Battery and charger recommendations for a trailer

[BeerCan]

Just purchased an enclosed car trailer and need a battery and charger recommendation.

Trailer has in it now a interstate 24hd that is over 4 years old. It barley worked the electric tongue jack so I pulled it out for charging. 2 of the cells had very low water, I filled and it is on my home charger now. I don't have great confidence it will come back to life because I think it has been abused.

The trailer has no method of charging while on shore power, so it has only been charged when hooked to a vehicle, probably never been decently charged in its life.

So questions are;
Should I get a flooded marine style battery or an agm style battery?
Can someone recommend a charger I can hard wire into the trailer to charge the battery?

The box the battery fits in was pretty snug for the 24hd so any recommendations would need to be similar dimensions. Load includes radio, winch, 4 florescent style lights, outside flood lights and anything I plug in

Thanks

 

[Garak]

For the old F-150, which spends a lot of time sitting, I used one like this:

That L-bracket just sits under the battery and holds the charger there, which is then hard wired. Mine isn't a Schumacher, but is virtually identical and branded Solar, and you can just imagine the mess that comes up trying to search for a Solar battery charger, which is indistinguishable from a solar battery charger.

I paid something like $30 or $40. NAPA has them, too.

Now, if you opt for deep cycle or something like that, I'm not sure if there would be a better charging idea. For an ordinary battery, this thing is pretty foolproof.

 

[KneeGrinder]

I have not refreshed my brain or whats left of it on this subject for many years, like 18 to 20! But batteries have not changed, just my memory! I'm not far off though.

# 1, The AGM batteries are twice the price for half the long term voltage draw, based on something like 5 amps over a 20 hour period. They do not even compare to a "Wet Cell" battery. Now if you are building an off road racer and you might end up on your lid some day, by all means, a sealed glass mat technology battery is the way to go.

#2, If you can swing 2 batteries on your trailer, I would strongly suggest two 6 volt golf cart batteries in series parallel to output 12 volts. It will be stronger than two group 27 deep cycle 12 volt batteries. They will last longer also.

This RV charger/converter I linked below will provide you with 45 amps when you need high amounts of power, and also will automaticly go into float mode= 13.2 volts after the batteries have been fully charged without boiling your batteries. You can leave it plugged in 24/7, 365, and never have to think about it again, except maybe every 6 months to check water level in the cells. Honestly, its the way to go. It cost's up front, but last's almost forever!


https://www.campingworld.com/progre...m7omj3wIVC4NpCh0-XABlEAQYAyABEgKiKfD_BwE

 

[Garak]

Of course, your idea makes much more sense, particularly in a long term, high usage environment. A converter is really the way to go, but, as you point out, it's just the up front cost.

 

[bullwinkle]

You're going to want a deep cycle battery, with a way to trickle charge it when it's sitting. If there's no parasitic load & it's outside in the sun, a 1.5 to 5 watt solar charger can be the way to go, just leave the charger in a sunny area and remember to top off the cells with distilled water a couple times a year. I used to cram a Group 27 into our enclosed trailer's battery box to run the winch and lights, it may fit in your Group 24 box.

 

[BeerCan]

I think I am going to take the cheap, easy way out. I looked at the wiring closer today and to re wire the system would be a bigger pain than I need right now. I am going to try and get a group 27 flooded battery in the holder and just use some type of battery tender. Thanks for the replies