First Dry Camping Experience

profdant139 wrote:
kirkl, I don't know anything about 6 volt batteries (other than the fact that some of the most knowledgeable RVers have them). Does it hurt them to get down below a half charge, the way it does for an ordinary 12 volt??

Nothing wrong with a pair of 6 volt GC-2s for a trailer, 20 HR rated on average for about 220 AH but reality is a lot of those who run them do so because they've been told it's "better" but really have no idea why. :R The fact is a pair of 12 volt G31s wired in parallel will also be 20 HR rated about the same. Some would argue the 12 volts aren't "true" deep cycle batteries but at some point that's more semantics than anything else as to what "deep cycle" really means, especially to the average user, not the purist. East Penn is the largest US manufacturer of batteries and makes a fine series of DEKA "deep cycle" batteries in both 6 volt and 12 volt variations which will work just fine in an RV application. I've got a G31 AGM variation myself, if I were much more of a dry camper I'd have two but as it is I can still run my 1000 watt PSW inverter with this battery as long as I'm reasonable about it. Regardless of what battery you're running, the less it's depleted the longer it will last - 50% depletion (about 12.1 volts) has always been the de facto recommended maximum depletion you should regularly run the battery down to. Infrequent depletion deeper than that is OK but you don't want to do it on a regular basis and you do want to recharge the battery as soon as is practical - i.e. don't let it sit like that for a week. :E 6 volt or 12 volt - it's your choice, each has it's advantages but also it's disadvantages.