Additional batterys

[1SGPETE]

When we bought our 2005 Class C, it had one coach battery. It was no good so I replaced it. I recently added another 12 volt battery. It has doubled our battery life while boondocking. I am considering adding a third battery. My question is, "will this add enough battery life to make it worth while?" Utube says yes.
Has anyone else added a second or a third battery with good results?
1SG Pete

[RogerR]

Are you depleting both batteries in one night? Or do they last 2 or 3 nights.

Is there anything you can do to cut 12 volt usage?


Your answer may lie in adding solar. Even the inexpensive 'portable" panels you can buy with 100 watts rated output may be enough to keep you going. Alternatively a small genset to charge them when you are doing some major uses, like microwave use or other heavy uses could be the answer.


You need to know how you use the power to rate how much you will need. Also, finding ways to drop the load would also help a lot. Look for power uses you can block. For example your 120 volt ac converter uses 1/4 to 1/2 amp. when there is no 120 volt power being used.



If you have any conventional bulbs, change them out to LEDs.



Check the search function above to get some broad knowledge.

[Mustang65]

How old is battery 1?
How old was battery 1, when you added battery #2?


Do you do a lot of dry-camping?
Do you monitor your batteries voltage levels?
Ever kill your batteries (10.5Volts is a DEAD battery)?


Don
My Registry

RVing with SOLAR

[1SGPETE]

Originally Posted by Mustang65

How old is battery 1?
How old was battery 1, when you added battery #2?


Do you do a lot of dry-camping?
Do you monitor your batteries voltage levels?
Ever kill your batteries (10.5Volts is a DEAD battery)?


Don
My Registry

RVing with SOLAR

Yes , most of our camping is dry camping.
All I have is a gauge that shows the battery level, but like the gray and black water tank indicator, you have to take it with a grain. I don't think they are accurate.
We did run the battery down one night before we added the second one.
Since then we have had no problem with them going dead.
I have no way to tell if they are at 10.5 or more since I don't have that type of a monitor gauge.

[1SGPETE]

Originally Posted by RogerR

Are you depleting both batteries in one night? Or do they last 2 or 3 nights.

Is there anything you can do to cut 12 volt usage?


Your answer may lie in adding solar. Even the inexpensive 'portable" panels you can buy with 100 watts rated output may be enough to keep you going. Alternatively a small genset to charge them when you are doing some major uses, like microwave use or other heavy uses could be the answer.


You need to know how you use the power to rate how much you will need. Also, finding ways to drop the load would also help a lot. Look for power uses you can block. For example your 120 volt ac converter uses 1/4 to 1/2 amp. when there is no 120 volt power being used.



If you have any conventional bulbs, change them out to LEDs.



Check the search function above to get some broad knowledge.

WE have considered solar but since only the interior lights run on the battery, everything else requires the generator to be running to operate. The microwave, the TV the wall plugs and the AC. I can see no reason to add solar.
Currently, we run the generator each morning for 2 to 3 hours. We charge everything like the computers and phones at that time, then we run it again for up to 2 hours each evening to watch a movie on the TV. This recharges what ever we used during the day.
Since we run the power vent in the bed room if it is hot at night, it works fine all night with the addition of the second battery. We also have a battery pack that we charge while the generator is running, that we can use to charge anything that may run down during the day, like my wire's phone. She recharges it in the cab of the vehicle when we are on the road.
The oldest battery is about 8 months old. I replaced it when we found the original to be bad after buying the motor home. Then added another out in Quartzite this spring. We did run the first one down once while night camping on this same trip.

[GHen]

Sounds like you have enough power based on what you have said.

We have a lot more using 12v. Lights, controller for refer and HW when on propane, smoke detector, carbon monoxide detector, water pump, bath fan, furnace, radio, stove fan, tv antenna booster, awnings, slide outs, levelers, cell phone booster...probably missed something. Biggest draws are heat fan and water pump, but most everything still has a little parasitic draw.

We converted to two 6v batteries. The best MOD I ever added was two 100 watt solar panels to keep them charged, even when cloudy.
Just make sure your two batteries are always perfectly matched, one good battery and one poor battery will always level to the worst of the two, so you end up with just two poor batteries. It’s better to keep them separate if they are not exactly the same manufacturer, model and age.

[RetiredOne]

Originally Posted by 1SGPETE

Since then we have had no problem with them going dead.
I have no way to tell if they are at 10.5 or more since I don't have that type of a monitor gauge.

One of the BEST investment in tools is a digital voltage tester. Considering how much "faith" you're putting on those batteries, being able to know what state they are at, are systems charging, are they dead, etc. is a VERY important detail. If you run down a deep cycle battery once or twice, you can permanently hurt them from holding a charge.