American Coach: 6 volt battery replacement

[gatorv]

If its like my 2008 REV? You must use non gassing batteries like AGM because your battery compartment is not vented. Mine are 12 volt batteries, if you use 6 volt batteries and yours came with 12 volt, you better know what your doing when it comes to redoing the battery cables. It's not hard if you know what your doing. Very dangerous if you don't.

[Mark_K5LXP]

Originally Posted by OR_Traveller

(FLA is rated to 50% Depth of Discharge)

Where? That's not on any battery data sheet.

if one compares cost/cycle, they are cheaper than FLA.

What if it's not likely or even possible to use half much less all of those cycles?

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

[Gillic01]

Hey since we have same coach, could you send me a pic of the cabinet to left of from tv? Mine has a lot of cables and no equipment, I assume the previous owner removed something from there.

[Persistent]

Originally Posted by Gillic01

Thank you exactly what info I was needing. Now just to decide which brand, where to buy and if will work with my Magnum 2000’s. And Lol getting wired correctly there’s a lot of cables/fuses etc.

A Magnum 2000 requires about 400 amp hours of lead acid batteries for full delivery of 2000 watts (aprox. 190 amps).

LiFePO4 required vary somewhat. See battery manufacturers specs. Often they can deliver twice as much so 200 to 300 amp hours. A 300 amp hour Li bank in a motor home or coach requires special electronics for charging.

Add labels to each connection as you disconnect it. Take pictures as well.

If you are going to switch from 12 volt batteries to 6 volt batteries or the reverse, study how series and parallel connections are different. New cables may be required.

[BigEvi]

Originally Posted by Mark_K5LXP

Where? That's not on any battery data sheet.



What if it's not likely or even possible to use half much less all of those cycles?

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

I think what he was trying to say is that when using FLAs that arent true deep cycle designed batteries (cheap 6Vs) it's not recommended to discharge more than 50% as it can and will damage the batteries. Lithiums can be discharged 100% but most people stop at 80-90% just to be safe and not have to deal with waking a sleeping lithium.

Let's face it...Lithium is not for everyone. Just as El cheapo 6Vs aren't for everyone. If you only travel a few hours per day in between full hookups you wouldn't need lithiums. You actually wouldn't need batteries at all. Conversely if a person dry camps a lot or wants to use solar...lithiums are a much more economical choice even at their current price.

I have several trips a year where I have no external power for a week or more. My lithium battery saves me a ton on generator gas charging batteries. And with the price of gas and diesel these days it's pretty easy to calculate a win for lithium in these situations.

-E

[Kid Gloves]

Originally Posted by Mark_K5LXP

Where? That's not on any battery data sheet.



What if it's not likely or even possible to use half much less all of those cycles?

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

It isn’t likely that the owner of wet cell batteries will ever use anywhere near all the laboratory life cycles either. This forum is loaded with threads about wet cells that were murdered at a young age. There is definitely a lower up front cost to load in a rack of GC2’s or even AGM’s. It can also become an expensive habit.

It is entirely possible that the cost per realized charge cycle will be much greater with a wet cell than with a lithium battery. It is also possible that the total lifetime cost of maintaining a healthy 12V power source in an RV will be greater with wet cells than with lithium batteries.

[Mark_K5LXP]

I agree, most batteries don't die, they're murdered. And it very well may be the cost per cycle *could* be less with lithium but I would offer for most RV'ers that use their equipment less than 120 days a year, it would be more cost efficient (today) to use lead. I am soundly in that group. For the number of cycles I put on my pair of GC2's I'll easily get 5 or 6 years out of them. Assuming a lithium lifespan of 10 years I can buy two sets of GC2's hundreds of dollars cheaper than 2 100Ah lithiums. Even if you extend lithium calendar life to 20 years I'd still be hundreds of dollars ahead with 3 or 4 sets of GC-2's. There's other reasons to pick lithium if you want and that's fine, you can do whatever you can afford. But to sell it based on cycle life you actually have to use a majority of those cycles. Most RV'ers would not.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

[Winemaker2]

Originally Posted by Mark_K5LXP

I agree, most batteries don't die, they're murdered. And it very well may be the cost per cycle *could* be less with lithium but I would offer for most RV'ers that use their equipment less than 120 days a year, it would be more cost efficient (today) to use lead. I am soundly in that group. For the number of cycles I put on my pair of GC2's I'll easily get 5 or 6 years out of them. Assuming a lithium lifespan of 10 years I can buy two sets of GC2's hundreds of dollars cheaper than 2 100Ah lithiums. Even if you extend lithium calendar life to 20 years I'd still be hundreds of dollars ahead with 3 or 4 sets of GC-2's. There's other reasons to pick lithium if you want and that's fine, you can do whatever you can afford. But to sell it based on cycle life you actually have to use a majority of those cycles. Most RV'ers would not.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

Exactly
LFP CAN make sense for some users. So can FLA or AGM... there is no one right answer as some propose.
My AGMs are going on 8 yrs use and still doing fine.
I will bet there are cases where LFP battys are murdered or accys equip destroyed by improper application / use.
I'm also waiting to hear from a large number of users that have gotten 20 yrs use from their LFP as the marketing claims.