Last year I replaced my 2 12v batteries with 2 6v golf cart batteries from Sam's Club. They've been great and given me a big boost in capacity. This last trip, though, I noticed that, even after being plugged in for 3 days after topping them off with distilled water, I was only getting 3/4 lights on my indicator. When plugged in I got 4/4 lights, so I know that the top bulb =is= working. Now, they were down a bit, but the plates looked to have 1/4 to 3/8 an inch over them. I put in a good half-gallon between the 2 batteries. Even after driving for 3 hours to our camp site, I never had more than 3 lights. I never went =below= 3 lights during the 4 days we were there and had 45w of solar on them as much as possible. Does it take that long to get them back up to snuff or could I be starting to see issues with my power converter?Lyle

A couple things come to mind. First, no matter how charged my batteries are, if I check the capacity board while there is a load on the batteries, they will not read accurately - they show low voltage. Secondly, it seems to me that a half gallon of distilled water is an awful lot for topping off the batteries. Was the water level below the plates? Or did you fill them to the caps?

Forget about that 'state of charge' monitor.It will always show 4/4 when you have AC powerReally want to know battery state of charge.......check voltage with a meter and/or specific gravity of each cellQuick article on Testing battery.......LINK

Hi,Have you equalized them?Check the specific gravity on all the cells. One may be "weak".

For 6 volts to work properly they need 20-30 full discharge cycles. For most campers this can be years or more! The plates are thicker and need to be worked in. This information has been taken from other posts. Do some research as I have. I wonder if going to 6 volts is even worth it based on the information.

Are you only using the converter in your FW or do you always keep them hooked up to a 3 way battery charger like a Battery Tender? When I switched to 6v golf cart batteries the guys at Interstate Batteries said it was a good idea to always keep them hooked up to a 3 way float charger. I always have and they have worked great, one nice side benefit is I almost never have to add water.One other thing: I've noticed it doesn't take much to get my gauge to drop from 4/4 to 3/4, but it will stay at 3/4 for a whole weekend of boondocking. Maybe it's just the gauges?

Battery question | Good Sam Community

korbe
Explorer
Aug 13, 2013
A couple things come to mind. First, no matter how charged my batteries are, if I check the capacity board while there is a load on the batteries, they will not read accurately - they show low voltage. Secondly, it seems to me that a half gallon of distilled water is an awful lot for topping off the batteries. Was the water level below the plates? Or did you fill them to the caps?
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Aug 13, 2013
Forget about that 'state of charge' monitor.
It will always show 4/4 when you have AC power

Really want to know battery state of charge.......check voltage with a meter and/or specific gravity of each cell

Quick article on Testing battery.......LINK
pianotuna
Nomad III
Aug 13, 2013
Hi,

Have you equalized them?

Check the specific gravity on all the cells. One may be "weak".
elivi8
Explorer
Aug 13, 2013
For 6 volts to work properly they need 20-30 full discharge cycles. For most campers this can be years or more! The plates are thicker and need to be worked in. This information has been taken from other posts. Do some research as I have. I wonder if going to 6 volts is even worth it based on the information.
AZ_T_T
Explorer
Aug 13, 2013
Are you only using the converter in your FW or do you always keep them hooked up to a 3 way battery charger like a Battery Tender?

When I switched to 6v golf cart batteries the guys at Interstate Batteries said it was a good idea to always keep them hooked up to a 3 way float charger. I always have and they have worked great, one nice side benefit is I almost never have to add water.

One other thing: I've noticed it doesn't take much to get my gauge to drop from 4/4 to 3/4, but it will stay at 3/4 for a whole weekend of boondocking. Maybe it's just the gauges?
laknox
Nomad
Aug 14, 2013
korbe wrote:
A couple things come to mind. First, no matter how charged my batteries are, if I check the capacity board while there is a load on the batteries, they will not read accurately - they show low voltage. Secondly, it seems to me that a half gallon of distilled water is an awful lot for topping off the batteries. Was the water level below the plates? Or did you fill them to the caps?

As I said in my first post, plates had 1/4 to 3/8" of acid above them, so they weren't dry. They were pretty equal in how much I put in each cell; filled to the slot in the cap, or slightly above. No load on the batteries when checked. They were put in new last year and have been on a solar charger since early this year.

Lyle
laknox
Nomad
Aug 14, 2013
Old-Biscuit wrote:
Forget about that 'state of charge' monitor.
It will always show 4/4 when you have AC power

Really want to know battery state of charge.......check voltage with a meter and/or specific gravity of each cell

Quick article on Testing battery.......LINK

I simply don't have a SG tester; one of the downsides to not being a farmer any more. Frankly, didn't think to check with a multi-meter, though the display on my solar charger, with no panels connected, always read > 12v. My 12v batteries would always read 4 lights when freshly charged until they started going bad, which is why I was surprised that my 6v's didn't

Lyle
laknox
Nomad
Aug 14, 2013
pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

Have you equalized them?

Check the specific gravity on all the cells. One may be "weak".

Equalized? As in adding acid if one cell shows less SG?

Lyle
laknox
Nomad
Aug 14, 2013
elivi8 wrote:
For 6 volts to work properly they need 20-30 full discharge cycles. For most campers this can be years or more! The plates are thicker and need to be worked in. This information has been taken from other posts. Do some research as I have. I wonder if going to 6 volts is even worth it based on the information.

Personally, I'll never go back to 12v batteries. These are doing great for my application.

Lyle
laknox
Nomad
Aug 14, 2013
AZ T&T wrote:
Are you only using the converter in your FW or do you always keep them hooked up to a 3 way battery charger like a Battery Tender?

When I switched to 6v golf cart batteries the guys at Interstate Batteries said it was a good idea to always keep them hooked up to a 3 way float charger. I always have and they have worked great, one nice side benefit is I almost never have to add water.

One other thing: I've noticed it doesn't take much to get my gauge to drop from 4/4 to 3/4, but it will stay at 3/4 for a whole weekend of boondocking. Maybe it's just the gauges?

I had 30w of solar on a dumb controller, which is why I think the water was down so far. I'm only using 1 15w panel right now. There's no power where I am, so I can't be plugged in. I'll be more diligent on checking the water in the future, you can bet.

Lyle

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