Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: Battery Upgrade (Read 3326 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Battery Upgrade

Yahoo Message Number: 3379
I'm investigating high end batteries.... Lifeline and Rolls. Does anyone have an opinion on either one? Any experience with either?
Although the Rolls is a lead-acid (as opposed to the AGM Lifeline)it has a very long warranty.

Dick May

2002 Intrigue #11438
Dick May
2002 Intrigue, #11438, towing a
2014 Jeep Gr Cherokee ecoDiesel

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3380
There are no flooded(lead acid) batteries that can take the abuse of AGM's. Faster charging , and NO maintenance . The AGM's do not gas , so if you should want the compartment can be sealed off and the batteries stay clean. Almost forgot NO CORROSION. Almost all new total electric com with AGM's.

Good luck

Bob Ewing

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3382
I installed Lifelines for the coach The only trouble I've had is the Heart charger will overheat and turn itself off if the batteries are low. The AGMs have such low resistance that the charger overheats but so far it hasn't failed (over a year). You might check out other chargers and see if you can find one that has current limiting so this is not a problem. I asked CC about it and they had nothing to offer. jerry in NM, '00 Magna.

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3386
Dick, have you worn out the batteries already? If I was rich and just wanted to change, I would go for the AGMs. They are sealed, no gassing, no leaking, and you can install them upside down if you want. Don't know anything about the Rolls batteries, just heard about them this week. I think by the time we really need to look at changing batteries (3-4 years) there will be some new technology out there. Nice to have met you and your wife at the factory last month.
Don

'02 Intrigue #11427
'02 Intrigue #11427

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3388
Dick

Not sure about the brands you mentioned. I have been looking at replacing my batteries as well. I currently have the original 8D batteries from Les Schawb. One 8D for the engine and two 8D house batteries that are labeled deep cycle. I question the house batteries as actually being a true deep cycle. The house batteries do no want to hold a charge for long. With battery switches off, the batteries will be very low after 7-10 days. I checked batteries with hydrometer and found a cople of cell reading much lower than adjacent cells, giving an indication of shorted cells.
I made a visit to the local Battery Depot and discussed AGM batteries and the 8D batteries. The technician indicated that most likely the 8D's I have are not true deep cycle batteries. He said that he could sell me 8D's, but I would not get the expected service time out of them. As for AGM, he indicated they are great as long as the charging system is set up for the charge rate they require. However, he indicated that none of these are as good as a true deep cycle such as those built by Trojan for a golf cart. .....and they are cheaper.

There is something about a sealed battery like the AGM I have never liked. You cannot check its condition. At least with a wet cell you can periodically check it to see if the battery is degraded before it goes completely dead.

So, I am thinking of changing to the Trojan 6 volt batteries hooked in series pairs then in a parallel bank for the house batteries and staying with the 8D size for the engine cranking battery. I have not measured it yet, but I think I can get 3 pairs of the Trojans in place of the two 8D's. Since two 6-volt Trojan's have more power than one 8D battery, this will give me a total of over 40% more power capacity than the two 8D batteries. Also that way if I get a shorted cell in one of the batteries, I am only replacing one 6-volt battery at a cost $55 each. The Trojan's are very common nationwide. An 8D battery ranges from $120-200 each.

Any comments, suggestions, opinions welcome. Has anyone done this?

Jim Hughes

Jacksonville, FL

2000 Allure 40' #30511

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3390
Same here, Don.

As for my batteries..... they stink. I can't go through the night on them.
They "checked them" at the factory and said that they are fine. BULL! Something is wrong.... either

I've taken good care of them. The coach is parked in my driveway with 30 amp service. Never over depleted them..... nothing but distilled water in them.... equalized them three times in 14 months. The readout on my Trace shows the proper charging level on generator and shore power. I just have to assume that the batteries are weak. I'm not finished with CC yet but I have to do something.

Although nobody ever accused me of being rich I am bothered enough by the battery woes that I'll go for best I can afford.... just like I did with choosing a motorhome.

Dick May

2002 Intrigue, #11438
Dick May
2002 Intrigue, #11438, towing a
2014 Jeep Gr Cherokee ecoDiesel

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3391
Jim,

I like the plan.... but I'm not sure that I'm that adventuresome.
Have you run this by the folks at CC? What AH rating do you end up with compared to the 2 8Ds? Will your inverter/converter handle that configuration?

Keep me posted if you don't mind.

Dick May

2002 Intrigue, #11438
Dick May
2002 Intrigue, #11438, towing a
2014 Jeep Gr Cherokee ecoDiesel

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3392
Dick,I think I have a theory on the batteries and the way we look at them as being almost dead over night. We are headed to the desert Thursday so let me look at it again and put something down on paper.
Don't want to shoot myself in the foot. Me thinks it has something to do with where the low battery cutoff voltage is set. I think that voltage is used as the number where the controller thinks the battery is dead and the fuel gage will indicate the percentage of charge left to reach that voltage. Our coach has been sittting now for three weeks so it will be interesting to see what the batteries look like.
When it was parked the voltage was 13.0.
Don

'02 Intrigue #11427
'02 Intrigue #11427

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3395
Do two of the Golf Cart Batteries measure the same exterior dimensions and one 8D?

Joey

'98 Intrigue

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3398
Don.... I think you are right about the cutoff point. Mine is set at 11.4 VDC which is supposed to be about 50 % of completely discharged. My contention is that without being too frugal we should make it overnight without hitting that point.

We stopped at a Wal-Mart on the way home from Junction City.... after being on the road at interstate speeds and voltage reading in the low 13 volt area. As a test I set the gen on auto-start and about 5AM it started.
There's no way we can enjoy any dry camping with that kind of service from a battery.

I've got to get something done.

Let me know what your readings are when you can.

Dick May

2002 Intrigue, #11438
Dick May
2002 Intrigue, #11438, towing a
2014 Jeep Gr Cherokee ecoDiesel

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #12 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3403
Just to let you all know that 2 years ago I replaced my 8d batteries with the interstate 6volt golf cart batteries and find they last longer then the 8d with less weight then the agm's plus if a problem occurs they are easier to replace thanks Brian
intrigue 10030 95

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #13 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3404
My original batteries would not hold a charge. I got lucky with those, a technician at Beaudry RV in Tucson told me that most of the batteries he sees on CC have problems. He said I am not going to mess around with them.I will just replace them and he did (under warranty.) At that time I had only owned the coach about 3 weeks, they wouldn't hold a charge overnight and were basically worthless.

Believe me my next batteries will not be the 8D batteries that Les Schwab provides. I will replace them with golf cart batteries, real rv batteries!
Ray

2000 Intrigue

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #14 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3405
Hi Jim. Yes, I changed the two 8D house batteries for four 6v Interstate deep cycle batteries last August. You are probably right that 6 should fit but I elected to use four of them. However, it will be very difficult getting to the cells in the rear most batteries if you go with 6 of them. I had used Trojans previously in my last gas coach and got 5 good years out of them when I traded in that coach for the Allure. While I wanted Trojans again I got the Interstate for free and they seem to be quite good too. As long as one is willing to check the batteries periodically, and add distilled water when necessary, I would stick with the wet cells.

Mike Lewis 2000 Allure #30493

On Sun, 01 Dec 2002 14:03:13 -0000 "Jim Hughes" kc4fws@...> writes:

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #15 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3407
Two golf cart batteries are than one 8D. Four of them, which I use, are smaller in area than the original two 8D's. However, my battery data is at the motorhome so I cannot look up the info now...However, the following url's should procure sizes: www.interstatebattery.com www.trojanbattery.com for general info on batteries try the following: www.windsun.com/batteries/ www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt
Hope this helps. Mike Lewis 2000 Allure #30493.
On Sun, 1 Dec 2002 14:38:16 -0500 "joeyc" joeyc@...> writes:

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #16 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3410
I too am experiencing loss of battery power in a few hours. We dry camped last week and found that by running the Hurricane overnight and some TV the batteries were down to where I couldn't start the gen without the booster by about 5 AM. This is a seven month old coach which is always plugged in to 30amp power when parked at home and battery water is checked regularly. I also learned the hard way that the automatic gen start is not working although everything is properly programed.I called CC and was told by Doug Beaudry that the build plan shows I should have the gen start feature, so I'll get that corrected at Buddy Gregg's later this month. Have any of the other 2003 Allure owners had this problem?

Walt Rothermel
2003Allure30811

Quote
>

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email > to:Country-Coach-Owners-unsubscribe@y...

pan>

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #17 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3413
Dick,

Don't have any opinions on the batteries you listed but if you change to gell or any other battery that is not the type that came with the coach, you need to reprogram some equipment. There is more to this then just changing batteries.

Bill G. 2001 Magna 5998

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #18 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3422
Got it, Bill. Thanks
Dick May
2002 Intrigue, #11438, towing a
2014 Jeep Gr Cherokee ecoDiesel

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #19 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3431
Dick,

I looked at the the battery tray that is in my coach and holding the three 8D batteries. I do not think I will have enough room to do three pairs of two 6-volt batteries. However, I can get two pairs of Trojan T-145's in there with room to spare. There is no concern about pairing the 6 volt batteries up for a 12 volt bank. It would be the same as two 12 volt 8 D with more AH capacity. The 2 banks of 6 volt pairs would be rated for a total of 1060 minutes of capacity @ 25 Amps load. While two 8D's would be rated for a total of 900 minutes of capacity at the same load. If I can get the third pair in then I will have another 530 minutes capacity for a total of 1590 minutes @ 25 Amps load. A pair of T145's weigh about the same as one 8D battery. So, I may just do with the two pairs.

Jim Hughes

Jacksonville, FL
2000 Allure #30511

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #20 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3434
"Jim Hughes",

I too was curious so I measured the tray. You'll be about 2 1/2 inches short of being able to fit the two pairs of three trojans without changing the tray. Four 145's will fit fine.

Steve.............Intrigue #10673

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #21 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3457
Jim,

Do you know what the expected life of those batteries are and what, if any, warranty they have?

Dick May

2002 Intrigue, #11438
Dick May
2002 Intrigue, #11438, towing a
2014 Jeep Gr Cherokee ecoDiesel

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #22 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3460
And you can put the 4 batteries towards the front so that they are easier to work with.

On Tue, 03 Dec 2002 02:13:59 -0000 "rheavn" ssfarms1@...> writes:

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #23 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3466
With the T-145's four of them should be plenty. I used four T-105's in the past but that was with a gas Bounder without an inverter...CC's also seem to have hidden losses even with the battery disconnect switches off...

On Tue, 03 Dec 2002 01:34:17 -0000 "Jim Hughes" kc4fws@...> writes:

Re: Battery Upgrade

Reply #24 –
Yahoo Message Number: 3468
I bought a used coach earlier this year. The previous owner had installed six Exide E3600 golf cart batteries in place of the two 8D coach batteries. He simply installed simple angle irons at the front and right edges of the batteries to compensate for the size variation.
The footprint of six golf cart batteries appears to be about 2" deeper and 1" narrower than the footprint of two 8D batteries. So six CAN be installed in at least some models.
I haven't dry camped with the coach yet so I can't really comment on the actual performance of this configuration.

The Exide web site didn't seem to contain any battery specs, but a Google search for "Exide" and "E3600" returned a couple web sites with the following information:

"Exide E-3600 batteries are rated at 220 amp-hours at the 20 hour rate. The 6 volt batteries are 10 1/2 inches by 7 1/4 inches by 11 1/2 inches high, and weigh 62 pounds wet. This golf cart battery is ideal for solar applications. Its life span is 5 to 7 years with normal maintenance."

Prices seemed to be in the $60-70 range.

Other, possibly older, web sites give a 186 amp-hour rating (and higher prices) so I'm not sure which to believe.
--

Tom Harsch 2002 Allure #30791