House battery suggestion w/o any mods

[Teamaron]

Well
The new lifelines came in today and are already installed. Stayed with the GPL24T 12v’s.

It so nice to have ‘fresh’ power. Forgot what it was like.

[Kwils25]

Originally Posted by FlyFishinRVr

Check out what Mister B has done. For about the same money, if you can fit 2 6V 220Ahr deep cycle AGM batteries into your coach, you're better off. The 6V batteries are more robust due to their greater plate thickness (i.e. they can generally take more abuse), and at 220Ahr vs. a total of 160Ahr for 2 of the 12v model, you get 30% more capacity. It's a win any way you look at it. Not sure how much brand matters in this scenario, but certainly Lifeline has a great reputation, both in the RV and marine industries.

I have decided to go this route to replace my almost 5 year old 12 volt Lifelines.

Since I will be putting in two 6 volt batteries wired in series do I need to change my three stage charging settings?

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by Kwils25

I have decided to go this route to replace my almost 5 year old 12 volt Lifelines.

Since I will be putting in two 6 volt batteries wired in series do I need to change my three stage charging settings?

Depends on what type of batteries you are installing. If they are the same Lifeline brand then the charge stage voltages are the same. You may have to make a change for the new capacity of two 6V's.

[mail4sblair]

I recently bought a 2015 Grand Tour and the two house batteries were bad. I had a new Lifeline 8D battery out of my Class A motorhome so I modified the two battery brackets and made one bracket the holds the 8D battery. I believe it will provide almost as much power as 4 of the group 24 batteries.

[busb2]

Great idea. How hard was it to modify, how did you do it? Should have asked about the location of the batteries in your unit first. Thanks

[uncle_bob]

Hi

So I guess that the "without any mods" part of the title is now out ...

Take a look at lithiums. They give you way more power in a finite sized package. They can drop in without any changes to your electrical system.

Bob

[mail4sblair]

I took the two factory battery boxes that are riveted to the unibody on the drivers side behind the rear axel and drilled out the factory rivets, thane took a grinder to separate the welds creating two halves. A left and right half. Then welded a piece of steel spanning the two halves on the bottom and then a piece to join the back two halves. I cut the bracket that holds the batteries into the bracket to create a "keeper" to hold the 8D in place and utilized the factory bolts. Then I drilled out the holes in the unibody and installed Riv Nuts to hold the bracket to the unibody.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by mail4sblair

I took the two factory battery boxes that are riveted to the unibody on the drivers side behind the rear axel and drilled out the factory rivets, thane took a grinder to separate the welds creating two halves. A left and right half. Then welded a piece of steel spanning the two halves on the bottom and then a piece to join the back two halves. I cut the bracket that holds the batteries into the bracket to create a "keeper" to hold the 8D in place and utilized the factory bolts. Then I drilled out the holes in the unibody and installed Riv Nuts to hold the bracket to the unibody.

MAIL4SBLAIR - nice job. But how did you get that heavy 8D into that bracket under the van? I installed four 6V's in two custom swing-down brackets behind the rear wheels, two on each side under my 2013 Interstate. I used a small floor jack to lift them in place. It was a real struggle to get them mounted. I can't imagine doing it with an 8D.

[mail4sblair]

I used a forklift that I have in my shop. I put to 2x6's on the forks and laid the 8D on it's side on top of the 2x6's, this gave me clearance between the body and the forks. Once I had it up into position I had to tip the top of the battery back slightly so it would clear the frame rail. I had my wife run the forklift while I typed the battery back and slid it in. I think I could have done it with a floor jack but, the forklift was the easy way.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by mail4sblair

I used a forklift that I have in my shop. I put to 2x6's on the forks and laid the 8D on it's side on top of the 2x6's, this gave me clearance between the body and the forks. Once I had it up into position I had to tip the top of the battery back slightly so it would clear the frame rail. I had my wife run the forklift while I typed the battery back and slid it in. I think I could have done it with a floor jack but, the forklift was the easy way.

Thanks for the info. I stayed away from going with an 8D battery mostly due to weight limit I could handle. The 6V Lifelines were at my limit.

[Kwils25]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

Depends on what type of batteries you are installing. If they are the same Lifeline brand then the charge stage voltages are the same. You may have to make a change for the new capacity of two 6V's.

Thanks Boxster!

[Passin Thru]

Boxster - I don’t want to hijiack this thread but I would be interested in seeing pictures of your battery racks. I have been considering doing the same thing.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by Passin Thru

Boxster - I don’t want to hijiack this thread but I would be interested in seeing pictures of your battery racks. I have been considering doing the same thing.

Here is link to my thread on the battery upgrade I did in 2015.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f240...de-142327.html

[Passin Thru]

Nice install. Thanks.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by Passin Thru

Nice install. Thanks.

Thank you. After reading it again yesterday I realized that I never updated the thread with final photos. I’ll do that later today.