6 volt battery suggestions

[Aazahn]

So we are planning on getting some 6v golf cart batteries for the new rig. Any suggestions out there? egc2 from same club? Trojans? others?

 

[gr8daggett]

Hi Neighbor
Trojans are obviously the gold standard. Had a hard time finding where to buy them.
I have had two 6Volt batteries from Sam's Club for about a year now. No real problems yet.
I will transfer them from my TT to my new Reflection 337 as soon as it comes in to Burlington RV.

 

[Aazahn]

greetings from New Berlin. We picked ours up from burlington too about a month ago. Its hard to have it sitting in the driveway waiting for camping season. Although we have spent some days in there just pretending. Our 232bhs is the second camper that we got from Burlington. They know what they are doing on the sales end that is for sure.

 

[gr8daggett]

Agree. The Reflection will be are 3rd from Burlington RV.
I think this one will be our retirement home. The Wife just retired this year.
So far I am keeping the snow at bay so I can get the TT out to trade-in.
Snow has to go away before I can get the Reflection home.
Just want to fast-forward to complaining about the heat.

 

[Splitsworld]

i bought my GC2 Plus from Sams Club (not sure they make the pluses anymore) 2 years ago. They are excellent batteries. The thing with 6v is you really want to pay attention to the 20amp hour rating, they higher the number usually the longer they will last between charges. The GC2 pluses were around 220 AH while the standards are around 208 i believe. I went ahead and went for the the trojans in my new GD;

http://www.trojanbattery.com/product/l16h-ac/

they are bigger and i had to jerry rig a acid/breather box but no big deal since i boondock almost exclusively. Next up is solar. I have all the components picked out to get solar going but a real affordable place i have found in PHX is solarpenny. They have great kits for very low prices. Good luck!

 

[LCBoyer]

I like Gell cell,
Universal 12v 225 AH Deep Cycle Gel Battery UPG8Dgel-40702, expensive, but in my previous rigs I never had a problem

 

[CManley]

I have used the Sam's Club GC2 Plus batteries for sometime with success in my old trailer (Tahoe 25dbs). I suspect that the 29 RS (pending delivery) will draw more power than the Tahoe. I do expect to replace all of the incandescent bulbs with LED's which will help. I had been averaging 4.5 years before replacement.

Does anyone have feedback on how long the Trojan batteries have lasted?

Splitsworld,

What was your solution to extending the depth of the breather box?

 

[Splitsworld]

I have used the Sam's Club GC2 Plus batteries for sometime with success in my old trailer (Tahoe 25dbs). I suspect that the 29 RS (pending delivery) will draw more power than the Tahoe. I do expect to replace all of the incandescent bulbs with LED's which will help. I had been averaging 4.5 years before replacement.

Does anyone have feedback on how long the Trojan batteries have lasted?

Splitsworld,

What was your solution to extending the depth of the breather box?

after lots of searching for plastic containers and not really finding any solutions(other than ordering very expensive L16 boxes) due to the extreme height of these i opted to go for 2 dog food plastic dispenser bins, which fit each battery perfectly... I considered taking 2 regular storage bins and using them for top half/bottom half ( putting 2 together) but in case of an extreme spill i wanted to be able to contain the acid in the battery box. I have nylon strapping mounted to keep the boxes still and in place. not sure why i boought such expensive batteries and cheaped out on the boxes ? I just like to tinker and the food bins are small enough that i can move around in the front compartment.

 

[notsosan]

I have a pair of Interstate GC2-XHD-UTL 6 V's rated at 232 amp hours. The U2200's we had in our old rig worked well so I went with them again.

This is the install

 

[Cate&Rob]

Since you asked . . .

I have a lot of experience with both 6 and 12 volt battery systems (in boats) . . . and with what happens when something fails. With two 6 volt batteries, you only have one power source. If one cell fails in either battery, everything stops. With two 12 volt batteries (of equivalent amp hr capacity) you have a backup plan. If one battery cell fails, you still have 12 volt capability from the good battery. I'm not a fan of 6 volt batteries . . .

Rob

 

[gr8daggett]

That is why I always carry an extra 12 volt battery for insurance. A backup.
My plan is to put the 2-6 volt batteries in with the standard 12 volt battery.
Send them to a switch ... http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000K2MCR2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Now I can switch between the two, add the two in parallel and have a REAL battery disconnect switch.

 

[Splitsworld]

Since you asked . . .

I have a lot of experience with both 6 and 12 volt battery systems (in boats) . . . and with what happens when something fails. With two 6 volt batteries, you only have one power source. If one cell fails in either battery, everything stops. With two 12 volt batteries (of equivalent amp hr capacity) you have a backup plan. If one battery cell fails, you still have 12 volt capability from the good battery. I'm not a fan of 6 volt batteries . . .

Rob

Well in that case i either hookup my tow vehicle and charge, or use one of the 2 12v in my f450, turn on my on board generator, or if that fails, turn on my honda 2000 genny . Not necessarily in that order...Did i pass the test?? . 12 volt= great for cranking a motor but not much else heck i can't even get a full night in my 385th on the brand new 12v interstate marine battery and thats w/o a heater or anything else running cept my pump switch and a led light. But we all have opinions! Mine mostly formed from my boondocking experiences.

 

[Cate&Rob]

Hey Splitsworld,
No "test" intended. You obviously have lots of recovery alternatives.
My only point is that two 6 volt batteries in series are not necessarily better than two 12 volt batteries in parallel.
Just my opinion.
Rob

 

[Splitsworld]

Hey Rob,

You can never have too many backups or alteratives camping!!

 

[Cate&Rob]

That is why I always carry an extra 12 volt battery for insurance. A backup.
My plan is to put the 2-6 volt batteries in with the standard 12 volt battery.
Send them to a switch ... http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000K2MCR2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Now I can switch between the two, add the two in parallel and have a REAL battery disconnect switch.

Hi gr8daggett

The problem with this plan is figuring out how to charge a matrix of batteries of different capacities. The charger can get "confused" by reading state of charge of one battery and applying that charge rate to all batteries.

Rob

 

[CManley]

Notsosan, Looks good, what is the source of your battery box?

 

[notsosan]

Notsosan, Looks good, what is the source of your battery box?

I bought the batteries and the box from a small local battery shop I have used for years. He sells two styles, one for the batteries sitting side by side like mine and another end to end. Don't know where he gets them but I will ask when we get home at the end of the month. They don't come with vents or drains so I cut the vent out of the old box and attached it to the new one. The drain is made from an old plastic hand shower hose I had kicking around.

 

[Paul & Deb]

I transferred my 2 - 6 volt Trojan T-105s from my old trailer. They work excellent in my application. I run a 1000w pure sive wave inverter so we can power our electronics when dry camping. I run my Honda 2000 every 2 or 3 days for a few hours to recharge but I've never had them get below maybe 12.4 or about 70% of full charge.

Unfortunately the tech from the dealer who swapped them over did not do as I asked and remove the OEM 12v battery box so I need to remove it, cover the hole and slide my dual setup over to make better utilize the space for when my generator comes. I got the boxes from San Diego Battery Wholesale (where I got the batteries) and they cost $18 apiece. They did not come with the vent outlet on top so I cut the outlets from the previous 12v boxes I had and mounted them in these.

Here's how it looks now.

 

[Paul & Deb]

Here's how I moddifed the boxes. Most 12v boxes seem to come with the top vent. I can't remember why I found it hard to find 6v boxes with them?

 

[Cate&Rob]

These added battery boxes appear to be standard marine parts. They would be available at most marine stores for either 6V or 12V batteries. The marine requirements are a little different than RV. The boxes must be water tight to the height if the battery (no vent out the bottom) and they vent through the lid "overhang" where the cables come in. There is no requirement to seal and vent the box, but the space where the batteries are located must be vented. Is it a RV requirement that the battery box be sealed and vented to the outside ? or just a common industry practice ?

Rob