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Old 04-03-2021, 10:41 AM   #1
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Batteries

Being fairly new to Boondocking I am wondering how long my batteries should last.
I have 2x RV Napa RV batteries 62Ah (BCI No 24) that came with the Travel trailer.

Before going to bed the batteries are fully charged. The only things running over night are the Furrion 8 CU fridge (1.08kWh per day) and currently the gas furnace... After 8hrs of sleep the batteries show only 30% charge.
Is this normal with the batteries I’m using?
What affordable batteries are recommended?

Thanks for the advise!
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Old 04-03-2021, 03:52 PM   #2
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I think you got about all you gonna get with those batteries....should have minimum of two 100 ah batteries....for just one night they have worked good for me...
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Old 04-03-2021, 05:43 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Krokokid View Post
Being fairly new to Boondocking I am wondering how long my batteries should last.
I have 2x RV Napa RV batteries 62Ah (BCI No 24) that came with the Travel trailer.

Before going to bed the batteries are fully charged. The only things running over night are the Furrion 8 CU fridge (1.08kWh per day) and currently the gas furnace... After 8hrs of sleep the batteries show only 30% charge.
Is this normal with the batteries I’m using?
What affordable batteries are recommended?

Thanks for the advise!
Sola's right, you should try to get two (12v) 100Ah batteries into your rig. If space is tight, consider two 6v 235Ah batteries. They're about group 24 in size but are an inch or two taller. EDIT: they're often referred to as golf cart batteries.

Either way, your goal is to NOT exceed half of your rated Ah, amp hours. So with the two 12v 100Ah batteries (the amps double not the volts) you have 200Ah, use only 100.

With two 6v 235Ah batteries (the voltage doubles, not the amps) you have 235Ah, use only 117Ah.

Your two 12v 62Ah batteries (I assume you didn't double any numbers) probably give you 124Ah, use only 62Ah.

Besides the fridge, you have other parasitic draws. But the biggest killer is the squirrel cage blower of the furnace. Not much you can do about that.

One last thing, buy only true deep cycle batteries. Not RV/Marine batteries. They are a middle ground between a starter battery and a deep cycle battery. If it says CCAs or MCAs anywhere on the label, keep shopping for a true deep cycle.

On a side note, we use an electric mattress pad powered by an inverter (12vdc to 120vac). I don't have the Amp usage handy, but we use less batteries for this than running the furnace. And, I don't have to refill the propane!
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Old 04-03-2021, 06:57 PM   #4
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Mike is right...I have since upgraded to 4- 6 volts in series and parallel to accomplish a total of 450 ah....if you have the room and the funds I would go for it....but what Mike said at the minimum would be lot better than you have now....
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Old 04-04-2021, 11:49 AM   #5
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Sola and Mike, thanks for the advise. I will probably upgrade to 2 100ah batteries. I am also seeing 200ah batteries online. Not sure if those are a good option.
I sure wasn't considering the furnace blower using a lot of juice.

Would it be possible to add a 100ah to the current setup?
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Old 04-04-2021, 12:33 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Krokokid View Post
Sola and Mike, thanks for the advise.

1. I will probably upgrade to 2 100ah batteries.

2. I am also seeing 200ah batteries online. Not sure if those are a good option.

3. I sure wasn't considering the furnace blower using a lot of juice.

4. Would it be possible to add a 100ah to the current setup?
1. If you plan to boondock a lot, or for extended times, I would say your "battery bank" should be nothing smaller than this.

2. A single battery that is 200Ah must be physically big. Before you spend money, figure out what you can shoehorn into your battery location. My TT had two golf cart batteries (think group 24 in size) when I bought it used. I thought no big deal, I can easily put two group 27s on the tongue there. But I didn't consider those black plastic battery boxes. Two of those did NOT fit. And, the factory put a couple DC circuit breakers in the way there too. I had to rewire the breakers to a new location on the tongue, then I bought the smallest group 27 battery boxes I could find and I still had to carve up both boxes and lids to make them fit the only space I had. I guess that's a long way of saying pay closer attention than I did to your "battery location" size restrictions.

3. Not much you can do about this.

4. Sadly no. Whatever your using to charge the battery won't know 1 battery from 10. It will read the bank of batteries as 1 big battery and charge until it sees the proper voltage of the pack. I think this will either over charge the small Ah battery or it will under charge the bigger Ah battery. Either way, you'll be buying a second battery soon. I think you have to bite the bullet and get two equal size batteries at the same time.
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Old 04-04-2021, 08:23 PM   #7
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The only real minimum option is to get rid of the batteries you have and if you have room upgrade to at least 2 - 100 amp hr batteries...I had interstates.....they have work well for me in my last 3 RVs.....or as mike suggested 2 - 6 volt batteries in series for 12 volt with 225 amp hrs........
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Old 04-04-2021, 10:02 PM   #8
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Per the info you provided, your fridge needs 90 amp hours each day. Your furnace, if it runs 100% will need 150-240 amp hours. But it cycles on/off, so realistically it might run 30-50% of the time. So it needs, 75-120 amp hrs each day.

These two items, will need 165-210 amp hours each day. So in 8 hours, they will consume 55-70 amp hours. This calculation does not include any other power consumption like lights, power inverts, radio, gas detectors, cpap, etc.

If you want to go 24 hours without a recharge, you probably need 250-300+ amp hours of usable power in your battery pack. My goal is to be able to go 12+ hours between charges.

6 volt GC batteries give you the most amp hours for the buck.
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Old 04-05-2021, 10:45 AM   #9
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Appreciate all the replies. It now makes sense to me why these batteries barely make it thru the night, running fridge and furnace.
I’ll will look in GC batteries. Any recommendations?
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Old 04-05-2021, 11:14 AM   #10
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I would recommend starting off by looking at your tongue weight capacity. Don't need to create a new issue.

I had considered Duracell's EGC2, it had a 230amp hour rating. It looked like it had a decent reviews. and was $125 each. Just to much added tongue weight for my HTT.

When boondocking, I have carried a spare 12V battery in the back of my TV. If needed I would pull it out, and set it on the ground next to the tongue. Disconnect the depleted battery and use the spare (prior to having a generator).

With my Cpap, and sometimes wanting heat, I may still do something like this. But wire up the two batteries in parallel, when I get to camp.
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Old 04-06-2021, 04:28 PM   #11
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I have been doing a lot of research on this. I have it down to two choices. Unless you are rich and want to do Lithium.

12 V 155 AH AGM battery (no water to maintain)
https://www.vmaxtanks.com/XTR12-155-...ry-_p_154.html

6 V 220 AH AGM Battery (no water to maintain)
https://www.batterystuff.com/batteri...y-gpl-4ct.html

I am going with the 155 AH 12 V. Will double my current capacity from my Costco 12V.
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Old 04-24-2021, 03:51 PM   #12
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62Ah x 12v x 2 = 1488. your old 62Ah batteries could theoretically give you 1488 watts of power. if everything in them was 100% good, and 100% charged.

figure out your load and how to adjust the load to maximize your coverage
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Old 04-24-2021, 05:28 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Krokokid View Post
Appreciate all the replies. It now makes sense to me why these batteries barely make it thru the night, running fridge and furnace.
I’ll will look in GC batteries. Any recommendations?
I'm retired from Napa Auto Parts. If you want to go to a pair of 6 volt golf cart batteries, here's what you want

Batteries: Part# 8146. Those are 235ah batteries, get two of them, these will add about 45 lbs to your tongue weight. Group 24's weigh 45.5 lbs each, these weigh 68 lbs each, about the same as adding a third group 24, but much mor capable.

Battery boxes: Part# 730-6745 Balkamp. Those are the taller 6 volt battery boxes, you'll need two each

Ground cable: Part# 781118. That is a 42 in lug to lug 4 gauge cable. Connect that to the negative terminal of the second battery and then to the ground point connection on the trailer.

When I made the change on my trailer, I used the factory ground cable as my jumper wire from the negative post of the first battery to the positive post of the second battery to give me 12 volts.

Like you, I had a pair of group 24 12 volt batteries wire in parallel. Those batteries were good for 135 minutes at 25 amps draw.

Now with the new 6 volt batteries wired in series, they are good for 396 minutes at 25 amps draw.

Any other questions, let me know.
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Old 04-24-2021, 10:20 PM   #14
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Yep if you have a 12 volt. Best thing is two six volt in line, make sure all your lights are LED AND TWO SOLAR PANELS ON THE ROOF help a lot. We changed ours out right after we bought ours. Now we can have heater on all night, watch tv for three to fours hours before bed, charge our cell phones and have power left over at about 12.2 on the battery. Lowest we’ve ever gotten was down to 11.8 in the morning when it was really cold so heater was on a lot and we watched tv until midnight. Good luck...
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Old 04-25-2021, 12:30 AM   #15
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another thing about amp hour ratings... "rate" is important. on lead acid batteries the main standard is the 7 hour rate. so, a 35 Ah battery can make 5 amps for 7 hours.... or, 7 amps for 5 hours. in theory it can make 35 amps for one hour, but it won't. maybe 70% of that. and the theoretical 70 amps for 1/2 hour.... no way. the faster you draw power, the lower the actual return rate will be. and the reverse is true.. the lower the draw, the longer you can maintain system voltage. its all in the chemistry of the battery. thats why lithium batteries are the "new" thing. less internal resistance means they do not suffer these variations to such significant degrees. they deliver nearly full power until dead. NiCads did the same but were expensive and tricky to service

as far as tongue weight... if you make a battery box aft of the axle the tongue weight will be less
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Old 04-25-2021, 07:25 AM   #16
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2 Trojan T105, 6v batts wired in series. Best thing you can do. This plus 2-100w solar panels and we barely have to run generator as long as there is sun during the day. Should get several years from them if maintained. I boondock 95% of the time, during the winter, in desert, so I run heater for sure, TV, inverter for coffee pot, laptop, etc.
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Old 04-26-2021, 09:32 AM   #17
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After much feedback from other members and a bit more research online. I am changing to LifePO. ( See my post above where i was going to do AGM) I am going to do the Ampere 100ah 12 v for about $540 each from Amazon. I do have to upgrade my converter, but I will get significantly more energy and life out of these. So thanks for the group to your thoughts, that little bit more research changed my mind.
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Old 05-12-2021, 02:48 PM   #18
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Prepare for $800-$1000 in batteries? 4xGC?
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Old 11-30-2021, 09:06 PM   #19
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It appears that you went with 12V batteries instead of 6V connected in series. Any particular reason why you went one way instead of the other?

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Old 12-01-2021, 02:11 PM   #20
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If your fridge has a LP option vs. electric, that might save on the draw a bit. I noticed with my heater, every time the heat kicked in you could hear the igniter click which suggested it used electricity. If it's cycling several times overnight, that might draw some power. The smoke and CO2 alarms draw some power, not to mention any lighting.
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