new house batteries?

[Bobby Dowdle]

Thanks Gary. NIRVC can take care of all your Entegra needs. You can individually load test then batteries. If they one doesn’t pass the test, then they will all need to be replaced. See the links in the above post for swapping out the batteries. Or you can contact NIRVC to schedule an appointment. Our Nashville location is also an Entegra dealer.

[voltdoc]

Agree, the only way to know for sure is to have a proper load test performed on each battery.

As for turning everything off on the coach, turning off the round inverter switch(es) will fully disconnect the inverter(s), which if you don't (assuming there is no solar input) will otherwise have a fairly substantial parasitic drain, about 350mA each which theoretically would flatten a fully charged house bank in 4 or 5 weeks. The other 4 yellow handled breakers will supposedly disconnect the rest of the systems, although it's possible the propane CO2 detector may be hot wired. If you pull the fuse for that you should be able to completely eliminate any parasitic drain.

Your batteries sound as if they were abused, but FYI if you need to replace them, consider installing Pulse-Tech desulfators. These do the same job as what "equalizing" attempts to do, but they operate continuously and are safe to use on AGM's. When I first heard of these years ago I thought it was techie voodoo, but there were some credible references and I decided to try it. My batteries are coming up on 6 years old in September and I've had the Pulse-Techs installed since almost new. While I can't explicitly quantify the performance, my house bank still has near the same approximate capacity it did six years ago based on my observation of capacity remaining vs amp-hours consumed over time when dry camping (I have the ME-BMK installed which will show more precisely amps in/out of the batteries). In other situations I have experienced, on RV's and boats without the Pulse-Tech's, a noticeable drop off in capacity occurs as the battery bank approaches this age.

As with most newer Entegra's, I have four 6v L16 batteries arranged as two 12v units connected in parallel, and as recommended by Pulse-Tech, have a Power-Pulse unit connected across each 12v pair. Two Power-Pulse are recommended due to the high capacity of these batteries. At this point I feel it was $80 (now $100) well spent.

[Marcosdad]

I too have installed Pulse Tech. I'm curious if VoltDoc can share what their draw is. They are continuously powered, and I'm wondering how that effects dry camping.

[tonto1]

I hear you Gary! I unfortunately learned the hard way. I couldn't find the coach I wanted anywhere else in the country. The salesman promised Entegra would cover a host of things noted, and when I went to Entegra, they said NONE of the items the salesman said Entegra would take care of, were Entegra's responsibility. They also said the dealer should make good on all of the items. Yeah right....

On a GOOD note....NIRVC in Georgia is where I had to go to get 4 Spartan campaign/recalls taken care of because not one Spartan dealer in NC could or would do it. Entegra dealer here said they could not do the items either. NIRVC scheduled me in quickly, and performed all things in one day. Very professional experience. They are about 5 hours away but I might need to go there to take care of the battery situation. Thumbs up on NIRVC based on our experience.

We do LOVE our Entegra Cornerstone!

[debtomin]

Originally Posted by Petek

I put new ones in my '17 Cornerstone a month ago. Yes it's a tight squeeze in the compartment but it is doable. Slow and methodical, label every cable as you remove them, I drew a schematic showing what cables went on each terminal for the 4 batteries just to keep sanity. There's a thread on irv2 with procedure to follow written by Gary and others that have tackled the project themselves, have a look at that it's very helpful. Also I went ahead and disconnected the leads from the solar panel on the solar terminal behind the panel next to the rotary battery cut off switches just as a precaution. Good luck.

What did you replace them with ?

[tonto1]

How do I find the instructions from Gary on how to change out the batteries? I have combed through the threads...

[Gary.Jones]

Tonto

Here is the thread with most of it. I have an even more extensive description which I have cut and pasted from several notes I have written that I can send you direct, however this thread has the big picture, also has actual pictures. This should get you most of the way. I'll also be happy to consult by phone if needed.

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/hou...nt-564385.html

Gary

[tonto1]

Originally Posted by Gary.Jones

Tonto

Here is the thread with most of it. I have an even more extensive description which I have cut and pasted from several notes I have written that I can send you direct, however this thread has the big picture, also has actual pictures. This should get you most of the way. I'll also be happy to consult by phone if needed.

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/hou...nt-564385.html

Gary

Thanks Gary!!!!

[debtomin]

So I found 4 new AGM batteries at local dealer. Ended up with Sun Cycle brand, as thats what they recomended. They weigh less and cost less that Relion ( Entegra) $ 1500. Had truck shop install and had to modify the box to secure them as they are smaller.
BUT.. since the coach went completely dead, there were issues resetting everything.. After trouble shooting with EC, turns out our surge protector might have been bad causing a short in charging. ( gen charged just fine ). need to replace ours ( Camco ), and it seems price has doubled since we bought last one (2018). $400 now.. Any Surge protector recommendations? I see lots for under $ 100 and not sure what the difference is..

[brobox]

Originally Posted by debtomin

So I found 4 new AGM batteries at local dealer. Ended up with Sun Cycle brand, as thats what they recomended. They weigh less and cost less that Relion ( Entegra) $ 1500. Had truck shop install and had to modify the box to secure them as they are smaller.
BUT.. since the coach went completely dead, there were issues resetting everything.. After trouble shooting with EC, turns out our surge protector might have been bad causing a short in charging. ( gen charged just fine ). need to replace ours ( Camco ), and it seems price has doubled since we bought last one (2018). $400 now.. Any Surge protector recommendations? I see lots for under $ 100 and not sure what the difference is..

The batteries weighing less mean they have less lead and less amp hour storage.
The best complete electrical management systems, not just surge protection, are Progressive Industries and Hughes Auto Former. The others are not of the best quality as you may have found out.
Cutting corners on electric protection on are all electric coaches can sometime be very costly. I currently have he hardwired 50 amp Progressive, but I do like the new Auto Formers.

[757driver]

Originally Posted by debtomin

So I found 4 new AGM batteries at local dealer. Ended up with Sun Cycle brand, as thats what they recomended. They weigh less and cost less that Relion ( Entegra) $ 1500. Had truck shop install and had to modify the box to secure them as they are smaller.
BUT.. since the coach went completely dead, there were issues resetting everything.. After trouble shooting with EC, turns out our surge protector might have been bad causing a short in charging. ( gen charged just fine ). need to replace ours ( Camco ), and it seems price has doubled since we bought last one (2018). $400 now.. Any Surge protector recommendations? I see lots for under $ 100 and not sure what the difference is..

It sounds like you have gone from 800AH of battery capacity to 448AH of capacity. It will be interesting to see how long they last when unplugged from shore power.

[debtomin]

Originally Posted by 757driver

It sounds like you have gone from 800AH of battery capacity to 448AH of capacity. It will be interesting to see how long they last when unplugged from shore power.

https://gpelectric.com/products/6-vo...solar-battery/

The info page shows each at 224 AH , so 896 AH total.. The Relion battery sales rep told me that 6V AGM batteries are essentially all the same.. They are discontinuing the AGM batteries and going Lithium.. Turns out my Cornerstone had a different battery installed when I bought it ( not Relion).. So I think I'm ok..

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by debtomin

https://gpelectric.com/products/6-vo...solar-battery/

The info page shows each at 224 AH , so 896 AH total..

Nope, you are figuring wrong. Two 6v batteries make one 12v battery. Unlike with parallel wiring, your serial wiring doubles the voltage, not the AH, to make 12 volts.

So, 4-224 AH 6v batteries wired in series makes a 448 AH 12v battery bank.

[brobox]

Originally Posted by creativepart

Nope, you are figuring wrong. Two 6v batteries make one 12v battery. Unlike with parallel wiring, your serial wiring doubles the voltage, not the AH, to make 12 volts.

So, 4-224 AH 6v batteries wired in series makes a 448 AH 12v battery bank.

Yep. Impossible to have lighter batteries with the same or more amp hours. If the cell size and weight is not there, it's not there.