6 or 12 That is the question

Interesting there are so many different opinions on this.

Grit Dog says two 6v all the way so I will side with him as y'all know we agree on everything. :B

ssthrd wrote:
Which is better-- 2x6V deep cycle or 2x12V deep cycle for boondocking? My setup right now is 2x6V which gives me 260 ah. I found 2x12V that will give me (2x150=) 300ah. Are the 12's really better than the 6's?

assuming you keep your amp draw to 30A peak or so, I'd go with 6V. that is typical load is some LED lights, a gas fridge, an exhaust fan.

Now a pair of 6V GC2, 250AH useable AH is 250*0.75 about 180-190AH. That's correct, you can discharge typical GC2 batteries down to 25% SOC and STILL get hundreds of cycles out of them. Trojan std GC2 is 500 cycles @ 75% DOD. Compare that to a very good set of 12V that give you life at 50% DOD, even trojan 12V deep discharge cycle life drops like rock once you go below 50% DOD. So the 300AH 12V give you 150AH cycle life at 50%. Advantage goes to GC2.

Which is better-- 2x6V deep cycle or 2x12V deep cycle for boondocking? My setup right now is 2x6V which gives me 260 ah. I found 2x12V that will give me (2x150=) 300ah. Are the 12's really better than the 6's?

Actually Group 31 are about 130 but wait there is more (27/29 are about 100)

Most of the "Group xx" batteries out there are either straight up starting or MARINE/deep cycle.. these batteries should be kept fairly full for best life. Rapid againg sets in around 75% (M/dc) or 80%(Starting) where as a TRUE Deep Cycle can go to half full before that happens.. or so they say. NOTE there will be differences berand to brand. Also the ability of the battery to recover from an "OH C**P!" level run down (like the volt meter has only one digit run down) is better with the DEEP CYCLE.

GC-2 (Golf Car, takes 2 to make 12 volts) and GC-12 (Golf Car, 12 volt) are DEEP CYCLE batteries.

LiFePo4 is even better, and more costly and other things that matter some good some not so much... (I'm just starting to play with those)

theoldwizard1 wrote:
Simply put, 6V golf cart batteries are designed and manufactured differently. Specifically they are design for multiple deep discharge (about 25%)/charge cycles. 99% of the 12V batteries will have a shorter life if you discharge them that much.

A pair of golf cart batteries can store about 220Ah of energy. A Group 24 RV battery, only 75Ah. Even the larger Group 31 batteries can only store about 100Ah.

Yes, a pair of golf cart batteries will cost more than a single 12V, but not twice as much?

why do you compare one 12 volt vs two 6 volt batteries? given your numbers, it would be a 200 vs 220 comparison with 2 12 volters
bumpy

If they plan on running the inverter I'd go 12 volt. One reason is 50% less demand on each cell.

If they want to just charge small items--then a 2000 watt inverter is over kill and they would be better to use a 300 watt inverter with six volts.

You pay your money and you take your chances!

I've always done 12 volt because I want to use a LARGE inverter/charger so I can use it for load support.

Simply put, 6V golf cart batteries are designed and manufactured differently. Specifically they are design for multiple deep discharge (about 25%)/charge cycles. 99% of the 12V batteries will have a shorter life if you discharge them that much.

A pair of golf cart batteries can store about 220Ah of energy. A Group 24 RV battery, only 75Ah. Even the larger Group 31 batteries can only store about 100Ah.

Yes, a pair of golf cart batteries will cost more than a single 12V, but not twice as much?

12V, unless the aforementioned high inverter output is desired, and they are only installing 2 batteries, 6V all the way!
Longer lifespan (thicker plates) including the typical battery killer which is re-charging from deep discharges.

There's more to it though. FLA which require maintenance (water), vs SLA which theoretically don't (unless they get cooked real good) vs
AGM which generally last longer than FLA/SLA and seem a bit more "reliable" to me vs if one is serious aboot dry camping and never in cold weather then some of the "bargain" LiFEPO4 options are beginning to seem attractive if used within their limitations and long life/capacity/lightweight is a concern.

ktmrfs wrote:


And more than likely the trailer has a WFCO charger. if they dry camp and want to charge the batteries from a generator quickly don't expect the WFCO to do much. They are seldom if ever known to go into boost mode, instead only stuffing 15A or so into the bank. Toss it out and do a drop in PD replacement and easily get 55A of charging current when needed.

Thank you!
This is what I think I'm seeing with my camper. It has a 55A WFCO all in one power center deal. Last 2 AF TCs had PD converters and they worked GREAT!
After reading the WFCO literature it "warned" that one may not "see" the 14+V charging mode, but "it's there" lol.
Well, I didn't see that voltage and voltage is voltage. And likely why I have issue charging up my two GC2s fully by running the genny for just a couple-3 hours when dry camping.

ktmrfs wrote:

If they don't dry camp much if at all, stick with a pair of the typical "marine" 12V, much less expensive and will serve the purpose well.

I don't follow. Typical 200-235A 6V GC2s are Under $100 to about $175/ea
Typical 12V RV/Marine are (not deep cycle) and under $100 to under $200. True deep cycles like the Trojan batteries are $200+/ea for 150ah batteries.
Not sure where your much less expensive statement is derived. Apples to apples they're pretty close in cost.