Two 6 volt vs two 12 volt run time

travelnutz wrote:
Atlee,

Hope this doesn't bore you as it's long but accurate.

My true deep cycle 12 volt lead acid batteries all came from Meijer but you don't have them there as they are in 7 states in the Midwest. A very upscale Walmart type store but usually larger and carries a lot more made in the USA goods but has the same prices as Walmart. Family owned and based/headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI. Over 200 stores. I'd wait until they were on sale and then used my 15% off all goods in one purchase coupons we'd get each month as seniors with a Meijer credit card. I'd buy 5 to 10 of the batteries at a time and never paid over $88. for each anter the discounts. the batteries were made by Johnson Controls Battery Divison headquartered in Milwaukee, WS.

Now Meijer carries Exide batteries instead of Johnson Controls and they are group 31, deep cycle marine 12 volt batteries and have the very same spec label wording as the Johnson Controls batteries. 130 Ah with a 225 minutes at 23 amp draw. I have seen zero difference between the 2 type of batteries in useage or performance life. Been keeping both types of batteries in the RV's banks for 8-10 years and then replacing them. They still function OK and I have been using the old batteries in my boats and for my trolling motors and only one so far had failed in the last 0ver 30 years of using these batteries.

The 5 group 31 deep cycle marine batteries presently in our 29' Carriage Carrilite 5th wheel were purchased in Sept 2010 as that is what the sticker on them says and I will probably be replacing them in 2019 as they are 7 years old now. In the Carriage Carrilite, we use the 2500 watt inverter which I had installed 2 additional 15 amd AC circuits from the inverter mounted in the front storage area with a remote switch on the foot vertical wood face of the bed.

One circuit goes to the additional installed 3 duplex outlets in the bedroom, bathroom, and the living room. The other circuit goes to the kitchen installed additional duplex under the refrigerator in the panel and to one close to the dining table in the slide out. It's in the inside bottom area of a storage cabinet just above the floor. Open the cabinet door and plug in the extension cord that comes from the wall behind the table and we have AC power for our laptops.

The kitchen inverter duplex outlet has a small 1/4' dia green neon light glued in and wired in so we know when the inverter is turned on. That outlet is for the coffee maker cord, toaster cord, and the microwave which has a patch cord from a switch in the upper cabinet where the microwave is plugged in. Open the cabinet, flip the switch to inverter power, pullout the end of the patch cord, and use the microwave when off the grid and no need to start the generator.

Lots of time with our 2 laptops on as we have a MIFI Jetpack for WIFI nd change data plan from 6GB to unlimited if and when needed with Verizon. We never use a hair dryer off the inverter as that is on for a longer time and like a direct short. Silent 110 AC power and no need to start up a noise making generator bright and early in the morning.

That in an expanded nutshell is what we have and how we use our battery bank.

BTW, there's 2 more of the same batteries in the drivers side ahead of the rear wheel well and if I attach the 2 #2 gauge welder cables to the marine barrel switch wingnut stud block, I now have 7 group 31 deep cycle batteries for the 5th wheel and dual alternators in the diesel truck to recharge the 7 batteries real fast it we aren't going to hit the road that day etc. Of course I have another option also, start up the Honda EU 2000 that's on the back of the 5th wheel and recharge the batteries that way. I love versatility and that's the way I design and make things like any good engineer would, long retired or not!

The 2 big batteries in the truck also connect to the same size battery in our Lance TC so I have 3 big 12 Volt deep cycle batteries to power the Lance and the 1500 watt inverter that's mounted inside when it's on the truck. More versatility!

Whew!! This stuff is way over my head! But since you brought it up, how hard would it be to have say one outlet in the kitchen set up to run a coffee maker on an inverter so I wouldn't have to start the gen...and how big an inverter would a person need for such a setup...2000watt? Sorry not trying to heist the thread but looks like its gotten a little off of the orig question anyway