What type of 12 volt battery

Have recently purchased a camper trailer and hoping to set it up with either 120w or 240w solar panel as well as a supplementary charge from vehicle when towing,

I've been given a couple of suggestion.

1. 130 deep cycle. been told will not charge up quickly only take 1 amp per hr of charge.

2. Deep cycle marine battery. Quicker recharge rate.

When fully set up will hope to run all usual camping accessories including 12v to 240v convertor.

Would you recommend a single or dual battery setup coupled to a 6 stage smart charger or should I be looking at other options/battery set ups. To be used for long and short trips

So many options GB, what will best suit???
Firstly, not sure who said that the 130AH battery will only take 1A/h of charge, as I know they will take much more, especially if it's an AGM which, with its low internal resistance, will take heaps more than an SLA battery but does need a special charger with slightly increased voltage, to charge properly, making it good for solar and genie (with an AGM battery charger) charging but not totally ideal for alternator charging. Marine batteries are generally made more robust but generally have a lower capacity in AHs than the equivallent size deep cycle.
What you have to work out GB is roughly what you will be running and what capacity in AHs you will need on a daily basis (fridge?, microwave? tv? etc?) and then we can work out roughly what your needs as far as batteries and then after that, what you will need to maintain them in a charged and usable state....
You have also mentioned an inverter, but you must keep in mind that the inverter uses power in the conversion from 240v to 12v so if you have an appliance that works on either 240 or 12, then running it on 12v will save you battery AHs overall as you wont loose any power in the conversion. As an example, we ran my laptop on Johnny's inverter which was hooked up to his deep cycle battery in his van to watch a DVD. In the morning Johnny mentioned to me that the inverter had used up pretty much all the capacity of the battery. My point is that the inverter is a good thing to have as a backup, but to be used as a last resort and not as a primary source of power.
Anyway get some figures and we can go from there.

That is a great reply Costa Dee ! Because those types of things can be a bit of " how long is a piece of string" I'm doing the ground work for something similar so your knowalage on agm batteries and the right charger saved me making that mistake ! Thank you

To Further your confusion its right when he states that INVERTER as last resort,because of losses and the hunger for the inversion best get a good genny 1kva or better still 2kva then have more chance of keeping all things charged and running for overcast days nights etc. I have a kimb erly kamper and it has 210 ha worth of batt and a 80 watt solar panel and i still carry the 2kva honda for back up I run a 80 ltr f/f engel and all the led ligths and under bed heaters and not been outa power once in 2 years of camping, But mind you mostly in good sun weather up north or in the west. and some nights run genny for 2 hours to top up.the most i have tested the batt is 3 days no solar or genny and it held.This is only a guide as each set up is different and uses more or less power. hope this helps in some little way.

Thanks lone wolf !

Hi G.B
A good rule of thumb for charging most batteries is 1/10 the Amp/Hour rating for the initial 80% of charge.If you want your batteries to last invest in the correct charger as these will switch automatically to from constant current to constant voltage for top up.
Value for money Gel cells or maintanance free will do the job.

Thanks fella's,

I'll have to do the maths, initially the set up will be fairly minimum but the future add on wish list is long which includes a decent 12v fridge freezer and enough high output LED's enough to light up a large detecting area, so I'm hoping to get it right in the first instance so that any add ons in the future are already catered for rather than having to upgrade.

Hi again GB. You don't have to buy everything right now to cater for your possible future needs, but what you do have to do is allow for expansion in your system to be able to grow as your needs increase. As an example, the regulator that you buy for your van, should be able to handle 3x 120w solar cells but you will not need 3x solar calls now, especially if you wont run a fridge from the start. One 120w solar cell correctly mounted to allow the addition of 2 more later without redrilling will probably be more than enough to cater for your needs at the moment, but you can always expand easily because you have allowed for the space of the other cells and your regulator is big enough to handle them (about 30W).
If money isn't an issue, then a Honda 2kva will be adequate and also light weight enough to be transported. Yes you can get a 8kva, but can you easily lift and move the 40 to 80 odd kilos? So that's why it's important to have a rough idea of your needs before you start and then allow for "extra'" expansion if required.
LED lights are a great idea and if you remember the small LED flood light I have at the back of my car, that throws out a lot of light for 15w (1.3A) of power....and it was cheap. I would need the equivallent of a 55w halogen (4.5A) to get the same amount of light.
Anyway, work out your possible requirement figures GB and then we can talk turkey.
Cheers