battery upgrade

[Gordy1]

My 2017 Jayco eagle 5th wheel came from the factory with a single 12 v battery.
I am wanting to remove this battery and replace it with 4 200 amp batteries.
My dilemma is this. I know the four batteries have to be wired in parallel, but how do I wire it to the existing wires in the rv. Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated
Thanks,Gordon

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by Gordy1

My 2017 Jayco eagle 5th wheel came from the factory with a single 12 v battery.
I am wanting to remove this battery and replace it with 4 200 amp batteries.
My dilemma is this. I know the four batteries have to be wired in parallel, but how do I wire it to the existing wires in the rv. Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated
Thanks,Gordon

Just like you said, connect the batteries together and connect the same wires that came off the original battery and go into the rv and connect the same wires to the new batteries

[Stan&Sharon]

visit TSC, or someplace similar, and pickup some heavy duty cables... short ones, both red and black, so you can connect each battery to it's neighbor. Get 1 gauge if available (these are thick).


I have three batteries and there was very little room for them. Flooded batteries use water. Be aware, you'll want to check their water level monthly. Get yourself a battery hydrometer too. One of my three batteries had a bad cell. New battery too. This lowered all my batteries ability to hold a charge. Use distilled water (Walmart) and you may want to get a dispenser to make it easier.

Water is only an issue with flooded batteries. If you want to track how long you can run your camper off your batteries (based upon real-time loads, you'll want a SmartShunt which goes inline on your negative cable.

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by Gordy1

My 2017 Jayco eagle 5th wheel came from the factory with a single 12 v battery.
I am wanting to remove this battery and replace it with 4 200 amp batteries.
My dilemma is this. I know the four batteries have to be wired in parallel, but how do I wire it to the existing wires in the rv. Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated
Thanks,Gordon

Also you can pick up a lug crimper on Amazon and lugs, that way you can make your own cables exactly the right length instead of looping them or having big wide bends. Use heat shrink tubing with glue on the ends

[GHen]

I would love to hear more about the batteries that you have chosen.

[klassic]

Are you talking about the right thing?
4 12v 200ah lead acid batteries would be around 500lbs of batteries and I can’t picture an Eagle having room for them as they would be huge

[GHen]

Originally Posted by klassic

Are you talking about the right thing?
4 12v 200ah lead acid batteries would be around 500lbs of batteries and I can’t picture an Eagle having room for them as they would be huge

The 200amp Lead acid that I have seen are sealed, 134# each and around $300 each. The 536 pounds would add to hitch weight but in my case I would still be within limits. They would fit in my Eagle especially if the battery shelving setup was removed, which is a weak useless setup anyway.
The real issue is 400 amps “useable” is a lot, for what? Need a big inverter to make it usable. It certainly would make Boondocking for a few days easy. Maybe even a week if it was warm.

That said I would rather have 200 amps of lithium batteries and it would cost about the same and weigh around 61 pounds.

[ETCrockett]

Our Pinnacle was delivered with 6 12v batteries. These batteries have lasted 5 years and it is time to replace them. They will take a charge but will not hold a charge very long. The FW is at CW for regular maintenance and I told them I’m aware the batteries need to be replaced but I will do that later. I don’t want to pay their prices on 6 batteries. They said I could only replace 2 batteries or run the entire rig on just 2 batteries. First, if I’m going to keep 6 batteries, I would not just replace 2. The 4 older batteries would draw down and possibly shorten the life of the 2 good batteries. Why would Jayco deliver the FW with 6 batteries if 2 batteries is enough to run the rig? Am I missing something or should I stay the course and continue to use the battery setup as delivered?

[klassic]

Originally Posted by ETCrockett

Our Pinnacle was delivered with 6 12v batteries. These batteries have lasted 5 years and it is time to replace them. They will take a charge but will not hold a charge very long. The FW is at CW for regular maintenance and I told them I’m aware the batteries need to be replaced but I will do that later. I don’t want to pay their prices on 6 batteries. They said I could only replace 2 batteries or run the entire rig on just 2 batteries. First, if I’m going to keep 6 batteries, I would not just replace 2. The 4 older batteries would draw down and possibly shorten the life of the 2 good batteries. Why would Jayco deliver the FW with 6 batteries if 2 batteries is enough to run the rig? Am I missing something or should I stay the course and continue to use the battery setup as delivered?

Jayco doesn’t put the batteries in. That’s up to the dealer. I can’t believe you got 6 and didn’t make a special request. I got 1 small cheapo, and I have the residential fridge. I have heard people getting 2 when they have a residential fridge but that is rare too.
If you never go without shore power and have the residential , then two decent 12v would be fine.

[Skidawg]

ETCrockett, 6 12v batteries????? WOW !!!! That is almost un-heard of. 2017 Pinnacle 37MDQS and my 2021 Pinnacle 32RLTS both came with residential fridges and both came with only two 12v batteries. Never an issue nor have I really ever needed to upgrade. So strange to hear you got 6. As Klassic said, either way they we're special ordered or your Dealer did something SPECIAL for you. SKIDAWG

[kirkelli]

Make sure that all jumper connections to each battery are at the same lenghts.

[billcf7]

Originally Posted by ETCrockett

Our Pinnacle was delivered with 6 12v batteries. These batteries have lasted 5 years and it is time to replace them. They will take a charge but will not hold a charge very long. The FW is at CW for regular maintenance and I told them I’m aware the batteries need to be replaced but I will do that later. I don’t want to pay their prices on 6 batteries. They said I could only replace 2 batteries or run the entire rig on just 2 batteries. First, if I’m going to keep 6 batteries, I would not just replace 2. The 4 older batteries would draw down and possibly shorten the life of the 2 good batteries. Why would Jayco deliver the FW with 6 batteries if 2 batteries is enough to run the rig? Am I missing something or should I stay the course and continue to use the battery setup as delivered?

I'm guessing the 6 are lead acid. You could install 200 a/h lithium and probably end up with close to the same output. You can now get a 200 a/h for $1000 The dealer that sold the rv new would have installed the 6 batteries and added them to the cost

[Yooper906]

[QUOTE=ETCrockett;1023205] Why would Jayco deliver the FW with 6 batteries if 2 batteries is enough to run the rig? /QUOTE]

Quickest answer is they didn't. Jayco doesn't deliver trailers with batteries in them. Dealers furnish batteries. The delivery contractors use a separate owned battery to deliver. Mostly for breakaway. The running and brake lights and brakes run from their 7 way.

[ETCrockett]

Originally Posted by klassic

Jayco doesn’t put the batteries in. That’s up to the dealer. I can’t believe you got 6 and didn’t make a special request. I got 1 small cheapo, and I have the residential fridge. I have heard people getting 2 when they have a residential fridge but that is rare too.
If you never go without shore power and have the residential , then two decent 12v would be fine.

I have the residential fridge on mine as well. We don’t boondock often except at the racetrack. With the 6 12v batteries I can easily go 8 hours before the voltage drops down enough to run the portable generator. Does having 6 batteries give me the overall extra life being they lasted 5 years?

Here is a picture of the setup. There are 3 batteries on each shelf.

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by ETCrockett

I have the residential fridge on mine as well. We don’t boondock often except at the racetrack. With the 6 12v batteries I can easily go 8 hours before the voltage drops down enough to run the portable generator. Does having 6 batteries give me the overall extra life being they lasted 5 years?

Here is a picture of the setup. There are 3 batteries on each shelf.

Just wondering what gauge cables did they use. My Jayco came with 2/0 welding cable

[GHen]

Originally Posted by ETCrockett

I have the residential fridge on mine as well. We don’t boondock often except at the racetrack. With the 6 12v batteries I can easily go 8 hours before the voltage drops down enough to run the portable generator. Does having 6 batteries give me the overall extra life being they lasted 5 years?

Here is a picture of the setup. There are 3 batteries on each shelf.

I did the same, two batteries on each shelf. The rivets gave way and the top shelf fell on top of the bottom batteries. Must have hit to many pot holes over a rough Wyoming mountain pass. I’m now removing the whole setup, putting the batteries on the bottom and inverter, shunt and other wiring above.

[F350guy]

When we got our Pinnacle I asked for 2 6 volt batteries. We rarely are without shore power so no issue running our residential fridge. They will also operate the jacks and slides when needed but I'm not sure how many cycles it would take to run them down. I'm hoping I never find out. We had 2 6 volts on our previous fifth wheel which also had a residential fridge and never had an issue in the 7 years we owned it. I have Trojan batteries as did our previous fifth wheel.

[mjanssentx]

Time to look at lithium batteries...you need half of the capacity (because you can use the entire capacity instead of just 50% for lead acid) and they weigh only about half.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There are some nuances to be aware of but well worth the super easy conversion. BTW...the out of pocket is more but they are supposed to last twice as long, will have to wait and see on that one.

Prices have come down by almost half in the past 1-2 years...so now is a good time to do it.

[bearkeller]

Bite the bullet and go lithium. Go to Battle Born Batteries and review their comparison between lead acid and lithium. What sold me was how many times they can be discharged and re charged plus constant voltage rather than decreasing voltage as the discharge. Battle Born has a 10 year warranty so if you trade/sell the RV take them with you

[Slurugger]

Gordon - I am having a similar conversation in another thread. I would guess the converter on your 2017 is similar to the converter on my 2018 NP and won't charge lithiums without some change / upgrade to the converter. It was news to me so thought I would share.