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Old 08-31-2021, 06:35 AM   #21
Village Idiot
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I generally camp where I have shore power, the exception is Labor Day weekend when I go to a location with family where I have to use a generator. My new rig has a 12v fridge and I thought it may be beneficial to have the second battery for the 5-6 day trip. Thanks for the info.
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Old 08-31-2021, 06:50 AM   #22
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Originally Posted by RogerThat99 View Post
My trailer already has 2 12V batteries. One connected to the trailer power, and the 2nd is connected to the other battery.

On the Golf Cart Batteries, would I just buy two GC batteries, and connect them the same way? Are they roughly the same size and fit in what I would consider the standard sized battery box?
GC batteries if 6 v would be connected in series, 12 v batteries are connected in parallel. The GC batteries are a little taller than a 12v automotive battery.
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Old 08-31-2021, 07:06 AM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flybouy View Post
GC batteries if 6 v would be connected in series, 12 v batteries are connected in parallel. The GC batteries are a little taller than a 12v automotive battery.
Thanks. I looked up the wiring differences between series and parallel.

I will have to double check, but I am pretty sure mine are wired negative to negative, and positive to positive. The both the positive and negative off to the trailer come off one battery. Hmmm.

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Old 08-31-2021, 07:27 AM   #24
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In a parallel set up the connections to the camper should be located on different batteries. I would rectify that asap.
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Old 08-31-2021, 08:58 AM   #25
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In late July my camper battery gave up so I replaced it with an Interstate HD24-DP. Picked up my 2022 30 RLS last week and am thinking about adding the HD24 as a second battery on my new rig. The new rig has an SRM 27, Interstate battery store guy told me it would work fine but I am reading different opinions elsewhere. Thoughts?

Get a matching 27. Dealership installed mismatched batteries one time on a trailer and one devoured the other one in short order. If you don't have room for two 27s get two 24s but get a matched pair IMO. If you boondock a lot get matching 6 volts.
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Old 08-31-2021, 10:03 AM   #26
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2 12 volt vs 2 6 volt.

Here's what I have and why. The last 2 12 volt 55 ah batteries were 225 bucks each 3-4 years ago. Together the wt about 100 lbs

2 6 volt GC batteries at Costco cost under 100 each 2 years ago, have 210 ah with total wt is 150 lb.

Some say the GC batteries will last longer and take more charges than the 12v . That I do not know for sure.

Pros of the 6 volts is cost and amp hrs. in my book. Cons they weigh a lot.

I recently had a friend say he still likes 2 12 volt in case 1 fails he still has a working battery. My experience if 1 fails they are both dead. He is a new RVer and I am not. I have had RVs with 1 12 v battery fail and with 2 12 v fail.
He says if one 6 v fails you cannot use the other battery since its only 6v. That part of his statement is true.
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Old 08-31-2021, 01:31 PM   #27
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I'm a fan of having two batteries. We do a fair amount of dry camping and need two batteries.
I'm also a fan of having those batteries match.
The specs on each battery are shown below. The group 27 battery is physically larger and provides significantly more reserve power. I'd recommend spending the $135 and getting another matching SRM27. I'm betting you could sell the HD24 on line and recover a fair piece of that cost.
You have a major investment in your new rig. IMHO spending another $100 for a second matched battery is a reasonable upgrade.

SRM27
600 Cold Cranking Amps (CCA)
160 Reserve Capacity (RC)@25 Amps

HD24-DP
405 Cold Cranking Amps (CCA)
100 Reserve Capacity (RC)@25 Amps
With CCA, CA or MCA listed they are not true deep cycle batteries, they're cranking type batteries, not the best choice for the constant charge/discharge cycles in a RV.
A pair of group 24, 27 or 31s with the most aH (amp hours) available wired in parallel or as mentioned 2 - 6 volt GC batteries wired in series are your best choices.
Not a good idea to mix brands, sizes or ages of batteries, the weaker if the 2 WILL canabalize the stronger one in short order.
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Old 08-31-2021, 01:51 PM   #28
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This site has good diagrams, easy to understand, in easy language.
https://www.power-sonic.com/blog/how...-and-parallel/
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Old 08-31-2021, 02:33 PM   #29
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Just to explaine the reasoning for a "matched set" of batteries.... Let's say you have 2 batteries, one is battery A and the other batter B. Let's say battery A has a capacity when new of 100 amp hours but now it's only accepting 80% charge. If you add a new battery B eith a 100 amp hour capacity the converter will "see" battery A fully charged at 80 amp hours and stop charging. The repeated 80% charge will deminish the new battery B to only take an 80% charge.

The golf cart battery can be discharged deeper and more frequently than the 12v automotive or marine battery. The reason for this is the 6v gc battery has 1/2 the plates in roughly the same size "box" as the 12v battery. Therefore the plates are physically thicker and during heavy discharging the heat will not warp the plates and cause damage.

It's all about how uou use the camper and the electrical demands. We never boondock so the most our battery gets used is to precool the fridge for a day while setting in the storage lot. The 105 ah group 31 battery has no problem performing that task with the fridge running on LP. Personally, if I had a redidential fridge I would use two 6v golf cart batteries wired in series. There are many options with money as the only limiting factor. For my money the 6v gc batteries are the most vost effective.
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Old 08-31-2021, 03:08 PM   #30
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I am going through these logistics now. The primary reason is we are looking at a trailer with a 12V DC fridge. We don't really boondocks but will go 1-2 days at Harvest Host sites. Where some let you use a generator, we try not to..so we are not looking at dual batteries, 400W solar panels and a 1500W inverter. Basically we think we can run what we want on that and although we have the generator will not need it.

In the battery department we were looking at going down the route of dual AGM batteries. Pros/cons.
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Old 08-31-2021, 05:04 PM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RogerThat99 View Post
My trailer already has 2 12V batteries. One connected to the trailer power, and the 2nd is connected to the other battery.

On the Golf Cart Batteries, would I just buy two GC batteries, and connect them the same way? Are they roughly the same size and fit in what I would consider the standard sized battery box?
The same way? Nope. 2 6v batteries in series, or 2 12v batteries in parallel.
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Old 08-31-2021, 06:42 PM   #32
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AGM batteries are (or can become) finicky when discharged too deeply. Once that happens, they seldom recover 100%. So, discharge a pair of "new, expensive AGM batteries" too deeply and you may never see the intended performance from them again.

Here's the "discharge scoop" on batteries:

A automotive battery is designed to deliver a HUGE cranking surge to start a car. Seldom are they discharged below about 90%.

A "marine/RV deep cycle battery" (with CCA stamped on the label) is a "hybrid battery" and the recommendation is to not discharge it below about 70%. That means around 30% of the rated amp/hour capacity is usable. Discharging below that will shorten the battery life and the recharge capacity. Discharging too deeply will, as Marshall said, "warp the plates" and damage the battery. Once the plates are warped/damaged, they can not provide power, so that part of the battery is "dead"...

A "deep cycle/golf cart battery" has no CCA rating and is not designed to deliver a "large cranking surge". Because of the design, fewer plates are needed and the reduced number allows for thicker plates that won't warp as easily... Because of the thicker plates, you can discharge a golf cart battery to 50% without damage. That means a set of golf cart batteries with a similar rating with "marine/RV batteries" can regularly provide 20% more usable power without damage to the battery.

I had two GC2 golf cart batteries that we put in our Cougar when we bought it in 2013. They were still "going strong" this spring. I contemplated using them another season, but Sam's Club had a sale on GC2 batteries for $69 each. It's very hard not to buy two for $140 and know that I'll get another 8 years of the same performance that I had with the original batteries......

We regularly dry camp for a week at a time and with the way we camp, we can usually make it the full week without recharging the batteries. We do take a generator, but primarily run it to recharge the boat batteries so we can keep fishing with the trolling motor. I wish batteries in the boat were as "long lived" as the GC2's in the trailer.....
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