6 volt vs. 12 volt batteries

[dieseldan723]

I do not want to start a debate I just have a simple question about the equipment my new trailer came with. My previous two trailers had 2 12 volt batteries. My new Keystone Fuzion 301 came with 2 6 volt batteries.

What are the pluses and minuses of 2-6 volt vs. 2-12 volt batteries?

Because the onboard generator depends on the house batteries I plan to carry a Honda EU 2000i inverter as a backup.

Thanks for your help!

[dieseldan723]

Crazy Cooter wrote:

nayther wrote:

Strabo wrote:
WOW....All we have is a Onan 4000 Micro Quiet, 25 gallons of fuel and a start
The fuel is from dead Raptorsaur's, or Triceratops...Not sure whih. Stuff runs my AC.O
I dont hear it run, its Micro Quiet like the sticker says......

Sent from my phone that wont let me correct the spelling cause i have big fingers

I'm with you Jim, keep thinking about upgrading to LED's solar, etc. but why? I run the gennie for an hour or two in the morning and evening for cooking and I'm fine as long as my converter is working properly; did have an issue on last outing, wires were loose at converter output and batteries were not getting a charge, found out on last day of trip and fixed it in 20 minutes when I got home.

Not saying your guys' way of fulfilling your power needs it wrong cause it works great. I just prefer the quiet, "Automatic", trouble free way of generating power.

I avoid camping anywhere near people because of the irritation caused by the "City" way of doing things......fast, noisy, and inconsiderate. This is why I boondock.....to get away from all this crap!

Just don't be mad when after you pull up next to my quiet pristine remote camp spot and fire up your generator when I overpower your noise pollution at 6AM with early .50 BMG target practice in response.:B

:B LOL!!! You're killin me!!!

[Crazy_Cooter]

nayther wrote:

Strabo wrote:
WOW....All we have is a Onan 4000 Micro Quiet, 25 gallons of fuel and a start
The fuel is from dead Raptorsaur's, or Triceratops...Not sure whih. Stuff runs my AC.O
I dont hear it run, its Micro Quiet like the sticker says......

Sent from my phone that wont let me correct the spelling cause i have big fingers

I'm with you Jim, keep thinking about upgrading to LED's solar, etc. but why? I run the gennie for an hour or two in the morning and evening for cooking and I'm fine as long as my converter is working properly; did have an issue on last outing, wires were loose at converter output and batteries were not getting a charge, found out on last day of trip and fixed it in 20 minutes when I got home.

Not saying your guys' way of fulfilling your power needs it wrong cause it works great. I just prefer the quiet, "Automatic", trouble free way of generating power.

I avoid camping anywhere near people because of the irritation caused by the "City" way of doing things......fast, noisy, and inconsiderate. This is why I boondock.....to get away from all this crap!

Just don't be mad when after you pull up next to my quiet pristine remote camp spot and fire up your generator when I overpower your noise pollution at 6AM with early .50 BMG target practice in response.:B

[nayther]

Strabo wrote:
WOW....All we have is a Onan 4000 Micro Quiet, 25 gallons of fuel and a start
The fuel is from dead Raptorsaur's, or Triceratops...Not sure whih. Stuff runs my AC.O
I dont hear it run, its Micro Quiet like the sticker says......

Sent from my phone that wont let me correct the spelling cause i have big fingers

I'm with you Jim, keep thinking about upgrading to LED's solar, etc. but why? I run the gennie for an hour or two in the morning and evening for cooking and I'm fine as long as my converter is working properly; did have an issue on last outing, wires were loose at converter output and batteries were not getting a charge, found out on last day of trip and fixed it in 20 minutes when I got home.

[Strabo]

WOW....All we have is a Onan 4000 Micro Quiet, 25 gallons of fuel and a start
The fuel is from dead Raptorsaur's, or Triceratops...Not sure whih. Stuff runs my AC.O
I dont hear it run, its Micro Quiet like the sticker says......

Sent from my phone that wont let me correct the spelling cause i have big fingers

[allcool]

pianotuna wrote:
Here is a simple flow chart.

Budget-->Energy Audit-->Battery bank size-->number of watts-->PWM or MPPT.

Here is a link to the rather special spreadsheet that N8GS has created to help size solar battery charging systems!
Solar Spread Sheet N8GS

Thanks for the link, first time seeing that excellent spread sheet. It works great.

[Dirtclods]

The 12volt Side of Life http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm

Note: I went from 2 12 volt to 2 6 volts and never looked back. Also I changed out all of my inside lights to LED.

19 foot toy hauler with a built in genny.

[Crazy_Cooter]

dieseldan723 wrote:
Thanks for the help. I think my current setup is a good start. Sounds like adding a good solar kit to my current battery bank and charging system would go a long ways in extending my battery life. Any suggestions on a portable solar charging system, or are the permanent mount systems best? Living in the PNW with all the trees makes having a portable system more efficient as you never know when you will be parking under the trees.

The portable system sounds great except the though of having to unload, set up, then load back up again...that is if someone didn't steal your equipment while you were out enjoying the great outdoors.

Some of our camping is in the trees during the winter and I just have deal with running a genny every couple of days to top off.

I had a system in my last rig to give me an estimate of what my requirements and short comings were, so I had a pretty good idea of how much I needed this time.

Follow Pianotuna's advice here......You can't make a successful plan without the audit......

[lincster]

WOW. You guys really put alot of thought into batteries.

I just saw buddies have good luck with 6V's and I said "good enough for me!!!" and haven't looked back. 🙂

[pianotuna]

Here is a simple flow chart.

Budget-->Energy Audit-->Battery bank size-->number of watts-->PWM or MPPT.

Here is a link to the rather special spreadsheet that N8GS has created to help size solar battery charging systems!
Solar Spread Sheet N8GS

[akcooper9]

I lived in our 24ft toyhauler with two costco 6v and a 140 solar panel for a month and never once ran them down or needed to charge them.

I wasnt easy on power either, I watch netflix at night on the tv, ran lots of lights (none are LED), charged the laptop/cellphone etc, water pump, heater etc

[dieseldan723]

Thanks for the help. I think my current setup is a good start. Sounds like adding a good solar kit to my current battery bank and charging system would go a long ways in extending my battery life. Any suggestions on a portable solar charging system, or are the permanent mount systems best? Living in the PNW with all the trees makes having a portable system more efficient as you never know when you will be parking under the trees.

[allcool]

Crazy Cooter wrote:

Installed SPP6 thinking it would be plenty. I think I remember it being a three terminal cap and piggybacking it to the both common and terminal with the wire I traced to the compressor. I left the original cap connected.

May have to get back up there and have a look.....

Diffidently take out the old start kit, and verify connections to HERM and COM terminals on the cap.
That could be your problem.

SPP6E is a good hard start kit. Take out your old start kit, and leave the spp6 connected.

[Crazy_Cooter]

allcool wrote:

Crazy Cooter wrote:

The A/C is a Dometic Brisk Air 15K BTU and I installed a Supco SPPE E series. If I remember right, the instructions said to parallel to the OE cap? I also read it on a write up here: http://www.modmyrv.com/2009/05/27/rv-air-conditioner-hard-start-capacitor

Well, SPP E is a serieies of hard start kits.
Goes from SPP 4 -- SPP 10, which one did you use, makes a big difference in starting 'kick'.
I put a SPP 8 in my Dometic 15,000, it starts no problem with a 2800 gen/inverter.

Did you discard your oem start cap when adding the hard start kit..?

Might want to check a few things since you seem to be having a hard start condition.
1) If you have a 3 terminal run cap make sure the hard start is connected to the HERM and the COM terminals.

2) Test with a meter your run cap between the HERM and the COM terminals for 45mfd.You can test the FAN 5mfd tap also. Pretty sure most newer Dometics take a 45+5mfd run capacitor, it runs both the compressor and the fan. Look on the cap for its specs, the 5mfd tap is for the fan only, 45mfd for compressor. It doesn't have to be exact, just within + - 5% max.
Make sure to disconnect all wires first and discharge the capacitor by jumping out all terminals together to COM, with all power off, carefully with insulated needle nose or something similar.

Installed SPP6 thinking it would be plenty. I think I remember it being a three terminal cap and piggybacking it to the both common and terminal with the wire I traced to the compressor. I left the original cap connected.

May have to get back up there and have a look.....

[time2roll]

dieseldan723 wrote:

This is what the panel says:

Power Converter System - PD4590K18L
Input: 105-130 VAC. 50 - 60 Hz 1550W
Output: 13.6 VDC. 90A
Class CTL Distribution Panelboard
Type 1 Enclosure (indoor) 812385A

Does this give you what you need? I wish I was a better electrician. I am pretty handy with mechanical things but electrical issues just aren't my thing....yet!

This is a Progressive Dynamics 50 amp distribution panel with a 90 amp converter charger with built in charge wizard. This should serve you very well.

The charge wizard should apply 14.4 volts for up to 4 hours to fast charge even a large set of batteries. The only issue would be to check voltage when the batteries are down. As the charging starts the voltage should ramp up within 20 minutes to be over 14.0 volts.

If not there is a button and indicator light to change to boost mode manually.

http://www.progressivedyn.com/pdfs/110030%20English.pdf

You should never have to run the generator more than 4 hours to get a 90% charge. The last 10% will take an additional 4 to 10 hours so save that for when you are plugged in.

http://www.progressivedyn.com/all_in_one_pd4500_1.html