Glad to have bought our rpod 191 !

We’ve been camping off & on since the 60’s if I remember much, not likely though! Tented, tent trailer, tented, slide in truck camper, now the pod. Psyched getting out in the 191. Pretty hilarious figuring out how to use the wet bath. Made some storage adjustments and now just have to find out what’s a good 12V deep cycle battery to buy. 6V just too big for the tray and a box. Always an adventure! Best to all of you rpodders,

DenJan from Cape Cod

Live Free and Easy ~

Welcome and congratulations! I hope you have many fun adventures and make many great memories with your RPod. As for batteries, I think a group 27 battery is the largest that will fit on the tongue. If you can find one, be sure to not get a starter battery (delivers a lot of current in a short time, but not so good for long, slow use). You want a deep-cycle battery which is better for those long, slow needs, but does not work well for starting. Hybrid batteries try to be able to meet both needs, but like many compromises, ends up being kind of mediocre at both tasks. Now, you should look for a true deep-cycle battery. If it has a 20-hour rating on it, that is the number to look at.

I am going to post two links below. The first is for a Renogy AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) Pb-Acid battery and the second is for an ExpertPower LiFePO4 battery. They will give you an idea of what would be a good choice for a battery that would work well for boondocking. The AGM battery will be better in that you would not need to make other changes in your RPod or tow vehicle for it to work. The LiFePO4 battery is less than half the weight, but it needs more changes to be able to charge it correctly. See my mods for my installation of the ExpertPower battery and the other modifications I had to make to be able to charge and use it effectively.

https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Battery-Marine-Off-grid-Applications/dp/B075RFXHYK/

https://www.amazon.com/ExpertPower-Rechargeable-2500-7000-lifetime-Applications/dp/B07X4Z8FML/

And one more alternative AGM battery: https://www.amazon.com/Weize-Battery-System-Camping-Trolling/dp/B07SW353M8/

One thing I noticed about the AGM batteries is that instead of a 20 hour rating, they have a 10 hour rating. The 20 hour rating for the LiFePO4 battery means that the battery will provide 5 Amperes per hour for 20 hours. The AGM batteries will provide 10 Amperes per hour for 10 hours. However, the LiFePO4 battery can be discharged deeper since its integrated battery management system will cut off power before they discharge so deeply that the cells would be damaged, effectively making it so that almost the full 100AH can be used. The AGM batteries should not be discharged as deeply. The general rule is not to discharge Pb-Acid (including AGM) batteries below 50%, but I have seen charts indicating that they can be taken down as far as 80% as long as they are not left at that state, but charged back to 100%.

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/9940/agm-battery-depth-of-discharge-myth-busted

I hope this helps.

StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

Author	Message Share Topic Printable Version Google Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Windows Live Yahoo Bookmarks reddit Facebook MySpace Newsvine Furl Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic
DenJan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 12 Aug 2020 Location: Cape Cod Online Status: Offline Posts: 4	Calendar Event: Glad to have bought our rpod 191 ! Posted: 25 Aug 2020 at 12:29pm
	We’ve been camping off & on since the 60’s if I remember much, not likely though! Tented, tent trailer, tented, slide in truck camper, now the pod. Psyched getting out in the 191. Pretty hilarious figuring out how to use the wet bath. Made some storage adjustments and now just have to find out what’s a good 12V deep cycle battery to buy. 6V just too big for the tray and a box. Always an adventure! Best to all of you rpodders, DenJan from Cape Cod
	Live Free and Easy ~

Dirt Sifter Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 30 Dec 2018 Location: Right side OR Online Status: Offline Posts: 170	Posted: 25 Aug 2020 at 1:13pm
	Congratulations and welcome! Know you'll have fun with these little castles.
	Greg n Deb 2020 195 HRE '07 Tundra 5.7L., '17 Tacoma 3.5L. Both with tow packages 1 Puggle, 1 Chihuahua support staff

StephenH Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6288	Posted: 26 Aug 2020 at 8:53am
	Welcome and congratulations! I hope you have many fun adventures and make many great memories with your RPod. As for batteries, I think a group 27 battery is the largest that will fit on the tongue. If you can find one, be sure to not get a starter battery (delivers a lot of current in a short time, but not so good for long, slow use). You want a deep-cycle battery which is better for those long, slow needs, but does not work well for starting. Hybrid batteries try to be able to meet both needs, but like many compromises, ends up being kind of mediocre at both tasks. Now, you should look for a true deep-cycle battery. If it has a 20-hour rating on it, that is the number to look at. I am going to post two links below. The first is for a Renogy AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) Pb-Acid battery and the second is for an ExpertPower LiFePO4 battery. They will give you an idea of what would be a good choice for a battery that would work well for boondocking. The AGM battery will be better in that you would not need to make other changes in your RPod or tow vehicle for it to work. The LiFePO4 battery is less than half the weight, but it needs more changes to be able to charge it correctly. See my mods for my installation of the ExpertPower battery and the other modifications I had to make to be able to charge and use it effectively. https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Battery-Marine-Off-grid-Applications/dp/B075RFXHYK/ https://www.amazon.com/ExpertPower-Rechargeable-2500-7000-lifetime-Applications/dp/B07X4Z8FML/ And one more alternative AGM battery: https://www.amazon.com/Weize-Battery-System-Camping-Trolling/dp/B07SW353M8/ One thing I noticed about the AGM batteries is that instead of a 20 hour rating, they have a 10 hour rating. The 20 hour rating for the LiFePO4 battery means that the battery will provide 5 Amperes per hour for 20 hours. The AGM batteries will provide 10 Amperes per hour for 10 hours. However, the LiFePO4 battery can be discharged deeper since its integrated battery management system will cut off power before they discharge so deeply that the cells would be damaged, effectively making it so that almost the full 100AH can be used. The AGM batteries should not be discharged as deeply. The general rule is not to discharge Pb-Acid (including AGM) batteries below 50%, but I have seen charts indicating that they can be taken down as far as 80% as long as they are not left at that state, but charged back to 100%. https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/9940/agm-battery-depth-of-discharge-myth-busted I hope this helps.
	StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

mjlrpod Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 27 Sep 2016 Location: Massachusetts Online Status: Offline Posts: 1214	Posted: 26 Aug 2020 at 11:01am
	Welcome, and congrats on your 191. Just think of a wet bath as a shower with a built in seat. You get used to it pretty quick.
	2017.5 Rp-172 2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding

Glad to have bought our rpod 191 ! - Event Date: 25 Sep 2020 - 01 Oct 2020