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Old 02-05-2014, 06:30 AM   #21
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Yes, there's no doubt different people have different needs with electrical power, and I'm really not concerned with the weight, it's the complexity and difficulty of troubleshooting. Batteries are very easy to monitor and troubleshoot when they are used in series, in parallel, not so much.

Back in my technician days part of my job was maintaining the battery plants at about twenty remote microwave sites. They were up to 250 AH 24 volt systems, all in series.

But back to our trailers, with batteries in parallel, short of taking them out (not really an easy task for an old fat man with a bad back) and testing each cell with a hydrometer, really all you can do is monitor the voltage when charging, or not charging, assuming you haven't installed some super elaborate and expensive monitoring system.

I have a friend in our club that has run only one battery for several years with no problems, but he never boondocks. The first time he had trouble was last year when his converter (stock and original) went belly up. His solution was to install in place of the converter, a 15 amp Auto Zone automotive battery charger, and he reports it works just fine. I'll just say my friend is frugal.

Oh, and the only place you will find me in icing conditions, is setting in my own driveway, and the last time we had a bad case of that was in 1985.
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Old 02-05-2014, 06:38 AM   #22
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We are watching TV, cooking, charging computers with the inverter, running the propane heater at 72 degrees and simply having a very nice little private stay in the Walmart parking lot. The heater is running way more than 50% of the time by the way….
You know, a laptop computer runs off a battery. Seems silly— not to mention inefficient— to draw power from a battery, invert it to make 120vAC, and then convert it back to DC through the computer's "brick" to make DC power again. You may want to invest in a car charger for your laptops, so you can go straight from 12vDC to 15.4vDC (or whatever the computer voltage is) without having to go through 120vAC in the process. Plus, being able to charge your laptops in the tow vehicle while you're driving means that they're already fully charged when you stop for the night.
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Old 02-05-2014, 08:45 AM   #23
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If you don't use much battery power you could use an automotive battery and get a 3yr free replacement warranty. The deep cycle battery's typically have a 1yr warranty. These are Champion battery's at sam's club I'm referring to.
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Old 02-05-2014, 12:05 PM   #24
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If you don't use much battery power you could use an automotive battery and get a 3yr free replacement warranty. The deep cycle battery's typically have a 1yr warranty. These are Champion battery's at sam's club I'm referring to.

Automotive batteries are made for starting, not deep cycle use. They provide a huge burst of energy for a very short time to crank an engine and are not suited AT ALL for deep cycle use.

Regardless of warranties, you should use the proper battery for the intended use, And, BTW, Lifeline batteries have a 5 year pro-rated warranty.
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Old 02-05-2014, 01:07 PM   #25
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Automotive batteries are made for starting, not deep cycle use. They provide a huge burst of energy for a very short time to crank an engine and are not suited AT ALL for deep cycle use.

Regardless of warranties, you should use the proper battery for the intended use, And, BTW, Lifeline batteries have a 5 year pro-rated warranty.
But if your not deep discharging your battery you can get 3rys warranty battery for $78 +tax.
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Old 02-05-2014, 09:04 PM   #26
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I'm really not concerned with the weight, it's the complexity and difficulty of troubleshooting.

This makes more sense. I've some of the same thoughts. On my SS the propane tanks are recessed into the front trailer fascia, and the battery box is in the "usual" propane tank location in a box between the A-frame rails. Starting to rust out in the floor. I've looked at a really big floor machine battery on the TROJAN site that would have some higher Ah numbers and with some weight penalty. The box, needing to be rebuilt, could be adapted. Haven't gone any farther than this initial exploration (will be working with solar system requirements when that takes a better shape), but my attraction is quite similar to yours.

I am not at all willing to lose capacity, however. Water and propane are systems No. 1 & 2, respectively, but there is, due to difficulty (weight and complexity) only a limited amount of electricity we can carry. But our reliance on it gets our attention out of proportion to it's importance.

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Old 02-06-2014, 04:58 AM   #27
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I've looked at a really big floor machine battery on the TROJAN site that would have some higher Ah numbers and with some weight penalty.
The weight penalty would not just be heavier batteries that may take two people to lift. It might also unacceptably increase your trailer tongue weight. Before going with more and/or bigger batteries, see how much trailer tongue weight capacity you still have in reserve on your tow vehicle, and plan accordingly. If your tow vehicle has a 750-pound tongue weight capacity and your tongue weight is only 500 pounds, you've got room to expand. If your tongue weight capacity is 750 pounds and your present tongue weight is 745 pounds, then not so much. Just plucking numbers out of the air for illustration purposes; I have no idea what capacity and tongue weight you're dealing with.
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Old 02-06-2014, 06:36 AM   #28
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The weight penalty would not just be heavier batteries that may take two people to lift. It might also unacceptably increase your trailer tongue weight. Before going with more and/or bigger batteries, see how much trailer tongue weight capacity you still have in reserve on your tow vehicle, and plan accordingly. If your tow vehicle has a 750-pound tongue weight capacity and your tongue weight is only 500 pounds, you've got room to expand. If your tongue weight capacity is 750 pounds and your present tongue weight is 745 pounds, then not so much. Just plucking numbers out of the air for illustration purposes; I have no idea what capacity and tongue weight you're dealing with.
All good points. I should have stated that I'd have to see the effect on TW (my truck has a fair amount of "spare capacity") and that no changes will be done without some careful weighing to try to get accurate TW numbers, first.

Yes, a small crane might have to be used to install/remove a big battery. I anticipated this, but forgot to mention it. Heck, I practically want one to change the current batteries (bad angle and injured back).

I may also change from 30# to 40# propane bottles. As I need a welding shop (and have found one specializing in fabrication) I have looked across TT to try to see any/all potential applications. TV, too. But, first, a plan is needed and that plan needs realistic numbers to work from.

Thanks.

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Old 02-06-2014, 07:29 AM   #29
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I do believe that the 40# you will save will be insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
Also, due to the decreased amperage your tongue jack will also run much slower, putting an increased drain on the single battery even if hooked to the TV.
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Old 02-06-2014, 07:36 AM   #30
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I do believe that the 40# you will save will be insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
Also, due to the decreased amperage your tongue jack will also run much slower, putting an increased drain on the single battery even if hooked to the TV.
Bruce, did you mean to say "I don't believe that the 40# you will save will be insignificant in the grand scheme of things"?

If so, I agree, it's not the weight that I'm concerned with (it's actually closer to 60# for a group 27), it's the complexity. Like I said before, if they were in series, I'd not give it another thought.
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Old 02-06-2014, 08:47 AM   #31
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I see nothing wrong with 1 battery if that is really what you want. I like having 2. I sleep with a CPAP and try to keep enough charge to run it a couple of nights in an emergency. I check the fluid level once in a while. As easy to do it to 2 as to one. I still use the original converter. Batteries last 2 to 3 years. I pretty much just change them based on age and if we anticipate needing them on a summer trip.

Would 2 golf cart batteries in series be better than 2, 12 volt in parallel? Would they fit?
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Old 02-06-2014, 08:58 AM   #32
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Would 2 golf cart batteries in series be better than 2, 12 volt in parallel? Would they fit?
They would fit, and have slightly more capacity. The group 27's are about 100AH, so 200AH in parallel, and the big 6 volts that I have looked at are 210AH. Of course, there may be bigger ones out there that I am unaware of.

Going to two 6 volts really doesn't gain you much in my opinion because you are still left in the situation where if anything goes wrong with one, you need to replace both, because all batteries in a bank, no matter how they are wired, should be the same age, type, and capacity.
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Old 02-06-2014, 09:54 AM   #33
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This forum amuses me sometimes - we Airstreamers analyze every issue a dozen ways, to intricate detail.

SteveH - I think you missed the "in" in "insignificant" - bwoodtx is saying the 40 lbs are insignificant. I agree; we don't change our hitch settings depending on whether our propane tanks are full or empty (at least, I don't).
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Old 02-06-2014, 09:58 AM   #34
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This forum amuses me sometimes - we Airstreamers analyze every issue a dozen ways, to intricate detail.

SteveH - I think you missed the "in" in "insignificant" - bwoodtx is saying the 40 lbs are insignificant. I agree; we don't change our hitch settings depending on whether our propane tanks are full or empty (at least, I don't).
Yes, you're right, I missed it, and some of us have too much time on our hands to sit and think about this kind of stuff when we should be out traveling in our Airstreams.

If we ever get all the Doc appointments taken care of, and/or spring gets here, that will happen.
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Old 02-06-2014, 01:40 PM   #35
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Yes, you're right, I missed it, and some of us have too much time on our hands to sit and think about this kind of stuff when we should be out traveling in our Airstreams.

If we ever get all the Doc appointments taken care of, and/or spring gets here, that will happen.
Yeah, it's winter. Only a few lucky people in nicer weather are able to go camping. Most of the rest of us are stuck in the cold, so all that's left is to dream about camping and overanalyze minor changes to configurations. And get our truck fixed so it's ready to go come spring.
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