New Batteries (Newbie Question)

[TNtravelers]

Hello!

I apologize if this question has been asked before but the search feature does not allow us to search "US BATTERY" so here it goes.

We recently purchased our first class A-2012 Holiday Rambler. As we "tweak" it to our our dream RV one of the two 12V Interstate Marine/RV batteries died (no longer holding any charge). We purchased a multi-meter and verified the verdict. When we removed the bad battery the remaining battery operates and starts the generator and provides power like a champ.

We are looking at replacing both of them with 2-6V batteries Trojan T105 (quoted $140 per battery) or US BATTERY 1800 (quoted at $110 per battery).

This is our first RV so we can't really say we if we "boondockers" or camp ground bound-probably a mix of both. We are planning several trips where we will be completely out in boonies (off the grid). We are equally thinking about adding some solar (just because it looks fun) and possibly an inverter to the coach at some point. We only say this as provides some insight as what all we want to do with our new obsession.

Questions:
- Any experience with the US BATTERY 1800?

U.S. Battery | Leader in Deep Cycle Batteries | US 1800 XC2 - U.S. Battery | Leader in Deep Cycle Batteries

- Our battery tray (which slides out from RV) seems to have a lot a room and looks like it can hold/clear 2 larger batteries-If you didn't go with the TROJAN 105 or similar would a larger size make sense or be practical or provide the most flexibility. Any recommendations?

Thanks for your comments!

[edsperfect]

I am assuming you are talking about the house batteries for i can't remember ever seeing a MH with only one set of batteries to run the engine and the house. Must be another for the engine and some other things.

I tray will hold them i would swap out the 2 12volt for 4 6volt set up in a series. Will have much more power. Sams sells them for about 90 bucks each

[TNtravelers]

[QUOTE=edsperfect;2521916]I am assuming you are talking about the house batteries for i can't remember ever seeing a MH with only one set of batteries to run the engine and the house. Must be another for the engine and some other things.

Ed-Yes! It is the house batteries we are replacing.

[BatteryPro]

Originally Posted by TNtravelers

Hello!
....Questions:
- Any experience with the US BATTERY 1800?

Thanks for your comments!

US Battery makes very high quality batteries. For many years Interstate sold the U2200 which was made by US Battery. About 5 years ago they switched to a a very inferior battery from Johnson Control.

I recommend the US Battery over Trojan in your case because of the lower charge voltage (14.4 instead of 14.8 for Trojan). However I recommend the US2200 or larger instead of the smaller capacity 1800.

[wa8yxm]

My 2005 came with Interstate Work-a-holic U-2200 which is,near as I can tell, identical to the US-2200 from US battery.

The 1800 at only 208 amp hours is a bit less power (not much) but I would expect it to be a good battery if properly fed and watered.

THIS is what kills Flooded wet batteries faster than anything.

Feeding: A good 3-stage converter/charger set for Flooded Wet Cell or better yet the specific brand you have.

Watering: DIstilled water.. NEW batteries check at last every quarter (3 months) as they age move that up to monthly or even more.

Cleaning.. Clean terminals and posts,, (Baking soda and water mixed to form a paste, followed by lots and lots of fresh water DO NOT LET IT GET IN THE CELLS)

Storage: FULLY charge then lift the NEGATIVE cable(s) off the battery or.. if you have a good 3-stage converter.. Leave plugged in.

Good 3-stage converters are fairly easy to find.. Many I would call GOOD.
THe ones I like BEST is the Progrssive Dynamics Charge Wizard controlled converters. Some are as good, None better.

[Mr_D]

Or you could do like some of us do and add 4 oz of mineral oil to each cell of a 6 v battery and pretty much eliminate needing to add water. It also cuts way down on corrosion around the batteries. The OEM U-2200's lasted just short of 10 years.

[CountryFit]

i used to add mineral oil into the cells. it worked except one thing - when i needed to test the specific gravity, the tester floater stuck to the tube due to the oily fluid. i quit using it and still good.

[TNtravelers]

Thanks for the feedback.

We replaced the Interstates with 2X-Trojan T105's that fit snuggly in the existing tray and wired in series. After searching around (I am cheap) we found a local dealer that offered them at $110 (minus core charge). The US dealer didn't have a pair of US2200's and the closest place we could find them was 90 miles away.

Seems like we have an issue with the converter/charger or something else. After hooking up the new house batteries and firing the gen we seem to get almost no charge on the batteries (Multi-meter showing 6.5V) after GEN had been running-However when you fire up the chassis alternator the batteries read 7.10V on multi-meter.

Not sure these seems correct to me....still kind of green with this multi-meter stuff. But shouldn't they multimeter read 12+ when the batteries are set up in series?

We opened the access panels at load center and the charger doesn't seem to be running (at least the fan isn't moving) but everything works in house with the gen running-AC/outlets/etc. Appears to be FUTRON POWER 50 AMP charge/converter.

We have thee pieces on the unit we are absolutely clueless about:
- Progressive Dynamics 5100 Automatic Transfer Relay (which we can't seem to get open) in the AC import compartment

- RV Custom Products RV-2050 Battery Control Center (which we have NO clue what this does) located above the engine battery.

- In the house batter compartment we have wires running all over the place with fuses on the frame/etc

I am sure I wired the 2 new batteries in series with + on # 1 going to positive on coach, - on # 1 going to + on # 2, - on # 2 going to chassis ground.

I am stumped why the house batteries are NOT charging. You see something strange of something we should explore further?

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by CountryFit

i used to add mineral oil into the cells. it worked except one thing - when i needed to test the specific gravity, the tester floater stuck to the tube due to the oily fluid. i quit using it and still good.

That is the one drawback with the mineral oil. I always relied on the built in voltage meter.

[InverterServ]

Originally Posted by TNtravelers

Thanks for the feedback.

We replaced the Interstates with 2X-Trojan T105's that fit snuggly in the existing tray and wired in series. After searching around (I am cheap) we found a local dealer that offered them at $110 (minus core charge). The US dealer didn't have a pair of US2200's and the closest place we could find them was 90 miles away.

Seems like we have an issue with the converter/charger or something else. After hooking up the new house batteries and firing the gen we seem to get almost no charge on the batteries (Multi-meter showing 6.5V) after GEN had been running-However when you fire up the chassis alternator the batteries read 7.10V on multi-meter.

Not sure these seems correct to me....still kind of green with this multi-meter stuff. But shouldn't they multimeter read 12+ when the batteries are set up in series?

We opened the access panels at load center and the charger doesn't seem to be running (at least the fan isn't moving) but everything works in house with the gen running-AC/outlets/etc. Appears to be FUTRON POWER 50 AMP charge/converter.

We have thee pieces on the unit we are absolutely clueless about:
- Progressive Dynamics 5100 Automatic Transfer Relay (which we can't seem to get open) in the AC import compartment

- RV Custom Products RV-2050 Battery Control Center (which we have NO clue what this does) located above the engine battery.

- In the house batter compartment we have wires running all over the place with fuses on the frame/etc

I am sure I wired the 2 new batteries in series with + on # 1 going to positive on coach, - on # 1 going to + on # 2, - on # 2 going to chassis ground.

I am stumped why the house batteries are NOT charging. You see something strange of something we should explore further?

Are you checking the voltage at the batteries on just one battery? You must be either doing that or checking at the parallel connections to only see 6-7 volts. You will need to check at the series connections (the cable running from positive to negative) one battery positive the other battery negative to ready 12+ volts. If you want to verify the charger is working you need to really go to the output leads on it at the charger and check it with your meter there with the coach plugged in or generator running the fan will not run the entire time the charger is running. You may also need to turn on some loads in the coach with it not plugged in and generator not running and run those batteries down some and then let them charge. It will take a few charge cycles for them to equalize.

[TNtravelers]

Originally Posted by InverterServ

Are you checking the voltage at the batteries on just one battery? You must be either doing that or checking at the parallel connections to only see 6-7 volts. You will need to check at the series connections (the cable running from positive to negative) one battery positive the other battery negative to ready 12+ volts. If you want to verify the charger is working you need to really go to the output leads on it at the charger and check it with your meter there with the coach plugged in or generator running the fan will not run the entire time the charger is running. You may also need to turn on some loads in the coach with it not plugged in and generator not running and run those batteries down some and then let them charge. It will take a few charge cycles for them to equalize.

InverterServ-Thanks! This makes sense...maybe it was just the old batteries the whole time and us being rookies with multimeter. The charger/converter works (albeit slowly) on the new batteries. We will run them down to 1/3 and then see what happens.

I started digging (and I mean really digging) to get to converter/charger as it was hidden in the power control center/behind the fuses box. Now I just need to track down the proper line to verify the output.

Still not exactly sure what this battery control center does other than trying to control power/charging from multiple sources (which is what I thought the transfer switch did...but the fuses look OK and after reading anything and everything I could find-it appears to be controlling everything. Still not sure why the BCC has fuses for fog lights/horn/radio when in the coach and house system there are equally fuses again for these same items...

[Tony Lee]

Two brand new 6V batteries in series has to read over 12V across both.

Are you sure you have hooked them up in series and not followed the previous wiring system and ended up with them in parallel.

[chboone]

If you don't have documentation for your RV Custom Products 12V distribution board, contact them and ask for it. They (Mary) will email it to you, it's good to have for future reference or problems.

[TNtravelers]

Originally Posted by Tony Lee

Two brand new 6V batteries in series has to read over 12V across both.

Are you sure you have hooked them up in series and not followed the previous wiring system and ended up with them in parallel.

Tony-Yes! I have the positive from 1 going to coach, negative from 1 going to positive on battery on 2 and negative on 2 going to ground. I checked this twice as even DW thought I had it wrong as I had an extra cable left from the old 12V batteries.

I think my rookie mistake was I was only checking the volts (after hook up) but connecting the multimeter to +/- on battery # 2. By the time I got the both new 6V in the coach the clearance was snug so I couldn't really connect to + on # 1 and negative on # 2-which is what is sound like I should have done. Yes-I should have paid attention in science class.