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Old 08-29-2019, 05:19 PM   #21
takpak
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Batteries

OK, plain and simple explanation regarding batteries. Everyone touts the 6 volt golf car batteries as the greatest thing since sliced bread, and they are.....for certain things. Yes, they do have a greater endurance capability for repeated discharges, especially deep discharges, such as a golf car would have. However, they do NOT give you more capacity, i.e. amp hours, or in the more modern terminology used today, reserve minutes. RM's are the new standard. Actually, comparable physically sized 12 volt deep cycle (group 27 or 31) batteries will give you more reserve minutes (or amp hours) than the same sized (space wise) 6 volt, since you have to series the 6 volts to get your twelve volts needed which maintains the RM's of the single battery, while the 12 volt batteries are in parallel and in that case, for each 12 volt you hook up, it will double (for two) or triple (for three, and on and on) the RM's (or amp hours) in the system.

Simply put, if you are boon-docking a lot, and do a lot of deep discharge cycling on your batteries, then the 6 volt golf car ones will LAST a lot longer, However, if you only boon-dock once or twice a year, then a batch of 12 volts will give you more hours of discharge capacity, i.e. two 6 volts v/s two 12 volts. The other factor is space, where you have to use the 6 volt batteries in pairs, such as two, or four, or six, etc., where the 12's you can use in any combination, such as one, two, three, etc.
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Old 08-29-2019, 07:52 PM   #22
McRod
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Lead acid batteries have a 3-5 year lifespan. Yours are getting there. As they age, they will lose power faster and faster. If you have an inverter, you are vamping another 2-3 amps / hr.
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Old 08-29-2019, 08:12 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by takpak View Post
OK, plain and simple explanation regarding batteries. Everyone touts the 6 volt golf car batteries as the greatest thing since sliced bread, and they are.....for certain things. Yes, they do have a greater endurance capability for repeated discharges, especially deep discharges, such as a golf car would have. However, they do NOT give you more capacity, i.e. amp hours, or in the more modern terminology used today, reserve minutes. RM's are the new standard. Actually, comparable physically sized 12 volt deep cycle (group 27 or 31) batteries will give you more reserve minutes (or amp hours) than the same sized (space wise) 6 volt, since you have to series the 6 volts to get your twelve volts needed which maintains the RM's of the single battery, while the 12 volt batteries are in parallel and in that case, for each 12 volt you hook up, it will double (for two) or triple (for three, and on and on) the RM's (or amp hours) in the system.

Simply put, if you are boon-docking a lot, and do a lot of deep discharge cycling on your batteries, then the 6 volt golf car ones will LAST a lot longer, However, if you only boon-dock once or twice a year, then a batch of 12 volts will give you more hours of discharge capacity, i.e. two 6 volts v/s two 12 volts. The other factor is space, where you have to use the 6 volt batteries in pairs, such as two, or four, or six, etc., where the 12's you can use in any combination, such as one, two, three, etc.
You left out the part that a comparibly sized 12v weighs 2x more than (2) 6v batteries each. I don't know about you, but moving my 63 lb 6v's, although not easy, is way easier than lugging a single 126 lb 12v. 🙂
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Old 08-30-2019, 06:49 AM   #24
mfifield01
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It's hard to beat the price (based on capacity) of 2 - 6v batteries at Costco. They are typically $80-85 each.
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Old 08-30-2019, 08:57 AM   #25
Logan X
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I think the price per amp hour makes the 6 volt batteries the better choice. But to each their own, if you have a 12 volt battery setup that you like then go with that.
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Old 08-31-2019, 06:12 AM   #26
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John, can you give a photo of the switch you used and tell us where you bought it? The world is full of switches but many would look ugly.

I installed a switch outside but had to sacrifice the light. Your idea is a better solution. Thanks
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Old 08-31-2019, 09:34 AM   #27
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John, can you give a photo of the switch you used and tell us where you bought it? The world is full of switches but many would look ugly.

I installed a switch outside but had to sacrifice the light. Your idea is a better solution. Thanks
Post #18 in this thread: http://www.keystoneforums.com/forums...circuit&page=2 has a photo of the way one member modified his refrigerator. The switch he used is like this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0743FQMHY...xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ== I'm sure they are available individually or in pairs so you wouldn't have to buy 15 at a time.
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