20 Best Battery For Pop Up Camper (2023 Updated)

The battery worked fine for the first year or more. Then the AC charger became very fidgety. The connection on the battery became very loose. I have no idea how this could happen – there are no moving parts! Then the male plug fell apart.

OK, not a big deal. Dometic support said I could buy a new charger for $120 but they’ve been no help otherwise. To replace a $1 part? I bought a replacement plug to do it myself but the new plug fits very loosely too so buying a new charger would be pointless.

How did the receptacle in the battery shrink? I measured everything with my expensive digital calipers. The new plug’s OD is 5. 48 or 5. 49mm. The nominal size is 5. 5. The female receptacle is 5. 6! How can you get a proper connection with that much slop? I could replace the female receptacle but I see no way to take the battery apart! I tried to find a Dometic service center but they don’t show any for batteries! Now my $850 battery is half useless.

Yes, I can charge it while driving but wouldn’t it be nice to charge it on 120v AC?.

I have two Dometic coolers that I take to Maine on vacation. One I use for the frozen foods the other I use to keep food/drinks cold. One is a CFX28 and the other is a CFX65DZ. What I like is that I can use both to cool or freeze or split the CFX65DZ into part freeze/part cool.

As we tend to use the cooler more going to Maine and the freezer coming home, this gives us unmatched versatility. As we usually stay at another place before Maine, I had been hauling the coolers into the room and plugging them into the A/C outlets to keep items cool or frozen; much easier than unpacking/repacking the coolers and most refrigerators are too small.

However, the CFX65DZ does get heavy to lift and lug especially if we have to stay upstairs. So last year I tried using a Rescue 2100 portable power pack which weighs in at over 37 lbs. to keep the coolers running in the minivan overnight.

The procedure was stop at the motel, unplug the coolers from the car system, plug them into the battery pack, then reverse the procedure in the morning. Although it has dual 12v 22 AH AGM Batteries, it barely provided enough power for both coolers through the night.

I stumbled across a review of portable power supplies on YouTube and one was the Dometic PLB40 which got very positive reviews; other reviews were also encouraging. I found the Dometic video about the battery pack and was again impressed by it’s versatility.

The feature that would be most helpful for me was that I would be able to leave the PLB40 plugged into the van’s 12v outlet and the coolers plugged into the battery pack and I could charge the battery pack while it was suppling power to the coolers and continue to supply power after the van power was shut off.

This will eliminate the ritual of unplugging/plugging cords into the Rescue 2100 and then the van’s power supply which became annoying if we wanted to stop for a few hours to hike. As the PLB40 is only a 40 AH battery vs the 44AH power supply, I decided to do a test to see how long the battery pack would last.

I plugged both coolers into the battery pack. What I didn’t realize, until I watched the Dometic video, was that one power outlet only took a 2 pin plug (Great, where am I going to get one of those) and then the video continued and said, “All Dometic coolers are two prong plug ready; just unscrew the back of the standard DC plug.

” Really??? I never knew that. So I went out to my coolers, and sure enough, both plugs unscrew to reveal a two prong plug! (Go figure LOL) So now I plug both coolers into the PLB40 charged to 100%, coolers empty, with a room temperature of 77 degrees F (both coolers agreed with that starting temperature).

On one plug I used a pigtail to plug in a volt meter. The small cooler was set at -6 F and the larger cooler at +34 F. Here are the results. On startup: 13. 7 Volts at 100% After 5 hrs: 13. 6 Volts at 59% After 16 hrs: 13.

1 Volts and then the battery pack shut off slightly after. With the PLB40 lasting over 16 hrs. , weighing less than half of my Rescue 2100, compact size, and ease of use I will say it has exceeded my expectations so far.

I will put it to “my real world test” in a couple of months and report back.

This is my 2nd PLB40 which I have bought for when I camp more than 3 days without solar input. The first one had two warranty claims but now works so well that i’ve bought a 2nd one! BCF have great after-sales service, so a good place to shop for technical goods like this.

The PLB40 is a wonderful piece of tech. So simple to use, and allows you to run a 40L fridge from a SUV/sedan without complex auxilary battery systems. You can charge from the 12volt plug in your car or from solar.

The mgt system is simple. Just read the display on top. Charges easily from 12volt plug in car or from solar. I have a 180w solar panel fixed to my roof and if the sun shines then I’m fine. Make sure you read the manual and stay within ampeage levels for solar size.

Cheaper batteries are less quality when you read the fine print. This will last many years.

I kept buying optima yellow tops because of their rock solid reliability. Well that is no more. I don’t know anything about changes they may have made over the last few years, but based on the quality decline I’ve witnessed, I’m guessing they must have sold out or moved manufacturing overseas or something.

My most recent optima failure(within the first year) and subsequent customer service experience will be my last. Two failures of yellow tops within a year, both on batteries less than a year old. I purchased through summitracing and optima insists that warranty claims go through the retailer.

Instead of making the 3 hour round trip to summit or paying an exorbitant amount of money to ship it back, I’ll just start purchasing someone else’s batteries. If I’m going to have to replace them every year, I might as well save half the money and get the auto parts store brand.

At least they make good on their warranty. To add insult to injury, the most recent failure was in my 2019 express van. The case cracked at the bottom where the rounded sides meet the bottom flange. After experiencing a strong sulfur odor on a family trip, we became stranded at our next stop.

I had no choice but to purchase another battery, so even if they replace this, I’m still out $200. The leaking case are away the paint in the engine compartment around the battery. Fender apron, radiator support, etc all look like they’ve been in a fire.

Who knew replacing a battery would be so crazy hahaha. So first off, the new battery squeezed nice and tight into the stock battery tray (just bends the sides a little). I was so pleased with the fitment and I was expecting to have to trim the tray, but didn’t have to luckily.

So I replaced the stock battery terminal connectors a while back for the nice looking ones AM sells. This in turn shortened my battery cable wire approximately 1 inch on both the positive and negative wires.

That extra inch made it impossible to connect the terminals to my battery, plus for some reason the wire coming out of the fuse box is way too short. So, had to replace all the wires with brand new wire so I could install properly with some slack.

After a couple hours, I got the new wire installed from the starter to my battery. Next i had to replace the fuse box wire. I turned the nut to loosen the wires connected to the stud on the fuse box, and snap.

The stud was jiggly and I couldn’t take the nut off. Had to take the fuse box out to get more leverage so I could tighten the screw back with my new wire while holding the tip of the stud with pliers to hold it from moving.

Taking the fuse box out took me an hour for some reason, meanwhile I’m dying in the heat. Anyway blabla I got the new fuse box wire on finally. Everything is good, i double check to make sure everything is connected properly.

I screw on the positive terminal, next I connect the negative. and. cssshhshhhhfshhhhhhhh! Smoke comes rushing out from under my hood. A negative cable that I never seen before completely burned the conduit off.

Turns out I accidentally put the negative starter wire to the positive side. So I had to go under all again a switch everything out, another 2 hours while ants are biting my arms. Anyway after that I got everything corrected and now it runs so smooth and fast and my starts are more quick as well.

I highly recommend this battery to anyone, but hopefully you don’t go through the trouble I did.

This is a fantastic battery. Great with cold/hot cranking amps for Colorado weather. However, my mustang is not a daily driver and is garage kept for a majority of the year. The longest an Optima battery has lasted me, disconnected and trickle charged, is 4 years.

At $300 for 4 years, not so great. I’ve had other (not going to disclose the brand) last almost 10 years without disconnecting or trickle. But, it is a good battery for what is needed for a performance car.

Came like most batteries, about 75-80% charged. Finished it off with a 2 amp charger. Only thing is that the top of the battery says not to charge at a rate higher than 7 amps. and recommends 4 amps.

My charger has three settings, 2 amps, 8 amps, 12 amps. Don’t want to void my warranty, so after I used it the first time, I had to use the 2 amp rate. Took a long time to charge. The battery did well for it’s size, used it with a Minn Kota 30 lb thrust motor.

On a canoe. Ran the canoe upstream for about 3/4 mile in a strong current at the highest setting, battery never got hot, motor ran good. Charger showed about 60% when I hooked it up that afternoon. Not an expert on these things, this is the first I have ever had, but I am happy with it so far.

Like the battery. Compact and light weight. Dislike: Walmart store would not give me a core credit on my old Walmart battery because this is a 3rd party supplier. Also , you can order direct from supplier and pay 5 dollars less with free shipping.

Walmart customer service did make good and awarded me $25 dollar gift card. I really appreciate them stepping up and going the extra mile to make me a happy customer.

10th month of use, I am using it as a replacement for a 350 watt APC UPS battery. Tips: Use a modern solid state charger on AGM settings to install it FULLY charged. I found it initially (brand new) topped off correctly after 45 minutes.

Do not throw out the charging rate/characteristics paper included with it ! I installed mine with two battery isolation switches, so I could top it off (2 amp AGM setting) every 30 – 90 days without back feeding into the APC built in charger to protect the UPS.

That can expend bat life. Battery seems to mate well with constant charging characteristics of the UPS.

Le batterie Optima sono le migliori per la nautica, per via della ricarica pi veloce, Durano di pi rispetto alle batterie nautiche tradizionali. Ottime per le vibrazioni. Le vibrazioni costanti e gli scossoni delle onde possono essere letali per le batterie nautiche tradizionali.

TraduciMostra in lingua originaleBought for my boat – too early to tell how good it will be as I’ve only had it on the boat for 10 days – but reputation is good which is one of the reasons I bought it.

Nice and compact but very heavy. Excellent service fro Tayna as always and lowest price I could find.

TraduciMostra in lingua originaleLa batería es excelente como era de esperarse para la marca Optima. Mi enfado proviene de que Norauto no aceptó brindarme ninguna garantía porque la batería va instalada en un barco y no en un coche.

This Optima Group 35 Red Top survives higher underhood temperatures from a turbocharged engine better than other batteries I’ve tried. It has lasted about a year longer than other premium lead acid batteries and it’s worth the added cost for my application.

Other batteries have also leaked acid over time, and have peeled eaten away at the paint on the battery hold down and the frame rails of my vehicle. The Optima Red Top is a true sealed, no-maintenance battery.

Be sure to use a battery post/terminal wire brush to remove corrosion and dirt from the battery terminals before clamping to the Optima battery posts. I also slip felt washers over the posts before clamping down the battery cables.

I’ve purchased at least three of these Optima Group 35 Red Top batteries in the last several years after trying out various other batteries on my 2002 model vehicle and I’m satisfied with the Optima.

This is the third one of these batteries I’ve had in 2 years. The first one was a replacement for the original battery that was 11 years old. The first red top’s case exploded. The warranty replacement lasted a year.

I don’t know if it was sitting for 4 months during the winter the caused the inability to hold a charge after two days of sitting idle. O’Reilly’s staff checked/tested th battery and the results said bad battery.

Good thing it has a free, no-cost warranty exchange. I’m now on the third battery. We’ll see how this goes. My biggest headache is removing the fender to get the battery out. Well, they say “third times a charm.

Kudos to the O’Reilly online rep for helping me determine that this battery would replace the original that came with my 2013 Kubota L3200 tractor. She pointed out that the physical dimensions would be different, but it would work.

She was right. An “AGM” battery, it’s a bit smaller than the original, standard lead-acid battery that I had. So, I took some scrap plastic from my junk pile to slip into the space created by this battery’s smaller footprint (I did the same this past July, when I replaced my 2003 Toyota Corolla’s lead-acid battery with another AGM-based, O’Reilly battery).

I’m hoping to get at least as long a life out of this as the original (got just under 7 years with the original — using a “junior battery tender”). To that end, I’ve been using a $25 junior battery tender and, when I first applied it to this new battery, it balked.

The tender flashed a solid red light, rather than the red/green temporary light that’s supposed to appear, then be followed by a solid green light (indicating that it’s working). So, I pulled the tender off (after an hour of solid red light) and started the tractor, and all was fine.

Then I put the tender back on, and IT worked fine. It’s almost like some sort of electronic hiccup formed, and had to be cleared out by starting the tractor. A mechanic/electrician friend was also befuddled.

Anyway, buy batteries online at O’Reilly, and on federal holidays — because that’s when it runs its 15% off coupon — with free delivery at that. Plus I scored a $5 off Reward Certificate (sign up for its Reward program, it’s free), that I’m now going to combine with the $5 that I got from my last battery purchase — to buy some oil.

Have a ocean boat with lots of electronics and large engines wth generator. All this requires lots of battery storage and cranking power. I replaced a total of 5 batteries with only 4 Optima Blue top batteries.

I have great reserve power and great cranking power plus the battery total weight saved 60 lbs. This made better fuel mileage and better performance.

In my RV’s over the years I have tried every combination of battery types, automotive, deep cycle, 6 volts, AGM, etc. In my personal experience the Optima blue top out performed the other types and lasted longer.

My last set lasted over 8 years! One of best features of the battery it is maintenance free. The only con is the price but I believe the Optima is more inexpensive over time because they last longer.

Good maintenance free cycle battery. Using for 12V system in an overnight work trailer. And using the NOCO G7200 Charger in the AGM Mode to maintain it. 1st time use of AGM over using wet lead acid deep cycle, n I expect more safer & longer use out of the AGM.

Died after 18 months (purchased and installed Aug 5, 2020) died Jan 7, 2022. Installed (Aug 2020) in a 1998 4Runner SR5 V6 bone stocked (very few mods: only a CB and new rear springs in the back) and it is always garaged.

In Denver the past couple of nights (week of Jan 5, 2022) it was 4 degrees. When I went to start the 4Runner no dome light battery dead. The whole purpose of purchasing this was for high CCA and reliable cold weather starts which it failed.

I personally think the water dried up since we have a very dry climate. I am never a fan of maintenance free batteries. Also during the install I had to use the supplied spacer, under the battery, which I was not crazy about using.

Why don’t they have the correct exact size as OEM? I replaced this with the O’Reilly house brand “extreme” and it fit (no spacer) just like OEM. I have always had good results with the house brand batteries.

Oh I tested my alternator and check the cables to rule those out and they were good. I am not impressed with Optima maybe they work for drag racing but failed for me on cold winter starts.

So far so good. Salesman said it had top posts under the red cap also, this is my first time with this brand. I understand that not everyone will know every detail on one out of the thousands of items they sell.

So I’ll chalk it up to me not researching more on my own. Also he had to step away and deal with a rather irate customer so someone else took over. They were unsure on the second set of battery connections.

My truck is the main issue. So no harm no foul.

My shopping experience was fast and easy. With O’Reilly ‘s coupon I was able to get the best price on these expensive batteries. They are great batteries in that they never leak, totally maintenance free, can be mounted in any position.

I currently have one in my early Bronco for over 20 years now and it’s still going strong. On the bitter side I had one that just after a few years one of the top posts broke off when I was trying to disconnect the battery cable.

I’ve had several Yukons and Tahoes over the last 20 years, all with the 5. 3L engine. My first RedTop lasted 7 years. I’ve had 3 since, and they’ve all been garbage. One died after 2. 5 years. Replaced under warranty.

That one died after 18 months, and they wouldn’t warranty it because the warranty period starts from they day the first battery was purchased, not when the warrantied (free) battery was installed. Bought a new one thinking it was a fluke.

Well, this one just died after 9 months. These are all in daily drivers, all normal driving conditions, and have been used in 3 different vehicles. Pretty disappointed with RedTop and won’t buy another one.

Bought Battery to replace a failed unit for 1998 GMC Suburban. I like that Advance has these in stock. The other auto parts stores stock the ones that have both top and side posts. They are useful but the side posts are too close to work in this vehicle.

I’ve been using Red Top batteries for over 20 years and used to see them last up to 10-11 years. The last few seen to struggle to get to the 5 year time frame. I still like the totally sealed aspect.

I have started to use the battery tenders and hope that may extend the battery life, but way to soon to tell.

I’ve always used acid cell deep cycle batteries but since I’ve switched over to the optima blue top batteries I’ve actually been able to fish all day with no issues. My other batteries were only 2 years old and have a 36v trolling system.

I can honestly say I’m glad I switched over to the optima batteries because not only longer run time,lighter batteries and even picked up more speed in my boat. I’ve gone from running 64 to 65 mph to 68 to 69mph.

The lowest price on these heavily sought after Optima batteries. In addition, most other retailers were out of stock. Shipment was fast and the batteries were packaged extremely well. I would have to say, they were the best packaged items I’ve ever received in my life.

I would definitely purchase from this company again.

Had to replace my previous pair of these batteries after 10 years of use. I use these batteries for my 24V electric trolling motor on my boat. I use this particular battery because of the size limitations of where I have them mounted.

More expensive than a “wet” cell battery but last much longer!!.

wanted to replace a specific product with the exact battery Leoch DJW-4. 5WL and they sent a different name brand with slightly different perameters. Not happy as i could have found the battery i did receive for cheaper.

I was replacing a 12 year old battery for a child’s sit on car. The fitting was different but this was overcome and it is working well. Many thanks for a speedy transaction.

So glad there was a replacement battery for my scales. I need them to weigh produce at markets and at restaurants.

called Poughkeepsie NY store in advance and told them I needed 2 FRESH and FULLY CHARGED batteries. They said that they had 5 in stock. I went to pick them up and I said to the counter person to test the batteries he put before me.

One would not even read on his meter. It was completely dead. the other battery was 8 mos. old. I asked to see if they had any newer batteries. He brought out 3 others that were not FRESH. I asked if he could order 2 NEW FRESH FULLY CHARGED batteries and was told he had to sell the batteries in stock first.

I purchase one that was 5 mos. old and one that was 4 mos old. Very unsatisfied with purchase, especially considering I called in advance and was told they had what I asked for. Do anyone know their job anymore or care about customer service???.

I have this same battery for 200 KW electrical generator during 10 years with no problems. The battery maintainer fails after 10 years and discharge the battery. I buy the same battery with confidence.

Is a fine product it survives more than five hurricanes and various earthquakes in those years. Upgrade the maintainer.