House batteries

[Soppy]

I would replace all 4 batteries. You could easily get away with 2 - 6 volt deep cycle golf cart batteries. Stay away from the Marine deep cycle as they are not a true deep cycle battery. If 2 went bad , the other 2 probably arn't to far behind.

[TXTiger]

Agree. Replace all 4 now. If and when the 2 old ones you don’t replace go bad they will destroy the 2 new ones you just installed. It would be better to get 4 new ones now and you should be good for 4 to 5 years.

[Podivin]

Originally Posted by mtmsfx

Found a local mobile repair guy. We tested all 4 batteries with my bubble battery fluid tester. 2 batteries good, 2 bad. the bad ones were quite hot after being charged. Getting the two bad ones replaced here in St Albert. 2nd time up the Alcan so I know that repairs are harder to get done from here on until AK. Edmonton Interstate batteries had the SRM-24's in stock. Repair guy will install.
Given that we almost never dry camp, he noted that we don't need to have the inverter on while hooked up to 50 amp shore power. Wondering why I never knew that. I always had the inverter on.

I'd question that you need four batteries at all if you rarely dry camp.
I agree that it's better to have all of the batteries the same age. Buy two new ones and take ALL of the others out and have the battery guy remove the cables that will no longer be needed.
Or if you've got two good batteries, have the battery guy take out the two bad ones and remove the unused cables - pay the battery guy for his time. You'll probably save money now, and won't have to maintain/replace four batteries in the future.

[richard5933]

Your solar panel charge controller may not be doing its job either, as the voltage should be somewhere between 13.2 and 14.6 (or there abouts) when charging the batteries. Check that again with sunny skies and see if they do better. Also there might be two voltage readings from the solar charge controller - one on the panel side showing the voltage being produced from the sun, and another on the battery side showing the charge level of the batteries. The panel side might drop to 12.1 on a cloudy day, but the battery side should not unless the batteries are discharged.

[mtmsfx]

The repair guy noted that both the positive and negative lead for the solar charger went to the same battery - one of the good ones. He said he usually saw that done with the positive on one battery and the negative on the battery at the opposite end of the string. He confirmed that with someone at Interstate batteries, so he changed that when he installed the new batteries.

[Milford 47]

Originally Posted by mtmsfx

Found a local mobile repair guy. We tested all 4 batteries with my bubble battery fluid tester. 2 batteries good, 2 bad. the bad ones were quite hot after being charged. Getting the two bad ones replaced here in St Albert. 2nd time up the Alcan so I know that repairs are harder to get done from here on until AK. Edmonton Interstate batteries had the SRM-24's in stock. Repair guy will install.
Given that we almost never dry camp, he noted that we don't need to have the inverter on while hooked up to 50 amp shore power. Wondering why I never knew that. I always had the inverter on.

There are quite a few folks that keep the inverter on when connected to shore power. There is no need since the electricity flows through it. I always turn my inverter off and the charger on when hooked up to shore power. Sometime ago a thread went over some of this but I couldn't find it on a search.

[vito.a]

You probably had at least two cells short internally and boil all the fluid out.

I always advise folks to switch to 6 volt GC2 golf cart type batteries. GC2 batteries are true deep cycle batteries with heavier plates that are designed for a constant charge/discharge. Your 12 volt marine batteries will only last 2-4 years in this environment.

The best wet cell GC2 battery is the Trojan T-105. I've had T-105 batteries last up to 10 years.
https://www.trojanbattery.com/product/t-105/

If you want the best maintenance free battery, then Lifeline 6 volt GC2 replacements are very good. But, they are expensive!
https://lifelinebatteries.com/products/rv-batteries/

An alternative is any GC2 6 volt battery you can find on sale. Typically Costco or Sam's Club has them for around $89 each.

When you switch to 6 volt batteries you will need short jumper battery cables that go from the + on one battery to the - on the adjacent battery. This makes the two 6 volt batteries in series electrically into 12 volts.

Hope this helps.

[sbleiweiss]

Keeping your inverter on when on shore power won't hurt anything. They are made to bypass automatically when there is shore power.

[lwmcguire]

Originally Posted by sbleiweiss

Keeping your inverter on when on shore power won't hurt anything. They are made to bypass automatically when there is shore power.

I got into the habit of shutting off the Inverter while the MH is stored in the shop to avoid it running down the batteries when it was unplugged

I think when traveling it is a good habit to leave it on then you don't get down the road several hours without the fridge running

We usually stop during the day and use the coffee maker or microwave so it is ready as well

[speed racer]

They do make 12v golf cart batteries.

[Milford 47]

Originally Posted by speed racer

They do make 12v golf cart batteries.

We had 6 AGM's in our GEM car and they lasted several years with pretty severe service. The GEM cars had a special charger built in. The 12 volt batteries never gave us any problems so they are out there.