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RVing Question Of The Month

What's The Difference
Between A Deep Cycle Battery And A Regular Battery

By RVing Al

You would be surprised at the number of questions I receive monthly regarding RV House Batteries.  So many RVers are confused about the difference between deep cycle batteries and standard batteries.

I am going to try to give you an explanation of the differences without getting too technical. There are three types of batteries that we are going to discuss here. I will give you the pros and cons of using them to power the house portion of your RV. What these batteries are used for is dictated on how they are constructed.

Starting or Cranking Battery: Just as it name implies it is a battery that is designed to crank over an engine to get it started. It provides a powerful short burst of energy and is not designed to provide power for a long period of time. It is also not designed to be discharged and recharged often; the life span of this battery will be greatly reduced if it is used to power the 12 volt system of an RV. It will also not provide power for as long as a Deep Cycle Battery.

RV/Marine "Deep Cycle" Battery: This is a cross between a Cranking and true Deep Cycle Battery. It can provide enough short burst energy to start the engine and it can provide power to the house portion of the RV for longer periods of time than a Cranking Battery but not as long as a true Deep Cycle Battery. It can also be discharged and recharged more often than a Cranking Battery but will not last as long as a true Deep Cycle Battery. Again I would not recommend this battery to power the house portion of your RV.

True Deep Cycle Batteries: These batteries are designed to provide a consistent 12 volt power for a longer period of time. They are definitely not designed to crank over an RV's engine. They can be charged and discharged more often and last longer than either the Cranking or RV/Marine Batteries when it comes to powering the 12 volt accessories in an RV.

Most RV Experts and RVers agree that 2 six volt Deep Cycle Batteries hooked up in series will provide power for longer than 1 twelve volt Deep Cycle Battery.

Depending on the size and use of the RV some RVers have 4 Six Volt Deep Cycle Batteries hooked in parallel, that will theoretically provide this low level power for twice as long as 2 six Volt Deep Cycle Batteries hooked up in series. This is especially important if you are going to be doing a lot of boondocking (camping where electricity is not available).

If your RV is equipped with a Solar Charger, it will also extend the length of time that this power will be available to you. If your RV is equipped with a generator, you can also run the generator to refresh these batteries.

One of the most important factors in extending the life of Deep Cycle Batteries is proper care and maintenance.  RVing expert Mark Polk has made an excellent video outlining the proper care and maintenance of Deep Cycle Batteries, following his instructions you will be able to endure that  your RV's Deep Cycle Batteries last as long as they should.  This video can be downloaded to your computer instantly. There is more information about this great video below.

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By RVing Al

OK I am sure that none of you really want to enter your RV into a Destruction Derby, but obviously there are enough people that do.  Recently at the Orange County Fair in California they held an RV Destruction Derby.  All of the RVs participating were Class C Motorhomes; I don't think Class A Motorhomes were allowed to enter.  I am not really sure if this is going to be an annual event, but they did have quite a few participants entered.

As they say "A Picture Is Worth A 1000 Words" or in this case a video is worth at least a 1000 words.  We have a video of all of the RVing Mayhem on our website.  Let me forewarn you that this video is not for the weak of heart.  If you own a Class C Motorhome, you may not want to watch the video at all, because some of the Class C Motorhomes did not hold up too well.

Watch The Video On Our Website Now!!!

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We have created this page because of the staggering amount of TV questions we have received on our Ask An RV Question Page.  It has become very apparent that RVers love to watch TV and hate to miss any of their favorite programs. 

Unfortunately a lot of RVers are having problems with the setup of the TVs in their RVs.  Some RVers are not happy with the reception of over the air Digital TV in their RV.  This page will allow you to get all the answers to your TV questions.  Whether you own an RV or not there is some very useful information here.

Visit The Digital TV For RVers Section Now!!!!

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You Can Now Follow Everything About RVing and RVing Al On Twitter

If you are a twitterer and you would like to keep up with Everything About RVing and RVing Al you can now follow us on Twitter.  Every time something gets updated on EARV or there is important breaking news about RVing and the RV Lifestyle we send out a tweet.  We know that it is hard to believe that RVing Al can write anything that is under 140 characters, but he can.  To follow us on Twitter just click on the link below

Follow Everything About RVing and RVing Al On Twitter

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You never know if your story is good enough, we may even publish it in our next issue of the EARV Gazette.  Don't forget to read our Submission Guidelines before submitting your story.

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Here is your opportunity to share your Love of RVing with others.  We have a lot of visitors to our site who have never RVed before.  You now have the opportunity to let them know what they are missing by not being a part of the RVing Lifestyle. 

We urge you to share Your RVing Love Story.  If you want you can even add a picture of your RV to the story.  It's easy and it is fun.  Just go to our Tell Us What You Love About RVing Page and tell us all about it.  You can even add a picture if you want. Don't forget to read our Submission Guidelines before submitting your story.

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