Updating battery bank

[Brianna]

Although the batteries (on new to me coach)are not that old, they are not holding a charge as they should.

My question is about compatibility.
From the factory, the rv has lead acid chassis and house batteries that are charged together when the engine is on.

If I replace the house batteries with AGM or lithium, they will have different charging characteristics than the chassis batteries, but will be charged together while driving.

Won't that damage one or both of the chemistries?

[wolfe10]

Wet cell and AGM are close enough in charging protocol that they will be just fine.


You will want to reprogram your inverter/charger however.

[twinboat]

If you go with Lithium, you may want to replace your isolation/charging solenoid with a BIM 225 made for lithium house batteries.

Here is a link.

https://battlebornbatteries.com/shop...ation-manager/

With flooded and AGM there isn't enough difference to be concerned during driving.

[Alpine06]

Hi there,
I have a solution implemented that I wanted to get a thread started about. I did not choose the Battelborn solution posted above but installed a DC-DC charger and disabled the trombetta. Anyways I might post that tomorrow.
PS: this is for lithium

[whalepirot]

My electrical expert said AGMs are a waste of money, given that virtually L/A battereis are sealed, which is a primary 'draw' for AGMS. Some, tho, like to throw $$ at coaches. Mine was in very good used condition, but still had quite the appetite for costly issues.

I spent mine of replacing the watering system, greatly ease the fill chore, abetting longer battery life, given the efficacy of the near-continual, OEM 100W solar charging. He also changed the charge controller to a marine solid state unit, which has virtually no power drain while offering choice of which system charges first. The result is excellent.

[wolfe10]

Originally Posted by whalepirot

My electrical expert said AGMs are a waste of money....

Many, many of us would disagree with your "electrical expert".


I am a strong believer in AGM's and have used them on our sailboats and a number of RV's over the last 20 years.


But, IMO, at this point, Lithium batteries are not a price performer unless you have very specific and high electrical needs and do lots of dry camping. In the future-- quite likely.

[Hayduke]

I'm quickly realizing I need to upgrade our electrical equipment as well.

I dont thinks its merely a matter of upgrading the batteries though. They are just a component in a system.

I want to increase my overall capacity, ie more mAh, and add solar charging. My coach did not come equipped with a solar panel.

[Cinequip]

Originally Posted by Brianna

Although the batteries (on new to me coach)are not that old, they are not holding a charge as they should.

If you have a Xantrex RS2000 charger/inverter, press the red reset button on it (usually in the utility bay). That will force a full 3-stage charge on your batteries. Then see if you have better battery capacity.


I had the same issue as you when I first owned my coach, until another owner showed me this trick. The RS2000 chargers have a factory defect that doesn't automatically perform a 3-stage charge - mine stays in trickle charge mode regardless of how deep the discharge is. This gives you a very shallow charge.


Only real solution is to replace the charger, as many have done on this forum.

[Brianna]

In the short term, I want to put my battery compartment back the way it came from the factory.

When I picked up my 2000 36FDS they had removed the 4 6V batteries and replaced with a pair of 12V group 24 batteries. And the grp31s were positioned front-to-back instead of side-by-side.

The wiring diagrams I found in the ACA library do not seem to jive with what I have in my battery bay. Specifically the grp31s are wired in parallel as you would expect but there are additional cables attached that are not in the diagram.

Does anyone have a photo of a 1998, 1999 or 2000 battery bank with its original wiring?

I know, logically how it should all go back together, but a confirmation photo would be reassuring.

Thanks.

[paul65k]

Originally Posted by Brianna

In the short term, I want to put my battery compartment back the way it came from the factory.

When I picked up my 2000 36FDS they had removed the 4 6V batteries and replaced with a pair of 12V group 24 batteries. And the grp31s were positioned front-to-back instead of side-by-side.

The wiring diagrams I found in the ACA library do not seem to jive with what I have in my battery bay. Specifically the grp31s are wired in parallel as you would expect but there are additional cables attached that are not in the diagram.

Does anyone have a photo of a 1998, 1999 or 2000 battery bank with its original wiring?

I know, logically how it should all go back together, but a confirmation photo would be reassuring.

Thanks.

Sorry I didn't take a picture of ours before moving the LiPo batteries indoors but I'll try to describe how our bay was configured (Looks just like yours.

The 2 Grp 31 batteries were on left one in front of the other. There were 4 GC2 6V Batteries with 3 on the right and the last one infront of the 2 starting batteries on the left.

My Battery bay was only designed to hold 2 Chassis and 4 House batteries. There is a small tray that the 2 chassis batteries sat on to bring them up to the same height as the House batteries.........Hope this helps

[gmcgene]

Brianna,
If you or some one else can tell me how to post pictures I can send you a picture of my still original battery bay.

Or, I can take a picture and text or email it to you if you send me contact info.

[Alpine36]

Originally Posted by Brianna

In the short term, I want to put my battery compartment back the way it came from the factory.

When I picked up my 2000 36FDS they had removed the 4 6V batteries and replaced with a pair of 12V group 24 batteries. And the grp31s were positioned front-to-back instead of side-by-side.

The wiring diagrams I found in the ACA library do not seem to jive with what I have in my battery bay. Specifically the grp31s are wired in parallel as you would expect but there are additional cables attached that are not in the diagram.

Does anyone have a photo of a 1998, 1999 or 2000 battery bank with its original wiring?

I know, logically how it should all go back together, but a confirmation photo would be reassuring.

Thanks.

Stand by, I'll send you a picture of our 2000 in oem configuration. Currently have the coach stored a block away under cover.
Gotta love friends who snowbird and leave you their RV port and tractor to use for the winter.....

[Alpine36]

Both chassis grp31's are on the left, inboard and second battery.

[kenandterry]

I’m getting dizzy looking upside down.