?? 6 or 12 VOLT BATTERY ??

HVFDFIREFIGHTER wrote:
Where can you but distilled water?

The 6 volt Golf Car batteries would need to be in a vented area when charging and discharging?

Yes, distilled water can be bought at any grocery store. You typically buy it by the gallon, for maybe $1 or $2 a gallon. You can also use 'drinking' water for this, that also is sold in grocery stores by the gallon.

Yes, the batteries will off-gas/vent hydrogen gas when charging. That hydrogen gas needs to vent out, you don't want it being concealed in with the batteries. Have heard of explosions being caused that way. Sooo, definitely vent them, somehow.

You can buy distilled water at most grocery stores.
Yes, the batteries must be in a vented area.

Where can you but distilled water?

The 6 volt Golf Car batteries would need to be in a vented area when charging and discharging?

I am pretty sure I am going with 2 Duracell 6 volt 215 amp hour batteries from Sam's Club connected in series to make 1 12 volt at 215 amp hour. Going with the Energizer 1500C/3000S watt inverter (I like this one because it has the modified sine wave and a digital read out on the top of the unit so I can mount it to the wall and be able to read it). Also thinking of going with the Schumacher 15/8/3 Amp Ship N Shore Battery Charger (3 stage charger 2/10/15amp). The specs say it is for 12 volt batteries. Can I use this charger to charge the 2 6v batteries in series (technically making it a 12 volt battery)?

HVFDFIREFIGHTER wrote:
Should I go with 6 volt or 12 volt batteries? Either way I will be converting battery power to AC power via an inverter. Which voltage is better?

Wrong question
Proper question
Should I go with one piece or two piece 12volt batteries (6+6=12 don't you know)

GC-2 Six volt is the most poplar lead acid battery made.. This means that the per unit cost is lower than other lead acid batteries..Why is this..Well the GC stands for Golf Car (not cart as most say) and Golf Courses buy them by the pallet load every spring.

They are also a true DEEP CYCLE designed to be run down to half full before re-charge.

Most 12 volt (one piece) designs in the Group 24-27-29-31 range are MARINE/deep cycle. These are starting batteries.. They need to be kept closer to 75% full.

The result is that the Six Volt GC-2 when paired with an identical battery in series gives you 210-230 amp hours at 12 volt of which you can use 105 to 115.. In rounded figures that is a Kilowatt-hour of power.

To get that much power out of MARINE/deep cycle 12 volts you would need like 3 Gorup 31s

The 6 Volt GC-2 is thus the best BANG for your Buck.

now.. their downside.. Flooded wet cells need checking and occasional cleaning and watering... (Mine are about a year old and not yet thirsty) (The old ones went 9 years and toward the end were often thirsty).

IF access is a problem,, Then a Maintenance free design may be better..And the DEEP CYCLE Maintenance free's in reasonalbe sizes tend to be AGM's which are among the MOST expensive batteries.

Any flaws in my logic?

Your take on the 6V's leaving you without power vs. 12V's sounds logical but how many 6V failures are there?

I asked this once and did get a response from someone that had a 6V fail and he was in a bad spot to replace it. The failure may have been due to the type of off-road conditions of his trip and how that influenced the failure. We didn't get too far into it as there was a bit of pain for him about the long journey to get a replacement 12V battery.

Most of the name brand 6V batteries are noted for their durability. I have two banks, one of 6V's and one with 12V's so don't worry about a battery failure ruining a trip.

When we bought our Sportsmobile last summer it came with two very dead group 27 12v batts wired in parallel, so I replaced them with the same. Didn't have time to research this stuff - we had camping to do immediately! One of them went bad recently so I had both replaced under warranty about a week ago.

Since last summer, I researched and thought about 6v in series. If you dry camp a lot as we do and one battery fails, you're stuck without power, as I understand it. If one 12v batt dies you still have one left. And replacement 12v batteries would be way easier to find in rural areas. We always carry our Honda EU2000 since we don't have an on-board genny, so we can always recharge off that...unless we run out of gas.

Either way, plan is to have 200w of solar soon. Looking at the flexible panel "boat kit" system from Renogy.

Any flaws in my logic?

HVFDFIREFIGHTER wrote:
Planning on power A few 100 watt cfl bulbs so only 23 watts each total 115 watts, maybe a fan 200 watts I am guessing, led tv 50'watt DVD player 50 watt shuffle pressure pump 103 watts, radio50 watts,
total 500 watts or so.
Maybe a coffee maker, toaster, or microwave -all about 1000 watts each but not all on at once.

You need to read the 12 volt side of life before you spend money.

HVFDFIREFIGHTER wrote:
Is this a good charger: Schumacher SC-1200A/CA SpeedCharge 3/6/12 Amp Charger/Maintainer/Tester

or how about this one: Schumacher SSC-1500A-CA Ship 'N' Shore 15 Amp SpeedCharge Charger with Battery Clamps

Those are fine if you have all day. 15 amps is a bit slow on a generator. If spending money you are far better to get a 45 to 75 amp 3-stage converter that charges at 14.4 volts.

But I would far prefer 200 to 400 watts solar.

Typical microwave will take 2000 watt sine wave inverter and four batteries. A few low power microwaves or a Panasonic inverter microwave can be run on two batteries and 1000 watt inverter.

You are going to need more then just two six volt batteries. You will need closer to four.
You will need to run the genset more then you think. Maybe all day.
Coffee and microwave should wait until the genset is up and on line.
I would get a remote start setup and install the genset farther away so noise is not an issue.
Depending on where you are located, think about a wind powered generator.