I just purchased 2 new 6 volt Premium 232ah Sams Club Energizer batteries that I will be installing in my rig this weekend.Now I want to know more about them and how to maintain them.Can I run them dry (I'm sure I will after night 2 or so running the heater)When and how should I charge them? (can I use my Shumacker charger? Do I just put the + on one battery then the - on the other battery to charge or is there another wy of charging 6 volt batteries by them selves?)i have an older on board Power Source 40 Amp PC40 charger ... is it better to not sure the external shumacker battery charger and just plug in a 110 to the outside and let the on-board charger do it? Concerned about how that charger will work (and I don;t have the money yet to replace it with the Progressive Dynamics 60 amp charger I want to buy)Anything I should know and do to maintain them for the most life possible?Just trying to get all info I can so I make sure I charge, take care, and maintain these new batteries correctly (6V are new to me).Thanks so much for the help and inof guys! :) Chris

Hooked in series they yield about 12.6 volts when fully charged. Best to recharge at 50% discharge which is 12.2 volts.You can hook them in series and use a 12 volt charger.

No. Do not run them below 50% or you run the risk of shortening their life. Two 6 volt batteries equals one large 12 volt battery. Think of that way and youll be fine.

donn0128 wrote:No. Do not run them below 50% or you run the risk of shortening their life. Two 6 volt batteries equals one large 12 volt battery. Think of that way and you'll be fine.So the reason I made the move to 6V batteries was to get more AH and life in the hopes of making through an entire weekend without having to charge (I will be doing nothing but boondocking and I won;t be able to charge most of the time).More then likely I will be running these batteries down to about dead to make it through a weekend ... I need all the juice I can get out of them to make it a couple days. So there will be no way I can only use 50% of the battery and then that be it ... I need all of it to make it a couple days.Obviously this can be done but I guess what you are saying is that lessens the life of the batteries doing that (I guess that will just have to be the case though cause I will be draining them down to nothing by week end).

Treat two 6v GC batteries as one big 12v battery and get yourself a good three stage charger. Don't forget that 6v CG batteries should NOT be filled to the ring, like a car battery would. If you fill them that high, they will spill over into the battery box. Cover the plates with electrolyte, but don't over do it!

Recharge them fully as soon as you are able. Running any battery flat shortens the number of times you can use it, but 6v golf cart batteries will tolerate this better than 12v hybrid batteries. You don't really get more amp hours out of 2 typical 6v than 2 typical 12 v batteries (very general statement), but they will survive the abuse for more cycles.If you hook the positive on one to the negative on the other, the 2 open terminals act like a single 12v battery.Jim

How Do I Charge, and Maintain 2 New 6 Volt Batteries???

88 Replies

hmknightnc
Explorer
May 17, 2013
HiTech wrote:
Recharge them fully as soon as you are able. Running any battery flat shortens the number of times you can use it, but 6v golf cart batteries will tolerate this better than 12v hybrid batteries. You don't really get more amp hours out of 2 typical 6v than 2 typical 12 v batteries (very general statement), but they will survive the abuse for more cycles.

If you hook the positive on one to the negative on the other, the 2 open terminals act like a single 12v battery.

Jim

x2. And if I remember correctly from looking at Trojan battery specs the 6v GC batteries cycled to 80% discharge still has more cycles in them than 12v marines cycled to 50%.
Artum_Snowbird
Explorer
May 17, 2013
Seriously, you need to look at "The 12 volt side of life" and get yourself a voltmeter to see what you have in your batteries. You should be able to easily last for four days, but you might get a bit cold for lack of a furnace, and you won't be using TV or other nice things that you can have but really don't need for boondocking.

The best thing I ever did was get a meter, and check them every few hours to see what is going on, write it down, and don't let them get below 12.1 volts. You need a good meter that gives you voltage to two decimal points, so you can see when things go from 12.42 to 12.38 without just saying 12.4. You really need to chart it and learn how your batteries work for you.
2oldman
Explorer II
May 17, 2013
AZ Wind and Sun Battery faq page

This tutorial may be of some help. 12v side of life.
HiTech
Explorer
May 17, 2013
Recharge them fully as soon as you are able. Running any battery flat shortens the number of times you can use it, but 6v golf cart batteries will tolerate this better than 12v hybrid batteries. You don't really get more amp hours out of 2 typical 6v than 2 typical 12 v batteries (very general statement), but they will survive the abuse for more cycles.

If you hook the positive on one to the negative on the other, the 2 open terminals act like a single 12v battery.

Jim
Fire_Instructor
Explorer
May 17, 2013
Treat two 6v GC batteries as one big 12v battery and get yourself a good three stage charger. Don't forget that 6v CG batteries should NOT be filled to the ring, like a car battery would. If you fill them that high, they will spill over into the battery box. Cover the plates with electrolyte, but don't over do it!
falconman515
Explorer
May 17, 2013
donn0128 wrote:
No. Do not run them below 50% or you run the risk of shortening their life. Two 6 volt batteries equals one large 12 volt battery. Think of that way and you'll be fine.

So the reason I made the move to 6V batteries was to get more AH and life in the hopes of making through an entire weekend without having to charge (I will be doing nothing but boondocking and I won;t be able to charge most of the time).

More then likely I will be running these batteries down to about dead to make it through a weekend ... I need all the juice I can get out of them to make it a couple days.

So there will be no way I can only use 50% of the battery and then that be it ... I need all of it to make it a couple days.

Obviously this can be done but I guess what you are saying is that lessens the life of the batteries doing that (I guess that will just have to be the case though cause I will be draining them down to nothing by week end).
donn0128
Explorer II
May 17, 2013
No. Do not run them below 50% or you run the risk of shortening their life. Two 6 volt batteries equals one large 12 volt battery. Think of that way and youll be fine.
Mandalay_Parr
Explorer
May 17, 2013
Hooked in series they yield about 12.6 volts when fully charged. Best to recharge at 50% discharge which is 12.2 volts.

You can hook them in series and use a 12 volt charger.

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How Do I Charge, and Maintain 2 New 6 Volt Batteries???

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