Forum Discussion

ander's avatar
ander
Explorer
Oct 12, 2015

extra battery ramble

hi all,

anyone have a creative use for the (originaly placed ) house battery that never gets used?

i have a 94 pleasure way that came with the usual rv/starter house battery charged from the alt or on shore power.

over the past year iv added 200 watts of solar with 2 6volt batteries.. this system is seperate from the stock sys right now and runs everything in the rv. and only recharges from the solar..which works fine.

the original house battery just sits there..charging from the alternator and waiting for me to think up a cool use for it.

i keep thinking ill pull it out to save weight etc. but thats not a big issue.

i had thought of using it as a spare emergency starting battery...but unhooking and replacing or running the big cable back up front killed that idea for now.

and i cant really combine it with the 2 6volts

anyone have a interesting idea for this odd man out? or should i just pull it and use the space for a safe or hideyhole?

enough rambling..thanks
  • ander's avatar
    ander
    Explorer
    Oct 12, 2015
    2oldman wrote:
    A battery that old should be put to sleep.


    sorry..battery is only alittle over a year 1/2 old, not the original one,replaced just before i decided to go solar and works great still.
  • ander's avatar
    ander
    Explorer
    Oct 12, 2015
    smkettner wrote:
    Connect in parallel with the GC2. Can only improve the situation.


    i thought mixing different size/type/age batteries was bad MoJo.
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Oct 12, 2015
    ander wrote:
    i thought mixing different size/type/age batteries was bad MoJo.
    I think that caveat is highly overrated.

    Try it and see if it does improve things.
  • pianotuna's avatar
    pianotuna
    Nomad III
    Oct 12, 2015
    Hi,

    Add a switch so you can use it to support the six volt twins when using an inverter.
  • ander's avatar
    ander
    Explorer
    Oct 12, 2015
    2oldman wrote:
    ander wrote:
    i thought mixing different size/type/age batteries was bad MoJo.
    I think that caveat is highly overrated.

    Try it and see if it does improve things.


    the 2 6 volts give me a little more than 100 useable AH... enough for everything i need for now.
    ive been keeping the house 12 for a backup, but seems like a waste.
  • RoyB's avatar
    RoyB
    Explorer II
    Oct 12, 2015
    Your two 6V BATTERY should be giving you 12VDC with around 200 + AHs...

    I would rig a 4-way battery SWITCH (BLUE SEA SELLS THEM) which will let you select OFF-BANK1-BOTH BANKS-BANK2...

    This will give you lots of AHs when you need it.

    The mixing of batteries only come into play when you are charging them... With this switching arrangement you can switch in which bank you want to charge... This will also completely switch OUT both banks in the OFF position.

    You converter/charge is probably a 45WATT model which is only good for two batteries anyway if you want the charge real fast using smart mode charging...

    Roy Ken
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Oct 12, 2015
    Use it as an anchor weight for your portable satellite dish.
  • Geno92308's avatar
    Geno92308
    Explorer
    Oct 13, 2015
    I like Roy's recommendation for the 4 way switch. Use that battery or loose it.

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