Well, the fact I had a pair of 12v batteries in parallel rather than a pair of 6v batteries in series kept me from having a serious problem on the road.When I exercised the generator in June, all was well. When I tried to exercise the generator in July, there wasn't enough power to start it. The batteries were 7 years old, and I had abused them before getting rid of the MagnaJunk 7345 converter, so I figured they had died.When I went to take them out to carry to Batteries+, I discovered that sometime in that month, while were were on a 3 week trip most likely, one end of the hot cable that bridged the 2 batteries had corroded and broken off. The ground was still bridged, so I was only getting juice from one battery. It was enough to get me through the trip without even knowing I had a problem, but the battery was too weak to start the genny.I bought a clamp-on terminal and put it on the wire where the other end corroded off, and now I can start my genny again.I know I am going to have to replace them soon, but it wasn't today.

SO instead of knowing there was a problem you assumed all was OK cause you had 12V power........12's vs 6's.........need better maintenance routine regardless.Shame on you :B

Bobbo wrote:.. the other end corroded off, and now I can start my genny again.I know I am going to have to replace them soon, but it wasn't today.Kinda sounds like your battery maintenance is a bit lax. If you were hand-watering them (assuming they take water) you'd have noticed corrosion that severe.If this is a veiled argument against having 2 -6v, it's a pretty weak one! :)I'd consider AGMs.

Yep, good thing you din't have 6'ers,....would have been a disaster :(

2oldman wrote:Bobbo wrote:.. the other end corroded off, and now I can start my genny again.I know I am going to have to replace them soon, but it wasn't today.Kinda sounds like your battery maintenance is a bit lax. If you were hand-watering them (assuming they take water) you'd have noticed corrosion that severe.If this is a veiled argument against having 2 -6v, it's a pretty weak one! :)I'd consider AGMs.Actually, it's not. When I do replace them, I am going with a pair of 6v batteries.

Yup, had that happened with a pair of sixes, you'd have fixed it sooner is all, No benefit to 12's there. likely a slight cost in fact.

Fortunately, I did not have a pair of 6v batteries

Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Jul 23, 2014
SO instead of knowing there was a problem you assumed all was OK cause you had 12V power........

12's vs 6's.........need better maintenance routine regardless.

Shame on you :B
2oldman
Explorer II
Jul 23, 2014
Bobbo wrote:
.. the other end corroded off, and now I can start my genny again.I know I am going to have to replace them soon, but it wasn't today.
Kinda sounds like your battery maintenance is a bit lax. If you were hand-watering them (assuming they take water) you'd have noticed corrosion that severe.

If this is a veiled argument against having 2 -6v, it's a pretty weak one! :)

I'd consider AGMs.
RJsfishin
Explorer
Jul 23, 2014
Yep, good thing you din't have 6'ers,....would have been a disaster :(
Bobbo
Explorer II
Jul 23, 2014
2oldman wrote:
Bobbo wrote:
.. the other end corroded off, and now I can start my genny again.I know I am going to have to replace them soon, but it wasn't today.
Kinda sounds like your battery maintenance is a bit lax. If you were hand-watering them (assuming they take water) you'd have noticed corrosion that severe.

If this is a veiled argument against having 2 -6v, it's a pretty weak one! :)

I'd consider AGMs.

Actually, it's not. When I do replace them, I am going with a pair of 6v batteries.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Jul 23, 2014
Yup, had that happened with a pair of sixes, you'd have fixed it sooner is all, No benefit to 12's there. likely a slight cost in fact.
Huntindog
Explorer
Jul 23, 2014
Not sure what the point is.. You had to go to the parts store to get up and running... The same as if you had 6 volts. You just would've been buying a different part.
BFL13
Explorer II
Jul 24, 2014
It was a just punishment for being such a notorious PD idolater instead of being a PowerMax owner :)
greenrvgreen
Explorer
Jul 24, 2014
I agree with the OP. When using only 2 batteries, a pair of 12s provide a distinct safety margin over a pair of 6s.

Come to think of it, even a single 12 is better than a single 6!
Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Jul 24, 2014
In most cases, an RV setup would either be 1 - 12V battery or 2 - 6V batteries. Or 2 - 12V batteries or 4 - 6V batteries. In both cases, if things went south the results would have been exactly the same. You either have 1 12V bank or 2 12V banks with only the number of containers at issue.
A bit of maintenance would have prevented the issue no matter the setup but, as I discovered, some of us are not good at that! I replaced all my batteries with AGM's so I just dust them off from time to time!
Bobbo
Explorer II
Jul 24, 2014
Huntindog wrote:
Not sure what the point is.. You had to go to the parts store to get up and running... The same as if you had 6 volts. You just would've been buying a different part.

The point is I was able to do this at home where I had a 5 mile drive to get the part, rather than in the Smokey Mountains where I would have had a 3 hour drive to get the part while DW and the grandkids were in an RV with no 12v power. I never lost any functionality. If it had been a pair of 6v batteries, the RV 12v system would have been dead in the water. That means no refrigerator or air conditioning, in June.

And, actually, it would have been the same part. A clamp on terminal to go onto the end of my 12" long 1 gauge wire.

Like I said in my original post:

Bobbo wrote:
Well, the fact I had a pair of 12v batteries in parallel rather than a pair of 6v batteries in series kept me from having a serious problem on the road.

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Fortunately, I did not have a pair of 6v batteries

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