2 - 6 volt batteries or 2 - 12 volt batteries or...

They sell $20 batteries??? Are those AA or AAA..LOL

Sounds like the toy hauler will see severe non-use at least as far as the battery is concerned. Unless of course it's way cooler to destroy a hundred forty-dollar battery rather than a twenty dollar battery.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
the cheapest car starting battery even a junkyard battery stands the same chance as the most expensive RV battery.

I don't agree with that at all.
Batteries are damaged from NON-use more than from use.
And old used battery is always a BAD bet for anything.

Judging from your post the cheapest car starting battery even a junkyard battery stands the same chance as the most expensive RV battery. That way when it flatlines it won't hit you too hard.

Costco is a great place to get the batteries.

But before giving up on those, try looking them over and filling them with water, and see if you can charge them. Chances are that you will never get more than about 60% of it's new performance, and you might want to skip that step if you have already decided to buy better batteries.

Golf cart batteries can stand a lot of abuse, but leaving them at less than 10 volts is a problem that no battery can recover from at times. 12 volt batteries are not nearly as likely to withstand any abuse.

A 100 watt solar panel will keep them full while in storage, if you remember to turn off the propane detector and CO meter. Those two alone will use about all the power a 75 watt panel will produce in a day.

SunElec.com sells a 140 watt panel for only about $229. You can mount it yourself, and wire it with some from Home Depot (Grey direct burial wire #10 rated at about 15 amps limit and can be exposed to the sun).

I made mounts from 2" angle aluminum that is 6" long and 3 holes for #10 screws into the roof, and 5/16" hole for a 1/4-20 bolt into the solar panel frame. It holds the panel about 1" above the roof, so cool air can circulate under the panel, it will put out more amps when cooler.

Good luck,

Fred.

N-Trouble wrote:
If you have 2-6v now then they are in series not parallel. Given you camp with hookups then I would just replace with a single 12V marine/deep cycle AGM battery and call it good. You wont have to monitor water levels like you do with the 6V.

I would figure out your charging situation however as you will likely just toast the new battery. TO leave hooked up to shore power you need a charge controller that can step down the voltage/current when the battery is fully charged.

Yes you are right, its in a series as they are hooked up via a jumper from one batteries neg. to the others pos., good catch.

smkettner wrote:
I recommend one 12 volt. Deep cycle trolling from WalMart is fine.
Costco or Sam's Club should also have a 12v deep cycle.

BTW all batteries prefer to be connected and charging while in storage. Do watch the water level. Allowing any battery to discharge in storage will severely reduce its life. Consider 50 to 100 watts of solar if stored without power.

Both of you, thank you for the suggestions. Looks like I'll search for a good 12V battery then!

I recommend one 12 volt. Deep cycle trolling from WalMart is fine.
Costco or Sam's Club should also have a 12v deep cycle.

BTW all batteries prefer to be connected and charging while in storage. Do watch the water level. Allowing any battery to discharge in storage will severely reduce its life. Consider 50 to 100 watts of solar if stored without power.

If you have 2-6v now then they are in series not parallel. Given you camp with hookups then I would just replace with a single 12V marine/deep cycle AGM battery and call it good. You wont have to monitor water levels like you do with the 6V.

I would figure out your charging situation however as you will likely just toast the new battery. TO leave hooked up to shore power you need a charge controller that can step down the voltage/current when the battery is fully charged.