Two 6 volt batteries or two 12 volt batteries ??

[JCR-1]

Two 6 volt bats in series (12v) or two 12 volt batteries in parallel. Generally, which is a better way to go.amp hrs ??? Comments and experiences appreciated.

[Huntindog]

lawrosa wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

lawrosa wrote:

I have a 600 watt whole house inverter with two 6s. This system has been in use for about 7 years. My TT has 3 TVs. we use everything excepting the high amp loads as we wish and the batteries hold up fine.

Run a 500 watt load @ 75% SOC and tell us what your voltage drop is.. If its negligible Ill go six volt...

I have never measured the load. I can tell you that if I forget to turn off my heated mattress pad, the the inverter will start to squeal in a few hours. Other wise the batteries will last all day.
A few facts: I run my generator all night, when the electricity demand is the greatest. After DW makes her coffee in the morning, we switch to battery power, unless the microwave is needed. But, We have 4 dog collars charging, a laptop, two phones, 2 DeWalt 14V battery chargers and an electric razor at all times. At least 1 of the 3 TVs, and the satelite dish in use most of the day.
Water pump usage as needed. In short, we do not skimp. We live pretty much like we do at home.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for that... I know your batts are a bit older like mine. It would be nice to know ones voltage drop with a load @ 100% soc and @ 75% SOC with 6 volters.

I just equalized mine again at some 15.8 volts... Got it down to .5 amps in.. I had one cell was a tad lower then the rest... All are equal now..

I have never messed around with any specific battery care. I keep the water/acid level up, and let the converter handle it.
Plug and play. Converter is a powermax boondocker.

[Huntindog]

ktmrfs wrote:

Huntindog wrote:

lawrosa wrote:

I have a 600 watt whole house inverter with two 6s. This system has been in use for about 7 years. My TT has 3 TVs. we use everything excepting the high amp loads as we wish and the batteries hold up fine.

Run a 500 watt load @ 75% SOC and tell us what your voltage drop is.. If its negligible Ill go six volt...

I have never measured the load. I can tell you that if I forget to turn off my heated mattress pad, the the inverter will start to squeal in a few hours. Other wise the batteries will last all day.
A few facts: I run my generator all night, when the electricity demand is the greatest. After DW makes her coffee in the morning, we switch to battery power, unless the microwave is needed. But, We have 4 dog collars charging, a laptop, two phones, 2 DeWalt 14V battery chargers and an electric razor at all times. At least 1 of the 3 TVs, and the satelite dish in use most of the day.
Water pump usage as needed. In short, we do not skimp. We live pretty much like we do at home.

I hope this helps.

I'm glad you never have camped near me. If you do, your likely to find the genny not working after about 10pm.

Grow up.
I have made it known constantly that I boondock in remote locations. If I can see another camper, it is too close.
And the reason I hate camping around others is illustrated by your post. The constant griping about what others are doing.
"His lights are too bright, his dog barks, his generator is too loud, his kids are too noisy, he woke me up too early, he woke me up late. his diesel is smelly, etc.etc.

And as for your bravado... Easily done on a keyboard. Not so easy in person.

[ktmrfs]

Huntindog wrote:

lawrosa wrote:

I have a 600 watt whole house inverter with two 6s. This system has been in use for about 7 years. My TT has 3 TVs. we use everything excepting the high amp loads as we wish and the batteries hold up fine.

Run a 500 watt load @ 75% SOC and tell us what your voltage drop is.. If its negligible Ill go six volt...

I have never measured the load. I can tell you that if I forget to turn off my heated mattress pad, the the inverter will start to squeal in a few hours. Other wise the batteries will last all day.
A few facts: I run my generator all night, when the electricity demand is the greatest. After DW makes her coffee in the morning, we switch to battery power, unless the microwave is needed. But, We have 4 dog collars charging, a laptop, two phones, 2 DeWalt 14V battery chargers and an electric razor at all times. At least 1 of the 3 TVs, and the satelite dish in use most of the day.
Water pump usage as needed. In short, we do not skimp. We live pretty much like we do at home.

I hope this helps.

I'm glad you never have camped near me. If you do, your likely to find the genny not working after about 10pm.

[lawrosa]

Huntindog wrote:

lawrosa wrote:

I have a 600 watt whole house inverter with two 6s. This system has been in use for about 7 years. My TT has 3 TVs. we use everything excepting the high amp loads as we wish and the batteries hold up fine.

Run a 500 watt load @ 75% SOC and tell us what your voltage drop is.. If its negligible Ill go six volt...

I have never measured the load. I can tell you that if I forget to turn off my heated mattress pad, the the inverter will start to squeal in a few hours. Other wise the batteries will last all day.
A few facts: I run my generator all night, when the electricity demand is the greatest. After DW makes her coffee in the morning, we switch to battery power, unless the microwave is needed. But, We have 4 dog collars charging, a laptop, two phones, 2 DeWalt 14V battery chargers and an electric razor at all times. At least 1 of the 3 TVs, and the satelite dish in use most of the day.
Water pump usage as needed. In short, we do not skimp. We live pretty much like we do at home.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for that... I know your batts are a bit older like mine. It would be nice to know ones voltage drop with a load @ 100% soc and @ 75% SOC with 6 volters.

I just equalized mine again at some 15.8 volts... Got it down to .5 amps in.. I had one cell was a tad lower then the rest... All are equal now..

[Huntindog]

lawrosa wrote:

I have a 600 watt whole house inverter with two 6s. This system has been in use for about 7 years. My TT has 3 TVs. we use everything excepting the high amp loads as we wish and the batteries hold up fine.

Run a 500 watt load @ 75% SOC and tell us what your voltage drop is.. If its negligible Ill go six volt...

I have never measured the load. I can tell you that if I forget to turn off my heated mattress pad, the the inverter will start to squeal in a few hours. Other wise the batteries will last all day.
A few facts: I run my generator all night, when the electricity demand is the greatest. After DW makes her coffee in the morning, we switch to battery power, unless the microwave is needed. But, We have 4 dog collars charging, a laptop, two phones, 2 DeWalt 14V battery chargers and an electric razor at all times. At least 1 of the 3 TVs, and the satelite dish in use most of the day.
Water pump usage as needed. In short, we do not skimp. We live pretty much like we do at home.

I hope this helps.

[Huntindog]

marcsbigfoot20b27 wrote:

Huntindog wrote:
A catastrophic battery failure, one that will basically stop one from having 12 volt power is usually caused by a shorted cell. Sometimes called a dead cell. This commonly occurs when the sediment from the lead plates that is constantly being attacked by the acid accumulates enough under the plates to touch them. When it does, the battery dies really fast. It makes no difference whether it is a 6 volt or a 12, the result is the same. What is different about them is that the 6 volts have a lot more room under the plates for the sediment to collect before touching the plates. So much room that the owner usually replaces the battery due to reduced capacity long before a cell shorts out.

During the 60s,70s, 80s, and 90s cell shorting in 12 volt batteries was very common. I had many batteries replaced in my autos during that time frame. Lately that seems to have declined.

Most people that prefer two 12s for RV use will state that fear of catastrophic faliure leaving them without power as the reason they prefer two 12s. They likely remember how many batteries they have had fail in their cars over the years.
So common sense tells them that a backup is a good thing.

What they fail to understand is the fundamental difference I just explained. If sixes leave you stranded, you have likely been ignoring the warning signs for a long time.

Regardless, choosing two 12s and doing nothing else will not give one the redundancy they are seeking. When two 12s are wired together and a cell shorts in either one of them, both 12s will go dead very quickly. The result is most always two dead 12 volts. If one wants redundancy, then the 12s need to be isolated from each other. There are different ways to do this from manually connecting and disconnecting them all the way to automatic switching systems.
It all depends on how one wants to do it and how much they want to spend.

You may notice that I have not said which is better yet sixes or twelves. The answer is it depends. For higher powered inverter use, 12s win. I have a 600 watt whole house inverter with two 6s. This system has been in use for about 7 years. My TT has 3 TVs. we use everything excepting the high amp loads as we wish and the batteries hold up fine.

So for low powered or no inverter usage, I think the sixes get the nod.

Certainly other personal factors may come into play, but the redundancy issue alone is moot.

In fact under common applications where one does not isolate the 12s, they will fare worse than the sixes.

I pretty much agree.
A few more points on catastrophic battery failure 6 or 12 volt.......
If one 6 volt dies, it’s dead and you are out of business until you replace it and better yet BOTH.
If one of two 12 volt dies it may drag the good one down, but you can remove the dead one and recharge the good battery and you are still in the game.

Best in either case 6 or 12 is AGM if sediment killing the battery is a worry.

I wish my TT was big enough to accommodate 2-4 six volt AGM and a switch to 2-3 AGM 12 volt batteries...... 6 volt CG2 for normal use and flip the switch to 12 volt if I need to run my inverter.

There is nothing magical about a typical 12 volt battery that will allow one to survive a shorted cell from the other. In fact what happens is that the "good battery" suffers a DEEP discharge when this happens. Most everyone knows that this is very bad and the "good" 12 volt stands little chance of surviving such an event. Sixes on the other hand suffer the same fate when one has a short cell, BUT the "good" six is more likely to survive a shorted cell from it's twin. Sixes can be routinely discharged much deeper than 12s, and though a 100% discharge is not good for either type, there have been numerous reports of them surviving such a discharge.
Regardless, a pair of sixes has half as many cells to potentially short, as a pair of 12s. And the sixes cells have much more room for sediment to collect under the plates. So the odds are much greater that a pair of sixes will never suffer a shorted cell.

[marcsbigfoot20b]

Huntindog wrote:
A catastrophic battery failure, one that will basically stop one from having 12 volt power is usually caused by a shorted cell. Sometimes called a dead cell. This commonly occurs when the sediment from the lead plates that is constantly being attacked by the acid accumulates enough under the plates to touch them. When it does, the battery dies really fast. It makes no difference whether it is a 6 volt or a 12, the result is the same. What is different about them is that the 6 volts have a lot more room under the plates for the sediment to collect before touching the plates. So much room that the owner usually replaces the battery due to reduced capacity long before a cell shorts out.

During the 60s,70s, 80s, and 90s cell shorting in 12 volt batteries was very common. I had many batteries replaced in my autos during that time frame. Lately that seems to have declined.

Most people that prefer two 12s for RV use will state that fear of catastrophic faliure leaving them without power as the reason they prefer two 12s. They likely remember how many batteries they have had fail in their cars over the years.
So common sense tells them that a backup is a good thing.

What they fail to understand is the fundamental difference I just explained. If sixes leave you stranded, you have likely been ignoring the warning signs for a long time.

Regardless, choosing two 12s and doing nothing else will not give one the redundancy they are seeking. When two 12s are wired together and a cell shorts in either one of them, both 12s will go dead very quickly. The result is most always two dead 12 volts. If one wants redundancy, then the 12s need to be isolated from each other. There are different ways to do this from manually connecting and disconnecting them all the way to automatic switching systems.
It all depends on how one wants to do it and how much they want to spend.

You may notice that I have not said which is better yet sixes or twelves. The answer is it depends. For higher powered inverter use, 12s win. I have a 600 watt whole house inverter with two 6s. This system has been in use for about 7 years. My TT has 3 TVs. we use everything excepting the high amp loads as we wish and the batteries hold up fine.

So for low powered or no inverter usage, I think the sixes get the nod.

Certainly other personal factors may come into play, but the redundancy issue alone is moot.

In fact under common applications where one does not isolate the 12s, they will fare worse than the sixes.

I pretty much agree.
A few more points on catastrophic battery failure 6 or 12 volt.......
If one 6 volt dies, it’s dead and you are out of business until you replace it and better yet BOTH.
If one of two 12 volt dies it may drag the good one down, but you can remove the dead one and recharge the good battery and you are still in the game.

Best in either case 6 or 12 is AGM if sediment killing the battery is a worry.

I wish my TT was big enough to accommodate 2-4 six volt AGM and a switch to 2-3 AGM 12 volt batteries...... 6 volt CG2 for normal use and flip the switch to 12 volt if I need to run my inverter.

[lawrosa]

I have a 600 watt whole house inverter with two 6s. This system has been in use for about 7 years. My TT has 3 TVs. we use everything excepting the high amp loads as we wish and the batteries hold up fine.

Run a 500 watt load @ 75% SOC and tell us what your voltage drop is.. If its negligible Ill go six volt...

[Huntindog]

A catastrophic battery failure, one that will basically stop one from having 12 volt power is usually caused by a shorted cell. Sometimes called a dead cell. This commonly occurs when the sediment from the lead plates that is constantly being attacked by the acid accumulates enough under the plates to touch them. When it does, the battery dies really fast. It makes no difference whether it is a 6 volt or a 12, the result is the same. What is different about them is that the 6 volts have a lot more room under the plates for the sediment to collect before touching the plates. So much room that the owner usually replaces the battery due to reduced capacity long before a cell shorts out.

During the 60s,70s, 80s, and 90s cell shorting in 12 volt batteries was very common. I had many batteries replaced in my autos during that time frame. Lately that seems to have declined.

Most people that prefer two 12s for RV use will state that fear of catastrophic faliure leaving them without power as the reason they prefer two 12s. They likely remember how many batteries they have had fail in their cars over the years.
So common sense tells them that a backup is a good thing.

What they fail to understand is the fundamental difference I just explained. If sixes leave you stranded, you have likely been ignoring the warning signs for a long time.

Regardless, choosing two 12s and doing nothing else will not give one the redundancy they are seeking. When two 12s are wired together and a cell shorts in either one of them, both 12s will go dead very quickly. The result is most always two dead 12 volts. If one wants redundancy, then the 12s need to be isolated from each other. There are different ways to do this from manually connecting and disconnecting them all the way to automatic switching systems.
It all depends on how one wants to do it and how much they want to spend.

You may notice that I have not said which is better yet sixes or twelves. The answer is it depends. For higher powered inverter use, 12s win. I have a 600 watt whole house inverter with two 6s. This system has been in use for about 7 years. My TT has 3 TVs. we use everything excepting the high amp loads as we wish and the batteries hold up fine.

So for low powered or no inverter usage, I think the sixes get the nod.

Certainly other personal factors may come into play, but the redundancy issue alone is moot.

In fact under common applications where one does not isolate the 12s, they will fare worse than the sixes.

[Westcoasting]

SoundGuy wrote:

Boon Docker wrote:
Exactly, 2 GC-2 (6v). :B

Well since you've posted this on the internet it must be true. :S

So get two of the biggest 6v batteries that will fit in my situation? Sounds too easy 🙂 thanks!

[Atlee]

For Westcoasting, I'd say the 2 6V batteries are best. He is not using an inverter to power a TV or what not.

For the same reason, I'm getting a pair of 6V GC batteries. I want to run the water pump when necessary, run the furnace when necessary, run the lights when necessary, and run my CPAP machine when necessary. When necessary means when I do not have my generator(s) deployed. That 220 AH should tie me over for the night.

I have no intention of every adding an inverter.

SoundGuy wrote:

Boon Docker wrote:
^ Two GC-2 (6v) batterys connected in series. Best bet for boon docking (dry camping).

The "best" batteries for camping without shore power are those capable of providing sufficient reserve for your intended draw down, those which are suitable for mounting in the space you have available, those which you can properly recharge, those which you can afford, and as discussed in this thread - for those who ever expect to use an inverter to power significant loads, batteries which can sustain that load without excessive voltage drop. 😉 This is a far cry from simply saying GC-2s. :R

[SoundGuy]

Boon Docker wrote:
Exactly, 2 GC-2 (6v). :B

Well since you've posted this on the internet it must be true. :S

[crosscheck]

Boon Docker wrote:
Exactly, 2 GC-2 (6v). :B

And I'll raise you 2 GC-2's(6V).

Dave

[Boon_Docker]

Exactly, 2 GC-2 (6v). :B