Which Diehard

[Ksupaul]

Holy cow I am lost in battery recommendations. I don’t boon dock much. I only have one battery and plan to stay that way for now. I plan to get Diehard at Sam’s. Current battery is over three years old and charged indoors through winter and disconnected in summer when not in use. Seems to not be strong enough 3 of my past 6 trips when Lippert 3.0 leveling happens on a not so perfect spot. Aka looses voltage to finish the job when it has to work hard.

Knowing these things any Diehard recommendations to look for? All the possibilities in group size and models have me swimming.

Should I be looking at the most amp hours or reserve capacity I can get?

[flybouy]

Define "some boondocking". Do you do that for 2 days, one week, cooler weather where you need the furnace? What appliances do you desire to run? What size battery are you looking at? These are all questions that will alter the recommendations that anyone should give.

What you need is a true deep cycle battery, not a combination "marine battery" that lists CCA (cold cranking amps) or "reserve capacity. That means nothing for the application you are looking for. You need Amp Hours and a true deep cycle battery will only have an Ah (Amp Hour) rating.

[sourdough]

If you have auto leveling you need 2 batteries IMO. In fact, I think 2 batteries are pretty much mandatory on todays RVs, especially the larger ones which yours is (34' box travel trailer). However you look at it one battery trying to power an auto level system on a 10,500lb. trailer is way stretched for any kind of repeated use.

I haven't owned a DieHard in a long time so can't comment on those specifically. You said you "don't boondock much". You will need to quantify that as tow what it really means; how long, what kind of weather etc. If I boondocked at all I would have 6v golf cart batteries (2) - the more amp hours the better.

[chuckster57]

Ground control 3.0 is very voltage sensitive. Having spent hours on the phone with tech support and volt and amp gauges, you should be plugged into shore power or an active charge line when leveling.

[Ksupaul]

Thanks guys. Actually my boon docking hasn’t even happened, but hoping next year about 4-5 times I will spend two days in it tailgating at a football game. Running the water pump, house lights each time and furnace those last two games would be about it. I would have generator as well. I never really thought about the leveling system maybe needing two from the start even though the deal just gave me one. Maybe I was lucky it didn’t give trouble until now?

[Ksupaul]

I have gotten the low voltage error when plugged in. I thought my power came from the battery regardless for that system?

[MarkEHansen]

Any heavy amp users (like the leveling system, the slides, and even the awning) really need to have a good, fully charged battery - whether or not you're connected to shore power. The battery is required to assist with the high current draw which the converter can't always do on its own. So even with shore power connected, if the battery is not charged enough, these heavy loads can have problems.

I have dual 6V golf cart batteries and have no problems running my Ground Control 3.0 and slide when I'm setting up camp or at the storage lot - both done without shore power cable.

If you want to be able to run stuff without shore power connected, I would suggest you get dual 6V GC batteries (these are way better than 12V and cheaper as well) and also consider getting a good shunt-based battery monitor (like the BMV-712).

[Ksupaul]

Thanks guys. Maybe invest now and better off later it’s sounding like.

[Ksupaul]

If I did switch to two GC 6volts I would wire the two in series correct? I am electric and plumbing dumb.

[MarkEHansen]

Yes, two 6V batteries wired in series provides 12V.

[MarkEHansen]

You can get Interstate 6V GC batteries at Costco for around $98/ea. Pretty good value.

[Ksupaul]

Thanks all. Appreciate your help