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Old 07-07-2019, 08:49 AM   #25
Gizmo2
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Satellite Beach
Posts: 5
I have owned multiple RVs and boats with both dual 12v and 6 volt battery configurations. Two 12v batteries in parallel can suffer from loss of capacity as the stronger battery will discharge thru the weaker until they are the same voltage. This isn't much of an issue when they are new but can be as the batteries age. With dual 6 volts in series one weak cell will have a fraction of the effect on the total bank voltage as 12s in parallel.

I also completely agree with what's been posted about the cycle life of 12v vs 6v. To get good cycle life from a 12v you should really consider AGM batteries. They are twice the price or more however.

One issue with golf cart batteries is that they consume water over time and you have to top them up periodically with pure water. I think 6v is worse than 12 because of the way they are vented. I've noticed the 12 v batteries on my boat were low on water after a year of use so the maintenance free claim is just a marketing slogan.

I worked on a project involving a battery powered refrigerated shipping container a couple of years ago. The original system used 4 six volt AGM batteries in series that could keep the system cold for 5 days. I modified it to use LiFePo lithium batteries. It's was amazing what a difference they made. The system had double the capacity at half the weight. I know there are golf carts using this technology along with a few RVs. It will be a game changer if the price ever becomes competitive.
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