How long should my batteries last?

[OCDUNE]

Hey guys, I thought I would get a topic going, see if there is some life here...

I bought a 2001 WWFT2200. My wife and I made a short trip to test everything out. Turns out the batteries were shot, the LP detector started beeping at 3 am because the batts were low. I replace both batteries with 6Vs, just wondering how long they should last. All I will be running will be some interior lights at night and the heater. Is it unreasonable to expect them to go all weekend without being charged? I won't be using an invertor or even a 12v T.V.

We are going to Gordon's Well this weekend, so I will report back on how they did. I don't mind running the Generator at the dunes, but I am mostly concerned about summer camping trips since all of extended family will be tent camping and won't appreciate the noise.

This trailer has an Intellipower 9145 converter, so I bought the Charge Wizard (similar to the IQ4 for the newer WWs), so I will be going into the weekend with a full charge.

So can you give me ideas on how long a normal 12v system or 2 6v batt system should last?

Thanks

OCDUNE

[OCDUNE]

Hey guys, I thought I would get a topic going, see if there is some life here...

I bought a 2001 WWFT2200. My wife and I made a short trip to test everything out. Turns out the batteries were shot, the LP detector started beeping at 3 am because the batts were low. I replace both batteries with 6Vs, just wondering how long they should last. All I will be running will be some interior lights at night and the heater. Is it unreasonable to expect them to go all weekend without being charged? I won't be using an invertor or even a 12v T.V.

We are going to Gordon's Well this weekend, so I will report back on how they did. I don't mind running the Generator at the dunes, but I am mostly concerned about summer camping trips since all of extended family will be tent camping and won't appreciate the noise.

This trailer has an Intellipower 9145 converter, so I bought the Charge Wizard (similar to the IQ4 for the newer WWs), so I will be going into the weekend with a full charge.

So can you give me ideas on how long a normal 12v system or 2 6v batt system should last?

Thanks

OCDUNE

[twinbubba]

The heater blower on a single 12v bat. can run the bat. down in a single night if you have the thermostat set too high. I found this out the hard way on my WW FS2300 last winter at my hunting lease. I have since installed the IQ4 controller, keep my thermostat down to around 50 and no problem as long as I run my generator for a couple of hours the next day.
Just my limited experience.
Any time now you should get a response from someone telling you you need to get 8-6v golf cart batteries, an inverter and 4 solar panels.

Just kidding.

TB

[Tom and Patty]

OCDUNE,

Get 8 six volt golf cart batteries and inverter to watch TV. and 4 solar panels.

Sorry I couldn't resist. I'm in the market to replace my 6 volts, only 4 though, not 8.

It boils down to how many amp hours your batteries hold, and how many amps your blower motor uses.

[WWFan]

OCDUNE:

Welcome to iRV2! Thanks for the "jump start"...I hope your travels here are enjoyable.

My experience with 12 volts is that they typically last just beyond the warranty period , and there are big differences between 12 & 6 volt storage systems, as well as deep cyle vs. regular car batteries. With Deep Cycles, you DON'T want to completely drain them- this takes big life out of them. This is why so many of us have found that using the IQ4 was a big step in maintaining battery life and usability.

This Site will give you quite an education on the different types of batteries and their uses. Personally, I'm pretty happy with my four 6v's, but only time will tell.

Again, welcome!

Sean

[Tom and Patty]

OCDUNE,

I don't know if this is what your looking for, but I learned a bit from this.

Ampere-hour or AH
The unit of electrical capacity - this tells you how much power the battery will store. Current multiplied by time in hours equals ampere-hours. A current of one amp for one hour would be one amp-hour; a current of 3 amps for 5 hours would be 15 AH. Similar to the "gallons per day" measure of water. Amp-hour ratings will vary with temperature, and with the rate of discharge. For example, a battery rated at 100 AH at the 6-hour rate would be rated at about 135 AH at the 48-hour rate. Ampere-hours (AH) designates the storage capacity of the battery. SLI batteries are not rated in AH, but in "CCA", or cold-cranking amps (marine batteries are often rated in "marine cranking amps").. Terms such as "6 hour rate" or "20 hour rate" indicate that the battery is discharged steadily over 6 or 20 hours, and the Amp-hour capacity is measured by how much it puts out before reaching 100% DOD, or 1.75 volts per cell. For examples of this, see the Concorde AGM battery listing.

Thanks Sean for the link

[OCDUNE]

Thanks for the replies. I will try to report back and let you know if I was happy with the upgrade.
Twinbubba-You nailed it with everyone recommending an exotic setup. Reading all of the RV sites is hard because all of the battery recommendations are aimed at fulltimers who boondock alot. I just want to make it through the weekend without having to run the generator extra time for charging only. I am sure I will be running the gen. for a while each day so we can use the microwave and AC.

OCDUNE

[MaxAZ]

OCDUNE, I usually have no trouble running 3 nights without charging the batteries. I also use 2 6V batteries like you now have and there's a huge difference between them and 2 12V batteries. Over Presidents weekend at Gordon's Well, the heater ran plenty each night to keep us warm and I probably still had enough juice left for another night or two.

[OCDUNE]

Well I was very happy with my new batteries. Had I not done some research, I would have ended up with 2 optima batteries at twice the price and half the life. I ended up running the generator a couple of hours during the day for the microwave, toaster, etc, but the batteries always read full even after running the lights all evening and the heater all night.

I guess the bottom line is Why put anything else in your trailer?

OCDUNE