House Battery

[cegates01]

If I want to add an additional 12 volt battery to the one that is coming with the Class C, do they need to be the same type and rating battery? Assuming Jayco will put in a deep cycle battery in the Redhawk SE 27N that I have coming.

[morleyz]

Originally Posted by cegates01

If I want to add an additional 12 volt battery to the one that is coming with the Class C, do they need to be the same type and rating battery? Assuming Jayco will put in a deep cycle battery in the Redhawk SE 27N that I have coming.

Yes, you will want them to be the same size/rating (identical would be best) otherwise you will get uneven charge/discharge across the batteries. Also, in case it's not obvious, make sure you wire in parallel (+ to +, - to -).

[RetiredOne]

Typically, the battery provided by Jayco isn't that great, unless the dealer upgraded it. Plus, while the rig sits on the factory lot and dealer lot, the battery usually gets totally discharged, which damages it. It might take a charge, but will have very little capacity.

So, you wouldn't want to put a new battery alongside a used battery, they won't charge evenly. My rig, last year, came with a weak battery, and I knew it, and temporarily put in a second weak battery I had, just to give me a bit more capacity. We were always camping with full hookups, so I wasn't concerned.

At the beginning of this year, I put in two brand new, matching batteries to start the season.

Also, my chassis battery was weak, and wouldn't hold a charge for the same reason I made in the first paragraph. I had to replace that soon after bringing the rig home.

[eagleback]

I would go with two golf cart 6 volt trojan batteries wired in series. You will get more capacity than 2 12 volt.