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Old 06-12-2018, 05:41 AM   #1
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House Battery Replacement on Seneca

At just over a year, the OEM Harris batteries in the Seneca are getting tired and dropping voltage pretty quickly. I’m not sure if I should get 4 new deep cell 12 volts or switch over to 6 volts. I know the 6 volts will give more hours but is it worth it?

I would appreciate if anyone can post a photo of how the four 6 volts are wired.

Lastly, where did you get your batteries? I see Sam’s club has Duracells but they only come with a one year warranty. Any other suggestions?

Thanks, Mark
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Old 06-12-2018, 05:59 AM   #2
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Mark I am in same boat as you. They barely make it through the night starting now at 12.7 at 6 pm then down to 12 by by 7 am. Just led lights and some intermittent water pump usage.

I have been having the same thoughts. How to go. I am thinking of agm 6 volt batteries as I want to reduce the maintenance and reduce corrosion on the wiring in the bay. Problem is double the cost of regular batteries. I can get 4 6 volt batteries for about $160 each or go with agm at $300 each.

Then you have to through in the amp hours and do that math as well. Lots of moving parts. I just wish they had used better batteries to start with and I would not have this problem for a couple more years.
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Old 06-12-2018, 08:27 AM   #3
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If you have space for an even number of batteries, I don’t know why anyone would go with a 12V battery. I have had both. 6V is so much the way to go. The batteries are designed for this type of application, not adapted to work in this situation. The lead plates are thicker, more amp hours, more usable amp hours, better tolerance to lower voltages/recharge cycles etc....

Sams club (on the East coast at least) sells Duracell batteries which are rebranded DEKA batteries which in my opinion are great batteries. So do most heavy duty diesel manufacturers since they install the DEKA battery in many heavy equipment. I’ve owned many, I’ve been much more satisfied with them over other popular brands. As soon as my current batteries are done, they will be replaced with the Duracell brand batteries.

Unless you are really using the batteries to the 99% all the time, there is no need for AGM batteries. The cost really doesn’t justify the increase in performance once you reach multiple batteries. On my old class C, I went AGM but I was only using one battery and needed all the help I could get. The additional $80 was fine for one battery. When I change out my class A, I will increase my batteries from 4 to 6, drastically increase my amp hours and still be money ahead of 4 AGM batteries.
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Old 06-12-2018, 08:47 AM   #4
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Even though mine came with brand new Interstate 12v batteries instead of the Harris ones, the first thing I did was swap them out for 4 - 6v trojan 105s. Learned from my past RVs and my dad to just do it right off the bat...you wont be sorry. This time I even put on a watering system and takes about 3 minutes to top them all off once a month.
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Old 06-12-2018, 09:08 AM   #5
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Hi Mark!
My Harris batteries died an early death too, and 6-volt was the way I went also. I have attached a picture I made for another Seneca owner to explain how I wired mine, and I also went with Trojan's "Hydrolink" system to make watering super simple and foolproof as stated above. I think your tray is more the size of mine as pictured. The S2RV chassis has all 6 batteries (chassis and house) grouped together, but not connected together.

Being that you live in the great state of Florida, where you can't swing a cat around without hitting a golf course, you likely have several battery suppliers catering to the courses. That is good, they probably move a lot of Trojans and fresh is better. So if you golf or know someone that does, see if the course's maintenance people can direct you to a supplier.

While I did not purchase "blemished" batteries, I have heard some suppliers will offer discounted batteries that have slight case irregularities that in no way affect their operation or longevity. Might be something to look into.

In my picture please excuse the dirty condition of my batteries, the picture was taken while on the road to help another owner. The battery compartment is open to the underside and road dirt ends up in there. I clean them after every trip!
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Old 06-13-2018, 01:50 PM   #6
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You convinced me. I bought deep cycle 6 volt batteries 225 ah. Now, what gauge wiring between the two 6 volt batteries? I can easily find pre made 4 gauge but will have to make my own 2 gauge. Is the 4 enough or do I need 2? Thanks for any help.
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Old 06-13-2018, 02:05 PM   #7
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I used the existing cables when I converted mine. I have one short red one connecting one set of batteries (positive to negative) and one short black on the other set. I think you can see them in my picture (above).

I believe I even had a leftover connecting cable or two when I was done. No issues at all since completing that job.
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Old 06-13-2018, 02:08 PM   #8
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Great. I just picked up the batteries and wanted to be sure I have everything first. Thanks for your help.
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Old 06-13-2018, 03:23 PM   #9
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Hey Paul, if you wait until next week we can FaceTime and do it together.
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Old 06-13-2018, 04:53 PM   #10
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Hey Paul, if you wait until next week we can FaceTime and do it together.


Too slow all done. Now to get them fully charged up and see how they do.

Only issue I had was there are four positive wires and the jumper so I had to split the auxiliary wires to go on each positive post. With four 12 volt batteries you have more posts to spread out. With only two posts it gets hard to fit four connectors under it. I am sure they make expansion posts but I was too lazy to go back to the auto parts store.
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Old 06-16-2018, 03:42 PM   #11
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Is this pretty much the electrical connections for the four 6 volt batteries? I keep having visions of hooking this up and smoking the 12 volt system.

Thanks
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Old 06-16-2018, 05:01 PM   #12
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Is this pretty much the electrical connections for the four 6 volt batteries? I keep having visions of hooking this up and smoking the 12 volt system.

Thanks
Looks good. That is indeed the way I did mine.
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Old 06-17-2018, 03:50 PM   #13
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Done. And it seems to work with no smoke or odor. Lol

Went with Duracell’s since they were readily available at Sams Club and got pretty good reviews. Most of our boon docking will probably be at Walmart.

Thanks for the assistance.
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Old 06-17-2018, 05:48 PM   #14
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Nice job Mark, glad it passed the "smoke test"!

Only thing I might suggest would be applying some battery terminal anti-corrosion material to the connections. I use the kind in a spray can and use several coats to completely protect them.
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Old 06-17-2018, 06:37 PM   #15
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Nice job Mark, glad it passed the "smoke test"!

Only thing I might suggest would be applying some battery terminal anti-corrosion material to the connections. I use the kind in a spray can and use several coats to completely protect them.
Will do Rob. Thanks again for all the guidance you provide everyone here.

And I still want to get you down here in the winter
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Old 06-18-2018, 08:06 AM   #16
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Only issue I had doing this was I tripped the chassis breaker. Not sure how or why but I lost the jacks and door stairs. Reset the breaker and everything seems good now. Could just be a coincidence but this is the first time I had the breaker trip. I would have been stressed out if not for this site. Thanks everyone for posting tips and troubleshooting.
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Old 06-19-2018, 12:39 PM   #17
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Nice job Mark, glad it passed the "smoke test"!

Only thing I might suggest would be applying some battery terminal anti-corrosion material to the connections. I use the kind in a spray can and use several coats to completely protect them.
Hi Rob,

Just bought some of this spray protector but have never used it before. Is it applied to the cable ends only or do you apply it to the battery post as well?

Thanks
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Old 06-19-2018, 01:06 PM   #18
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I sprayed it on the terminals as well as the cable end. I think it stops corrosion on the metallic parts.

And I hope changing the batteries out is worth the trouble. I’m not sure how to check it until we dry camp. I am not even sure what to expect. Should I be able to go a couple of days without power using TVs, coffee maker, etc? What is a realistic expectation while living of battery power?

And from what I am reading we should recharge the batteries at 12.2 volts which is 50% and don’t go below 12 volts which is 25%. Does this sound about right?
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Old 06-19-2018, 02:22 PM   #19
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Hi Rob,

Just bought some of this spray protector but have never used it before. Is it applied to the cable ends only or do you apply it to the battery post as well?

Thanks
Yes, the cable end and terminal as Mark did. It seals them from the atmosphere, which around batteries can include hydrogen and sulfuric acid fumes. Combined with other elements and moisture on the terminals, you get the resultant buildup. It actually can be a different compound on the positive and negative terminals, but no chemistry lessons from me today!
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Old 06-19-2018, 02:48 PM   #20
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Coffee makers and microwaves are real drags on Amps and can draw down pretty quickly. I have not had a chance to unplug yet so not really sure what we are going to experience. I would get about a day out of the Harris batteries last year and was barely making it overnight before I replaced them.
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