Question on batteries/frig

[JRTJH]

CW usually sells Exide batteries. I don't have any experience with their 6 volt offerings, but was not impressed with their 12 volt batteries. Most people have great experiences with Trojan. If you're looking to "just buy two and get to camping, I'd suggest the Duracell brand at Sam's. That's what we have, $90 each and they're 4 years old and still going strong.

[Canonman]

X2 ^^^ Sams has the best pricing on both the 12v and 6v. When I replace the current 12v batteries in the Cougar I'm going to use 6v. Longer amp hour run time.

[Ken / Claudia]

I dry camp nearly every year. Have for about 40 years. I run a genny every day for a few hours or longer. Always had 12v batteries. They will not last more than a couple days unless you charge them.

[brenkco]

2-6 volt batteries, wired in series produce 12 volts, and can produce 200 to 250 amp hours depending on the brand of battery. Think of amp hours as fuel, the more the better. If you wire 2 additional 6 volt batteries, in parallel, then you double your amp hours to 400 or 500 depending on the batteries.

A typical 12v deep cycle will give you 75-85 amp hours, so 2 in parallel yield 150 to 170 amp hours.

I have 4-6v batteries, run a residential refer, heated cpap machine and power my entertainment circuit. Typically, I'll still have enough power to make a pot of coffee before I need to fire up the generator.

Hope that helps,

Ken

[BrentB]

"A typical 12v deep cycle will give you 75-85 amp hours, so 2 in parallel yield 150 to 170 amp hours." Those numbers are for a rv/marine battery, not a true deep cycle battery. Two true deep cycle12v batteries from Interstate or Trojan will give you about 210 amp hours, so are similar to two 6v batteries.

[cvin]

this is all great info, really appreciate everybody

I would love to have 4-6 volts or 4 -12 volt batteries ...but cannot handle the extra weight, especially anywhere on the front end

So it will definitely be 2-6 or 2-12

Exit ramp to CW was closed so did not stop and saw there was not much on their website battery wise, i just figured they would have trojans or at least some high quality batteries..

2 questions

For those running non sealed batteries how often do you have to check the water?

And if i take the batteries home tomorrow, fully charge them then have them tested and one/both fail is there any point messing with the hydrometer to see if a cell is bad
Or is that just if they pass the test at autozone and i am still suspicious there could be an issue

This is a really tight work week for me and i dont want to waste time

Bought this trailer to help cut down driving time for work and every spare moment i am fixing something on it, so this has not worked out quite like a planned

The battery stuff is on me though, i should have shut off the frig and unhooked the batteries or gotten solar on here sooner-
I know better

[BrentB]

For your first question if you really want to play it safe, you could check them once a week until you get an idea how much you are losing. Most likely once a month will be sufficient.

For your second question I think the hydrometer would not be required if it already failed the load test at the auto parts store.

[chuckster57]

Hydrometer is very cheap to buy, I would buy it and keep it in the trailer for future use. If current batteries fail a load test then they don't need to be tested with a hydrometer though.

[cvin]

There is no way i have time to put check the water in the batteries every month, so will definitely go sealed

Now just have to figure out which ones

Had some trojans on another trailer years ago and they worked well, but my mechanic is an interstate dealer so will talk to him also

These seem to be doing better now that i have been running genny more on them, but i am taking them home to fully charge and test

Would be great if i could wait until the camper is back in tucson to deal with swapping batteries and mounting the permanent solar panel

Will use the portable one for right now

Just need things to make it another 5-6 weeks , too busy to deal with it now if it can be put off

[suddensam]

I've been very happy with my sealed Universal AGM batteries that I got from bestconverter.com. http://www.bestconverter.com/Univers...ies_c_127.html
The factory battery racks in my 2015 Raptor didn't have enough height to go with 6v batteries so I ended up with 3 of the 12V 100AH model. They are big and heavy so check measurements. Getting them in on my unit took a bit of effort. Price wise I think they are definitely on the high end but ease of maintenance for a true sealed battery and life expectancy is much better than what I was able to get out of a standard battery.

There is a link to this website on the above mentioned website which I found very useful. http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm

[B-O-B'03]

Originally Posted by cvin

For those running non sealed batteries how often do you have to check the water?

I recently switched to a dual 6 volt system and upgraded my converter to one that does a better job of charging the batteries quicker (PD4655), when using a generator for short bursts. As the batteries charge up, the WFCO converter, a common OEM converter, will drop the voltage and the last bit of charging takes longer.

I also added a system for checking/filling the batteries that is pretty slick and just takes a couple of minutes and does both at once.

fill system
fill pump

The connector for the fill system sits in one of the wire access holes in the new battery box I had to buy to hold the new 6 volt batteries.

I bought the batteries (SLIGC115, 230 AH Duracell) from Batteries + Bulbs, they had a 10% off coupon for internet orders and the pair were $197.98 + tax and any state/local fees and picked I them up locally.

Costco had the interstate GC2 batteries, but they were less AH rated than the Duracell and not much cheaper.


-Brian

[cvin]

best converter looks like it has good prices
i dont mind spending 200 a battery for sealed ones

is there any kind of meter that would kill the batt power to the trailer if the batteries get to a certain low point? seems that would be useful

put water in all these and have them on the chargers now

so even the newer WFCO like in my 2015 is not that great? guess i thought from some old reading the older ones were not great but the newer ones are more stages or something and ok?

[Olsen29]

I installed a meter like this one
http://r.ebay.com/620xeU

Not sure how to use it yet. But you can set a minimum voltage and use a relay to open the circuit and protect the batteries.
I just use it to see what each item draws. I will figure it out on where to set the battery capacity according to the voltage left.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by cvin

Doing research found my model of dometic frig has a 12 volt on all the time heat strip in it to help with moisture around the doors...
Older models i guess have a switch to turn this off for when you are boondocking
Newer ones they eliminated the switch- oh joy

As for the dometic fridge, the connector plug for the 12v heater is right behind the light fixture. An automotive interior panel puller will let you remove the light fixture and pull the plug in less than five minutes.

Light removed: You can see the connector (large red wire) that I disconnected.

Light re-installed: I left the connector visible.


****Make sure the fridge is NOT cold when you pull the light. ****

[jsmith948]

If you search the forum, there was a thread some time ago that explained how to wire a switch into the circuit for the heating strip.

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by jsmith948

If you search the forum, there was a thread some time ago that explained how to wire a switch into the circuit for the heating strip.

There are a hundred internet threads on this. My method preserves the warranty and is easily undone. A similar tap connector would easily allow a switch addition. Not everyone is comfortable cutting wires in thier fridge.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[Bob Landry]

Originally Posted by cvin

I have 2 of the biggest deep cycle on here from autozone...

Are you sure the batteries are true deep cycle and not "all purpose" batteries?
There is a difference.

[Outback 325BH]

Originally Posted by Bob Landry

Are you sure the batteries are true deep cycle and not "all purpose" batteries?

There is a difference.

That is where I was heading with my question earlier in the thread.

Buying at AutoZone? I doubt they are deep cycle. 12 volt? Odds are even less they are deep cycle.

Running 10 days on batteries sounds pretty good to me with all the parasitic loads a camper has. The batteries were probably run down too far which is why they are dead.

You can't just run on batteries and ignore them. You have to know your capacity, loads and monitor/charge them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[B-O-B'03]

Originally Posted by cvin

so even the newer WFCO like in my 2015 is not that great? guess i thought from some old reading the older ones were not great but the newer ones are more stages or something and ok?

I bought this converter, from best converter, it was just the board assembly and it fit right in the WFCO power center.

My old WFCO had failed and the dual 12V interstate batteries were toast, so my decision was pretty simple.

The WFCO was only a few weeks past the 2 year warranty and they sent me a new MBA assembly, which I sold to a member here and that offset some of the cost for the the new converter

I read somewhere the Progressive converter stays in boost mode longer than the WFCO and that allows you to get more of a charge into your batteries, if you are running your generator for just a couple of hours to charge them.

-Brian

[cvin]

I dont know about the marine deep cycle at auto zone, the trailer had one of those group 29 in it and my trailer guy added a group 27 of the same type...

Both batteries took a charge and seem fine on my ctek smart charger but it is all moot because the one that was in the trailer when i bought that was supposed to be relatively new is leaking battery acid out the sides

My mechanic thinks he can get me 2-6 volt interstate for 100 each, just found that case leaking this morning and leave tomorrow to head back north, so if he can get these 6 volt wet today then i will just have to do that

Will keep you guys up to date