another 12 V battery or 2 GC2 batteries?

pikespeakviewer · 05-27-2021, 06:34 PM

We have 1 x 12V battery, which is going into it's 6th season. We boondock for about 5-7 days at a time, 2-3 times a summer and charge it by generator starting on day 3 or 4.

Hubby is deployed (and probably will be again next summer), so that leaves me hauling the genny and in out of the truck (or just leaving it in the truck for the season, taking up precious room that we'd rather use for bikes and kayaks).

I'm wondering if either of these ideas will work:
1. bring along a 2nd 12V battery (fully charged) and swap it in on day 4 to give us another 3-4 days of good battery life.
2. install 2 x 6V golf cart batteries? I'm sure that I could figure out how to wire them and how to maintain them.

If option #1 will work, that would be much easier (and cheaper) for me.

**chuckster57** · 05-27-2021, 06:39 PM

If you have the room a pair of GC batteries will be your best option. When boondocking AMP HOURS is what your looking for.

Wiring is simple. Battery A positive connects to Battery B negative.
Trailer positive goes to Battery B positive
Trailer negative goes to Battery A negative.

Canonman · 05-27-2021, 07:00 PM

6vdc batteries are the best answer to your needing to extend your camping stay with minimal charging. I'd add that a simple 100 watt solar kit would complete the modification quite nicely. Prices are fairly reasonable and no more lugging the generator in and out of the truck.
Wiring the batteries and attaching the solar is quite simple with several videos on how to do both. If you have specific questions I'd be honored to help as would several here on the forum. We support our vets and their families, thank you both for your service and sacrifice.

pikespeakviewer · 05-27-2021, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canonman

6vdc batteries are the best answer to your needing to extend your camping stay with minimal charging. I'd add that a simple 100 watt solar kit would complete the modification quite nicely. Prices are fairly reasonable and no more lugging the generator in and out of the truck.
Wiring the batteries and attaching the solar is quite simple with several videos on how to do both. If you have specific questions I'd be honored to help as would several here on the forum. We support our vets and their families, thank you both for your service and sacrifice.

Thank you. We do have a solar panel that we hook up to the battery, but we haven't had great success as our dry camping is in forested campgrounds with fleeting sun in any one spot. Maybe we don't have good enough solar panels? I think that the one we have is a Coleman.

I'm going to check Costco for the golf cart batteries this weekend. Will this give us considerably more battery time? To hook them up what would I need? A bigger, or second, battery box and some 4 AWG copper wire?

Hubby was posted to Norad for 4 years, and it was the best 4 years ever! Our kids were born there and we are aching to go back... one day we will, but probably just to visit - that is a very well sought after posting!

pikespeakviewer · 05-27-2021, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuckster57

If you have the room a pair of GC batteries will be your best option. When boondocking AMP HOURS is what your looking for.

Wiring is simple. Battery A positive connects to Battery B negative.
Trailer positive goes to Battery B positive
Trailer negative goes to Battery A negative.

I will check if we have room tomorrow for 2 batteries when the trailer gets back from the shop.

Hubby is the roof seal checker and he's been gone since the end of January and I don't do roofs... so the local shop is my hired help. And I think luckily so as the front cap was missing some sealant where it joins at the side/roof and I could put my finger in the gap. Luckily there was no water damage, but they are resealing some of the vertical seals as I don't have the confidence to do it properly.

bobbecky · 05-27-2021, 07:40 PM

You might ask them what they charge to install your new batteries. Might be easier, as they can be very heavy, and they might also have the ability to install the extra cables to make this work.

pikespeakviewer · 05-27-2021, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobbecky

You might ask them what they charge to install your new batteries. Might be easier, as they can be very heavy, and they might also have the ability to install the extra cables to make this work.

Great idea!!!

Canonman · 05-28-2021, 05:53 AM

The key to using solar is wattage. Not sure what the Coleman unit is rated for, but most consider 100 watts with a 10 amp controller a minimum. Some Coleman units are less than 20 watts.
The 6 volt batteries are about the same size as the standard group 24 12 volt batteries just a little taller. Here is a picture of the double battery box we bought. Price is $21.
Most travel trailers are set up for two batteries on the tongue mount, but check with your local guys to be sure. I also like the suggestion of having the shop guys help with the install. That said it is pretty simple and you sound like the type of person who could make it happen DIY.

pikespeakviewer · 06-18-2021, 06:57 PM

We decided on 2 12V batteries as we don't do enough dry camping to justify 2 6Vs.

I haven't hooked them up yet, but want to make sure that I'm doing it right, please point out any mistakes:

1. Battery A Positive = red from trailer (6 gauge) + trailer brakes (I'm assuming that's what it is).

2. Battery B Negative = black (6 gauge) from trailer.

3. Hook up Battery A positive to Battery B positive (4 gauge).

4. Hook up Battery A negative to Battery B negative (4 gauge).

**sourdough** · 06-18-2021, 09:15 PM

Bat A to bat B pos to pos

Bat A to bat B neg to neg

Feed RV power from pos of bat A and neg of bat B - share the load.

Stircrazy · 06-19-2021, 07:23 AM

you might want to think about it again if you havent bought it already. if you have then just keep this in the back of your mind. you have a 6 year old battery now and you are going to add a new one. you should never add new batteries to old ones if you can help it. at 6 years old it is time to replace that one if it has been the only one most likly anyways. especialy if you have gone 6 years on it and now you are finding you dont have quite enough power.

in your case I would have gone with two 6V for the longer life and extra capacity when you do dry camp, what you may have done now is added a new battery to a old battery with reduced capacity so the new one will be trying to make up for the old one as well as trying to supply the camper and in a unballanced situation you can actualy ware out the new battery faster as well.

Steve

pikespeakviewer · 06-19-2021, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stircrazy

you might want to think about it again if you havent bought it already. if you have then just keep this in the back of your mind. you have a 6 year old battery now and you are going to add a new one. you should never add new batteries to old ones if you can help it. at 6 years old it is time to replace that one if it has been the only one most likly anyways. especialy if you have gone 6 years on it and now you are finding you dont have quite enough power.

in your case I would have gone with two 6V for the longer life and extra capacity when you do dry camp, what you may have done now is added a new battery to a old battery with reduced capacity so the new one will be trying to make up for the old one as well as trying to supply the camper and in a unballanced situation you can actualy ware out the new battery faster as well.

Steve

The batteries are the same vintage and are identical make/model (not sure if that matters). Thanks for double checking. The battery shop made sure I was aware of the unbalance that will happen if I put a new one with my older one. For the steal of a deal I got, I should be able to get through this summer and then when hubby is home from deployment, he can set up new batteries the way that he wants.

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