High Amp Hour batteries

[Roger M]

Before you spend your hard earned money on a 12v group 24 battery, compare the Reserve Capacity Minutes between the the 24 and your existing GC2. You'll find the the GC2 rating at 25amps is much higher, more than double the 24. Chances are the 24 is not even rated at 75 amps like a true deep cycle battery is.

AH tells us the max current we can draw for 20 hours. RCM tells us how long our battery will last while our devices are drawing 25A or 75A.

[Franswa]

Walt I almost posted on one of your earlier threads about this issue....


Your premise of wanting a 2x12V system over 2x6V because that saves you if one battery "dies" suddenly one night is something I have never experienced...batteries simply don't "die" suddenly, as in keel over and drop dead. Batteries "die" over a long period of time, as in you will notice that your batteries are discharged sooner than what you've come accustomed to. You will notice this over 2 or 3 camping trips....you eventually test your batteries and find out that the battery(ies) are no longer accepting/holding a FULL charge. You then replace in the near (or not so near) future.



You have already highlighted one of the advantages of your 2x6V system: they hold more total juice than 2x12V batteries. Another advantage is the full lifetime cost of your batteries given that 6V batteries have a lot higher expected charge/discharge life cycles than 12V........google is your friend.

[Eggscape]

I have dual 12 volt batteries with a selector switch for other reasons. One being I use them for the boat and tractor when I go to the cabin. The other is that they are connected via high amp inline connectors so when camping I can remove one at a time and place it in the truck for charging when we go for a drive sightseeing etc. I come back to the trailer with a completely charged battery. It hooks up to my high amp charging wire that I put in to charge the trailer. In fact we have 3 batteries we rotate though...two in the trailer and a spare in the truck so that is how we get the extra capacity in 12 volt batteries.
Everybody has a system that works best for them and since we go out of our way to park our Escape in the shade to stay cool...solar is a no go for us.

[John in Santa Cruz]

that sounds complicated. I hate handling lead acid batteries any more than I absolutely have to (basically, replace when they are worn out).

[patrick crawford]

Walt, I recently installed a pair of 6v AGM golf cart batteries. Relion batteries sold by Trojan. They also have 12v versions which may interest you.

p@

[Uplander]

When I saw this topic I had a flash-back to my RV battery research a few years ago. I had reached a point of maximum frustration with RV batteries. A repair mechanic told me most wet-cell batteries were lasting a year or less. He felt that was because they were coming from China and the Chinese had reduced the amount and quality of the lead plates in their production. He suggested I read the complete on line info to be found on : “the 12 volt side of life”.

I googled.....the 12 volt side of life....and learned a lot.

I strongly suggest all RV owners who boondock and need reliable battery power take the time to read this very informative article. I replaced my wet cell 12 volt battery with an AGM 100AH battery and added a 12volt digital volt meter to keep an eye on my battery during long boondock camping trips.

If you boondock consider a quiet Inverter Generator $$$ !.....or consider a solar battery charger to maintain your battery.

Good Luck and happy camping !

[ntsqd]

I'll admit that I didn't get a lot of "12 volt side of life", however I did get a lot out of Handy Bob's many pages, even if he does tend to tell you what he's going to say, say, and then tell you what he told you ad nauseum.


https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/