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Old 08-29-2017, 02:56 PM   #1
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2009 22' Interstate
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Adding House Batteries

I am thinking of adding one or two additional house batteries so that we get more boondocking time between charges. Is there any reason this may be inadvisable? We already have two 12V AGM batteries.
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Old 08-29-2017, 04:30 PM   #2
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Carlisle , Pennsylvania
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Hi

As far as you have explained your situation .... no problem.

Now for the details:

What model do you have?

Where do you plan to put them?

What will you give up to put them there?

The issue is *always* in the details.

Bob
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Old 08-29-2017, 06:30 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by uncle_bob View Post
Hi

As far as you have explained your situation .... no problem.

Now for the details:

What model do you have?

Where do you plan to put them?

What will you give up to put them there?

The issue is *always* in the details.

Bob

We have a 2009 AI. I was planning to put them under the lounge/bed, which is adjacent to the battery box. Not really giving anything up, as we don't us that space for much. Yes, I am aware of the need for ventilation.
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Old 08-29-2017, 07:04 PM   #4
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Hi

Take a look at what they will weigh. That may or may not be an issue, but it's worth doing the math on. Since we are in the MH area, I'm assuming you are putting this into a Sprinter.

Bob
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Old 08-29-2017, 07:12 PM   #5
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2009 Interstate, which is on a sprinter 3500 chassis
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Old 08-29-2017, 07:58 PM   #6
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New Lifelines

Long story short...I bought my AI in May from a dealer in Louisiana. When I got home I pulled the battery cover only to discover that he had stuck in two cheap Walmart batteries. Since I had to buy batteries anyway, I put in four Lifeline 6V GPL-4CTs for 440 AH (220 usable). I removed the old battery box and mounted the new ones in the rear storage compartment. I also installed a smart controller, Renogy Commander 20. Couldn't have done it without help from FlyFishinRVr.






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Old 08-29-2017, 09:04 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phaeton313 View Post
Long story short...I bought my AI in May from a dealer in Louisiana. When I got home I pulled the battery cover only to discover that he had stuck in two cheap Walmart batteries. Since I had to buy batteries anyway, I put in four Lifeline 6V GPL-4CTs for 440 AH (220 usable). I removed the old battery box and mounted the new ones in the rear storage compartment. I also installed a smart controller, Renogy Commander 20. Couldn't have done it without help from FlyFishinRVr.








Did you build that battery box yourself, and how long do your batteries last before needing recharging?
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Old 08-30-2017, 03:56 AM   #8
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If you have the EXT Interstate, that's a good way to go. Boxster added external racks underneath which is the way I would go if I needed extra batteries. We have the standard length Interstate and put two Lifeline 6CT's in the stock battery box which essentially doubled the Ah from the original 12V setup.
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Old 08-30-2017, 04:50 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by 3bcamper View Post
Did you build that battery box yourself, and how long do your batteries last before needing recharging?
No, it's the standard rear storage with EXTs. It was the exact size I needed for my 4 batteries.
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Old 08-30-2017, 05:52 AM   #10
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I like the underdeck storage for water hose, electric cord, and a myriad of other stuff. But I think I could learn to like it better as a place to keep four batteries.
Did you vent the box?
Did you reinforce the bottom of the box to support the 200+# of batteries?
Do you pull the batteries every winter? If so, it looks like the underside of the flip-up cover would be a good place to post a schematic of how they are wired in series/parallel.
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Old 08-30-2017, 07:53 AM   #11
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I looked into adding batteries. I presently have 184 amp hrs of house bank capacity. That means 92 amp hrs usable. With running my appliances on propane, LED lighting, and a little conservation we can go 2 1/2 days and sometimes 3 before recharging. No matter what capacity you have the amp hrs will have to be restored by recharging. Solar is the ultimate answer, but I camp in wooded areas. It all depends on how long you want to run a generator to recharge. I decided against the weight of a couple of more batteries.
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Old 08-30-2017, 08:12 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by Titus View Post
I like the underdeck storage for water hose, electric cord, and a myriad of other stuff. But I think I could learn to like it better as a place to keep four batteries.
Did you vent the box?
Did you reinforce the bottom of the box to support the 200+# of batteries?
Do you pull the batteries every winter? If so, it looks like the underside of the flip-up cover would be a good place to post a schematic of how they are wired in series/parallel.
Did you vent the box? - Yes, I drilled holes in several places. I also drill drain holes in the bottom in case water got into the box.

Did you reinforce the bottom of the box to support the 200+# of batteries? - Yes, I temporarily used motorcycle straps. I plan on fabricating a steel bar with side supports.

Do you pull the batteries every winter? - I'm not a battery expert, but I believe I read that you don't have to pull the AGMs as long as you keep a charge going to them. I live in FL so that's not an issues for me.

Page 43 of the Magnum manual is an excellent source of battery series/parallel information.
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Old 08-30-2017, 08:38 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by ben322 View Post
If you have the EXT Interstate, that's a good way to go. Boxster added external racks underneath which is the way I would go if I needed extra batteries. We have the standard length Interstate and put two Lifeline 6CT's in the stock battery box which essentially doubled the Ah from the original 12V setup.
I looked at that option, but the 6CTs wouldn't fit in my stock battery box or in my storage box. How did you get the 6CTs in your stock battery box?
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Old 08-30-2017, 09:10 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by phaeton313 View Post
I looked at that option, but the 6CTs wouldn't fit in my stock battery box or in my storage box. How did you get the 6CTs in your stock battery box?
Chiming in here.... I put in the Lifeline GPL-4CT 6V thinking they would fit but instead the dealer cut my battery boxes in half down the middle and riveted in an expansion piece to make room for the extra width. I think they charged about $200-250.

Mark
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Old 08-30-2017, 09:54 AM   #15
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Originally Posted by Tronadora View Post
Chiming in here.... I put in the Lifeline GPL-4CT 6V thinking they would fit but instead the dealer cut my battery boxes in half down the middle and riveted in an expansion piece to make room for the extra width. I think they charged about $200-250.

Mark
That's a good idea!
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Old 08-30-2017, 07:28 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phaeton313 View Post
I looked at that option, but the 6CTs wouldn't fit in my stock battery box or in my storage box. How did you get the 6CTs in your stock battery box?
We have the Standard length Interstate that has the stacked battery box and originally came with two-12V 80Ah Lifelines but the Tripp-Lite killed those batteries by overcharging. We upgraded to the Magnum plus all the cables so I could store it plugged in and upgrade the batteries. I measured the stacked battery box and the 6CT's will fit by removing the OE spacers and used a thinner spacer on top of the bottom battery. The lid was close to the terminals on the top battery so I drilled two holes and installed two schedule-40 caps so there wouldn't be any possibility of a short.

The pictures are in this thread: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f240...de-120078.html
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Old 08-31-2017, 07:08 AM   #17
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Originally Posted by 3bcamper View Post
Did you build that battery box yourself, and how long do your batteries last before needing recharging?
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you... No, I didn't build the battery box. I used the rear storage compartment in my AI Ext, which was the perfect size for my 4 batteries. Not sure yet how long the batteries will last before they need to be recharged. I just installed them and will be using them for the first time next week. Theoretically, based on my energy audit (below), I should get a little over 2 days without charging of any kind. 440 AH, 220 usable AH at 50% battery discharge. You are limited by your 1000 watt Magnum inverter, but we've had no problem finding our basic appliances under the 1000 watts. It's not on my energy audit, but we even found a 3 quart Insta Pot at 700 watts. I do have the standard 100W solar panel, but it's size makes it useful only for keeping the batteries topped off during storage. Two days is about right for us as we usually try to find a campground every third day to dump and refill our tanks. Good Luck and Happy Trails

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Old 08-31-2017, 10:32 PM   #18
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Originally Posted by phaeton313 View Post
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you... No, I didn't build the battery box. I used the rear storage compartment in my AI Ext, which was the perfect size for my 4 batteries. Not sure yet how long the batteries will last before they need to be recharged. I just installed them and will be using them for the first time next week. Theoretically, based on my energy audit (below), I should get a little over 2 days without charging of any kind. 440 AH, 220 usable AH at 50% battery discharge. You are limited by your 1000 watt Magnum inverter, but we've had no problem finding our basic appliances under the 1000 watts. It's not on my energy audit, but we even found a 3 quart Insta Pot at 700 watts. I do have the standard 100W solar panel, but it's size makes it useful only for keeping the batteries topped off during storage. Two days is about right for us as we usually try to find a campground every third day to dump and refill our tanks. Good Luck and Happy Trails



This great information, and helps guide my design for additional batteries. This, and the other related posts have helped guide me well. Thank you.
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Old 09-01-2017, 03:11 PM   #19
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Quick question: why did you decide to make modifications to the coach to add more AGM batteries versus just replacing the existing two batteries with lithium batteries? Ive also been trying to figure out how to boondock longer and I'm just now starting to co my research. I have a 2016 Interstate.
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Old 09-01-2017, 05:20 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill211 View Post
Quick question: why did you decide to make modifications to the coach to add more AGM batteries versus just replacing the existing two batteries with lithium batteries? Ive also been trying to figure out how to boondock longer and I'm just now starting to co my research. I have a 2016 Interstate.
Just guessing what his answer will be, but 220Ah of usable energy storage is 4 x 6v 220Ah AGMs or 3 x 100Ah Lithiums since you can take them down to about 80% DOD vs. only 50% with AGMs.

Doing the math:

4 x 6v 220Ah Trojan T105's @ $130ea = $520
3 x 12v 100Ah BattleBorn LiFePO4 Deep Cycle @ $900ea = $2700

Seems like an easy decision really.....

P.S. With the AGMs you also don't have to worry about freezing temps or compatibility with all of the existing on-board charging sources.



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