Grit dog
Black Diamond, WA
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Latner wrote:gitpicker2009 wrote:I'm about to replace my two AF1150 batteries. They're currently Interstate Deep Cycle 12 volts wired in parallel.
I'm thinking of going with two 6Volt golf cart batteries. Sam's sells the Duracell EGC2 for 150 bucks. Specs:
20 amp hour rate: 230
5 amp hour rate:174
Battery electrolyte composition: acid
Battery end type: top post
Battery purpose: deep cycle
BCI group size: GC2
Freight class: 65
Minutes at 25 amps: 448
Minutes at 75 amps: 120
Terminal type: DIN
Volts: six
I was thinking that with the 2 two wired in series, I'd be better off on the Amp Hour rating. Any opinions?
Thanks as always
Good choice. Mine are going on 7 years now and seem to be as good as when I bought them.
It’s not a good choice because they won’t fit in his camper….doesn’t matter if they last 20 years….if they’re sitting at home.
* This post was
edited 07/12/23 10:29am by Grit dog *
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StirCrazy
Kamloops, BC, Canada
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Joined: 07/16/2003
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pianotuna wrote:Consider recondtioned telecom batteries. Mine are 139 amp-hours each @ 12 volts. Measure to make sure they would fit.
The problem with going that way Don is that with our truck campers most of us are already flirting with the weight limit or have already gone over. Anything we can do to save weight is better in the long run. at 100lbs per 140AH Telecome battery that would take away 200lbs of my capacity where I could just do 2 100AH LFP for a total of 88 lbs and have more usable capacity and use that extra 120lbs of capacity for something else.
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StirCrazy
Kamloops, BC, Canada
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Joined: 07/16/2003
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gitpicker2009 wrote:I'm about to replace my two AF1150 batteries. They're currently Interstate Deep Cycle 12 volts wired in parallel.
I'm thinking of going with two 6Volt golf cart batteries. Sam's sells the Duracell EGC2 for 150 bucks. Specs:
20 amp hour rate: 230
5 amp hour rate:174
Battery electrolyte composition: acid
Battery end type: top post
Battery purpose: deep cycle
BCI group size: GC2
Freight class: 65
Minutes at 25 amps: 448
Minutes at 75 amps: 120
Terminal type: DIN
Volts: six
I was thinking that with the 2 two wired in series, I'd be better off on the Amp Hour rating. Any opinions?
Thanks as always
I originally went with two GC2 batteries. measure your opening for your battery compartment twice, then measure the height of the batteries. The largest I could fit in mine was 210AH as the 220AH were 1/4" too tall to get in the space. they seam to get taller as the capacity goes up. As it is, I had to a buy an auto watering set up so I could add water to them when they needed it, but I would recommend that for any setup now as it made topping off water so fast and easy.
I have since gone to LFP to save space and weight, but the 6V batteries worked good with my solar when I had them
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Latner
Indiana
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Joined: 08/06/2006
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Grit dog wrote:Latner wrote:gitpicker2009 wrote:I'm about to replace my two AF1150 batteries. They're currently Interstate Deep Cycle 12 volts wired in parallel.
I'm thinking of going with two 6Volt golf cart batteries. Sam's sells the Duracell EGC2 for 150 bucks. Specs:
20 amp hour rate: 230
5 amp hour rate:174
Battery electrolyte composition: acid
Battery end type: top post
Battery purpose: deep cycle
BCI group size: GC2
Freight class: 65
Minutes at 25 amps: 448
Minutes at 75 amps: 120
Terminal type: DIN
Volts: six
I was thinking that with the 2 two wired in series, I'd be better off on the Amp Hour rating. Any opinions?
Thanks as always
Good choice. Mine are going on 7 years now and seem to be as good as when I bought them.
It’s not a good choice because they won’t fit in his camper….doesn’t matter if they last 20 years….if they’re sitting at home.
Never said they would fit, only that they are good batteries. I assume he knows how to read dimensions and use a tape measure. ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/rolleyes.gif "rolleyes")
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HMS Beagle
Napa, California
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Joined: 08/22/2003
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I would never go back to flooded lead acid batteries, just due to the inevitable corrosion. However AGM batteries do have to be correctly charged, or their life will be short. That means correct voltages, and for sufficient time, somewhat frequently.
There is an argument for two 12V vs two 6V: if you run an inverter with high current draw, the two 12V batteries will have lower internal resistance than two 6V, and so lower voltage drop while running the inverter.
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valhalla360
No paticular place.
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Joined: 08/19/2009
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HMS Beagle wrote:I would never go back to flooded lead acid batteries, just due to the inevitable corrosion. However AGM batteries do have to be correctly charged, or their life will be short. That means correct voltages, and for sufficient time, somewhat frequently.
There is an argument for two 12V vs two 6V: if you run an inverter with high current draw, the two 12V batteries will have lower internal resistance than two 6V, and so lower voltage drop while running the inverter.
Technically true but with only a couple batteries, you probably shouldn't be pulling 2-3,000w anyway with an inverter. If you are trying to pull that kind of wattage, you should really have more than 2 batteries (6v or 12v).
500-1000w for a cofee maker or microwave shouldn't be a problem with a pair of 6v wired for 12v, so long as you keep it down to a few minutes use.
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LamboDesigns
Steamboat Springs
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Joined: 01/29/2017
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When my original equipment batteries were gone I went with the two 6v GC batteries. They did better than the original ones but after running the furnace all night there were mornings where they were pretty much shot if it was very cold. I would need to run the generator to make the morning coffee.
After 6 years it wasn't getting any better so I took a deep breath and went lithium. The price has come down enough that they make sense for the long term investment. They also come in a much smaller form factor now for the 100ah batteries with ones even smaller than I bought. I went with 3 Redodo 100ah "smart" batteries for the following reasons. 1) They were small enough to fit 3 and I wanted a 3000 watt inverter so I never have to worry about what the wife turns on. 2) Decent price and they are even cheaper ($350) now than when I bought them. 3) With a single button on each battery I can turn them off so they are not charging/discharging when not in use. Single push turns them back on. Great feature. 4) They have low temp charging protection. 5) They are a LOT lighter than the GC batteries making installation/removal much easier.
There are a few companies that look like they sell the same battery.... just a different name. I went with Redodo because they were the cheapest at the time. I had an issue when I first hooked them up, that was mainly a misunderstanding on my part on how the sleep mode works, and their customer service was outstanding. Emails were promptly answered and they were very professional and knowledgeable. Batteries are working great and I added a Renogy shunt to monitor them. When I fire up the furnace it shows it will run for 22 hours and I can run the microwave and make coffee at the same time. My goal was to never worry about running out of battery and with this setup I've achieved it.
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deltabravo
Spokane, WA
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Joined: 09/08/2003
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The problem with 6v lead acid wet cell batteries in an AF camper is the height of them, and the pointless battery slideout tray, and the inaccessibility of checking the fluid levels due to the height. That tray doesn't allow access to the inner battery either.
Your best bet is to ditch the tray and go with two group 031 AGM batteries, so you never have to check fluid levels or deal with acide puking wet cells ever again.
A lot of AF owners in the FB group have done the switch to AGM.
Here's how I did it on my AF 811
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deltabravo
Spokane, WA
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valhalla360 wrote:10min to add water a couple times per year...ehhh. Should be checking on connections etc anyway.
Never spilled acid or had fumes do any damage, so...ehhh.
Fumes will corrode things when the batteries gas when charging.
It's more like 30+ minutes to check batter fluid level in an AF camper.
You can't get access to the inner battery, even though they are on a useless sliding tray that most AF owners despise.
The tray only slides half way out.
The only time I was able to check the water was when I took the camper off the truck for the winter and was able to disconnect the batteries and removed them to check fluid.
Checking water when the camper was on the truck was an impossible feat because getting them out required the use of a ladder. Carrying them down a ladder isn't fun (or safe)
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JimK-NY
NY
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I have Lifeline AGM batteries. I go years without even opening the batter compartment to check on them. In order to use the largest possible batteries I removed the slideout tray. It would be a major issue if I had regular batteries that needed to have water added.
The lack of maintenance needs makes the extra cost of AGM batteries worth it for me.
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