Stock Battery Question for Dry camping on 2015 Voltage 3805

[kfan]

Hey, wondering if there is a need to upgrade the stock battery?

How many days can you go on the stock battery? is it large enough to last 3 to 4 days?

please share your experiences thanks.

[DesertRat]

It will depend upon how much 12v you use. If you aren't going to use your generator while boondocking I would add another battery. You can also swap out your most used inside lights to LED's which will help with your 12v draw.

[kfan]

April 2015 produced Voltage V's now all have int and ext LED lights, so that is nice.

Was wondering if it gets cold, if the stock battery can hold up to start the generator and have enough to use the heat?

Or just add a 2nd battery?

[ewarnerusa]

It depends on a lot of things. Do you have a way to recharge the battery while you're out via generator or solar? Does your camper use LED or incandescent lighting? Will you be using the furnace? My generic answer would be that for moderate night time temperatures where you'll have the furnace on and it cycles several times during the night, a single battery will get you through a night but you'll need a way to recharge it the next day. If you for certain won't use the furnace, then one battery may make it through a couple nights of lighting/water pump/refrigerator control panel/exhaust fan loads. But for any dry camping beyond one night I'd say you want multiple batteries and a way to recharge them. A stock battery is typically not a true deep cycle battery and is a dual purpose marine battery. The marine batteries don't usually provide the same amp hour (Ah) capacity as a true deep cycle battery. Probably around 80 Ah and a rule of thumb is you don't want to deplete it past 50% discharge or it shortens the battery's life, so only 40 Ah is readily available.

There is the option of hooking the trailer plug to your tow vehicle and running your tow vehicle for a few hours, but that is terribly inefficient and will only provide a trickle charge to the battery.

If you have a generator, then you can run that for a couple hours with the trailer shore cable plugged into it which allows the onboard converter to recharge the battery. Depending on the quality/type of converter, this may get your battery back up to >90% state of charge (SOC). If you're comfortable with that, then you can probably get by with only one battery but count on needing to run the generator daily to try and recoup your SOC.

[ewacowboy]

Originally Posted by kfan

Hey, wondering if there is a need to upgrade the stock battery?

How many days can you go on the stock battery? is it large enough to last 3 to 4 days?

please share your experiences thanks.

Not sure what battery the dealer installed, but I would agree with the other posts. Our dealer installed one 12V marine battery and we couldn't even get through one night and the next day. I have since installed four 6V golf cart batteries and 3 or 4 days isn't a problem....even with the inverter running occasional TV and coffee maker in the morning.

[kfan]

good to know. that was my fear with just 1 12V battery. Minimum (2) 12V is what i'd like to get. Rookie question... What is the diff with 12V vs 6V batty?

[donzinger]

The 6V batteries have usually more "capacity" and will last longer under use.

[ewarnerusa]

You need to run 6V in pairs wired in series to make an equivalent 12V power supply. And as stated, they'll tend to have more capacity than a dual 12V in parallel setup.

[kfan]

Thanks for all the feedback.

What is the diff with 2 batteries ran in parallel vs in series.

Some help with me picturing the difference and why?

Dealer wants to install 2 12V for me, hearing all of this feedback, few more questions crossed my mind for the 2015 Voltage V series..

Is there a quick disconnect on 2015 V series? Or do I need to ask them to install one?

Dealer says (2) 6v requires more wiring and different boxes than (2) 12V batteries... don't understand why it would require more wiring... anyone explain this to me?

[ewarnerusa]

It doesn't require more wiring, but they are taller than group 24 12V so they do require different boxes.



6V tend to cost a little bit more than a 12V, so maybe that's why the dealer is trying to talk you out of it if they are providing them without charging you.

[ewacowboy]

Originally Posted by kfan

Thanks for all the feedback.

What is the diff with 2 batteries ran in parallel vs in series.

Some help with me picturing the difference and why?

Dealer wants to install 2 12V for me, hearing all of this feedback, few more questions crossed my mind for the 2015 Voltage V series..

Is there a quick disconnect on 2015 V series? Or do I need to ask them to install one?

Dealer says (2) 6v requires more wiring and different boxes than (2) 12V batteries... don't understand why it would require more wiring... anyone explain this to me?

Take a look at this site:

Trojan Battery Company

In order to get 12V out of two 6V batteries you need to connect in series. If you connect two 12V batteries you need to connect in parallel. The 6V batteries are physically a different size....requiring a different box.

Also, you should have a battery disconnect switch on the coach which will work for either way you decide to go.

[arlan in arizona]

Don't you have a solar installer in you location. You would be much better off than Camping World.

I have four 6 volt batteries in my Voltage. I have two 12 volt batteries in my truck camper.

One reason I went with the 12 volt batteries is the camper was space consideration.

I ended up buying AGM batteries. No venting, no adding water. You can mount them about anywhere, the are the best. They also cost at least twice as much but last way longer than lead acid batteries.

When the golf cart batteries in my Voltage die, they will get replaced with AGM batteries. There are a lot of choices out there. Your dealer will probably try to talk you out of them because they most likely won't have any and dealers are all dicks.

Amazon.com: Vmaxtanks Vmaxslr125 AGM Deep Cycle 12v 125ah SLA rechargeable Battery for Use with Pv Solar Panels,Smart chargers wind Turbine and Inverters: Electronics

Also, you can get the 12 volt batteries that are almost twice as tall as a regular 12 volt. Hence two of the tall 12 volt AGM will equal almost four 6 volt batteries.

This is some stuff I did not know when I had my solar and 6 volt batteries installed by gulp. The dealer.

Your decision.

[kfan]

Very helpful thx! I am going to ask them to install 2 6V's tomorrow

[kfan]

Found this link informative

RV 6-Volt Golf Cart Battery Upgrade | ModMyRV

[kfan]

Choosing the Best RV Battery: Which is Right for You?