The battery that came with my travel trailer THE battery?

Hi,

This is what is balanced and best for twin twelve volt batteries.



As it often doesn't cost a dime more to do this, I think it is worth the trouble.

If you wish to understand the "why" surf here:

correctly interconnecting multiple twelve volt batteries

Others may say it doesn't matter--but unless there is a compelling reason to not optimize charging and discharging why not do it the best possible way?

What pianotuna said - balanced wiring if you go 2*12V. For 2*6V - series wiring.

Seems like the debate "6 vs 12" is already on, so - I don't think there is much difference in 2*6 vs 2*12, if nominal amp-hours are the same in either setup. Meaning - 2*110AH @12V = 2*220AH @6V. Main consideration should be to max up the amp-hours at the given space available.

Again, if you come across some monstrous 8D :) and it fits, make sure you can lift it.

The bigger the battery the better the battery at powering things for a long time.
A group 24 has roughly 75 amp hours, two would give you 150 and if it is a MARINE/Deep cycle you can safely use about 1/4 of that before serious damage happens.

Gropu 27 is roughly 100 amp hours..A pair of those would give you 200,, See notes re Marine/Deep cycle

A pair of six volt GC-2 Golf car batteries (DEEP CYCLE) in series is 230 give or take a bit with a 50% discharge before serious damage starts happening, or 115 usable amp hours.

NOTE: IF you choose to go the 6 volt way I will now answer all your six volt battery questions.

This is a 12 volt battery.

0-{Battery}+12
This is a pair of six volt
0-{Bat}{Ery}+12

Yup, as you cansee the two, connected in series, make one BIG 12 volt battery, think of them that way, treat them that way, the only time you treat them as six volt is when you remove them from the RV... That is because they are heavy and it's easier to lift just one at a time.

A G29 battery will fit into a standard battery box, a G31 requires a bigger box. So you can run G29's if you want.
I'm running 2 - G27's but to over again I'd go with 2-6V batteries.

Do you plan on using a generator when you dry camp? We do fine with a single Gr 27 Trojan SCS 12V deep cycle (115 AH) but I do run a EU1000 every morning during breakfast. We camp for at least a week in the Smokies with a couple gallons of gas. We run a Fantastic vent fan all night and the usual fridge, water pump and lights but no inverter. We perk our coffee on the stove top and do fine without a microwave. I also give the battery a good check out before leaving by verifying it will hold 12.7V for 2 days unloaded and run a load test. Our Trojan SCS 200 is 3 years old and is maintained when we are not camping with a 55 W solar panel/controller. I learned early on about how a poorly maintained (sulfated) battery can leave you in a bad situation when dry camping.

Dick

Yep, I ruined our deep cycle battery by not removing it and keeping it fully charged on a charger / maintainer. We camp for 3 days every couple of weeks, with the TT in storage when we're not. There's no elec where we park it so the battery just sits there. The new battery (ies) will get pulled and charged each time we return, now. My perception of how many amp hours I can get has been skewed by my mistakes. I can't wait to see what we can do with a properly maintained battery :o As short as our stays are I think we're going to be alright.

I'm trying to avoid the generator route. I just purchased a 25W solar maintainer to use at the campsite. I've replaced all the halogen bulbs in the fixtures with LED's, and even having done that we use battery lanterns most of the time when dry camping. The most important thing for us is having the water pump (we turn it on only on demand) and the refer.

dclark1946 wrote:
Do you plan on using a generator when you dry camp? We do fine with a single Gr 27 Trojan SCS 12V deep cycle (115 AH) but I do run a EU1000 every morning during breakfast. We camp for at least a week in the Smokies with a couple gallons of gas. We run a Fantastic vent fan all night and the usual fridge, water pump and lights but no inverter. We perk our coffee on the stove top and do fine without a microwave. I also give the battery a good check out before leaving by verifying it will hold 12.7V for 2 days unloaded and run a load test. Our Trojan SCS 200 is 3 years old and is maintained when we are not camping with a 55 W solar panel/controller. I learned early on about how a poorly maintained (sulfated) battery can leave you in a bad situation when dry camping.

Dick

Hi Heelshock,

Unfortunately 25 watts won't even cover parasitic loads. It would, however maintain and possibly even recharge the battery bank between trips. Rule of thumb for solar is between 60 and 150 watts of panel for each 100 amp-hours of storage @ 12 volts.

Currently solar panels are hovering at about $1.25 per watt. Add a decent controller and DIY and you can have 120 watts for about $300.00 installed.

Heelshock wrote:


I'm trying to avoid the generator route. I just purchased a 25W solar maintainer to use at the campsite. I've replaced all the halogen bulbs in the fixtures with LED's, and even having done that we use battery lanterns most of the time when dry camping. The most important thing for us is having the water pump (we turn it on only on demand) and the refer.

dclark1946 wrote:
Do you plan on using a generator when you dry camp? We do fine with a single Gr 27 Trojan SCS 12V deep cycle (115 AH) but I do run a EU1000 every morning during breakfast. We camp for at least a week in the Smokies with a couple gallons of gas. We run a Fantastic vent fan all night and the usual fridge, water pump and lights but no inverter. We perk our coffee on the stove top and do fine without a microwave. I also give the battery a good check out before leaving by verifying it will hold 12.7V for 2 days unloaded and run a load test. Our Trojan SCS 200 is 3 years old and is maintained when we are not camping with a 55 W solar panel/controller. I learned early on about how a poorly maintained (sulfated) battery can leave you in a bad situation when dry camping.

Dick

Pianotuna is right, as usual. 25W solar panel is a "maintainer", it will keep the battery from slow self-discharge when ALL the loads are disconnected. Meaning - no radio on standby, no detectors, no parasitic loads of any kind. To do this, you need to disconnect the battery load cables. 25W might even bring the charge up a little, but again, if there is no load at all.

If you want to avoid the generator and only want to run LED lights, 12V circuit of propane fridge, an hour or two of radio, and a water pump, you need 120W-150W solar panel and an adequate controller. Should cost around $300 or less, with all the wires and hardware.

Will it, in the least, slow the discharge down? As I said, we only go dry camping 2 or 3 nights at a time. I'm hoping this will at least help in that regard. Perhaps down the line, if we start spending more time out there, I'll revisit the purchase of a larger wattage panel.

pianotuna wrote:
Hi Heelshock,

Unfortunately 25 watts won't even cover parasitic loads. It would, however maintain and possibly even recharge the battery bank between trips. Rule of thumb for solar is between 60 and 150 watts of panel for each 100 amp-hours of storage @ 12 volts.

Currently solar panels are hovering at about $1.25 per watt. Add a decent controller and DIY and you can have 120 watts for about $300.00 installed.

Heelshock wrote:


I'm trying to avoid the generator route. I just purchased a 25W solar maintainer to use at the campsite. I've replaced all the halogen bulbs in the fixtures with LED's, and even having done that we use battery lanterns most of the time when dry camping. The most important thing for us is having the water pump (we turn it on only on demand) and the refer.

dclark1946 wrote:
Do you plan on using a generator when you dry camp? We do fine with a single Gr 27 Trojan SCS 12V deep cycle (115 AH) but I do run a EU1000 every morning during breakfast. We camp for at least a week in the Smokies with a couple gallons of gas. We run a Fantastic vent fan all night and the usual fridge, water pump and lights but no inverter. We perk our coffee on the stove top and do fine without a microwave. I also give the battery a good check out before leaving by verifying it will hold 12.7V for 2 days unloaded and run a load test. Our Trojan SCS 200 is 3 years old and is maintained when we are not camping with a 55 W solar panel/controller. I learned early on about how a poorly maintained (sulfated) battery can leave you in a bad situation when dry camping.

Dick

Hi,

It may give you about 10 amp-hours per day. Parasitic loads are generally in the 36 amp-hours per day range.

It may be, that in bright sunshine with perfect solar conditions the unit will power the parasitic loads for perhaps 3 hours a day. That may provide a "rest" period for the battery bank.