A battery! A Battery! My kingdom for a battery!

I would replace it. Whenever you buy a new battery you will be charged a "core charge". Turning in tour old battery and you will get that back. The Optima batteries al highly rated (and highly priced). Reserve  capacity is more important than cold cranking amps. Also it all depends on the reserve capacity of your wallet. Amazon is a good place to shop around, and so is Wal-Mart.com, Good luck.

We replaced ours with a group 32 Gel closed cell battery and were then able to mount it inside on the drivers side behind the axel. This took about 75 lbs off of the tongue weight. You can place a gel or AGM inside as the don't off gas.

They are more expensive to begin with but you can draw them down more deeply without hurting them and you get twice the life out of them. 

DurangoTaB said:

Mercator...did you put the battery under the seat?  I'm not clear...but certainly interested.  How many AmpHrs in your Group 32?

I installed it under the back bench seat near the Attwood furnace. Not sure if the same location would work with an Alde.

Here is the link to the topic I created for the battery install. 

http://tab-rv.vanillaforums.com/discussion/690/group-31-gel-battery-inside-installation#latest

The Alde takes up a lot more room than the older Atwood heater. I don't think it will fit there. I think you would have to sacrifice some of the storage on the drivers side. 

I really wanted an AGM battery, but my dealer could not get one. They simply installed the typical Interstate deep cycle RV battery. When it comes time to replace it, I will look at putting in an Optima. 

jkjenn said:

Wouldn't there be room in the same space that holds the converter?

In my T@B there was room for a group 24, but I wanted to upgrade to  group 32. 

kybob said:

My dealer informed me that since I'm picking my T@B up at the factory, I'll need to purchase a battery. Shopping around on line, I'm confused by the initials after the group number. For example, on Camping Worlds page they have a plain 24, a 24 DP, and a 24F. Also, the battery box that comes with the T@B, will it only fit a Group 24 battery?  On an auto parts store's page they didn't show any Optimas in size 24.Thanks!

I believe that the letters after the Group size describe the positive and negative posts to which you attach the battery cables.

You need to google battery groups.

For right now, you need a deep cycle group 24 battery for the current battery box they are putting in the tabs - you need to decide if you want a flooded lead-based (you need to check the distilled water levels on a regular basis), AGM or pure gel battery (goes up in price respectively - but no water addition). The higher the group number, the higher the amp hours. I don't recall battery posts being significantly different on the different group batteries, but the physical sizes of the batteries are way different. As you go up in size and amp hours, you also go up in weight. 

The wiring and hookups are already present in your tab. You'll need a wrench to hook up the positive and negative posts. Put them in wrong and you'll blow the fuse inside the converter box.

What I'm most surprised about is that your dealer is so cheap, he won't put a battery in for you. 99% of dealers install one for you (fully charged) as well as put a full tank of propane in the 20lb tank.

kybob said:

Thank you, Mercator. Which type of post does one need to hook up to the T@B's wiring?

A typical automotive battery has posts (different size for positive and negative) onto which you slide the battery cable clamps.  The battery cables for a T@B require a small threaded post that generally have wing nuts that allow you to hand tightened the cables.  In my case, I installed a GEL battery inside the unit and it had terminals that had a hole that allowed the battery to be connected with a nut and bolt through the ring connectors of the battery cables.  Here is a link to a Trojan battery page that describes the different types of terminals.

I am getting an allowance on the price by picking up the battery at the factory. The only reason why I'm picking it up myself, is we made a reservation for Tearstock back in March when we ordered our T@B thinking we would have it in June. As it is, we are picking it up and driving straight to Atwood Lake. Well, maybe a stop at Walmart first! Am I correct, that only a Group 24 battery will fit in the battery box that comes with the T@B? Thanks! 

I went with a group 32 on the mistaken belief (based on T@B manual) that the Atwood heater draw a lot of power.  I was planning a winter trip and need the heater for overnight stops where there was no hookups.  As it turned out 1. The amp draw was much less than anticipated and 2. the heater only cycle on for a few minutes every 30 minutes or so.  As I don't plan on boon docking too much a group 24 would have probably done the trick (at a much lower cost.)