Two Batteries vs Four Batteries

[dubbyjig]

Tested the batteries, both have dead cells but I didn't like the batteries they had.

My son works for a fork lift company and he is checking on battery prices for me.

No for a question, hopefully not a stupid question.....

Can I disconnect the bad batteries and just plug in the coach to use it? I have a inverter too if that changes the equation

Thanks

[Dr4Film]

I have done that while changing out the House batteries, no problems.

Don't expect your Aqua-Hot to run though if you have one as that is hooked directly to your battery bank.

Take photos and make a drawing of the wiring configuration BEFORE removing any wires.

That could save you thousands of dollars worth of damage.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[dubbyjig]

My son can get me these....the sealed ones. They are 220Ah at 20hr rate.

Any thoughts on batteries intended for a forklift?

In one of the links above they mentioned these types of batteries and their discharge level

So many choices

Thanks everyone

[TQ60]

Without looking...

If designed for a fork lift or lift truck you should be fine as long as charger is setup correct.

A forklift is used for a long work day and has electric drive motors that pull good current as well as a hydrolic pump that also draws good current.

Overnight recharge for next day.

So they are designed for rough duty and deep discharge and high current recharge.

Should be perfect but please read and understand the data sheets so you know what to expect and properly charge them.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by dubbyjig

Great to hear!

I can't fine them on their site

I'd appreciate the link

Thanks

SRM-8D is the model and I'm having trouble finding the specs on the Interstate site. The Interstate is not very user friendly when trying to find specifics.
I did find this though: http://www.reddenmarine.com/intersta...e-battery.html

[dubbyjig]

Mr_D

I couldn't find them on their site either

I called and they are $375 for the SRM-8DS. Still looking around for a cheaper price but no luck so far locally.

Thanks for the product number. It directed me to the correct battery

I may not go for the forklift batteries

[bilb2765]

Lots of good info here. Read somewhere that if you have 6v batteries, and one goes bad, you may loose 12v supply.
I am considering adding 6v batteries to my camper, and to save loosing 12v, I need a minimum of 4 6v batteries.

[Dr4Film]

Originally Posted by bilb2765

Lots of good info here. Read somewhere that if you have 6v batteries, and one goes bad, you may loose 12v supply.
I am considering adding 6v batteries to my camper, and to save loosing 12v, I need a minimum of 4 6v batteries.

I would suggest reading and bookmarking these two web sites with regards to 12 VDC, etc. This will help you understand a lot about your RV 12 VDC systems.

The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)

The 12volt Side of Life Part 2

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[dubbyjig]

Originally Posted by Dr4Film

I have done that while changing out the House batteries, no problems.

Don't expect your Aqua-Hot to run though if you have one as that is hooked directly to your battery bank.

Take photos and make a drawing of the wiring configuration BEFORE removing any wires.

That could save you thousands of dollars worth of damage.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

Thanks for the info.

Sad to say I don't have an Aqua-Hot, so no issues there.

Do I need to take the positive and negative cables off the batteries or just the negative?

Daughter and grandsons are coming today and going to stay in the MH but I can't get my new battery installed until next week.

Thanks

Bill

[1bigmess]

The common wisdom is to disconnect the negative wire. Remove whichever one you can easily and safely get to.

[dubbyjig]

Originally Posted by 1bigmess

The common wisdom is to disconnect the negative wire. Remove whichever one you can easily and safely get to.

I don't have to worry about the inverter? I can just plug the coach in with the negative disconnect? And all is good?

Sorry for so many questions. Still try to understand the entire electrical system.

Thanks

Bill

[1bigmess]

I don't know enough about your setup to be able to advise about what will happen with the inverter, or what to do because of it. Maybe tell the forum what inverter you have, adn how it's wired, and someone can try to help you.

[dubbyjig]

Thanks for the response

I went with giving them flashlights and didn't bother with disconnecting the batteries or plugging it in.

Will get a new battery this week or next before our next adventure.

[dubbyjig]

Got the new batteries installed! I decided to go with 4 – 6v Golf Cart batteries from Costco. Took them down to the local RV dealer and they took out the old 8Ds, removed the rack, cleaned everything up, painted the area and installed the new batteries. (Sorry the attachments are coming is sideways. Need lessons) They did a great job for a very reasonable price. Less then what I paid to have the front curtains cleaned.



Still trying to figure out how exactly my inverter works. It is a Freedom 15 with a remote panel. The remote panel doesn’t show that I have AC coming in or that the batteries are fully charged. I checked the new batteries yesterday and they are sitting at 13.5 volts, so something must be working.


We went to go out for the weekend last week and got everything packed and ready to go. Tried to start the coach and I had a dead battery. Tried the boost switch from the house batteries, still no go. I had forgotten to turn the disconnect switch to off for the chassis batteries. Used jumper cables from house to chassis and away we went.


Wondering if the solenoid is bad since the boost switch wouldn’t work. The solenoid is warm to hot and sometimes buzzes. And would this be affecting the remote panel for the inverter?


Thanks for any input



Bill