GC’s finally bit the dust

Sorry for your loss.

3 tons wrote:
Well, my last pair of GC’s 6v I got from Costco in 2015 at $85 per... Rated at 208amp hrs each, I thought I’d try them out and even saw an advantage of being able to R&R them at say about 3 year (or so) intervals if lucky...They fit tight in the battery compartment, so I added an automatic watering set-up. I never bothered to pull them out to check the SG, but did preform occasional equilization charge...They have seen some periodic heavy use, having to occasionally run for brief periods (30-45 min) the 11k btu air, microwave and Keruig coffee unit...I’m sure that running the air from the two sixers (augmented with 440w gross solar) did not do them much good - lol...

Recently, after 3.5 years of quasi-neglect, I began to notice that when using the Keurig I’d get a low voltage code on the Norcold refer, and the electric slide started to have some difficulties moving the slide in and out, if stopped and then restarted in the mid-way position....However, no signs of trouble elsewhere (heater, water pump, etc)..So after a few episodes of this slide malady, I ran the slide with a battery charger hooked up, and thankfully it worked perfectly...

So with winter approaching, I’m off to get another set of Costco sixers, and in the future I’ll be proactive and change them out with new ones at about 3 year intervals..I’m happy with the bang for the buck...

Just installed the new batts, they are now branded ‘Interstate’ and rated at 210amp hrs - cost is up by $10.00 per battery since 2015...Silde out is working perfectly now...

3.5 yrs still seems short.

3.5 is a short time. I abuse mine (plugged in all the time, let them get dry ) and I get 4-5 years.

OP doesn’t say how many he has or what size inverter he has but if he’s running a microwave and ac at the same time, my guess is he’s killing them.

Yes probably needs four.

I'd say you're doing OK given that heavy use cycle, of course it makes a big difference whether you do it two weeks a year or full time.

I guess we shall see if TLC improves the life. With automatic watering, I am not sure what more you can do as long as the outside was clean and all connections were clean and tight.

Duracell GC2 are rated as 215 Ah
Trojan T105 are rated at 225 Ah

Dang running an A/C? Even 4 may be a push. Sounds like a lot of "high amps use".
Thanks for sharing.

grizzzman wrote:
Dang running an A/C? Even 4 may be a push. Sounds like a lot of "high amps use".
Thanks for sharing.

grizzzman wrote:
Dang running an A/C? Even 4 may be a push. Sounds like a lot of "high amps use".
Thanks for sharing.

Well thats with compressor cycling on and off and the fan setting on low...I probably ran the air only about 5-6 times during brief roadside stops since its too much trouble to set up the portable genny for a brief stop...On one occasion I forgot and ran it even longer, for over an hour (augmented by 440w solar) and per LinkLite meter the SOC (programmed at 200amp hrs) had dropped to just below 60%...When running the honda, the inverter will momentarily kick in (for about 3 sec’s <. >) during each compressor start-up then transfer the load back to the genny...The point here is that these batts have seen some harder use than their 3.5 years would even suggest..

More recently (separate from the above history) I installed an easy-start on the compressor...Then, a few months back I had to replace a bad AC run-cap due to about a 3 amp higher than spec measured amp draw.

The automatic watering set-up worked perfectly, as when I finally pulled the batts out for the first time ever, all the cells were properly submerged...Considering my previous set of batts, the watering system has been in use for 8.5 years!!

3 tons