Quality

[newmarpusher]

Originally Posted by rodz

I just got an email from the dealer where I bought it. He agreed with me and offered to upgrade the inverter and add more batteries at a good discount. Hats off to Kyle at Midway RV in Grand Rapids.

Rodz,

Do yourself a big favor. If you are upgrading batteries and inverter/converters, consider AGM batteries and the appropriate converter/charger. AGM's require absolutely no maintenance, have a super low self-discharge rate and will not gas or cause corrosion in your battery bay.

We are avid boondocker's and have always replaced our battery banks with an over-spec'd AGM battery bank. Amp hours are king for boondocking. Try to cram as many amp hours you can into the space you have. Multiple 6 volt batteries wired in series are best. On our latest custom ordered Newmar Ventana 4037, AGM batteries were the very first custom order we inquired about. 8 6-volt AGM's and we are good to go with this new RV!

["007"]

Question Pusher wouldn't 12v AGM's give you more back up power than the 6v AGM's?
The reason I asked I replaced my two 6v wet cells with the two 12v AGM's and they have served me pretty well maybe I should have gotten four 6v AG's, just asking for others.

[newmarpusher]

Originally Posted by "007"

Question Pusher wouldn't 12v AGM's give you more back up power than the 6v AGM's?
The reason I asked I replaced my two 6v wet cells with the two 12v AGM's and they have served me pretty well maybe I should have gotten four 6v AG's, just asking for others.

No more power with 12v's vs 6 volts. With 6volt's each pair is wired in series to act as one 12 volt. The advantage of using multiple lower voltage batteries wired in series is that one bad battery can't drag the entire bank down to it's level. If you could fit it, multiple 2 volt batteries would be even better. In my case that wouldn't work for there is only room for 8 batteries. using 2 volts ones, I'd have to drop down to only 6 which would give me less amp hours. If I could fit 12 - 2 volts....

[J Birder]

You might also consider installing a ventless, catalytic heater as an auxiliary heat source. They are inexpensive, very efficient, and use no electricity at all. There are several brands available, but my preference is the Olympian Wave series from Camco. They offer 3000, 6000, and 8000 BTU models.

We boondock a lot, so to save battery power, I installed the 3000 BTU model in the bedroom. At night, I turn it on, and set the furnace to 60, just in case. Even in sub-freezing temperatures, the furnace rarely, if ever, turns on.

Joel