Good evening. Looking for input on battery considerations for my trailer winch. I've just removed battery from the car in the past and used it, but looking to have a dedicated one for the winch going forward. Also considering a battery tender to maintain charge, for car and for winch battery. I can run an extension cord out to the trailer from the house without a problem. Any issues with the battery tenders being on and unattended for an extended time inside the trailer? Thanks and have a great evening.

I always use a marine style deep-cycle
Group 27 is larger if you have the room and group 24 is more the size of a car battery.
I also keep a tender on all the time.

I pulled the old battery out of my car and put it on the tongue for winch and trailer radio. It’s a 34/78 and put a new one in the car. I keep battery tenders on both 24/7 when at home and always have. Old battery was 7 or 8 years old when I pulled it from the car. I use the Battery Tender brand maintainers.

A group 27 deep cycle is what I have in mine. Battery tenders should be fine. Just use a good one. I have mine in a marine battery box next to the winch.

Only thing I have discovered to watch out for is if you use a dehumidifier in the trailer over the winter, check the water level in the battery every couple months.

This is the battery that came in my trailer and powers the lights, tongue jack and the winch

https://www.interstatebatteries.com/products/SRM-24

Thanks for the info everyone. I've been leaning toward a deep cycle marine battery. I haven't used the battery tenders before and I'm curious about potential for failure or a possible disaster with one. Joe, thanks for the tip on dehumidifier and battery. I will be using one. My inexperience with enclosed trailers bit me in the rear last year with how much moisture it got inside. Have a great evening.

William,
Yes it was a steep learning curve when I got my first enclosed trailer.

The dehumidifier is a must here where I am. I try and leave the tool box drawers open an inch or two also. Have one in the RV as well.

Best of luck and it sounds like you are headed in the right direction.

I was gonna recommend the NAPA brand maintainer but I guess they’ve discontinued it. That’s what I’ve had on my trailer forever. It’s been great. I would buy a weatherproof one that has mounting tabs on it. Good luck!

When I installed an electric tongue jack on my 24 ft enclosed, I put a 29 DC marine battery in a battery box on the tongue in place of the breakaway battery, ran leads to the breakaway box, jack and winch. Ran a 10 ga. wire from the 7 way for charging. Has worked great for years now.I never did like those little breakaway batteries anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by qtrrcr:
When I installed an electric tongue jack on my 24 ft enclosed, I put a 29 DC marine battery in a battery box on the tongue in place of the breakaway battery, ran leads to the breakaway box, jack and winch. Ran a 10 ga. wire from the 7 way for charging. Has worked great for years now.I never did like those little breakaway batteries anyway.

I also hooked my break away box to my trailer tongue battery.

I'm wondering do some of you run your trailer battery really low? Why the need for a deep cycle battery?

I use a DC mostly because of the dual post. Lot more places to hook junk up, lol. Also a DC holds its amp output longer than a standard car battery.

I keep a tender on a Optima red top 24/7.

Bob

quote:

Originally posted by qtrrcr:
I use a DC mostly because of the dual post. Lot more places to hook junk up, lol. Also a DC holds its amp output longer than a standard car battery.

Gotcha. I guess I had never actually look at the specific differences between the two, other than the deep cycle made to deal with repeated discharge and charge cycles.

As posted above, a deep cycle is desirable in this application. Think of it in this way. A standard automotive battery is only required to put out starting amperage for a few seconds. [That is to say, most cars/trucks start quickly with little drain on the battery] Once it starts, the alternator carries the load and also quickly replaces the brief starting charge.

The trailer battery is called on to power the jack and whatever else you have connected all day without recharging. The deep cycle design is much more tolerant of this demand.

Also, the "Battery Tender" brand is a good product and can be easily found. It is completely acceptable to have the batter tender connect 24/7.

Does the tow vehicle charge the trailer battery when connected?

quote:

Originally posted by Phil Dees:
Does the tow vehicle charge the trailer battery when connected?

Mine does.

Having the trailer battery connected to the tow truck is desirable. It will be fully charged when you arrive at the track and fully recharged when you return home. Plus, it adds extra capacity to the system.

Will your trailer kill the tow vehicle battery?

I run two deep cycle batteries like Ed posted. Well, I think mine are one size up from those but they are the batteries for my living quarters and also run the winch and so forth. No problems so far although they have been replaced a couple times. I have had the trailer quite a while. Still great and does what I need it to do.

Bought it from Kenny Anderson from Fast Farm Trailer Sales. Highly recommend him.

quote:

Originally posted by Phil Dees:
Will your trailer kill the tow vehicle battery?

If I left the radio on for long enough it probably would but for me that is the only thing really pulling any power for an extended period of time.