New and looking to convert to two 6 volts!

[SailorSam20500]

I think you will have a hard time getting a solid idea on how many "nights" the battery setup will last.

My reasoning:
1. Number and size of people inside the trailer will affect the answer. People give off heat.
2. What will the weather be? Power use camping when the night temps are in the mid 50's, dry and no wind is a lot different than rainy, windy, and mid 30's.
3. What temperature do you want to maintain inside the trailer? Keeping the temp low, say the 60's is way different than trying to maintain 72.
Bottom line, the batteries may be good for 1 night, or they might last 3....


I think it would be a good idea to be looking for a good used generator. A 2K unit should be more than enough to top up your batteries.

[HONDAMAN174]

The “blemish” 12v ‘s my interstate were selling me only lasted about 9 months in my customers vehicles. Turned out to be more of an issue. Go to Sam’s club and buy new one or batteries plus.

[pgandw]

On our 2014 Rockwood A122 (A-frame), we wanted to cover up to 4 nights dry camping without recharging. This is the road I went down to achieve our goal:

• Dealer installed dual Interstate Marine Group 24 in a dual battery box. We never tested this for more than 2 consecutive nights with temps in the 40s.
• Due to problems that I didn't catch, on a 4 day trip with shore power, one of the batteries went bad, discharging the good battery as well. Because of shore power, I never knew we had a problem. At home, I disconnected the batteries and recharged them independently. The bad one didn't really take a charge. When I reconnected, started an electrical fire in the battery box. I cut the paralleling wires, which put the fire out.
• Replaced the batteries with 6V Costco Interstate GC-2s(now $95 each). They were short enough (length and height) to fit in the battery box. Installed a marine cut-off switch on the battery box, and wired a voltmeter into the microwave cabinet. I put a switch in BOTH the stereo + leads to prevent any draw when I wasn't using the stereo. Went 3 40 degree nights with batteries at 12.4V at the end of the 3rd night. Heater set at 62 degrees. Some fan use (low) during the day. We could have easily done a 4th night, possibly more.
• Did the same installation on our new A213HW, but have not yet gone more than 3 nights dry camping. Have never seen the batteries below 12.4V.

No generator or solar with either camper - we like to camp in the shade, and didn't want the hassle or weight of either solar panels or generator.

4 nights are pretty reasonable with GC-2s on an A-frame with all LED lighting and reasonable thermostat setting. Stereo is a surprisingly big power sink on an A-frame - put a switch in the power leads and turn it off.

The fridge was the biggest issue. The fridge in our A122 would not stay lit on propane while towing. So we had to tow with fridge on DC. The minivan alternator would keep up with the fridge, but would not recharge the batteries if the fridge was on. Any stops would cause the fridge to deplete some of the battery charge that would not be replenished. I learned to turn off the fridge or put it on propane while stopping for lunch.

On the new high wall A-frame the bigger fridge will stay lit (and/or automatically relight) on propane while towing. Minivan charges the batteries some while towing - a day's towing will bring them up to 12.7 from 12.4V.

hope this helps
Fred W
2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame (same as 213HW)
prev 2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by tomkatb

Two interstate batteries will provide about 110 amps.

Look up the furnace. It will have listed the amps used per hour.

It strictly depends on you. Depends on the thermostat setting and how cold it is wherever you are.

I would recommend you get a decent voltmeter installed. Otherwise, your are sort of blind as to what is happening! You migh wake up cold.

Costco sells two new Interstate 6’s for less than $200.

If you expect to boondock much an inverter generator is a good plan. Cars charge poorly at best. Plugging in is the fastest method to recharge.

Nope.

The furnace manual will list the amps drawn, not the amps per hour. That depends on how often the furnace runs. At 50 degrees outside air temperature, the furnace might only run for 30 minutes of an eight-hour night (small trailer, lots of body heat). At 25 degrees it might run for four hours of an eight-hour night. This is not a deterministic calculation.

[sasch]

Originally Posted by bikendan

As long as you don't need to run the a/c, any 2000w INVERTER generator will work. I have a Honda 2000i but I would have no problem buying a Champion, Ryobi, Kipor, or many others.

I've used my Honda IU1000 generator quit a few time for recharging only - no AC or Microwave and it's done a marvelous job. I've recently read you can parallel connect two of them and get 2000 watts but this still wouldn't run an AC but should run a Microwave. The IU1000 in my opinion provides a nice little insurance policy for a battery backup, 6 volt or 12 volt. I have recently upgraded my batteries to two (in parallel) size 27 RV deep cycle at Sam's for $62 each (including core credit of $18 ea).

[Telstar]

Not A frame mounted, but this commercial grade battery box can be mounted on A frame. It’s specifically made for two golf cart batteries.
https://www.etrailer.com/Battery-Box...329-HM426.html
Costco caries Interstate golf cart batteries too.
I added the vent at the top, not required for outside mounting.

[NJKris]

Telstar, I have that battery box and really like it, sturdy. I had to rig something up to get it to fit on my tongue battery shelf, and dremel tool cut off the protrusion you see on the lid of the battery box in the top pic because it was snug against the front bulkhead of the trailer. Got mine for 59 bucks on Amazon last year.

[DustyRoads]

It also is good practice to make sure your batteries are a matched pair when they were new. Not sure how you would do that with reconditioned batteries.
I am looking forward to a follow up from you as I will be buying new batteries in the spring. I am thinking 2 6 volt batteries. Or 2 12 volt 27 series.

[mnoland30]

Buy a 100 watt solar panel and a charge controller. A simple volt meter will give you enough information to get by. The voltage will read lower when you are using power, and will read higher after you haven't been using any for a while. I purchased my 6v golf cart batteries at Costco for around $90 each. Make sure you hook them up in series. They lasted 3 days easy with no solar (I had a bad connection). They were still above 50%. With the solar panel connected, I can boondock indefinitely. We don't use our heater at night, because that runs the batteries down quickly. The sound wakes me up at night, so we use sleeping bags. We are camping after all. The only reason I can see for a generator is if you need air conditioning. A solar panel will charge all day, and top off a battery, which won't happen with a generator unless you run it for a long time.

[myersjf12]

I can’t thank everyone enough for how helpful they have been. I am definitely going to go the two 6 volt route, with two new batteries so they match. I did however look into the furnace amp hour use. It states the furnace only used 2.7 amps. Is that accurate? Also how many amps should I factor in for parasitic drains like the radio clock, etc?

[pgandw]

Originally Posted by myersjf12

I can’t thank everyone enough for how helpful they have been. I am definitely going to go the two 6 volt route, with two new batteries so they match. I did however look into the furnace amp hour use. It states the furnace only used 2.7 amps. Is that accurate? Also how many amps should I factor in for parasitic drains like the radio clock, etc?

The 2.7 amps is accurate for the heater fan in the A122 A-frame. Because the A-frame has a small volume due to the sloped roof panels, no slide-outs, no interior partitions, and the side and roof panels have some insulation value, a powerful heater fan is not needed. Nor does the heater run as much as the heaters in canvas-sided pop-ups do - I have never had my heater exceed 50% run time even when the temps dropped to the high 30s.

The radio is a hog that can draw as much as 5 amps when driving the speakers. I don't know how much it draws in standby - this will likely vary considerably from one model to the next. Since I rarely use the stereo when camping, I put a switch in both power leads to turn the stereo completely off. No parasitic load there for me.

The fridge in the A122 has NO parasitic load when running on propane.

That only leaves the CO/propane detector which I have found draws about 0.25 amps (8 AH per day). This will vary some from one model to another. The thermostat and water heater control board also have very tiny parasitic draws. With reasonable heater use (I set the thermostat at 62, no heater during the day), I found I could get by with 20-25AH per day. Two fully charged batteries could give me 4 nights without recharging.

The high walls, because of the fridge control board and fridge fan, need 25-30AH per day.

hope this helps
Fred W
prev 2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
now 2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame (same as 213HW)
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

[NJKris]

Fred,

Your posts ALWAYS help.

[larry2c]

I bought my GC batteries at Batteries Plus - these ones. I didn't buy the boxes but they seem like a pretty good deal as well - this battery box

[Flat_twin]

I bought a pair of Crown CR-235 6V batteries from a local company that services golf carts. These are quality batteries made in Ohio with a great reputation. We also replaced the factory converter / charger with a three stage model that has a higher initial bulk rate charge so it is able to charge the batteries in less time which is important when you're counting on using a generator. Many campgrounds limit generator hours.
Also be aware that you must allow the batteries to rest after charging or discharging before you take a voltage reading to determine their state of charge. Checking voltage without allowing at least two hours (more is better) will give you false readings.
We boondocked a lot while in western Canada this summer. It got cold at night and we used the furnace every night to maintain 62 degrees inside. After watching a DVD movie each evening and running the furnace along with water pump and lights, we usually had 80% battery capacity remaining in the morning. Two to three hours of generator time was always enough to top off the batteries.

[NJKris]

Curious what converter you switched to, the factory converter does have multiple stages with higher bulk stage. The absorption stage, from about 80% state of charge till full charge typically takes the longest, where current is diminished as it gets closer and closer to full.

[Flat_twin]

Good, your converter / charger may be just fine then. Ours was two stage 13.6 bulk and 13.2 float. The new one is 14.1 or 14.2? bulk up to 90% then 13.6 until fully charged, then 13.2 float. I'd have to look but the name Progressive Dynamics sounds right.

[Alben]

A-Frame
2016 Forest River Viking Legend-V12RB
Camper parasitic total
Stock as shipped from Viking
150mA parasitic total
Converter 20mA
Water heater 0mA
Furnace controls 8mA
Lights 0mA
Pump / gas/CO detector 60mA
Radio 45mA all wires connected
Radio 10mA dimmer wire disconnected
Radio 0mA ACC wire disconnected

[skipatroller]

Originally Posted by myersjf12

Hi There!

This is my first post here and our first time owning a camper (Rockwood A122). We are trying to make sure we have a setup capable of accomplishing our goals with our A-Frame. We do see ourselves boondocking/being without shore power for a few days at times. I am not positive what battery comes standard with the A122, but after reading others' advice on here we are going to switch to two 6v batteries. I am looking at two blem Interstate deep cycle golf cart ECL-GCS 6v batteries with 215 AH ($37.50 each). Since we have two children (one baby) our big concern is making sure we can run the furnace through the night for 2-3 nights at a time. I'm having a hard time figuring out how many amps the furnace uses. So I guess my questions are is this the right set up/battery choice? How long would we be able to last running the furnace on auto at maybe 60 degrees tops, using lights sparingly, and maybe running the fan at times?

Welcome. I just went through all this when I purchased my new fifth wheel with a residential fridge, the point I'm making and what is crucial is determining your consumption, after you determine that you then need to come up with a battery setup that will accommodate those needs. You are going in a good direction when going to 2 6v. batteries, this combination will give you the opportunity to get the most amp hours.
I will say this is not an area that you want to get cheap on, especially with little ones. There are 3 types of batteries to consider, lead acid, AGM and then lithium Each one has its own characteristics for being drained and recharge cycles.

Lead acid are your cheapest to purchase with the shortest life, life of charge and recharge, not advised to let go below 50% discharge capacity, if this does happen your odds of getting it to take a full charge are highly impossible.

AGM are your next step up, big difference is it recharge cycle is more forgiving and gives you longer run time.

Now when you hit the lottery or if you really want to empty your wallet lithium is the cadillac of them all, shortest recharge time with the best run time.

No matter which one you decide you will most likely need to change the battery box or boxes they are stored in and if you are not sure how to wire them in series be sure to do homework and wire them properly.

[skipatroller]

Welcome. I just went through all this when I purchased my new fifth wheel with a residential fridge, the point I'm making and what is crucial is determining your consumption, after you determine that you then need to come up with a battery setup that will accommodate those needs. You are going in a good direction when going to 2 6v. batteries, this combination will give you the opportunity to get the most amp hours.
I will say this is not an area that you want to get cheap on, especially with little ones. There are 3 types of batteries to consider, lead acid, AGM and then lithium Each one has its own characteristics for being drained and recharge cycles.

Lead acid are your cheapest to purchase with the shortest life, life of charge and recharge, not advised to let go below 50% discharge capacity, if this does happen your odds of getting it to take a full charge are highly impossible.

AGM are your next step up, big difference is it recharge cycle is more forgiving and gives you longer run time.

[phfkef]

This may help. Be sure to replace calculation numbers with yours to get an idea.
https://www.thesavvycampers.com/rv-furnace-battery/