Happy with the new batteries

[Hawkez]

I took my boys fishing Fontenelle Reservoir in southwest Wyoming over the past several days and wanted to give my opinion on the batteries that I recently put in my trailer.

 

In July I bought 2 Energizer EGC2-122 (6V/232 amp hour) batteries from Sam's Club.  I have taken the trailer out a couple of times since I bought them but only for a couple of days at a time.  We spent 5 days and 4 nights in camp with no ability to recharge the batteries (I don't have a generator or solar panels, yet.)  I was nervous about them lasting the trip so I tried to be as conservative as possible and as much as 2 young boys will allow.  The highs were in the 50's and 60's but the lows were in the low to mid 20's and it felt  it for sure.  I kept the thermostat low at night while we slept so as to not kill my power, but ever being conservative the furnace ran quite a bit.  I have a Mr Heater that I run inside the trailer in the morning to warm things up and that helped to take the chill off.  After I got camp set up the batteries were sitting at 12.7 vdc and yesterday just as I was pulling out I measured them again and they were at 12.2 vdc.  Not bad at all in my opinion.  Granted, I am not using the power that some use.  I tried to use the lights as little as possible, but the we did run the radio in the trailer about 4-5 hours a day and I was half convinced my boys were going to wear out the water pump--we are still working on showing them how to not turn the water on full blast to wash their hands.  So all-in-all, I would recommend these batteries to anyone that may be looking.

 

I am going to look into a solar panel kit.  It would have been nice to have kept the trailer warmer and knowing that they will get some sort of recharge throughout the day.  I guess I'll put that on my letter to Santa. 

 

It was a great trip for Father and Sons.  I think I may have an issue with the thermostat in the truck but other than that I have nothing to complain about.

 

Here is a picture of my youngest son and his 19" rainbow.  Kind of makes it all worth it.

[MnTom]

I put two 6V golf cart batteries in mine last spring. When I was broke down in Michigan for three days I did like you, conserved on batteries, but they show no sign of loosing power. I am happy with my decision to use them!

[Mopar1973Man]

We spent 5 days and 4 nights in camp with no ability to recharge the batteries

 

Hua? You sure do have a way to recharge the batteries. You've got a wonderful Cummins powered Bosch/ND alternator that will easily recharge your batteries on your RV. Just plug in your trailer cord and fire up the truck. It will recharge the house batteries. This is for future reference instead of being a total miser now you can live and relax.

 

As for the Big Fish that is nice... Big ol' Rainbow Trout...

[dave110]

New to the camping world here. What's the advantage to 2 6's instead of 1 12? And how do you wire them to get 12v?

[Mopar1973Man]

Smaller voltage batteries typically have more amp/hour power. Where single 12V batteries typically have less...

http://www.trojanbattery.com/markets/renewable-energy/

 

http://www.loveyourrv.com/trojan-battery/

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkO7HJFvp5o

[Killer223]

awesome times!!! i to have two 6V and made it 6 days with ease. i do have a built in generator and now a solar panel. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Solar-Panel-PV-100-Watt-Bundle-Kit-Poly-100W-Watts-Off-Grid-12v-RV-Boat-RV-Home-/301339751896?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item46293fb5d8

 

but i didn't need the run the gen for the 6 day out and still watched the news and listened to radio weather reports.

 

congrats on the making memories.

[dave110]

Awesome! Thanks guys!! I'll try 2 6's when I need a battery.

[rancherman]

when you double the  6's (in series)  which  gives you   12v,  .....  the amps stay the  same.   ( say each battery  has  800  amps)    then  total for the  2 batteries   is  still 800  amps

When you  double the  12's  (in parallel)  the volts  stay the  same  and  if  each battery is  say  650 amps  then  the   system  will then  be  1300 amps.

 

I'd go  12 parallel  any day of the week.

Edited October 19, 2014 by rancherman

[Mopar1973Man]

I work with both methods... (Series and Parallel)

 

Four 6 volt batteries in series to give me the 24 volts the inverter requires to operate. Then parallel in another batch of four 6 volt batteries to increase the amp/hours. So each row gives me 410 amp hours for a total of 820 amp/hours. But took the 6 volt batteries because they have more amp/hours over the 12 volt batteries. Just like a RV but this system powers my actual house.

[MnTom]

when you double the  6's (in series)  which  gives you   12v,  .....  the amps stay the  same.   ( say each battery  has  800  amps)    then  total for the  2 batteries   is  still 800  amps

When you  double the  12's  (in parallel)  the volts  stay the  same  and  if  each battery is  say  650 amps  then  the   system  will then  be  1300 amps.

 

I'd go  12 parallel  any day of the week.

While that may be true, the AMP HOURS reserve capacity is greatly increased with the two six volt batteries. Why do you suppose heavy/long battery draw equipment have two sixes instead of two twelves?

[Hawkez]

when you double the 6's (in series) which gives you 12v, ..... the amps stay the same. ( say each battery has 800 amps) then total for the 2 batteries is still 800 amps

When you double the 12's (in parallel) the volts stay the same and if each battery is say 650 amps then the system will then be 1300 amps.

I'd go 12 parallel any day of the week.

You are correct, but where do you find a 12 volt battery with 650 amp hours? And when you find them how big are they and what is the cost? For the money, the 6v gave me the most amp hours for my money. The most I could find in a 12 volt was 90 amp hours, in parrallel that would only give me 180. There are a lot of options out there and with some imagination and $$ you can put together a system that works best for your situation.

[Mopar1973Man]

If space and weight wasn't a issue.

http://www.trojanbattery.com/product/ind33-2v/

 

2,405 Amp/hours @ 100 hours... 278 pounds per battery! Now that some power.

[diesel4life]

Nice pics Hawkez!

I spent a summer in Green River working construction. One of the guys had a boat and we would spend most of our evenings on Flaming Gorge Reservoir either fishing or water skiing, depending on our mood and how hot it was. One weekend instead of going home we took the boat to Fontenelle and spent 2 days there. The fishing was pretty good. We roughed it for the 2 Days we were there and had a blast.

[rancherman]

You are correct, but where do you find a 12 volt battery with 650 amp hours? And when you find them how big are they and what is the cost? For the money, the 6v gave me the most amp hours for my money. The most I could find in a 12 volt was 90 amp hours, in parrallel that would only give me 180. There are a lot of options out there and with some imagination and $$ you can put together a system that works best for your situation.

every piece of heavy equipment  I own  has  at least   2 12's. some  have 4.   all in parallel.      and  they are   800  amps each.      They typically  cost  me  about   140-150  bucks

 

I don't fool around  with  multifple  6's,   Last  set up  I had oem  was  a   1964  JD   4010..   which  has  long  been  converted  to  12v  system.      

why  do I suppose   6 volt battery  is  deeper  draw than  12v??    I  don't know.     why don't cha  'splain it to  all of us.   

BTW,   I  was  originally  talking about   'cranking amps',   not  Ahrs.      I've  no  Idea  what  'capacity'  my   batts  have  (amp/hrs)  

Still,    I did a quick  search to   see if  anyone else  asked  this  basic  electrical   law..    yep.      series connected batts =   double the volts,  and  parallel  connected  batts =   double the   ampere hours. It's  pretty  common question in  the  yachting/home wind/solar charging  forums.

 

......... Of  course,  I blurted all this out  before  I  realized   WHAT KIND OF  BATTERY   you all were talking about.         apparently,   there is  more than one kind of    batt..     Here  I go,  comparing  oranges  and  apples again.

never mind.

Edited October 20, 2014 by rancherman

[MnTom]

If you are looking at STARTING batteries you are correct with your conclusions Rancherman. The two six volt would be for a camper or something like that. That is where the Ahrs comes into play. Sorry for the confusion......

[rancherman]

gotcha.

Starting batts are more for massive 'unload' of amps, whereas deep cycle types are for slow long term discharge.

[MnTom]

gotcha.

Starting batts are more for massive 'unload' of amps, whereas deep cycle types are for slow long term discharge.

EXACTLY!! That is why we have two batteries in our trucks.

[Mopar1973Man]

gotcha.

Starting batts are more for massive 'unload' of amps, whereas deep cycle types are for slow long term discharge.

 

 

EXACTLY!! That is why we have two batteries in our trucks.

 

 

Bingo! Now realize Marine Deep Cycles are a cross breed between both so its got enough starting amps for engine but has some sort of amp/hours as well. True Deep cycles are design much differently than starting batteries.