Additional battery for Meridian/ Journey?

[SCVJeff]

I'm just curious if anyone here has added a 4th battery, and where did you mount it?

[SCVJeff]

I'm just curious if anyone here has added a 4th battery, and where did you mount it?

[cbeierl]

I know several folks have found that they can mount 4 6V batteries in place of the original 3 12V coach batteries in their Winne diesels. If the 6V batteries are turned 90deg they just fit.

[KE0M]

Hi Jeff - I replaced my 3 twelves with 4 Trojan T-125 6 volt golf cart batteries. I am very pleased with both the outcome and the performance. These monsters just barely clear the rubber strip above the battery tray. The only downside is adding water to the 2 in back. I was able to do it with a maranade syringe but next time, I think it would be easier to just pull the 2 front batteries and slide the back ones forward, and then reassemble after topping off the electrolyte. If you go with the next size smaller (same width and length) you'd have another inch of wiggle room on top, because they are not as tall as the T-125. Now I have more 12 volts than I know what to do with. Sorry I don't have pix. Just as a hint, I buffed both battery trays down to bare metal, coated with metal primer, and added 2 coats of Lawson's Undercoat. This stuff is like Rhino Lining in an aerosol can. No more rusted battery trays for me. Hope this helps.

73's
Larry

[SCVJeff]

Great! I was wondering about fitting 6's in that tray. I haven't looked at the capacity of the 6V batteries vs. the 3-12's. Obviously I need just a tad more with this power hungry rig. I talked to the folks at AM Solar yesterday who have a Meridian as well, have converted to AGM's, AND added 6 more under the bed!

[vicsryd]

Jeff,

Be careful and watch the weight on your rear axle.

The XC chassis the 34H has a rear GAWR of only 17,500lbs. You have to go to the 39 foot floor plans to get 19,000lbs.

My rear axle is typically running around 16,500lbs on the road with little or nothing in the tanks. However, 8500lbs of that is on the passenger side position. My interpretation of the "rules" is 8750lbs is the max for one rear position (1/2 of 17,500).

Note that I do have a washer/dryer right over the passenger side rear axle.

[SCVJeff]

That reminds me I need to get this sucker weighed. I'm good for at least an extra battery since I don't have the washer/ drier combo.

Larry: I'm interested to hear your opinions between the two setups (12 & 6V). I've been poking around all evening trying to find a real apples to apples test data between 12 vs. 6 volt batteries, and have run into the same blocks that it appears others have judging the threads I've wandered across for the past 2 years for a bunch of reasons. I don't think this is a cut & dry math game, at least with the 3ea. GP-29 Interstate vs. a real deep cycle T-125.

I'm going to go look at my tray this weekend with a tape measure and see what my real clearances are. As I found out with Jon's 34H last week, all like rigs are not the same.

[KE0M]

Jeff - go to the Trojan web site and compare apples to apples, i.e. Trojan to Trojan comparison. Maybe some math wizzo can help but I assume the reserve capacity one 12 volt times 3 is your total for that configuration. Double the reserve capacity of one 6 volt because you have 2 of them in series, and double that because you have 2 such banks in parallel. I now look forward to a math ace to bring us some logarithmic formula that proves I'm a dummy. That's OK because we all might learn something new.

73's
Larry

[THutch]

Larry & Jeff,

We just returned from Disneyworld and I had 1 of my 12 volts bite the bullet. So now I'm trying to decide whether to get 3 12 volt deep cycle or 4 6 volt . I know they will fit width and depth, but I'm not sure the height will fit. It looks like I have 11" height max for the coach tray. The chassis tray has more height available, but it is not as deep. Let me know how this worked for you. Did you modify the tray?

[SCVJeff]

Hi Tom,
Too bad you're not closer as I have all 3 of those GP-29's in the garage trying to decide what to do with them..

I have 4ea. Interstate U-2200's in the tray and it fits great, but JUST... Side to side there is zero clearance; front to back there is enough to block it with a couple of 2x4's to keep from sliding. On the top they just clear. When I assembled them in the tray I wired the 2 rear, slid them back, and dropped in the front two. The problem is trying to check the water level as you need to pull the tray out very slowly and on-wire as you go (I have solar & external sense on the bank as well). So in addition to the 1st level check I added a watering system. I'll still get in there once a year or so to make sure they're getting filled (if needed), check cables, bla-bla. Just be v e r y careful when installing because if yours doesn't clear you'll have a pretty spectacular show. What I DON'T like is that I couldn't find any way to secure the batteries down. On the other hand, this tray is 4+" deep. If I bounce those batteries out, I have way bigger problems to deal with.

Also FYI, I talked to Winnebago and KWIKEE about the loading on these trays, and they're rated at 250lbs. (top tray), so you'll be +2lb over.

HERE is an "Ah-Hah" moment when I was trying to figure out how to hold this cantilevered tray when it's pulled out, just in case. DUH... That's an adjustable roller for a saw table available anywhere and it holds me just fine..

[Mr_Bill]

KE0M,

Did you look at any of the AGM 6V batteries? I need to replace my 12V and am looking at the same set of problems.