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Old 01-25-2021, 12:20 PM   #1
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Question 6 volt deep cycle versus 12 volt deep cycle

I just bought a 2005 Winnebago Minnie 26a and the house batteries are dead and very old. I have room under the step for two batteries or one large battery. A couple of decades ago my dad told me that it would be better to use two six volt deep cycle golf cart batteries. My question is, is that still the best route? Is it better to use two six volt deep cycle batteries in series or two 12 volt deep cycle batteries in parallel? Of course, space is limited under that step.

Is there an advantage to AGM batteries over typical flooded beyond the fact there is less maintenance?

I use a bi-pap machine that takes 90 watts plus the furnace and lighting which I am converting to LED. We dry camp a lot and sometimes in cold weather. I want to maximize battery life since I can't start a generator at night or no one will get any sleep.

I have read a lot of stuff and watched videos from Trogan but the more I learn the more confused I have become. Any help would be appreciated.
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Old 01-25-2021, 12:52 PM   #2
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Cost per AH, GC2, 6 volt batteries are the cheapest.

If you can fit two and have the height, they make taller 6 volt batteries with more capacity.

Trojan makes a 12 volt deep cycle battery with a 150 AH rating. T1275. 2 of them will give your 300 AH. They cost much more.

If you plan on keeping the RV for a long time, lithium looks like a way to go, but they are expensive and you need to set the RV up for them. They like a warm place to live.

If you can see the battery caps to check the water, AGM are an expensive battery to buy, just so you don't have check them every month or two..

I have 2 GP31 Sams Club 12 volt Deep cycle batteries. That gives me 210 AH. Couldn't fit the taller GC2s.

When I need heat, the batteries runs it all night. I also watch a lot of Sat. TV at night and use a 1 cup Kurig, 4 times in the morning, and still haven't run my batteries to low.
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Old 01-25-2021, 02:54 PM   #3
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Posters don’t seem to mention that if you only have room for 2 batteries and use 6 volt and one goes bad your are dead in the water. With 2 12 volt you at least have a spare.
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Old 01-25-2021, 03:07 PM   #4
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The best bang for the money is two 6V golf cart batteries. If the batteries are hard to fil, then a single point watering system is a good investment. (My battery compartment is easy to access, but I have to loosen the tie down clamps to open the cell caps.)
I fill the batteries with distilled water once a month and they are now four years old. I tested them with a hydrometer a few weeks ago and all are well within the green range.
As to how long between charges, that depends on what equipment you have. We have propane fridge, water heater, & cooking. We can run a TV off our 150W (plug in) inverter. We usually go 4 days before charging when dry camping which is as long as our tanks will last in normal use. We have gone a week on tanks in conservation mode.
If you have higher electric use and use a larger inverter to power a frige etc. you will have to charge more often. But the fact is, you will probably run the AC in the hottest part of the day or boost the heat with a space heater from time to time, so you run the generator anyway.
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Old 01-25-2021, 05:39 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by coachmanjay View Post
Posters don’t seem to mention that if you only have room for 2 batteries and use 6 volt and one goes bad your are dead in the water. With 2 12 volt you at least have a spare.
That's because we have never heard of that happening.
Same age, same use, they go down together, 12 or 6 volt.
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Old 01-30-2021, 08:48 AM   #6
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I just replaced the four 6V house batteries in our Windsor. Sams Club has the Duracell GC2 batteries for $89.95 with one-year replacement warranty and the reviews are excellent!
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Old 01-30-2021, 08:58 AM   #7
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We had a 27C Winne years ago and had someone install a metal sliding trey that held 4 6volt golf cart batteries for the house use. It was in an outside compartment near the 2000w inverter.
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Old 01-30-2021, 09:34 AM   #8
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I appreciate the comments they were helpful. I went with the Sam's Club Duracell GC2. I had to modify the battery hold-downs but there was sufficient headroom for the slightly taller batteries.
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Old 01-30-2021, 10:42 AM   #9
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If you actually use batteries more than a couple hours in between plugging in and do /plan some boondocking , expect near double life on GC batteries. There's some more reserve water capacity as well. I seem to had add a less often when I upgraded to GC2 on my TT. They lasted 11years pure boondocking with inverter genny just for occasional air conditioning until 11pm and charging.
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Old 01-30-2021, 03:57 PM   #10
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The GC2 6v's are true deep cycle batteries and superior to the typical RV marine/RV 12v battery. Not superior to a good 12v deep cycle, but 12v true deep cycles almost always cost more. Sometimes a lot more.


AGM deep cycles have the long-lasting attributes o any deep cycle, so compared to a marine/RV type they have that advantage. That in addition to zero maintenance and no acid fumes boiling off to corrode nearby metal or electronic parts.
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Old 01-31-2021, 01:25 AM   #11
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A pair of 6v GC2 batteries will give you 200ah, but you can only use 50%, so 100ah.

If you do the math you need 90w for bpap, about 10w for inverter, about 60w for furnace (when running), and 15w for lights. That’s 175 watts or 14.5amps. So your batteries would give you about 6.5 hrs if everything was on the whole time. Since the furnaces is intermittent you should get 8 to 10 hrs. Just enough for a night.

Only real option to increase, if you only got room for 2 batteries, is Lithium. You could get a true 200ah in same space, but at a huge price increase.
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Old 01-31-2021, 06:43 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by SavnTheWales View Post
A pair of 6v GC2 batteries will give you 200ah, but you can only use 50%, so 100ah.

If you do the math you need 90w for bpap, about 10w for inverter, about 60w for furnace (when running), and 15w for lights. That’s 175 watts or 14.5amps. So your batteries would give you about 6.5 hrs if everything was on the whole time. Since the furnaces is intermittent you should get 8 to 10 hrs. Just enough for a night.

Only real option to increase, if you only got room for 2 batteries, is Lithium. You could get a true 200ah in same space, but at a huge price increase.
That's not true, you can safely use 80% of any battery. The 50% use thing is only a recomendation for longest service life, not a rule.

I run my batteries down to 25% capacity often. They are 3 years old and still going strong.
I may lose some life on the back end, but batteries are like tires, their going to wear out using them, or age out, not.

GC2 batteries power electric golf cars all over the world. Do you think the golfers shut them off at 50%.
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Old 01-31-2021, 06:54 AM   #13
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A lot of RVer spend lots of time and $ worrying about their batteries. I like to put mine on I for ignore. Oh sure I check the water levels once or twice a year, but I don't like to waste a lot of time "maintaining" them. I use the 6 volt golf cart batteries from Costco. They are cheap compared to 12 volt deep cycle. When they get weak I replace them both. Last time I had to replace was 5 years ago and they are still going strong. We often boondock and do have a single 150w solar panel. No problems yet.
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