Battery System

[RBlack5481]

I recently removed the 2 house batteries. Long story but I do not remember if they were two 6 volt wired in series to create a 12 volt system. Has anyone replaced the house batteries with two 12 volt wired parallel to create a longer lasting amp hour while maintaining the 12 volt?
OR,
Is there a reason these were originally 6 volt?

Thanks in advance
Bob

 

[DavidEM]

There is a good reason to use two 6V batteries wired in series- if these are true deep cycle golf cart batteries (most 12V batteries aren’t) that give you about 220 Ahs at 12V.

Otherwise AGM batteries are good for deep cycle use. Wire two 100 Ah batteries in parallel to give you 200 Ahs at 12V.

David

 

[RBlack5481]

Reply

Thanks for the input. Greatly appreciated

 

[ducksface]

Outside of a laboratory or a need for an extra three minutes of usage there is no reason to use six volt batteries.

Signed,
If they had a valid use I'd be using the TWELVE matching six volts I have here at the ranch(left over from my golf cart days)

And
While it says 200ah
You get 100ah from them.
50% usage value to anything but lithium and such.

Almost everyone has switched to two 12v batteries and since luthiums are sometimes less expensive than traditionals many are switching to lithium and getting true 200ah


This has been nutshelled for everyday folk who just want to use their rv.

 

[Cummins12V98]

I made a commitment to my self years ago to take pictures of what I am taking apart unless I am 100% confident of my abilities to get it back.

 

[Travlingman]

I made a commitment to my self years ago to take pictures of what I am taking apart unless I am 100% confident of my abilities to get it back.

And as you get older, this is especially true.

 

[Porthole-ESC]

I recently removed the 2 house batteries. Long story but I do not remember if they were two 6 volt wired in series to create a 12 volt system. Has anyone replaced the house batteries with two 12 volt wired parallel to create a longer lasting amp hour while maintaining the 12 volt?
OR,
Is there a reason these were originally 6 volt?

Thanks in advance
Bob

If it’s a DRV, yes, they are shipped with two no name 6 volt batteries. If you delete the batteries from the build sheet you get $50 credit - for both.
That should give you an idea of the quality

 

[Bob Nodine]

And as you get older, this is especially true.

And do not hide anything. I am still looking for a few things I hid to keep them from the grandchildren.

 

[Cummins12V98]

If it’s a DRV, yes, they are shipped with two no name 6 volt batteries. If you delete the batteries from the build sheet you get $50 credit - for both.
That should give you an idea of the quality

My 07.5 DRV had trojans from the factory. They made it to 7 years. I think my no names went 4 years at the most in my 16 DRV.

 

[dkoldman]

While I can get the true value add of a 24vdcor 48vdc over a 12vdc one, I have never understood the fascination with Golf Cart batteries. Maybe if you are Golfer it is just a comfort thing?

For me, due to height of GC batteries it has never been an option for me. My perspective with those that may correctly say it may provide more ah capacity is akin to what irritates the hell out of me in one of my favorite products. (Waze)

Assume you need direction to a location and Waze calculates 2 options, by default the technically fast route is chosen, but if you do the analysis you may find that the route chosen is actually longer and through areas or parts of town that you would prefer to avoid, the normal route occupied by safe looking humans, name brand stores and gas stations may have been 2 minutes longer.

I suspect if I owned a Golf Cart, I would buy a golf cart battery, but only because it fits. Otherwise nothing special about it other than maybe I could blame my score on perceived benefits loss due to buying a 12volt battery.

 

[Mark54]

I recently removed the 2 house batteries. Long story but I do not remember if they were two 6 volt wired in series to create a 12 volt system. Has anyone replaced the house batteries with two 12 volt wired parallel to create a longer lasting amp hour while maintaining the 12 volt?
OR,
Is there a reason these were originally 6 volt?

Thanks in advance
Bob

When I was adding batteries to my Rialta,
a Mobile tech told me to use GC batteries b/c they had more amps.
What he didn't tell me was that the watts would be the same or even less!

They are also a LOT taller.


If you have two 100Ah 12V batteries, you have 2 x 100 x 12 = 2400W
If you have four 100A, 6V batteries, the watts are the same.

I had two 230A 6V GC batteries, so 2 x 230 x 6 = 2760W
I used those until I got two 138A, 12V lithiums that weighed much less, and came up with 3312W. Weight is a big deal for me- GC batteries are heavy!!!

The other thing i did not like about GC's or any wet cell, was the attention I had to pay to the water level inside- they can dry out, and die, so for me Lithium
(Li-phosphate, or LFP, is best/safest) is a no brainer- no maintenance during use, and no water/acid to deal with. They last at least 2X longer than wet cells, too, and even longer if you properly store and maintain them. Cycling 20-80% also adds longevity to them as well. If I can get 10 yrs from a LFP battery I am very happy.
When I changed my Tellaro batteries, I used the go big or go home philosphy- coulda done two 400Ah ones I suppose, but the 300's were easy to find and affordable for me. I saved probably about $4k by doing myself too. My mobile tech quoted me $1M to do it- in other words, he did not want to do it!!
Also in 10 years, solid state batteries will be around- talk is by 2026 for those.

 

[Jimbo57]

Lithium battery/ GC

When I was adding batteries to my Rialta,
a Mobile tech told me to use GC batteries b/c they had more amps.
What he didn't tell me was that the watts would be the same or even less!

They are also a LOT taller.


If you have two 100Ah 12V batteries, you have 2 x 100 x 12 = 2400W
If you have four 100A, 6V batteries, the watts are the same.

I had two 230A 6V GC batteries, so 2 x 230 x 6 = 2760W
I used those until I got two 138A, 12V lithiums that weighed much less, and came up with 3312W. Weight is a big deal for me- GC batteries are heavy!!!

The other thing i did not like about GC's or any wet cell, was the attention I had to pay to the water level inside- they can dry out, and die, so for me Lithium
(Li-phosphate, or LFP, is best/safest) is a no brainer- no maintenance during use, and no water/acid to deal with. They last at least 2X longer than wet cells, too, and even longer if you properly store and maintain them. Cycling 20-80% also adds longevity to them as well. If I can get 10 yrs from a LFP battery I am very happy.
When I changed my Tellaro batteries, I used the go big or go home philosphy- coulda done two 400Ah ones I suppose, but the 300's were easy to find and affordable for me. I saved probably about $4k by doing myself too. My mobile tech quoted me $1M to do it- in other words, he did not want to do it!!
Also in 10 years, solid state batteries will be around- talk is by 2026 for those.

If I switch from GC to lithium does charging system require altering. Where as 6v GC to12v parallel only requires cable connection change

 

[dkoldman]

If I switch from GC to lithium does charging system require altering. Where as 6v GC to12v parallel only requires cable connection change

It depends on what you already have?

If you have Lithium house batteries, you should have a Converter that supports a Lithium profile, you should have LI-BIM or DC to DC Charger that can control the current flow from Alternator so as to NOT draw too much current from the Alternator, as the latter could damage or burn up the Alternator.


IMO
Comparing AGM to Lithium is folly. Like comparing a Cadillac with a Bentley. Everyone knows the Bentley is better to have, but most do not care to pay for a Bentley price for the known benefits.

With that said the cost of the Lithium batteries has dropped dramatically. An example... 4 years ago I researched in detail to convert my RV to 200ah of Lithiums, it was $4k - $5k no matter how hard I shopped around. Today, I just finished converting my RV to work with both AGM & Lithium for $500. I just need to change the profile in my new Converter and my new DC 2 DC charger to support whatever battery type I want. It would take 5 minutes for something that would be set for years.

I did the above ONLY because as it was approaching time to replace my current AGMs that would have costed me $550 to get 125ah usable capacity, I was able to get a 300ah usable capacity Lithium for $400.

Note: My conversion cost could have been done for $300 if I went with a LI-BIM (which is all that most need) and a cheaper off brand Converter. But for me, I was so happy to see the cost down that the $500 spent was chump change.

So at the end of the day it cost me $900 to make the complete modification with new Lithium battery. Some people are still paying $900 for one 100ah famous name battery and I have no idea why :whistling:

Funny thing though, despite having converting to an option to run Lithium, I am still running on my 125ah AGMs. Working just fine. I will eventually install the Lithium I purchased, but right now it is no rush. :coolsmiley:

 

[Jimbo57]

Thank you currently have 4-6volt we only het out couple times a year and always full hook up glamping per the boss. Just trying to keep up on possible future changes.

 

[dkoldman]

Thank you currently have 4-6volt we only het out couple times a year and always full hook up glamping per the boss. Just trying to keep up on possible future changes.

You doing it right, get in bed with no technology. Just do what the boss ma'am says, keep money in your pocket, and stay calm :coolsmiley:

My Roadmap

2019 OEM FLA 65ah available capacity cost OEM
2020 vMax Tanks AGMs 125ah available capacity costs $500
2024 NewtiPower Lithium 300ah available capacity cost $900, I could add a 2nd 300ah NewtPower for 600ah total; so $400 more.
2031 TBD Solid State x,xxxah available capacity (or maybe a new WBGO EV RV ?)