I have 2, 4 year old 12 volt marine batteries in my 5th wheel. I use no inverter, and have the factory Intelli- charger converter charger. I believe 9920 series. I usually am hooked to shore power, have a 2k generator, no solar. I plan on more boondocking this summer. I checked voltage this am at 12.8v. Unplugged from power, left a few led light s and frig on propane for 6 hrs. Rechecked voltage and it was 12.4, and slides and lights were working fine. Rehooked to 50 amp power and batteries read 13.7 vAre my batteries still sufficient? If not, will 2, 6 volts be more efficient than my 2 12 volts of about 200 amphrs? Guys at Interstate battery told me 6 volts are longer to charge. Is that correct? Will my charge wizard fully charge 6 volt batteries? I have read on this forum that a higher voltage is needed to fully charge 6 volts. Most advice is appreciated.

They appear to be but to really test them you need to have them load tested and or check the specific gravity in them.

Did you ever read The 12 Volt Side of Life?

Ready2gonow wrote:I have 2, 4 year old 12 volt marine batteries in my 5th wheel. I use no inverter, and have the factory Intelli- charger converter charger. I believe 9920 series. I usually am hooked to shore power, have a 2k generator, no solar. I plan on more boondocking this summer. I checked voltage this am at 12.8v. Unplugged from power, left a few led light s and frig on propane for 6 hrs. Rechecked voltage and it was 12.4, and slides and lights were working fine. Rehooked to 50 amp power and batteries read 13.7 vAre my batteries still sufficient? If not, will 2, 6 volts be more efficient than my 2 12 volts of about 200 amphrs? Guys at Interstate battery told me 6 volts are longer to charge. Is that correct? Will my charge wizard fully charge 6 volt batteries? I have read on this forum that a higher voltage is needed to fully charge 6 volts. Most advice is appreciated.12.8 volts under a slight load is a full battery.12.4 volts is about 1/2 full. So I suspect that your 12 volt batteries are a lot weaker than when new.The best I could get out of 12 volt batteries was about 2 years, so you are doing pretty good. Now my original Trojan T-105 batteries lasted 13 years, and the replacement set only 6.5 years because I was not as attentive at refilling it with water, so sort of my fault for them leaving early.I would suggest a pair of 6 volt batteries, because they recover from being discharged much better, they have MUCH more water around the plates, and are not as likely to have a problem with debris that falls off the plates collecting below the plates and shorting out the cell - there is a lot more space under the 6 volt plates than the much more compact 12 volt battery design.When I was taking a 30 day trip in my 85 class C, I had 3 deep cycle 12 volt batteries. 90 watt solar system, and dry camped as much as possible, recharging just about every other day while driving. Those batteries where worn out by the time they where 2.5 years old. That is when I traded in the RV. . . I don't know why people say that 6 volt 200 amp hour battery bank takes longer to charge than a 200 amp hour pair of 12 volt batteries. I have found just the oppisent. I can put back 45 amps per hour when I started my generator, but as the voltage rises, it quickly drops to about 35 amps - according to my very accurate E-Meter. The larger battery plates can take a charge much faster, and are able to recover quickly.Your charger will not know the difference between the large pair of batteries - it will charge it fine either way (6 volt in series or pair of 12 volt). Have fun boondocking! Pick out a nice stream or lake and have a wonderful time! Fred.

Ready2gonow wrote:I use no inverter, and have the factory Intelli- charger converter charger. I believe 9920 series. Do you have the Wizard?http://www.progressivedyn.com/charge_wizard_9105.html

You're batteries are probably decent. 12.4 after several hours with a load on isn't too bad in my experience. However, this is a terribly unscientific way to determine anything.In my opinion 2 6v are superior to 2 12v in just about any circumstance. Your converter won't know the difference. I'm not sure what you mean by efficient. You mean charge efficiency? It varies with all batteries but not enough to worry about.

2, 6 volts or 2, 12 volts | Good Sam Community

NinerBikes
Explorer
May 22, 2016
Huntindog wrote:
pnichols wrote:
MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
I have a 50-year old suit. It looks the same as they day it came back from the tailor. Absolutely brand new. I must say this is the best suit i have ever owned and it equals any $4,000 Italian suit.

It has never been worn.

(David ... what has "never been worn" got to do with it?? The never-worn-stuff in my closet looks pretty bad after years of gathering California dust.)

RJsfishin said that his 12 volts have lasted a long time over the years,,, then said that they were on the "wizard" 365,

That means that they have never really been used.

Ya gotta keep up with the conversation.:B

:Z
Almot
Explorer III
May 22, 2016
Bumpyroad wrote:

prepare to be burned at the stake by the 6 volt zealots.

The irresistible charm of $/cyle cost.

Isn't this what RV-ing is all about - buying 20K rig, burning few hundred bucks over a weekend on expensive camping food and disposables, gas, car/generator wear, - and then trying to save $10/year on 6V? :)
(I'm trying to be fair here and assume that they do cost less per cycle).
pnichols
Explorer II
May 22, 2016
Hmmmm .... according to what I've read, batteries have a longer life when they're been "shallow-cycle used" over the years instead of "not hardly cycled at all" over the years.

If this is so, that means that a large RV battery bank drained and recharged only slightly will last much longer than a less large RV battery bank drained down to only around 50% (and then promptly recharged) will last.

It seems that about 10-15% discharge depths followed by immediate full recharge is the best practice for longest battery life.
Huntindog
Explorer
May 22, 2016
pnichols wrote:
MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
I have a 50-year old suit. It looks the same as they day it came back from the tailor. Absolutely brand new. I must say this is the best suit i have ever owned and it equals any $4,000 Italian suit.

It has never been worn.

(David ... what has "never been worn" got to do with it?? The never-worn-stuff in my closet looks pretty bad after years of gathering California dust.)

RJsfishin said that his 12 volts have lasted a long time over the years,,, then said that they were on the "wizard" 365,

That means that they have never really been used.

Ya gotta keep up with the conversation.:B
pnichols
Explorer II
May 21, 2016
MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
I have a 50-year old suit. It looks the same as they day it came back from the tailor. Absolutely brand new. I must say this is the best suit i have ever owned and it equals any $4,000 Italian suit.

It has never been worn.

(David ... what has "never been worn" got to do with it?? The never-worn-stuff in my closet looks pretty bad after years of gathering California dust.)

The 6V versus 12V RV battery discussion usually reduces down to comparing 6V deep-cycle batteries in RV use to non-deep-cycle 12V batteries in RV use. One can compare anything to anything so long as full understanding of the things being compared is had by all interested in the comparison.

I've used 12V true deep cycle batteries in our boat and RV for over 10 years and they perform just fine .... as would have 6V golf cart type batteries performed if I'd wanted to deal with the down-side(s) of liquid acid batteries.
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
May 21, 2016
Probably has Thai Stick light blue dye. Any fool moth that would get near it would probably head for the nearest flame.
NinerBikes
Explorer
May 21, 2016
Yeah, but the chemistry on your Hong Kong's finest wool suit doesn't deteriorate. As long as you keep it in a moth free environment.
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
May 21, 2016
I have a 50-year old suit. It looks the same as they day it came back from the tailor. Absolutely brand new. I must say this is the best suit i have ever owned and it equals any $4,000 Italian suit.

It has never been worn. But if idiotic illogical deduction is applied, my claims stand.

By the way, the suit really exists as described. It was purchased in Hong Kong for eqvt of $22
grizzzman
Explorer
May 21, 2016
RJsfishin wrote:
Over the years, I've done 6'ers, and I have done 12'ers, and I'm tellin ya, the average RV'er is not going to notice 1 bit of difference between 6v and 12v, providing the AH capacity is the same. And if you treat them the same, the 6'ers ain't gonna last any longer either. Right now, my 2 12v 115 AH batts are 6 yrs old, and going strong yet, on a wizard 365

Good grief RJ its on the wizard 365? Let's "hope" they last a long time because of your own admission you don't even use them.
grizzzman
Explorer
May 21, 2016
Ready2gonow wrote:
I have 2, 4 year old 12 volt marine batteries in my 5th wheel. I use no inverter, and have the factory Intelli- charger converter charger. I believe 9920 series. I usually am hooked to shore power, have a 2k generator, no solar. I plan on more boondocking this summer. I checked voltage this am at 12.8v. Unplugged from power, left a few led light s and frig on propane for 6 hrs. Rechecked voltage and it was 12.4, and slides and lights were working fine. Rehooked to 50 amp power and batteries read 13.7 v

Are my batteries still sufficient? If not, will 2, 6 volts be more efficient than my 2 12 volts of about 200 amphrs? Guys at Interstate battery told me 6 volts are longer to charge. Is that correct? Will my charge wizard fully charge 6 volt batteries? I have read on this forum that a higher voltage is needed to fully charge 6 volts. Most advice is appreciated.

If your batteries are dropping to 12.4 with such a small load then they are defiantly getting tired.(this assumes that "a few led lights" are a couple and not a large rv that's all lit up).

Your converter isn't large enough to matter as far how fast 6 or 12 volt batteries will charge. If you don't have the wizard for your converter get one so you can choose a better voltage when gen charging. The bigger issue with 6 volt batteries is that you can pull them down further and they recover better. But there is a cost, the water level needs to be looked at more often. If you boondock for a week or so then plug it in to recover then charging voltage is not as big of an issue.
See how we assume how you use your RV.

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