How many Lexington house batteries?

kenandterry · 12-15-2021, 01:31 PM

Trying to help a friend who recently bought a beautiful 2011 Lexington 255DS.

As standard equipment goes……Shouldn’t there be 2 house batteries in this rig?
His Lexington works 100%, but he’s realizing he doesn’t have much dry camping “staying power”, which doesn’t surprise me when he reports only finding 1 house battery.

The 1 engine battery is not an issue here.

I believe someone only installed 1 house battery for cost reasons or whatever, but seeing he reports having enough room for 2 batteries, I just want to confirm others out there DO HAVE 2 batteries.

Thanks.

dontay · 12-15-2021, 02:03 PM

Yes. Two.

clhjsh · 12-15-2021, 03:56 PM

The 2012 Lexington we had did have 2.

david_wood · 12-15-2021, 06:02 PM

Depending on the model (GTS or Non-GTS) a second house battery was an option. The last page of the brochure shows standard and optional equipment.

Dave

NoviBill · 12-15-2021, 07:49 PM

My 2006 has room for two batteries, but came with one 12volt.
I have added a 2nd 12v battery and only connect one at a time.
You can also use two 6v golfcart batteries (deep cycle)

W5CRE · 12-15-2021, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoviBill

My 2006 has room for two batteries, but came with one 12volt.
I have added a 2nd 12v battery and only connect one at a time.
You can also use two 6v golfcart batteries (deep cycle)

Connecting one at a time sounds like a real pain. Just hook both up in parallel and get on with life.

kenandterry · 12-15-2021, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by W5CRE

Connecting one at a time sounds like a real pain. Just hook both up in parallel and get on with life.

X2

oldsmasma · 12-16-2021, 09:16 AM

Our 283GTS has two in parallel

kenandterry · 12-16-2021, 10:09 AM

Thanks for all the replies to date.

For my friend’s recently purchased Lexington (which they love and is still perfectly operational) I submit this consideration………

I’m thinking the previous house battery or batteries were questionable in their performance, so, it/they were replaced with a single new or newer battery to provide the service expected from an RVs 12 volt system before the sale. My friend only mentioned that the one time they dry camped so far, the rig didn’t have much staying power. No surprise after he confirmed that they only have the 1 house battery.

They’ll look into purchasing 2 new batteries next year if dry camping becomes more popular with their use of the rig.

Thanks again.

GFD47 · 12-16-2021, 12:40 PM

Our 2015 Wildcat Maxx only came with one 12V, which I didn't realize until the walkaround. I couldn't complain much since the sticker was $43k and we bought it for $28k (those were the days, huh?) The dealer installed a second one for the cost of the parts (battery, box and wiring.) I've since replaced the originals with AGMs. Not sure if I'll ever upgrade to lithium with this rig, but maybe when the AGMs give out. We dry camp several times a year and I can't imagine having fewer than two batteries.

NoviBill · 12-16-2021, 09:59 PM

How long do you run on batteries? I get 3-4 days on one AGM, my 2nd battery is older and not an AGM (great for 1-2 days as backup). Running them in parallel is bad for unmatched batteries. I have added a switch to swap between then.

GFD47 · 12-17-2021, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoviBill

How long do you run on batteries? I get 3-4 days on one AGM, my 2nd battery is older and not an AGM (great for 1-2 days as backup). Running them in parallel is bad for unmatched batteries. I have added a switch to swap between then.

Our entire rig is LED for lighting, so time on batteries depends heavily on the weather, as the furnace fan shortens things dramatically. We don't have an inverter, so all loads are strictly 12V. When using the furnace I crank up the Honda 2000i after the second night just to keep on the safe side of 50% depletion. In the summer I typically crank up after the fourth night.

sas7001 · 01-27-2022, 12:45 PM

My 2006 Lexi Ford E450 V10 has 2 house batteries that fill the battery compartment. Can I parallel wire an additional marine battery (in a battery box) from under the dinette to one of those batteries? These are all 12v deep cycle batteries. I read somewhere that the engine alternator (generator) would be over tasked and could burn out when charging the starter and the 3 house batteries. I have the Onan 4000 generator which I assume could charge everything.

NoviBill · 01-27-2022, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sas7001

My 2006 Lexi Ford E450 V10 has 2 house batteries that fill the battery compartment. Can I parallel wire an additional marine battery (in a battery box) from under the dinette to one of those batteries? These are all 12v deep cycle batteries. I read somewhere that the engine alternator (generator) would be over tasked and could burn out when charging the starter and the 3 house batteries. I have the Onan 4000 generator which I assume could charge everything.

First issue is flooded batteries produce hydrogen gas when being charged. Keeping one inside your rig could be deadly. The battery box vents outside and is reasonably safe - you still don't want a spark near it when charging.

What is your use case - lots of power needed to run something (hair dryer/oven) or do you just want to boondock for a long time without running the generator?

High power could be done with LI batteries, but you will need a new charge controller - 2006 units will work well with deep cycle and OK with AGM but could damage LI batteries (verify, I have read this but don't have documented source).

If you want to boondock for a long time just using lights, heater and water pump, look a 200-400 watts of solar.

-Bill

sas7001 · 01-27-2022, 07:04 PM

Thanks Bill for being so responsive. Glad to hear about the off-gassing from an AGM battery. Did not know that. My main reason is having a CPAP machine used every night (plus naps, lol) and I'm ready to start boondocking and save overnight fees. Solar is the way I would like to go, but I have a fairly new spar battery hanging around that I use for my CPAP in case my home power goes out. I simply have not tried it one night to see if it lasts all night on the one battery.

tomkatb · 01-27-2022, 07:27 PM

Plan ahead.

Figure how much battery amp hours dc you have.

How much you want to use daily.

Typical is 100 per day.

Then decide how to replenish batteries.

Fist purchase should be a battery monitor to properly manage what you have. A good learning device.

We have a 430 amp hour battery set up. 4 gc2 batteries.

We have a gas electric fridge. Our common big user is the cpap. The furnace ran a lot out west last October.

When boondocking we charge the batteries every other day. No solar. If I thought we would do a lot of traveling out west I would add 800 watts of solar. I do not like the idea of 30-40 screw holes in the roof.

A 400 ah lithium battery without solar would last 3-4 days. Likely my next purchase.

sas7001 · 01-27-2022, 07:51 PM

Thanks for those thoughts. Lithium batteries are on the wish list ;-)

NoviBill · 01-27-2022, 07:59 PM

I am not a fan of holes in the roof, but I found 100watt complete system for $100 and will give it a try. I figure it should be a battery maintainer and a bit more. We last 2-4 days on one AGM, I figure this will add 300wh/day

sas7001 · 01-28-2022, 09:40 AM

$100 for 100w solar seems reasonable for experimenting. Just received a 15% off any one item for Harbor Freight. Maybe their 100w system will be under $100. Thanks again Bill.

tomkatb · 01-28-2022, 10:20 AM

A 100 watt solar panel on its best day can produce about 300 watts or 25 dc amp hours. Great for maintaining the rv over the winter. Snow is an issue. The panel needs to be cleaned.

25 ah is likely 25% of your daily use.

To be sort of really on solar you need 400 ah of usable batteries and 800 watts of panels. Got to plan for Rainey days.

First purchase is a battery monitor.

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