6 Volt Batteries Question

[Mels Musty Music]

My 3055RL was outfitted with 2 6 volt batteries (Interstate) by the dealer when I purchased it in October. Always wanted to go this route but never got away from having 2 12 volts in the past.
Couple of weeks ago we had a wind storm and lost our power. DW, dog and I moved to the trailer for the evening and night as it got into the 20's and was getting rather chilly in the house. Tried to minimize use of lights so the furnace should have been the only real drain on the batteries. We were very fortunate (compared to many others in our area) that our power was restored the next morning so we moved back into the house as soon as it warmed up. Before I did I checked the batteries and the indicater was on "F". I probably should have waited to see if they bounced back on their own but instead plugged back into shore power so I'll never know. When my 12 volt batteries on a previous 5th wheel read that low they usually were almost dead.
I checked my converter and it is a 9260 with the built-in charge wizard. Checked all connections and everything appears to be OK. The trailer is always plugged into shore power in my driveway and the batteries always read as fully charged.
I see that some of you are running inverters so I'm wondering how long your batteries are lasting. I was hoping to also add a small (1,000 watt) inverter for coffee and TV but I'm not sure it is going to work.
Do you think I have a problem or do I need to add 2 more batteries.
Any and all advice will be appreciated.
Thanks
Hank

 

[tdharley]

I have been shopping & researching the same .

I wound up purchasing a Xantrex 2000 watt inveter & 2 Trojan Deep Cycle 6 Volt Batteries (T145).

This link was great for answering alot of questions......

http://www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm

This subject is not as cut and dry as you would think.

 

[cdbMidland]

tdharley

How difficult was it to install the two 6 volt batteries? There doesn't seem to be a lot of space in the compartment where the 12 volt battery is now installed. Is your second box vented like the factory-installed first box?

 

[nhunter]

When the dealer added my second 6v battery they teed into the factory vent hose so tey share a common vent.

 

[tdharley]

I just ordered the parts.

I will be fabricating a battery box as I cannot find one to fit. I have acess to an aluminum bender and will spray coat the inside with bed liner. I am very impressed with the bedliner in a can from duplicolor. I would not use it on the bed (I had that done professionally) but used when I cut my holes for my hitch & in my wheel wells.

 

[timk]

Hank,
Our small inverter is 1000w. It wont start our big tv, but it will run it if we can start it up with something else. The coffee pot is going to be hard on the batteries. I would suggest getting an old fashioned camping pot that you can use on the stove, for the times you have no 120v. The nice thing about the small 1000w inverter is it uses less juice to run itself. If you must have electric coffee, I would think you would need some way to charge the batteries daily, or have more batteries.
TimK

 

[Ron Schoner]

To keep my batteries up I use Solar panels. They keep the batteries charged at about 70% most of the time. I do not use an electric coffee pot. I use the camp pot on the stove. And my TV is not a new one so It runs ok on the batteries.

All the lighting is 12v, and when it gets hot, I have a 12v fan.

I am a Civil War Reenactor, and I dry camp 4 to 8 days a month.

Ron

 

[Mels Musty Music]

tdharley - thanks for the link. You're right - lots of information. I'm wondering what the difference might be between the Trojans and the Interstates I have. Also are you considering installing 2 more or do you think 2 6 volt batteries would be sufficient for some limited dry camping?

cdbMidland - The box I have was installed by the dealer. It is 21 1/2 x 13 1/2 x 7 3/4 and houses both batteries perfectly. Its too cold here to go take a picture but I'm hoping DennisZ won't mind me directing you too his battery disconnect picture which shows the box nicely. We bought from the same dealer.

//heartlandowners.org/forum...0&d=1152746647

timk - I think you're right about the coffee pot suggestion. In fact I may still have one stored away from our tent camping days many years ago.

Ron Shoner - What size/watts solar panels do you use and are they portable or permanently mounted?

Thanks,
Hank

 

[Ron Schoner]

Hank, the panels (2) are 15W each. From Camping World. They are also portable. No holes in the roof. I set them on the ground or on the pu bed cover. And run the cords into the batter box.

Ron

 

[tdharley]

I will be installing 2 Trojans each one rated for 225 amp hours. Now I am not sure , maybe someone else can answer this question...... If I install 2 225 amp batteries does that give me a total of 550 amp/hrs? I know if I wire them in series I will get 12 volts.

As for the difference in batteries, I just looked at the factory battery installed in my BH and it was a deep cycle marine battery. I have read that it is a hybrid battery that it rated for CCA (cold cranking amps) not amp hours. Seems to be the big difference is the physical makeup of the plates....lead vs. sponge impregnated?

I am learning as I go along

 

[sislv]

Batteries in series...

I will be installing 2 Trojans each one rated for 225 amp hours. Now I am not sure , maybe someone else can answer this question...... If I install 2 225 amp batteries does that give me a total of 550 amp/hrs? I know if I wire them in series I will get 12 volts.

Running the batteries in series will give you 225 amp hours @ 12vdc.

Tom

 

[sailorand]

2 225 amp hr. 6 volt batteries give you 225 amp hrs. I run 4 trojan 6volts and did not have any problem running the furnace and minimal lights overnight in 25 degree nights. We will be dry camping in the desert at Quartzsite for 7 days so will let you know how that works in a week and a half. Right now it is cold in california and it takes the furnace 3 hrs to bring the temp up to 68 from 35 degrees. When up to temp the furnace runs about 15 minutes every hour. The digital thermostat, that I installed works very well

 

[Goldenwingers]

When you hook two 6 volt batteries in series you double the volts giving you 12 volts but the amps remain the same which means you will still have 225 amps of which about half is usable with out doing damage to the batteries. If you pull them below half charge the batteries will not last as long.

Don

 

[Uncle Rog]

Four T-105's / Converter

Here is another old picture of my 4 battery system, not shown is my convereter mounted on a shelf on the left side of the compartrment. In some of my earlier posts I have described the system. For more info on the T-105s the Trojan web site has a bunch of information. Having a good charging system is important to keep the batteries good, a three stage with an equalization cycle is best, mine is built into the inverter. If they freeze you might as well chuck'em and start over......
P.S.....the T105's are the way to go...they are designed to be run down to almost nothing and still charge back up, the 12 volt deep cycles once you take them down to 20% or so they are damaged and will not charge back up to 100%, from the literature I have read....Google... "the 12 volt side of life" for more info

 

[GARTH]

To answer your question about the inverter running a coffee maker, you will need one that is at least 1500 watts. Also your two 6 volt batteries need to be at least 70% charged or you will pull your batteries down into the low 12 range. We run two 125 watt solar panels on the roof with two 6 volt batteries and as long as the voltage is 12.5 or better you will have no problem making coffee. It is best to wait until the sun is up and shining on your panels before pulling lots of juice. On a sunny day we can run our TV with the satellite dish through the inverter and still gain voltage to our batteries. Two 125 watt panels put out almost 15 amps of voltage. We also have a generator backup, but only start it up on a cloudy day. Hope this helps.
Garth

 

[timk]

tdharley,
If you double 2 6v batteries, to get 12 volts, you double volts not amps. So what you have is one big 225 amp hr 12 volt battery.
If you double 2 12v batteries, you double amps not volts.
TimK

 

[ChopperBill]

Been dry camping over two weeks now. I have learned a couple of things. I have 2 6v Interstates and a Xantrax 3000 inverter. First lesson. MAKE SURE YOUR REFRIGERATOR IS SET TO GAS!! I went a week wondering why the batteries wouldnt hang in longer then the did. I had forgotten the fridge was set to AUTO. the minute I switched to the inverter the fridge started to run on 110. I know a dumb dumb move on my part but I just forgot!!! The fridge will suck the life out of your batteries in no time.
Once when I was transfering from the inverter when the gen was running I lost ALL 12v power when the gen was not running. I was up until midnight trying to figure out what the heck went wrong. Left the gen running all night so the furnace would work. (cold down here!) The next morning I did a double check on everything. I found a ittsy bittsy button on the side off one circuit breaker, smaller than a pencil point(you could not ever see it because of the covers on the breakers. I pushed it in and all started working! Here is were a decent owners manual would have come in handy.

 

[ct0218]

Bill-just in case I or someone else has that circuit breaker problem, just exactly which one is it, and where is it?

 

[ChopperBill]

The circuit breaker with the reset switch is one in the middle of the group. It has a large gauge red wire coming from it and it is the main 12v wire that goes to the fuse panel. Have never seen a reset button on a circuit breaker so it wasnt something I was use too.