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Old 01-11-2016, 08:53 PM   #1
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Paralleling marine type battery with a pair of 6V GC batteries

I'm planning on adding a second battery in the spring.
I bought a selector switch, so that I could charge one low battery at a time while minimizing the load on the charging device. ie: car or converter or isolate the batteries when servicing the elec. system. I'm pretty much sold on using 2 six volt GC batteries.. Do you think it would be a problem paralleling the GCB's with the marine type battery that came with my TT?
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Old 01-11-2016, 09:05 PM   #2
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I'm planning on adding a second battery in the spring.
I bought a selector switch, so that I could charge one low battery at a time while minimizing the load on the charging device. ie: car or converter or isolate the batteries when servicing the elec. system. I'm pretty much sold on using 2 six volt GC batteries.. Do you think it would be a problem paralleling the GCB's with the marine type battery that came with my TT?
Pat,

I think you mean series to make a 12V out of two 6V batteries you wire one battery to you negative line, the the negative from the second battery to the positive of the first battery. Last you hook you positive line to the positive on the battery number 2.

So you idea of charging one battery at a time won't work as you would be putting 12V into a 6V battery.

Series And Parallel | How To Wire What you Want Easily And Effectively

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Old 01-11-2016, 09:20 PM   #3
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Pat,

Sorry, I think I misinterpreted your post. I think you were asking about paralling a 12V with your 12V made up from the GC batteries. If this is correct, yes it could be done, but I don't think you would like the outcome.

Now If you are putting in a selector switch to isolate the two different battery combinations that wouldn't be paralleling the batteries. It will work in theory, but how well I'm not sure and how would you charge the isolated battery.
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Old 01-11-2016, 09:24 PM   #4
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Pat
You need to do what Jim said with the (2) 6v batteries & then connect the 12v that came with your TT in Parallel with the (2) 6v. Not sure you have the room on a TT to have (3) batteries.
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Old 01-11-2016, 10:44 PM   #5
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Yes it will work, but not very practical. You should go with two 12V batteries in parallel with no switch or, if room permits, 3 12V batteries in parallel. And it's important that all batteries be of the same type and age. Otherwise, the strongest battery will lose some of it's energy charging a weaker battery.

And I assume you know multiple batteries are never needed unless you are boondocking.
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Old 01-11-2016, 10:56 PM   #6
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You won't gain much with the 'marine' type battery. It has a mcca or cca rating, meaning it isn't a true deep cycle battery. If you are looking for a longer cycle time from your batteries, which the deep cycles have, the OEM battery won't do it. You can leave it out and probably be better off without it in the battery bank.
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Old 01-12-2016, 02:48 AM   #7
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Paralleling marine type battery with a pair of 6V GC batteries

Thanks Guys,
Should have been a little clearer with my question..
But I think I get the point here.. And that is, whatever I select should be similar.. Taking two 6V batteries in series for 12V, paralleled with a single 12 marine type battery is a bad idea.. because the batteries are so dissimilar..
In theory, I expected and was concerned that that was the case! I like the idea of the Deep Cycle CG batteries but didn't want to trash the marine type battery that came with my TT..

I plan to do some boondocking but will most likely spend most of my time at sites with hookups.. That being said. I guess a second marine type battery might be the best way to go..

The biggest reason for the selector switch was to be able to have a reserve battery.. I have been known to fall asleep with the tv on, only to wake up at 4:00 in the morning to shut it off.. If that happened while I was boondocking, i'd probably end up with a dead battery in the morning.
Having a fresh isolated battery to get things rolling seemed like a good idea at the time... figured that charging each battery separately wouldn't stress the system as much as charging two low
batteries at the same time...

Haven''t been there yet, haven't done it yet, just trying to plan to avoid major problems, without "breaking the bank"..
Just hope I don't try your patience with "dumb" questions too much..

Book learning is good but experience is better..

Thanks and All the best.
Pat
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Old 01-12-2016, 04:07 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sundancer 87 View Post
You won't gain much with the 'marine' type battery. It has a mcca or cca rating, meaning it isn't a true deep cycle battery. If you are looking for a longer cycle time from your batteries, which the deep cycles have, the OEM battery won't do it. You can leave it out and probably be better off without it in the battery bank.
It's almost impossible to find a true 12V deep cycle around my area. The only thing that is being sold are the hybrid "marine/deep cycle" batteries.

Can't even guess how many hybrid batteries I went through before I finally got some sense and went to the golf cart batteries.

I had a good laugh when we bought our current trailer, with two slides and they supply this piddly little single Group 24 battery. Run the tongue jack down and the slides out and how much power have you got left.
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Old 01-12-2016, 10:35 AM   #9
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Pat,
They do make televisions with a count down timer on them...

I use that one on my wife all the time. Only problem is she will wake up and turn it back on, then go back to sleep.

I don't watch much television at all, grew up without it and don't miss it if I don't have it available. I have to shake my head a bit on the extremes that people are willing to go to, just to have television when they are out camping.

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Old 01-12-2016, 10:54 AM   #10
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OK Aaron,
How about falling asleep before shutting off all the lights and running a small fan all night??

Since I do a bit of traveling with my work the sound of the TV masks the sounds of the goings on outside of my motel room, making it easier to get to sleep.. especially when there's a very active couple in an adjacent room...

I'm not so much concerned about tv, but want to avoid dead batteries!!

All the best
Pat
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Old 01-12-2016, 11:14 AM   #11
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I guess that was my point HD.. I'd like to have something with more reserve power than the battery that came with my TT, but didn't want to take a brand new TT battery and put it on a shelf..

You guys got me thinking now.. It seems clear GC batteries are the best choice and it just dawned on me that my truck has a spot for a second battery, under the hood.. So I could get a pair of GC 6V batteries for the TT and put the hybrid in my truck, to keep it charged. Could use it as a backup, if need be.

Hmmmmm decisions... decisions..


Thanks for the help..
I learn slow but I learn good...

Al the best.
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Old 01-12-2016, 01:23 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Firstime RVer View Post
I guess that was my point HD.. I'd like to have something with more reserve power than the battery that came with my TT, but didn't want to take a brand new TT battery and put it on a shelf..

You guys got me thinking now.. It seems clear GC batteries are the best choice and it just dawned on me that my truck has a spot for a second battery, under the hood.. So I could get a pair of GC 6V batteries for the TT and put the hybrid in my truck, to keep it charged. Could use it as a backup, if need be.

Hmmmmm decisions... decisions..


Thanks for the help..
I learn slow but I learn good...

Al the best.
There you go!

I know how you feel about not wanting to waste a prefectly good battery. I couldn't even give away the 12V, so it finally just went to the recyclers.

I'm going to throgh another monkey wrench in to the works. If I were you, while I had my camper in the drive way, I would camp in it on weekends. On Saturday morning turn on the stuff that you would normally use when boondocking, lights, furnace, fridge, vent fans, etc.

Now time how long it takes for the battery to drain down to where your funace won't run. It's the furnace that you want to be able to run all night.

Next question to answer is how many times you will you be boondocking. When we started out, that's pretty much all we did, but not in a trailer, so when we moved into a trailer, we were already in the conserve mode.

Do that a few times, then decide what to invest in. Maybe the best ROI for you right now is a solar panel to maintain your battery, if you get do the odd bit of boondocking.

I started with a 60W portable panel, then came a 100W panel and a 30A controller, found that does the job for us most of the time. By watching how the solar is effected by overcast skies and how much the charging capacity is reduced, we added an other panel. Two 100W panels pretty much do the job for us now, but if I have to I can add "More power".

You just might find that your 12V battery and a solar panel will look after 12V needs.

Another consideration is what you have to do to get 2 batteries of any sort to fit the battery tray. I had to build a new tray to be able to add a second battery.

Remember the answers you are getting to your questions are what works for the person answering your query. Will they really work for you and do you need the mod.

RVs a just holes in the road you pour money into and I have poured a lot of money into stuff that we didn't need.
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Old 01-12-2016, 04:41 PM   #13
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I see what you mean HD,
Its too cold to do much with the TT till spring, but I will have a 30A 120V power outlet installed in my garage by then. The trailer came winterized, and temps have been as low as 15 def F and below freezing during the day.. So I plan to wait for the warmer weather to pressurize all the water lines, fill the clear water tank, run the pump, ac, microwave etc. to make sure everything works.

Once everything works, I 'll do just what you suggested.. Living in our trailer for a couple of days at a time could be fun.. with and without shore power...

Finding out long each device can run on battery power, along with seeing how long running groups of things will run, is best found out before hitting the road. In fact it might be interesting, comparing what I measure against what others experience. Could make an interesting thread.
Cooling my heels til spring isn't gonna be easy!!

Based on my experience with Marine batteries though, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go with a pair of 6V GC batteries.. I talked with a couple of friends, who have RV's. They said the CG batteries that they are using have lasted 3 times longer than the marine type batteries they had used, and still going strong. Battery racks are a snap, just need a bit of angle, a sawzall. Fire up the old Lincoln Tombstone and voila!!

There is no question about me considering solar in a year of so..
Don't want to break the bank the first year !!!!

I guess the part that makes TT ownership interesting to me is the fact that I can pretty much modify it to suit the tastes of my wife and I...

And it just makes the trips a little sweeter knowing that the mods worked!!

Thanks for the good advice.
All the best.
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Old 01-12-2016, 05:12 PM   #14
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I had a good laugh when we bought our current trailer, with two slides and they supply this piddly little single Group 24 battery. Run the tongue jack down and the slides out and how much power have you got left.
I have to agree with you here. Our Denali has three slides and a power jack. A single 24 series battery isn't going to last too very long if I need to open the slides and work on it while it's in storage. Heck, we ran the battery down on our previous unit in our driveway just loading it and getting packed in one evening.
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Old 01-12-2016, 05:17 PM   #15
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Based on my experience with Marine batteries though, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go with a pair of 6V GC batteries.. I talked with a couple of friends, who have RV's. They said the CG batteries that they are using have lasted 3 times longer than the marine type batteries they had used, and still going strong.
Yes indeed GC batteries last longer the the Marine/Starting batteries.

I cried the day my neighbor took a pair of 6V batteries to the recyclers. He does the maintenance on our TV/Radio system, as well as the Emergency Services radio repeater.

They swap out the batteries every few years, needed or not. These batteries are monsters, bigger footprint and taller than my GC batteries and about twice the wieght. The way he looks after the equipement they probably still had 75% of life left in them.

He's the guy that got me serious into solar and showed me how he gets his car and truck batteries to last for ten years or more using solar chargers.

At least I'm on the list for the next set of 6Vs, then I'll have to work on version 3 of my Battery tray.
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Old 01-12-2016, 07:05 PM   #16
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I'm going to an RV show in Edison NJ this Sunday.. Another first!!

Wife already warned me about getting carried away buying stuff...

If I found a good price on a pair of GC batteries do you think
buying them now and keeping them charged till spring would be OK?

I probably wont buy them this time out.. There's another show in Atlantic city in February, that we plan on going to, that's supposed to be much bigger than the one in Edison.. Maybe I'll look for them then.. Hopefully I'll have a better handle on battery rating and prices then..


My trailer doesn't come near the max tongue weight on my truck, but adding a couple of heavy batteries might change that.. Guess that's something else to look into...

All the best.
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Old 01-12-2016, 07:56 PM   #17
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OK Aaron,
How about falling asleep before shutting off all the lights and running a small fan all night??

Since I do a bit of traveling with my work the sound of the TV masks the sounds of the goings on outside of my motel room, making it easier to get to sleep.. especially when there's a very active couple in an adjacent room...

I'm not so much concerned about tv, but want to avoid dead batteries!!

All the best
Pat
Maybe you should think about a small generator to charge your batteries? Would only need it when you weren't plugged in. The 2 6V Trojan batteries are great. I had a 12v and it didn't last long at all, continually charging. I put the 6V on and go out for 3-4 days without an issue.. They are definitely heavier batteries, but with the larger plates they sure last longer.

A good thing for your lights is visit www.superbrightleds.com and order you some LED bulbs for your lights. I changed out all of mine, 13 of them for about $4.95 each.

Rick
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Old 01-12-2016, 08:40 PM   #18
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Hi Pat,


I would check out prices online before you go to the show, that way you know if they are a deal or not. I would not buy now unless they were quite a deal. You are giving away 3 months of the replacement warranty by purchasing now. Definitely look at LED bulbs, they really save a lot of power. Once again do the research, to know if they are a deal at the show.
Regards,
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Old 01-12-2016, 09:51 PM   #19
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If you are a member at Sam's or Costco 6v GC batteries should run you about $85-90 + tax & core charge.
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Old 01-12-2016, 09:59 PM   #20
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Originally Posted by Firstime RVer View Post
OK Aaron,
How about falling asleep before shutting off all the lights and running a small fan all night??

Since I do a bit of traveling with my work the sound of the TV masks the sounds of the goings on outside of my motel room, making it easier to get to sleep.. especially when there's a very active couple in an adjacent room...

I'm not so much concerned about tv, but want to avoid dead batteries!!

All the best
Pat
Use LED lights they are low draw. Not sure about the fan. My wife uses one in the camper when she sleeps, it pulls around 3 amps on 12volts more or less.

I travel for a living, last year I was down to 120 days or so in hotels, which is way down from my last year in Production/Ops where I spent 289 days on the road.

I have a white noise machine that I carry with me, bought it years ago at The Sharper Image store in the Charlotte, NC airport. It is about the size of a softball and had a rechargeable battery in it. Currently I have a couple of white noise apps on my smart phone that seem to work pretty well. If I were staying a hotel long term I would open up the in room heat pump and click the DPST switches over to have the fan run constantly.

Aaron
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