House Battery Safety Question

[Wanderer23]

07 Tradition 42V

Can I replace my 12v "marine deep cycle" (maintenance free) house batteries with deep cycle Trojan T-105Plus 6v batteries w/o fear of any potential explosion, etc? The bay they are in has lots of electrical components in it and I'm concerned if there would be any sparks during normal operation if there was any hydrogen buildup during charging cycles. There is a static air vent in the aft facing bay wall but no power fans, etc.

I'd love AGMs but right now they are cost prohibitive.

Can I safely go the less expensive route?


Thanks

[Mark_K5LXP]

Batteries aren't like gasoline vapors. They don't arbitrarily explode even if subjected to showers of sparks. It takes a concerted effort to trap hydrogen gas from a severely venting battery to build up an explosive atmosphere which doesn't describe a battery in normal use or typical battery location. As long as they'll fit and you have access for maintenance you should be fine.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

[twinboat]

What he said.

[Gary RVRoamer]

What he said. And if you really have marine/rv deep cycles, they vent hydrogen gas too while charging.


Your coach probably came with AGM deep cycles, not the marine/rv hybrid type. If you, they truly are sealed and can only vent in an emergency. The other so-called sealed maintenance free types are still vented. They just don't have removable caps.


You can get AGM (VRSLA) batteries if you want to reduce the [slim] change of battery gas explosion. That will also pretty much eliminate corrosion from acid fumes and should fully elimintae the need to add water to the cells as you WILL need o do the the Flooded Cell type Trojan T105's.

[Tha_Rooster]

You MH probably came with (4) 12 volt agm batteries. How many 6’s 8 ? I would go back to the agm.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by Tha_Rooster

You MH probably came with (4) 12 volt agm batteries. How many 6’s 8 ? I would go back to the agm.

A typical. Standard size 12 volt battery will have about 100 AHs of capacity, unless its a huge 4D or 8D.

4, 12 volt batteries would give you max 400 AHs and that's only top of the line batteries. Many are only 60 to 75 AHs, so around 300 AH.

Almost every GC2, 6 volt deep cycle batteries have 200+ AHs. Even the cheap ones. You do need 2 to make 12 volts.

So, to get 400 AHs, comparable to 4, top of the line 12 volt batteries, you only need 4, 6 volt batteries.

For the same space, less money, and true deep cycle batteries, you get more capacity.

AGM will be near the same capacity as flooded batteries, That's not a factor in capacity.