. Murdered that one, too.

I didn't understand why the batteries weren't getting charged enough while driving through that seven pin pigtail from the tow vehicle. After all, if I drove four hours, wouldn't that charge the battery enough for at least a week or two? Voltmeter? Whatzat?
Ted

 

[XERTYX]

I'm a big fan of redundancy. If you want to replace the starting battery anyway go ahead and do that. Then get yourself a cheap battery to start with as mentioned. An $80 walmart deep cycle, amazon charge controller, and amazon solar panel would be the way I would go. For minimal stuff like you mentioned that should be plenty and well under $400. Then you can add to that later. My 2 cents.

I had success running lighting, charging 3 cell phones, and minimal laptop use with 20 watts of solar and 4 used batteries from a computer battery backup power supply years ago when 100 watts of solar was not feasible unless money wasnt an issue. Just dont get the idea that it's always gonna be there whenever you need it like in your house. You have to ration it.

 

[tx2sturgis]

What I like about the Jackery solar panel is that it will directly charge a cell phone or tablet...all you need is sunlight. So if the Jackery power pack is fully depleted, or you know, quit working for some reason, you have a backup.

Yeah it's pricey, but its well made and folds up, and it comes with cables. 

I have not personally owned or used the Jackery stuff, but it is well liked by others I have talked to and they get mostly good reviews on the web. Plus a 2 year warranty. 

I built a couple of my own DIY power packs and they are really handy if you want to power a laptop or charge a phone while sitting at a picnic table 20 feet away from your vehicle. Can't do that with a $400 Optima sitting under the hood.

 

[geogentry]

Tx2sturgis. I checked out the solar panel. It is now on my got to get list. Car/tent camper. So space and weight are huge considerations.
Thanks


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[bullfrog]

The new Optima batteries are made in Mexico and have many quality control problems, they have gotten such a bad reputation that Batteries Plus stopped selling them. It is a real shame as the ones made in the USA that didn't set on the shelf for years before being sold were really good, some I have are over 8 years old and still working well.