Cyclone 4200 Battery Question

[jimandjean]

Does anyone know what the maximum number of batteries that the factory configuration can support? I'm buying at 2016 with the fridge / inverter option. So I know it will have two batterie, but was curious if it could handle a third or fourth battery.

 

[jimtoo]

Hi jimand jean,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and hopefully to the family. We have a great bunch of folks here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

I have heard of some folks putting total of 4 12v batteries in and some putting the big golf cart batteries in, but usually when they go with a solar system. For just normal use I would say 2 or 4 should be good. I'm sure you will get some more suggestions from our other members soon.

Enjoy the forum and join us in a Heartland unit.

Jim M

 

[AJJONES]

I have seen 4 done before but that usually requires building a rack of some sort to stack another layer of batteries in the front compartment next to the generator. I have also seen customers add batteries in the pass through storage as well for additional battery capacity.

thanks,

AJ Jones

 

[jimandjean]

Hi jimand jean,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and hopefully to the family. We have a great bunch of folks here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

I have heard of some folks putting total of 4 12v batteries in and some putting the big golf cart batteries in, but usually when they go with a solar system. For just normal use I would say 2 or 4 should be good. I'm sure you will get some more suggestions from our other members soon.

Enjoy the forum and join us in a Heartland unit.

Jim M

Thank you for the feedback Jim, and thanks for the welcome to the boards. I guess my question is, if an owner of a 4200 could look into the battery storage area and tell me how many 'slots' are available to mount batteries, that's what I'm looking for. If it can hold 4, then I'm going to put 4. Give that refer all the juice I can spare it for travel days.



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[avvidclif]

I don't know what tow vehicle you have but most will charge the RV batteries when towing. I would go with the stock setup unless you find you need more. Remember the fridge doesn't run all the time.

 

[jimandjean]

I don't know what tow vehicle you have but most will charge the RV batteries when towing. I would go with the stock setup unless you find you need more. Remember the fridge doesn't run all the time.

Tow vehicle is a 2016 Ford F-450 with Dual Alternators. HOWEVER, unless I misunderstand the way things function, the truck's alternators will only output charge voltage commensurate with the state of charge on the truck's two batteries. So, if those batteries show a reasonably full state of charge, the truck will only output just over 13v, not nearly the level that would induce a heavier charge to the coach.

Now, that said, if this group thinks that between the 'light' charge the truck would give and the two stock batteries I'd be ok for 24 hours or so, then perhaps I'll leave it at just the two for now. More opinions welcome.


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[danemayer]

Tow vehicle is a 2016 Ford F-450 with Dual Alternators. HOWEVER, unless I misunderstand the way things function, the truck's alternators will only output charge voltage commensurate with the state of charge on the truck's two batteries. So, if those batteries show a reasonably full state of charge, the truck will only output just over 13v, not nearly the level that would induce a heavier charge to the coach.

Now, that said, if this group thinks that between the 'light' charge the truck would give and the two stock batteries I'd be ok for 24 hours or so, then perhaps I'll leave it at just the two for now. More opinions welcome.


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Those with residential refrigerators routinely tow for 6-8 hours, helping keep the trailer batteries from discharging as fast as they otherwise might discharge. And it's not unusual to stay overnight without shore power and not deplete the trailer batteries.

Note that in the winter when running the furnace overnight, you'll be using quite a bit more power from the batteries. Since most people don't do as much towing in cold weather, we don't hear a lot about it to know what you can expect.

Also, as a best practice, if staying overnight without shore power, you may want to disconnect the trailer's umbilical from the truck. If you ever had a problem that drew down the batteries, you don't want to also find the truck batteries dead.

An alternative approach might be installing a couple of solar panels to help keep the batteries charged. Batteries weight a lot and require periodic maintenance. Solar panels might give you the same results with less work.

 

[ghanderson]

We have traveled multiple times for 2-3 days with out ever tapping shore power and only using the generator for a few hours here and there with the fridge on the whole time and never have run down the batteries.

We only have the stock setup on our 4200. I would try it out first before adding more batteries.


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