6 volt batteries

[AlCorr]

Today I removed the 12 volt battery & box and installed two 6 volt Interstate golf cart batteries and a new side by side battery box. It was a pretty easy job, works good.

[f6bits]

Which battery box did you get? Link? I’d like to do the same.

This is something I'm considering as after just a season my original deep cycle is showing signs of slowing down. Would be great to do the 6 volt switch rather than just replace with another sub-par battery. Do you have some pics of the install?

[AlCorr]

Here's a link to the side by side battery box that I used. It's the best price I could find.

http://www.allbatterysalesandservice...cfm/4,326.html

It fit in the same place were the 12 volt box come out of. It's all white and looks good there behind the LP tanks. And yes it comes with a cover.

I have some pictures but I don't know how to post them.

[AlCorr]

This is a link to the batteries I used. Sorry, in my first post I gave the wrong name of the batteries, They are from "US Battery, us 2200"

http://www.usbattery.com/usb_us2200xc_golf.html

[AlCorr]

Let me see if this works.

[AlCorr]

[AlCorr]

Here is a link showing how to wire the batteries.

http://rvbasics.com/techtips/RV-batt...-parallel.html

[AlCorr]

Everywhere I looked on line stated that Trojan Batteries are the best and US Batteries are #2, but when you see how much two Trojan batteries cost compared to two US Batteries, you'll know why I went with US Batteries.

http://www.electric-cars-are-for-gir...t-battery.html

[Jay D]

what is the reason of changing the 12v to 2 6v?

[SAABDOCTOR]

2 six volt batteries have more amps than one 12 volt so they will last longer when you boondock and you will havea constant power level when you run the sliders the motor will not slow down esp when the battery is a year or two old. draw back... a little more weight

[JRTJH]

Like Barney said, most 6 volt batteries are designed for repeated recharge/discharge use. They usually last much longer than 12 volt deep cycle batteries before they won't hold a charge and need to be replaced. They also store more energy and will provide power at a usable level longer than 12 volt deep cycle batteries. That's why they are used in electric golf carts where repeated charge/discharge cycles and maximum power are required.

Actually, when you get right down to the dollars and cents, 6 volt batteries aren't much more expensive than 12 volt batteries (given the life cycle and the performance). The biggest expense probably is the battery box, and the links given a few posts before this give a place to get battery boxes at a very reasonable price...

[Jay D]

If u don't boon dock is it worth changing?

AlCorr, thanks for the links and pics. Looks good - that new battery box fits right in. I'm bookmarking everything for when I tackle this.

[AlCorr]

Originally Posted by CampDestinations.com

AlCorr, thanks for the links and pics. Looks good - that new battery box fits right in. I'm bookmarking everything for when I tackle this.

Your welcome, and yes the battery box fits right in, no problem.

[gkainz]

VERY nice looking box!

[Festus2]

Jay D -
If you don't dry camp/boondock, then I see no need to switch over to 6v's. Your 12v would do just fine.

[Bob Landry]

I agree that if you are boondocking that little bit of extra battery capacity can be beneficial. With 2 12s, if you have a battery failure, you can disconnect one of them and you can still have lights and more important, 12V for the trailer break-away switch. if you are running 2 6V batteries and one fails, you're done.

[ktmracer]

Originally Posted by Bob Landry

I agree that if you are boondocking that little bit of extra battery capacity can be beneficial. With 2 12s, if you have a battery failure, you can disconnect one of them and you can still have lights and more important, 12V for the trailer break-away switch. if you are running 2 6V batteries and one fails, you're done.

yes, kinda a matter of priorities vs. risks.

But a pair of 6V really can have much more capacity vs. 12V. Trojan GC 6V can be repeatedly discharged to 20-30% SOC (discharge 70-80%) for 100's of cycles according to Trojan. Even the trojan 12V deep discharge flooded batteries are not recomended to go below 50% SOC. so for the same AH capacity, a pair of GC will give 20-30% more "useable AH". I've discharged on set of Trojan GC to 30-40% SOC for 8 years now, probably 30-40 times/year and they still are going strong.

But again, if you seldom boondock or can recharge easily, no real reason IMHO to go with the expense of GC or true deep discharge only 12V batteries.

[JRTJH]

From my experience, having two 12 VDC batteries in parallel and experiencing one of them "going bad" usually will occur without much warning until the lights go dim. Once that happens, most often, the bad battery has pulled the remaining battery down to near discharge and you're not going to have enough stored energy to do much more than maybe have one light illuminated until you find a way to recharge. And, if the bad battery had damaged the remaining good battery (which often happens) you're still left without power. The good thing about RV's is you always have emergency power for a time when the camper batteries fail, it's called the 7 way plug and the tow vehicle battery. Just don't run it down or you may not find someone with jumper cables to get going in the morning.

As for boondocking, a single 12 VDC battery is a push, two 12VDC is better, and 2 (or more) 6VDC batteries is the choice for extended dry camping.

If you seldom dry camp, then having a single 12VDC battery for the occasional time you're not connected to shore power is probably all you'll ever need. No reason to invest in something you'll probably not use or, for the matter, even need.