Trying to figure out 6 volt batteries

[ScottBrownstein]

Originally Posted by Burgeogull

Also curious why you're switching back to 12v from the 6v set up?

He's not switching back, he was referring to converting the AH for his 6 v batteries into an equivalent 12 volt series hookup. Each 6 v Trojan is 125 AH, the series connection is therefore 12 V at 125 AH.

Your battery status monitor will always read full when you are charging since it is only reading voltage and the voltage is more than 13.3 volts from the converter or charger when charging. If you wait 12 hours after you stop charging, the panel will sort of indicate the state of your batteries according to the chart that has been posted numerous times on this forum. Not a good way to tell the status since most of us can't wait 12 hours to find out how much we have left in the bank.

[pgandw]

Originally Posted by ScottBrownstein

Funny, but in 15 years on both this and other RV forums, I have never heard anyone say anything good about a WFCO converter. They must have a really good volume price to the RV manufacturers. Now, my Georgetown came with a PD, so hopefully the manufacturers are waking up to the problems.

After reading the WFCO manual, I'm convinced WFCO converters usually work as WFCO intended them to. But usage scenarios vary widely from one camper to the next, and the battery charging needs of one user are not nearly the same as the next.

The WFCOs are liked by the RV manufacturers because they are programmed very conservatively to avoid battery gassing and over-charging. And they use cheaper components, and are cheaper to buy. For example, the WFCO will not go into bulk mode unless the battery is pretty low, and for some users not at all. The WFCO, per the manual, will not go into trickle charge for at least 44 hours at a steady current output. That means that while camping, the WFCO essentially stays at 13.7 volts all the time unless you drag the batteries really low, and can trigger bulk mode. It also means slow recharging on a generator or shore power.

The PD is usually programmed more aggressively, and will go into bulk mode sooner and stay there longer. I believe some PD units can be manually forced into a particular charge mode.

On my A-frame the converter is also the power distribution panel, so replacement of the WFCO is not as easy. For our camping style, the WFCO is adequate. We put in two GC2 6V batteries (232 AH), and that is sufficient for 4 nights with the heater. We don't use inverter, generator, or solar to avoid the hassles of each. But we never spend more than 4 nights in any one place. Put the A-frame in the garage when we get home, plug it in for 3-4 days, and we are ready to go again. KISS camping - I like it.

Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

[Burgeogull]

[QUOTE=ScottBrownstein;1180499]He's not switching back, he was referring to converting the AH for his 6 v batteries into an equivalent 12 volt series hookup. Each 6 v Trojan is 125 AH, the series connection is therefore 12 V at 125 AH.

Oh!! I see now since I read it right.

My 6v batteries are also 232 ah.

[HONDAMAN174]

Stupid question. Of those of you that have had 12v batteries and 6v batteries, which have a better life span?


2014 Evo 2850 "Woodstock"
2011 Toyota Tundra "Clifford"

[pgandw]

Originally Posted by HONDAMAN174

Stupid question. Of those of you that have had 12v batteries and 6v batteries, which have a better life span?

I had dual 12V size 24 batteries installed by the dealer when I bought the a-frame new April 2014. One of them went bad April 2015. I ended up destroying the other one before I realized what had happened.

I replaced them with dual GC2 6V Interstate golf cart batteries from Costco ($150 for both including tax). This was cheaper than 12V and gave me 232AH instead of 160AH from the12V. The 6V also fit the battery box better. Only drawback to me for the 6V is 40lbs more tongue weight.

After a year, the 6V are showing 12.8V at full charge.

Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame

[mjbenedict]

Originally Posted by HONDAMAN174

Stupid question. Of those of you that have had 12v batteries and 6v batteries, which have a better life span?


2014 Evo 2850 "Woodstock"
2011 Toyota Tundra "Clifford"

6V golf cart batteries are built sturdier and typically can be discharged more. You can get equivalent 12V batteries but they tend to cost more. Easier to maintain 2 6V batteries versus 2 12V batteries as there are only 6 caps to fill/check.

[boondocking]

Originally Posted by HONDAMAN174

Stupid question. Of those of you that have had 12v batteries and 6v batteries, which have a better life span?


2014 Evo 2850 "Woodstock"
2011 Toyota Tundra "Clifford"

I usually got 4-5 years out of 12v batteries. I'm into my 6th year with two 6v batteries, they are still going strong and have a resting voltage of 12.75

[Too Tall]

Originally Posted by pgandw

After reading the WFCO manual, I'm convinced WFCO converters usually work as WFCO intended them to. But usage scenarios vary widely from one camper to the next, and the battery charging needs of one user are not nearly the same as the next.

The WFCOs are liked by the RV manufacturers because they are programmed very conservatively to avoid battery gassing and over-charging. And they use cheaper components, and are cheaper to buy. For example, the WFCO will not go into bulk mode unless the battery is pretty low, and for some users not at all. The WFCO, per the manual, will not go into trickle charge for at least 44 hours at a steady current output. That means that while camping, the WFCO essentially stays at 13.7 volts all the time unless you drag the batteries really low, and can trigger bulk mode. It also means slow recharging on a generator or shore power.

The PD is usually programmed more aggressively, and will go into bulk mode sooner and stay there longer. I believe some PD units can be manually forced into a particular charge mode.

On my A-frame the converter is also the power distribution panel, so replacement of the WFCO is not as easy. For our camping style, the WFCO is adequate. We put in two GC2 6V batteries (232 AH), and that is sufficient for 4 nights with the heater. We don't use inverter, generator, or solar to avoid the hassles of each. But we never spend more than 4 nights in any one place. Put the A-frame in the garage when we get home, plug it in for 3-4 days, and we are ready to go again. KISS camping - I like it.

Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

Excellent information, thanks. This explained a lot of questions I had on the WFCO.

[John McClain]

Keep in mind not long a go deep cell batt only came in 6 volt Now you can get them in 12 volt look into the floor sweeper 12 deep cell's made by US Batt.
150 ah out a 31t x2 + 300amp hrs

[John McClain]

almost half the golf carts run 12 volt deep cells now

[ScottBrownstein]

Originally Posted by John McClain

almost half the golf carts run 12 volt deep cells now

Actually they have converted to 8 volt batteries. 6 x 8 volt = 48 volt. They found that while you could rent for 2 18 hole outings with 36 volts between charges, you can get 3 18 hole parties with 48!

[OldBob]

Originally Posted by Burgeogull

I'm not sure what kind of converter I have, it's the stock one. Didn't really want to buy a new converter. So far I only have 2 of the batteries hooked up. I ran the generator with trailer plugged in for a couple hours or so last week, the gauge inside the trailer said they were fully charged but after running lights and tv etc for a few hours they were down quite a bit. I'm waiting for the weather to warm up before I hook the others.

Also curious why you're swithching back to 12v from the 6v set up?

Oh...no, not switching back to 12v batteries. That I'll never do as the 6v arrangement is so much better for us. I'm sorry I gave that impression. I just meant to say that our wimpy WFCO converter didn't have enough power to charge my 2 6v Trojans using the generator. After I installed the Progressive Dynamics converter I can charge the batteries after only about 3 - 4 hours of generator time.

[Too Tall]

The reason I switched to 6 volt was the limited space on my TT tongue. I've got just short of 24" to work with. The most Amp/ hrs I could get with 2 grp 24 batteries was 2 x 85 = 170 amp/ hrs and that's only by butchering the battery box to get them to fit. The 2 6 volts in the century box looks like it was made for my TT and I get 232 amp/ hrs.

[spock123]

I don't plan to install solar this year but I need a simple 12 volt meter to tell me the state of charge of my battery bank. I just need something simple not a permanent connection.


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[ScottBrownstein]

Originally Posted by spock123

I just need something simple not a permanent connection...

How about this: http://www.amazon.com/HappyPrimeDay-...=sr_1_4&sr=8-4

Plug in to a dc socket if you have one. By the antenna amp?

[HONDAMAN174]

That's is what I was going to say.

Prime Products 12-2020 12 Volt Digital Meter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002UC4XKO..._Y.3jxbSZHA6P4



2014 Evo 2850 "Woodstock"
2011 Toyota Tundra "Clifford"

[Too Tall]

Along with the other suggestions I find this to be very helpful for measurng DC current volts, etc..


Sears.com

[Burgeogull]

Ok so I have mine up and running! 4 six volt batteries and 220 watts of solar panels. The panels have no problem getting the batteries up to over 14 volts on a sunny day.

Now I have a question...how long should I expect to be able to use a small tv, my Satelite reciever and the trailer stereo. Right now the batteries drop fairly quickly in the evening to about 12.5 volts and remain all night.

Is this right or should I expect better?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by Burgeogull

Ok so I have mine up and running! 4 six volt batteries and 220 watts of solar panels. The panels have no problem getting the batteries up to over 14 volts on a sunny day.

Now I have a question...how long should I expect to be able to use a small tv, my Satelite reciever and the trailer stereo. Right now the batteries drop fairly quickly in the evening to about 12.5 volts and remain all night.

Is this right or should I expect better?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Under load your voltage will drop. How much the drop depends on total capacity available to deliver power and the amount of load demanded.
Sounds like your system is working perfectly.

[pgandw]

Originally Posted by Burgeogull

Ok so I have mine up and running! 4 six volt batteries and 220 watts of solar panels. The panels have no problem getting the batteries up to over 14 volts on a sunny day.

Now I have a question...how long should I expect to be able to use a small tv, my Satelite reciever and the trailer stereo. Right now the batteries drop fairly quickly in the evening to about 12.5 volts and remain all night.

Is this right or should I expect better?

There are a couple of points of confusion here. Using battery voltage to determine battery SOC (state of charge) has many limitations.
- when the battery is being charged, you are reading the charging voltage which has nothing to do with SOC. It does tell you if the charging system is working, but not the battery SOC or even how many AH (amp hours) are being put in
- it takes nearly 24 hours after disconnecting the charger for the battery voltage to be an accurate reading of the SOC. The voltage will read higher than actual SOC, gradually declining to the real value. And that's with no load attached during the period.
- reading battery voltage with a load attached, but not under charge, will under-read the SOC. The bigger the load, the more the battery voltage droops.

Amp hours are the measure of a battery's capacity. You need something like a Trimetric to monitor AH in and AH out to really understand how your batteries are doing. Calculating your AH load per day can be a good approximation, but it's very hard to know how many AH the solar panels are actually putting in.

A very rough approximation would be battery voltage at the same time each morning (before the solar panels kick in). If the voltage is holding steady, the solar panels are providing enough to cover the load. If the voltage is declining day-to-day, the solar panels aren't providing enough.

Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan