Battery question

[Mayne_Doc]

I wish I had read the posts here before I did my PDI! Too late now but I have a few questions (which I have posed to Keystone too) I have a 2021 Carbon 348 with generator.

Does Keystone or the dealer install a battery? What is the standard battery Keystone installs?

The service guy mentioned that the water heater was "tankless" and only ran on propane and not electricity. Does anyone know if this is the standard for 2021 Carbons?

Did I have options to choose that my salesperson should have given me?

Thanks for any help and advice you can give me.

[Canonman]

The dealer is responsible for providing and installing the coach battery. There is no "standard" battery. Some dealers use better batteries than others, but generally they are barely adequate and not usually RV deep cycle types. Can't speak for the water heater and other possible options for your Carbon.

[Mayne_Doc]

Well, I guess I'll be upgrading the battery. I am not very confident that my dealer will give me a good one. I won't need to use it much because I'll mainly be plugged in or using the generator but just in case......

[chuckster57]

If you always have full hook ups, or the gen, then I don’t see a need to upgrade until the one you have goes bad. And then I would upgrade to a pair of batteries with 2 six volt golf cart batteries being the best choice.

[Mayne_Doc]

Thank you. Good advice.

[Mayne_Doc]

Chuckster57 Quick question - when you store your rig do you leave it plugged into a 50amp plug or do you use a battery minder? It is my understanding it is not a good idea to plug a 50amp unit to a house plug with an adapter.

[chuckster57]

My unit is 30A and I have a dedicated 20A breaker. If your only keeping battery(s) charged and/or keeping the refer cold on AC, I don’t see an issue. Obviously you can’t run the water heater and microwave and refer and Roof air at the same time.

[sourdough]

A couple of things;

Batteries; the best batteries for an RV if used off grid and NEEDING battery storage are the true deep cycle 6V batteries. If you never intend to be off grid, never without commercial power or a gen set, they are just bigger and heavier. I use, and have used for decades, the marine/deep cycle batteries. I do not boondock and always have commercial power or a gen set so not dependent on the amount of battery storage. If new you may want to go with the 6v batteries and many do - I've never had a need.

When I store my rig it is always plugged into 120vac at the barn with a dogbone. At home I have a 50A plug for the RV but I also use the dogbone there as well depending on what I need to do. I've got 2 new "battery minders" still in the plastic casing at the barn because i've not found the need.

[Mayne_Doc]

Thank you. I don’t plan to boondock much of at all. I’m unfamiliar with a dogbone. What is it?

Appreciate the help.

[ChuckS]

I keep my fifth wheel plugged into a 15 amp exterior outlet all the time when not using it. Seven years now and prior to this fifth wheel two toy haulers for over 15 years plugged into same outlet

https://www.amazon.com/Kohree-Adapte...xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

Of course you can't run the air conditioners with this but I have no such need to.. The converter charges and maintains two GC2 gold cart batteries just fine and I add distilled water maybe once from Oct to April

[MarkEHansen]

Just search for RV dogbone adapters and you'll see:
https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=rv+dogb...f=nb_sb_noss_2
... for example.

This is used as an adapter so you can plug your trailer power cable into your house outlet (among other purposes).

One note about the coach battery: It's primary purpose is to provide power for the trailer brakes in the event of a separation from the tow vehicle while towing. This is required by law. While towing, you must have a serviceable, fully-charged battery - and for this, the cheaper marine/combo batteries are just fine.

[JRTJH]

To "add to MarkEHansen's post"....

The trailer battery has "2 primary functions"

first, as he stated, is to provide power to the trailer brake system in the event of a trailer separation. It is required by law in all states on a trailer as heavy as an RV. Don't tow without a functional trailer break-away system. This is a "safety related battery function".

second, not stated is the "operational function of the battery". Your "heavy electrical users" (slide motors, leveling system, etc) place a heavy demand on the trailer 12 volt system. There is a RED warning decal on the wall next to your inside control panel that states something like, "DO NOT OPERATE SLIDES WITHOUT A FULLY CHARGED BATTERY". The reason for that decal is to warn you not to plug your trailer into shore power, without a battery and operate those electrical items. The converter/charger in most trailers is a 55 or 60 amp system. It is not capable of providing the "initial surge load" to start large 12 volt motors. You can easily overload and damage/destroy your converter/charger if there is no fully charged battery attached to the 12 volt system to "provide that surge load".

So, while the safety function is important and unlawful to tow without it, the operational function is just as important in the protection of your investment...

[Mayne_Doc]

Wow. Thanks everyone. I'm new to this site and Keystone (not Rving - I had a 26ft Winnebago class A for years). This site is so great! Thank you for the very helpful information. Very much appreciated. - Karel

[bbells]

When getting batteries, remember there are 12v golf cart batteries if you only have room for 1 battery. Batteries plus has 150ah ones for $280.

[Mikelff]

I have a 100 amp hour deep cycle battery from Walmart that I bought when on a trip when my old battery died on me. Don't remember what brand but sure does the job. Like the OP, I only camp at RV Parks where I have 50 amp power hook ups. Don't do any boon docking, and need my AC in the summer here in Texas. My next battery will probably be the 150 amp 12v golf cart battery. I carry a 1/2 gallon of distilled water and a turkey baster to keep the cells full. Turkey baster makes it real easy to fill the cells without getting water all over the place or taking the battery out. Battery capacity needs are relative to the kind of camping you do. If I were a boondocker, I’d have a lithium battery system. Just depends....

[Goliath-goes]

Dog bone steps down the plug from 50amp to 30amp. There’s also a dog one stepping 30amp down to common household plug