Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 01-13-2012, 03:09 PM   #21
Rivet Master
 
Keyair's Avatar
 
1984 34.5' Airstream 345
Foothill Ranch , California
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 4,695
Images: 1
Here they are...


Fresh from Costco..

Battery A


Battery B


I then charged the with my Battery-Minder for 48 hours, and let them rest for 24 hours..
Battery A reads 6.47V
Battery B reads 6.47V
Linked, I am reading 12.94V.
__________________
My name is Steve.... and I am an Alumaholic!
Working in my Garage is like playing TETRIS with Tools!
Keyair is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-13-2012, 03:11 PM   #22
Rivet Master
 
Keyair's Avatar
 
1984 34.5' Airstream 345
Foothill Ranch , California
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 4,695
Images: 1
After Loading and Unloading them, i decided for safty, I better get the right tools for these heavy puppies...
Battery Lifting strap..
$6.99 with free shipping off Ebay...
__________________
My name is Steve.... and I am an Alumaholic!
Working in my Garage is like playing TETRIS with Tools!
Keyair is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2012, 12:23 PM   #23
Rivet Master
 
Keyair's Avatar
 
1984 34.5' Airstream 345
Foothill Ranch , California
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 4,695
Images: 1
Just an update, and a few questions...
The two batteries have settled at about 0.02v different.
Is that ok?

The GC2's weigh in at 63lb each, so 4 of them is close to 260LB!
Add the Motor battery at 40lb, and we have 300lb hanging on the slides..
Then adding teh weight of the modified drawer, and we are deep into the slides rating of 500lb, and over their 300lb "Mobile" rating.
I am looking at what to do abbout being sure this will work...

Started work on the mods needed to the battery tray..
The floor was too shallow and badly rotted.
I am dropping the floor, and moving the divider/support over to be in a better place.. somewhere in the middle, where it will not interfere should I decide to go from the planned 4 x GC2's to a possible 6x GC2's.

Pictures will tell the story...
Original setup...


Closer inspection...



Its going away...
Drilled rivits out...



Cutting rusty floor out..







Planned footprint.
__________________
My name is Steve.... and I am an Alumaholic!
Working in my Garage is like playing TETRIS with Tools!
Keyair is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2012, 01:07 PM   #24
Rivet Master
 
1974 Argosy 20
2014 20' Flying Cloud
Kooskia , Idaho
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 4,591
Ah, that battery drawer looks so much like the one on my 83 310. It brought back memories, but fortunately, mine had no rust problems, nice solid floor. Your rebuild with the dropped floor should work well. I think you are pushing the weight envelope with the possible 6 GC batteries, but 4 is a good idea.

Have fun!
idroba is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-20-2012, 03:03 PM   #25
Rivet Master
 
Keyair's Avatar
 
1984 34.5' Airstream 345
Foothill Ranch , California
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 4,695
Images: 1
Some more planning, and measuring..
I made some choices.
The floor will drop 2.5", and the divider will move to the center to make best use of the space, and to support the center of the tray.

This way... if I moved the Engine battery somewhere else..
I could fit 8 X GC2's in here!
Thats 520lb....

So, yesterday, cut out the divider...



And the Toolbox section lid..



Plan to put the divider back in the center, but will have to do some repair work all around...



Including moving the isolation switch, cos the diveder runs right thru it!...


Scrap..

__________________
__________________
My name is Steve.... and I am an Alumaholic!
Working in my Garage is like playing TETRIS with Tools!
Keyair is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-20-2012, 03:46 PM   #26
Rivet Master
 
DaveFL's Avatar
 
2000 31' Land Yacht
Central , Florida
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,489
Images: 15
For longevity I would pick the GC batteries. Are you planning to go off grid and don't want to use your generator? gc batteries can do it all in combination with solar collectors, so you have to figure what they need to run and how much solar power you will collect and save. While traveling the motor will generate more than enough 12 v to store for lights, run the refrig and microwave, when parked you will need a large bank of solar collectors and gc batteries to store all the power the unit can use.
DaveFL is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-20-2012, 04:27 PM   #27
Rivet Master
 
Keyair's Avatar
 
1984 34.5' Airstream 345
Foothill Ranch , California
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 4,695
Images: 1
Thanks Dave.
Yes, all the reading i did told me they were a cost effective and better way to go.

The defining moment is when you put the 2 GC2's next to one another and then compare that to a single Group 27... the sheer mass and volume, and weight tells you that the capacity is there.

The shorter term plan is to get 4 x GC's, and have 2 at each end of the tray to spread the weight load more evenly.
I would love to go for it and get 8 x but money says no at the moment!

Longer term plan to to add Solar and be able to exist off the grid and minimise or eliminate Genset use!
__________________
My name is Steve.... and I am an Alumaholic!
Working in my Garage is like playing TETRIS with Tools!
Keyair is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-28-2012, 03:30 PM   #28
Rivet Master
 
Keyair's Avatar
 
1984 34.5' Airstream 345
Foothill Ranch , California
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 4,695
Images: 1
Sheer Mass, and Volume is the key...

How does a Group 27 compare in size/volume with 2 x GC2's?

Like this...
__________________
My name is Steve.... and I am an Alumaholic!
Working in my Garage is like playing TETRIS with Tools!
Keyair is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-29-2012, 07:19 AM   #29
Rivet Master
 
DaveFL's Avatar
 
2000 31' Land Yacht
Central , Florida
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,489
Images: 15
As a check of charge condition, I took the solar collector off line and put a charger on the system. My 6 gc batteries, the smart charger gave up and flashed a red light after about five minutes of trying. Did a hydrometer check of each cell and found in the center battery one dead cell. took it out of circuit and the battery charger was happy, yesterday I pulled the bad one and one of the good ones to balance the load. Can't complain as when I looked at the date of manufacture it is Jan00. One thing I found over the years has been that they use a lot of distilled water, top them up when you get them and check at least every 6 months.
DaveFL is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2015, 08:45 PM   #30
New Member
 
Austin , Texas
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 2
What are dimensions of Costco 6v cart batteries?
Stokes1214 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-01-2015, 10:38 PM   #31
2 Rivet Member
 
Buck944's Avatar
 
1998 25' Safari
Mascouche , Quebec
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 47
Still satisfaid with those battery??
__________________
1998 Safari 25' SS
2015 Toyota Sequoia Limited
Buck944 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2015, 12:36 AM   #32
Rivet Puller
 
SeeMore's Avatar
 
2003 28' Safari S/O
Atlanta Burbs , Georgia
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 2,002
Images: 3
GC2 dimensions
length is 10 1/4" x width 7 1/8" x height 10 7/8";
weight is 60+ lbs each
SeeMore is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2015, 12:41 AM   #33
Rivet Master

 
2007 22' International CCD
Corona , California
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 9,180
Yeah, tell me about the weight. My battery box is big enough but it was a flat out struggle to get those beasts off the truck and onto the box. You need a good sturdy battery strap or a strapping big helper to get them in place. That said, my AMSolar system keeps them nicely charged while I keep the lousy AS issue battery boiler off them.


Sent from my pocket Internet using Airstream Forums
__________________
Rich, KE4GNK/AE, Overkill Engineering Dept.
'The Silver HamShack' ('07 International 22FB CCD 75th Anniversary)
Multiple Yaesu Ham Radios inside and many antennae sprouting from roof, ProPride hitch, Prodigy P2 controller.
2012 shortbed CrewMax 4x4 Toyota Tacoma TV with more antennae on it.
rmkrum is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2015, 06:54 AM   #34
New Member
 
Austin , Texas
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 2
Quote:
Originally Posted by SeeMore View Post
GC2 dimensions
length is 10 1/4" x width 7 1/8" x height 10 7/8";
weight is 60+ lbs each
Thanks! Trying to find the right battery box
Stokes1214 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2015, 09:19 AM   #35
Rivet Master

 
2007 22' International CCD
Corona , California
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 9,180
Ours came from Sutton RV in Oregon.


Sent from my pocket Internet using Airstream Forums
__________________
Rich, KE4GNK/AE, Overkill Engineering Dept.
'The Silver HamShack' ('07 International 22FB CCD 75th Anniversary)
Multiple Yaesu Ham Radios inside and many antennae sprouting from roof, ProPride hitch, Prodigy P2 controller.
2012 shortbed CrewMax 4x4 Toyota Tacoma TV with more antennae on it.
rmkrum is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-13-2017, 08:50 PM   #36
Rivet Master
 
israndy's Avatar
 
2005 39' Skydeck
Alameda , California
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 558
Images: 2
Blog Entries: 1
I got my small RV in 2012, used, bad batteries, so I changed to GC2s from Costco and added a Xantrex Link Lite to be sure not to over discharge them. I was very happy with them, but a couple of years later I found they were not able to run the furnace all night like they did when I first set them up. I had tried to keep them charged by always plugging in when I returned home, not always successful. I didn't know a great way to tell if they were bad or just used, so I gave up and got a new set and was back to happy.

To be sure I didn't have to replace the batteries again I purchased a solar system that keeps the batteries topped up and equalized every month. No worries about forgetting to plug in. Unfortunately I parked the RV at my cabin for the winter last year and between the snow and the pines the solar failed me and let the batteries die.

I noticed this last trip that the battery will no longer run the refrigerator anymore. The battery voltage drops too fast. Perhaps it's time for another set as it's almost 3 years. Perhaps I should get some sort of low voltage cutoff for those times when the solar isn't keeping up with the parasitic loads. Don't like killing my batteries with bad care.

What has others experiences been with the Costco batteries? Should I be getting 7 years or is that just what you get when you pay half what a Trojan cost?

-Randy
__________________
2007 LTV Serenity beater 2005 Airstream SkyDeck
Also a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 2000 Honda Hybrid Insight
And all electric: March 2018 Tesla Model ☰, a 2012 Mitsubishi i-Miev and two 2007 Vectrix VX1 motorcycles
israndy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2017, 06:16 AM   #37
Rivet Master
 
carl2591's Avatar
 
2005 31' Classic
Garner, , North Carolina
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,031
I would think if you are not able to check the batteries at least weekly or so and not living in somewhere like AZ with no snow or tall trees to block the solar you might want to unplug the batteries durning non usage.

Letting any battery run down completely especially a deep cycle battery is its death abet a slow one. 3 yrs on a set of good batteries is not the norm. Some folks get 6 to 8 yrs of usage on well cared for batteries.

instead of running the furnace, a power hog, consider a heater like the thermal wave or the heat buddy type device that uses no power. better option for battery life over all.


Quote:
Originally Posted by israndy View Post
I got my small RV in 2012, used, bad batteries, so I changed to GC2s from Costco and added a Xantrex Link Lite to be sure not to over discharge them. I was very happy with them, but a couple of years later I found they were not able to run the furnace all night like they did when I first set them up. I had tried to keep them charged by always plugging in when I returned home, not always successful. I didn't know a great way to tell if they were bad or just used, so I gave up and got a new set and was back to happy.

To be sure I didn't have to replace the batteries again I purchased a solar system that keeps the batteries topped up and equalized every month. No worries about forgetting to plug in. Unfortunately I parked the RV at my cabin for the winter last year and between the snow and the pines the solar failed me and let the batteries die.

I noticed this last trip that the battery will no longer run the refrigerator anymore. The battery voltage drops too fast. Perhaps it's time for another set as it's almost 3 years. Perhaps I should get some sort of low voltage cutoff for those times when the solar isn't keeping up with the parasitic loads. Don't like killing my batteries with bad care.

What has others experiences been with the Costco batteries? Should I be getting 7 years or is that just what you get when you pay half what a Trojan cost?

-Randy
__________________
Carl, Raleigh NC
2-24-16 got a 2005 Classic 31D 460 watts solar, lithium 230 AH, 16" LT's, pulled by:
2003 F-250 SD, CC, 7.3L PowerStroke
WBCCI#1691, Piedmont Airstream Club, Unit #161, Region #3
carl2591 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Controller wiring to bus bar or batteries? txstreamer Generators & Solar Power 5 05-31-2023 11:03 AM
Motorhomes, and Charging Batteries.... Keyair General Motorhome Topics 18 10-15-2011 08:21 AM
Yikes! My Fantastic Fans Killed My Batteries Alumaholic Batteries, Univolts, Converters & Inverters 20 10-08-2011 08:33 AM
Zip Dee Awning Repair - Golf Cart Accident jbbaldwin Awnings 0 08-15-2011 01:16 PM
Bad Batteries? Nightwatch Electrical - Systems, Generators, Batteries & Solar 8 05-23-2011 01:58 PM


Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Airstream, Inc. or any of its affiliates. Airstream is a registered trademark of Airstream Inc. All rights reserved. Airstream trademark used under license to Social Knowledge LLC.



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:20 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.