Chas B. Wolfson, SASS #11104 Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 I am planning on replacing the two deep cycle batteries in our travel trailer. At the Interstate Battery dealer yesterday, the salesperson was very persuasive in trying to get me to change to two six volt, golf cart style batteries instead of staying with the twelve volt deep cycle style currently in place. Any suggestions from you all would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance. Regards, Chas B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381 Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 I am planning on replacing the two deep cycle batteries in our travel trailer. At the Interstate Battery dealer yesterday, the salesperson was very persuasive in trying to get me to change to two six volt, golf cart style batteries instead of staying with the twelve volt deep cycle style currently in place. Any suggestions from you all would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance. Regards, Chas B. From a power standpoint, two 6 volt batteries in series are the same as one 12 volt battery. Since all your operation and charging will be done at 12 volts, handling of one 12 volt battery is simpler. Also, one 12 volt battery is slightly less expensive than two 6 volt batteries. The advantage of two 6 volt batteries is the weight. A 12 volt deep cell is pretty heavy. I have two 12 volt batteries in my Winny. I found this on an RV site: There is sometimes debate in the RV community on whether to use a bank of 12-volt batteries for the house system. Most experts recommend against this. The argument used in favor of 12-volt batteries is that if one fails you only need to replace the single battery. With 6-volt batteries they have to be used in pairs (combined in series to make 12-volts) and if one battery in the pair fails you need to replace both of the batteries. That is because a new battery, paired in series with an older battery, will be rapidly brought to the same charge condition as the older battery. In other words, if you leave the old battery in the pair, you get 2 old batteries. This mainly applies to batteries older than 3-6 months. The main argument for the use of 6-volt batteries is that they perform much better. It is difficult (but not impossible) to find true deep-cycle 12-volt batteries, so the lifetime and performance of the bank will generally suffer with 12-volt batteries. If you do decide to go the 12-volt route, look into using 8D truck batteries (if they will fit in the space available). These are available in a deep-cycle version (about 200 Ah), and will perform better than most other 12-volt batteries. There are true 12-volt deep cycle batteries, but they are harder to find, and are expensive. I prefer to stick to readily available 6-volt golf cart batteries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother King, SASS #69031 Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 I have a good friend who builds custom coaches. He has now built 2 monster coaches for he and his wife. They spend Novemeber until April boondocked south of Quartzite AZ. This is their 10th year camping there. In his last 2 rigs he has installed HUMONGOUS fork lift batteries in his custom units. I should say "BATTERY" single not plural. They weigh almost 1800 pounds. The reasoning is that they deep cycle. Each costs about $5k. But, I guess if you're charging them every day, day in and day out for 6 months at a time off either solar or generator power then that's important. Something to think about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chief Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 I have been using 2 12 volt deep cyle batteries for years and would not go back to one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Saint Paw Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 The main advantage of the two 6 volt batteries is if you do a lot of boondocking, in other words you RV where there is no electricity to hook up to. The two 6V will run your DC appliances (Lights, water pump, heater, water heater, etc) and AC (TV, DVD player using an inverter, these are big energy users!) longer between recharges. You have to run the Generator every day or at least every other day to recharge them. 12 Volt batteries may not even run a TV one night. Plus the two 6V's are usually cheaper. Here is a thread on it on a good RV web site. http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/25910216/gotomsg/25911473.cfm#25911473 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hacker, SASS #55963 Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 The key point is that for your use of the batteries they really should be "deep cycle" and not like truck/car etc type batteries. They have a different life cycle. They can be drained of power to about 20% before they have problems. A car battery is used to provide a high amperage for a short period of time and cannot be discharged as much before harm could befall it. If your dealer is trying to sell you two deep cycles versus one, remember that all the batteries that are in a system should be replaced togehter. Why do I know this.... I had to replace 4 batteries when harsh freeze nailed one or two of the "house" batteries in my motor home. Replaced all 4 and added two more as I upgraded to solar panels. The chassis batteries in my motor home are similar to the batteries in a truck/car etc. They are used to start the engine and to provide lights for the vehicle just like your pickup etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oklahomabound Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 ...we switched our coach (40' diesel pusher) over to 6 volt deep cycle (golf cart) batteries rather that 12 volt. Why, 6 volt deep cycle are more readily available and they outperformed the 12 volt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hacker, SASS #55963 Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 ...we switched our coach (40' diesel pusher) over to 6 volt deep cycle (golf cart) batteries rather that 12 volt. Why, 6 volt deep cycle are more readily available and they outperformed the 12 volt. You went from having 12 volt to having 2 times as many 6 volts. With the 6volts connected in series. Right? That is how mine are wired. As the coach interior (at least mine) is wired for 12 volts. My chassis batteries are still 12 volt but I have 6 - 6 volt batteries wired in 3 banks of 2 each 12 volts each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SELDOM SEEN SLIM, SASS #682 Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Howdie, Just my humble thoughts, for the sake of batteries, you need to compare an apple to an apple. The comparison for batteries is amp hours of storage capacity. Two six volt golf cart batteries (depending on the bats chosen) will have more storage capacity, i.e. electrons to power your tee pee then two say 12 volt group 31, twelve volt batteries....but how much do you need. Google the 12v side of life....there is a good discussion there.... I have a 23 ft toy hauler and we boondock for a three day weekend and have no power issues with two 12v group 31 deep cycle bats.... my needs maybe not yours.... The short story is you needed to calculate your power needes and then provide the storage capacity and replacement via the trailer generator or solar panels as necessary. Best , Seldom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hacker, SASS #55963 Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 While calculating your power needs you might consider changing non-LED light bulbs for more efficient LED bulbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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