12 Volt Battery Questions

If he does not mind spending more money he can get two Trojan SCS 150 (Gr 24) batteries and get 200AH capacity with 100 useable.

Thanks guys for the info and suggestions!

rjxj, I like your idea for a drop down battery rack..
I'll suggest that to friend Bob and seriously think about it for my rig - those GC2's are getting way too heavy for an old dude.. Thanks!

Possibly But two Group 24's in parallel are 150 am hours, with about 40-50 amp hours useable

Two GC-2 in Series (six volt golf car batteries) are about the same price, and other than being taller about the same size, and give 220 Am Hours of which 110 is usable (Give or take 10% depending on brand) that's over twice the usable power

Oh, and they will run slides, no problem.

I currently run my main slide on a jump pack, 25 amp hour give or take a bit but 900 Peak amps. I metered it at around 15 running but the motor will turn a 25 amp fuse into a flashbubl. (Starting current is much higher).

Those 24's will do it. they wont let him run it in and out and landing gear too many times in a row but you know what I'm saying. 24's are the smallest group battery. Mine had 3 of them 14 years old and one still had enough guts to almost put the slide out.

My battery box was too shallow and they had to go in through a side compartment door. I can fabricate and weld so I gutted the tray/box and built a drop down tray that I use a floor jack to raise and lower. It bolts into place at 4 corners. It now holds four GC2 just right.

But it all depends on what a person wants to use it for. Two gc2 is a nice upgrade for many and gives a good deal of flexibility if needing to do a wally world stop or whatever.

silverkid wrote:

Secondary question: I have an Onan 4K generator (non-inverter)and wonder if it would be better to charge batteries with a Battery Tender plugged into the generator rather than charging with the converter??

hook up the tender and let both charge, when the converter's logic can't charge, the tender will take over, let it run for a few days or a week. Use an hydrometer to determine when FULLY charged.

Yes, his two batteries will run the slide etc just fine until they are run down too far to do that. It is still a good idea to leave the 7-pin connected with the truck engine running when doing the slide and jacks to keep the batteries up better for when camping after that.

No, a battery tender is just for maintaining a charged battery. You need a converter like in your rig if it is able to do over 14 volts or a portable charger that can, or else swap out for a better converter for charging your batteries when the charger is being powered by the generator.

Even on shore power with endless time to do a recharge, the Flooded 6s still need nearly 15 volts to be properly recharged, so the 13.8 volts will never get them done right.

A 2004 RV might well have a converter that can only do 13.8 volts, so you will have to say what converter you have to get better advice. Also if you do have a PD9100, whether you have the Charge Wizard for it.