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Old 11-20-2009, 02:45 AM   #1
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I need to replacethe batteries in the 5er. When I turn off the shore power the batteries read dead at the control panel..at least I think that is what it says, it is hard to tell because the lightsbarely work. I am considering going to the 4-6volt set-up but don't really know anything about it. If I don't do that does anyone have a suggestion on a good 12v replacement battery? Any input is greatly appreciated.

Lonnie
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Old 11-20-2009, 05:05 AM   #2
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07 cruiser with a dead battery? check to see if your terminals are clean and getting a good connection. Battery seems a little young to be replaced.
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Old 11-20-2009, 07:22 AM   #3
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http://crossroadsrv.com/forum/forum_...eries&PN=1





Lonnie - the linked thread contains some information regarding 6 volt batteries vs. Optima 12 volt. If you were going to switch to 6 volt batteries, IMO you should be fine with just two instead of four. The 6 volt batteries are more expensive than your standard wet cell 12 volt and you probably wouldn't see any added benefit from them unless you're dry camping and running on the batteries alot. If you're plugged into shore power most of the time the 12 volt option should do you fine. Hope that helps.
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Old 11-20-2009, 07:31 AM   #4
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Lonnie, Your more than welcome to have mine. Nothing wrong with it that I know of just the wrong brand. One of my vedors doesn't like it being in there and is bringing me another. I might be able to get you a good price on one if you don't want mine ?
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Old 11-20-2009, 09:02 AM   #5
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I agree with Rock. You shouldn't need more than 2 6 volt bateries. The key to making batteries last a long time is to avoid running them below 50 % charged. The Trojan tech I have talked to several times says the batts will last much, much longer if you don't deep cycle them all the way down. I follow that advise and have gotten as much as 10 years of use out of my 6 volts.



On the contrary I use 12 volt Trojans in my bass boat and run them down to parade rest with my trolling motor almost every time out and they usually only last about 3 years and that is with way less use than the trailer batts get.



The battery gauge lights that come with the cruiserare really not very good for checking battery condition. Better to use avoltmeter or get a good gauge that measures inat least tenths of volts. 12.7 volts is 100 % charged, 12.2 volts is 50 % charged.
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Old 11-21-2009, 10:07 AM   #6
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12.2 is 50% ??

A dead battery would be 1.7 volts per cell going to 80%

1.7v x 6 cells would be 10.2v ??



Disscus Please,,,,,
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Old 11-22-2009, 03:14 AM   #7
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Gtoguy, I'm not sure where you are getting the 1.7 volts per cell or the 80% but I'll try to cover what I have learned over the years about battery voltage.



I was refering to "state of charge". The values I refer to can be found in several resources and generally agree within a tenth of a volt or so. It goes like this:

100% charged = 12.7 volts

75% =12.4 volts

50% =12.2 volts

25% =12.0 volts

0%=11.7 volts

This refers to "stabilized" or"resting" voltage. Which means the battery has not been charged or had any load on it for approx 24 hours.

As I said Ihave read several resources over the years and discussed this with some solar and battery experts and they all agree with these values within a tenth of a volt or so. Two sources that I have handy at the moment are; "RVer's guide to Solar Battery Charging"by Kirkby and "RV repair & maintenance manual" a Trailer Life book by Bob Livingston. By the way I highly recommend the Trailer Life book by Livingston. It answers a lot of the questions we often see on this forum regarding just about anything on our RV's. It is just a great manual to have in your RV.



Now a note about "stabilized voltage". It is not really practical, when you are using your rig to get a true stabilized reading. You have to disconnect the battery for 24 hours to get this. So this is what I do when I am dry camping. I have solar panels so if there is light outside my batteries are getting some level ofcharge. I also have a digitalbattery monitor that displays in tenths of volts. Because my batteriesare always being charged or discharged by something I try to measure the state of charge when the drain or the charge is at a minimum. So I check the voltage on the panel when I first get up in the morning, while it's dark outside( no solar charging), and before I start turning things on that will put a load on the batteries. Then I figure the actual state of the battery is likely about one tenth higher than what I am reading on the panel. At that time the batteries haven't had any major loads put on them for about 7-8 hours. That doesn't fit the 24 hour rule but my experience is that the batteries recover most of their voltage within that time if not loaded. Seems there are no absolutes when it comes to batteries. Hope this helps.
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Old 11-22-2009, 09:52 AM   #8
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Now I know why this does not make sense to me, It's light when I get up LOL.



The numberes I have are all under a load. If you wanted to load test your batteries these numbers would apply. In the industrial world we load test batteries because this is where we find issues. Under a load running your battery to 80% you would want to shut it off at 1.7 volts.

I don't deal with 6v or 12v I deal with 24v , 36v and 48 volt.

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Old 11-22-2009, 10:51 AM   #9
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Got it. Under load. Big difference. Wow, I wouldn't even know where to start testing an RVbattery under load. I do notice on my panel that when Iput a load on it such as starting the furnace fan it will drop the voltage a volt or more. But as soon as I shut it off it jumps back up.



I usually don't get up until it is light out either. Like whenI am at home or kicking back at Lake Havasu in the winter. But usually when I am dry camping, I am hunting or fishing and it's up at O dark thirty.



I'll bet that 48 volt baby would get that furnace fan humming. Have you tried to put one of those in your camper yet.
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Old 11-22-2009, 11:59 AM   #10
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Considering they weigh almost 4000+ pounds I'm thinking it would make it lean a little lol. There is no way to check individual cells in a 6 or 12v battery. Industrial batteries have the connectors exposed allowing you to change one out if it goes bad.
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Old 11-22-2009, 12:07 PM   #11
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4000 pounds!! Holy hernia batman! I can hear my Lippert suspention collapsingand my Mission tires going flat from here.
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Old 11-23-2009, 07:26 AM   #12
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Thats what ours start at. I imagain there are some out there that weigh less.
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Old 11-23-2009, 09:51 PM   #13
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I haven't been able to do anything with my batts yet. I have been too busy trying to comprehend "battery math". I am going to pull them out tomorrow and check them. I think I might have run them low on H2O. I have been bad and have not looked at them since the camper was purchased. I did check the terminals and they look clean. I will get it worked out just as soon as I finish my correspondence course in math, electricity and physics.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Lonnie
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Old 11-24-2009, 12:02 PM   #14
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I wished I had two sixes instead on one twelve this past weekend when the heater killed the battery!41 degrees in the trailer isn't comfortable sleeping weather. I have to say, my remote start came to the rescue. Started the truck and the heater came back up. Probably one of my better investments!
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Old 11-24-2009, 12:24 PM   #15
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Lonnie, My batteries went dead a couple weeks ago on my camper. It turned out that my converter was bad, and not charging the batteries. Might check it also. Mark.

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Old 11-24-2009, 09:25 PM   #16
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Mark! Good to hear from you. Thanks for the input but I think I found my problem. I pulled the caps off my batteries and they are dry. I did not do a very good job of maintaining the water levels obviously. I am usually "on top of things" when it comes to maintenance but I blew this one. Good to hear you are still out there! Take care and Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.

Lonnie
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Old 11-24-2009, 09:53 PM   #17
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Lonnie I have a pink Bunny that like batteries I would send him up to you but he does not like snow, maybe in the Spring

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Old 11-24-2009, 10:45 PM   #18
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Lonnie, do you leave your trailer plugged in all the time? If so it will boil them out if you don't check them every couple of weeks. I use to leave ours plugged in all the time but I installed a Battery Minder and now I unplug the trailer and just leave the minder plugged in. It does not boil off the water like the converter does.I have the minder installed in the battery compartment and the extension cord comes in through a small hole at the bottom of the compartment.
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Old 11-24-2009, 11:59 PM   #19
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Hey Lonnie, yes, I still just kinda lurk around everywhere, just call me, the lurker.

I did not know that about staying plugged in to the shoreline. I leave my camper plugged in all the time. Where would a person get a battery minder? Is that what it is called is a battery minder? I need to check that out.
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Old 11-25-2009, 12:12 AM   #20
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I am pretty sure this is where I got mine. It is a float charger that will not over charge the batteries and will help prevent sulphation.



http://www.pacificbattery.com/batter...FQZinAod8y8PmQ
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