I just purchased a WWCR3905 and it has 2 12v batteries I'm going to switch out for 6v batteries. My questions are, is 2-6v batteries enough, are the Trojans the best, and if so what size. I was thinkin T-145's if I go with 2 batteries, and T-105's if I go with 4 and have room without a big modification in the battery area. Who has the best prices, and does anyone have a solar charger and how does that work, and how much money?

Thanks Matt

do a search bro, there are LOTS of answers here already. you will find what you need, and prolly more than you wanted to know!!!

http://www.glamisdunes.com/invision/index....showtopic=36849

thanks for your post, great answer! I did research and read some large posts on 12v and 6v batteries, and posts on battery compartments and fitting more batteries. I was looking for some specific questions and preferance questions. I'm guessing every question post here has been asked before, but thanks again for your time

River was not being a smart A$$, there have been many, many post discussing 6v batteries, 12v vs 6v, 2-6v vs 4-6v.It like asking is Ford better then Chevy.

I will give you my opinion on what set up works best for me.
I personally run 4 6v Trojan T145’s and a small solar panel. I am of the opinion that bigger is better and I don’t like to run the generator unless I have to. I was running 4 6v interstate batts for about 4 years and had no problems with them, it was time to upgrade so I went with the T145, I wanted the most reserve capacity that I could stuff in to the batt compartment. The difference between the 105 125 and 145 are their height and capacity. If you can fit the higher capacity then I would go with it.
I can run for about 4 days without recharging and this is with running the heater all night, the wife likes to be warm.
If I conserve I can run for a bit longer. If I am going to stay for 5 to 7 days I have to run the generator and a batt charger to get them back up.
As far as price the Trojans are pricy, some one may have a hook up on them I do not.
I had to pay full pop!
Not sure if you are experienced with batt or not so I will throw this out.
Deep cycle batt’s will take a few cycles before they reach their full potential.
Also the one thing that will kill these batts fast is not maintaining them, water and keeping them charged.
Letting them get low on water and a charge will kill them fast.
Hope this helps.

Here is the web site for Trojan, so that you can compare.
http://www.trojanbattery.com/Products/Marine-RV.aspx

I have an LE3505+6. I was able to fit 4 T145s in there, but I had to move the triple propane rack left an inch or two and spin it. The other alternative I looked at was the L16 Trojans- they are like 2 T145s in one box, about twice as tall, twice as heavy, and 2.5x the price. It would have been REALLY easy to swap two of the L16s for the stock 12vs, but my labor is cheap, so I did 4 T145s and moved the propane.

If I was a baller, I would have done 4 of the L16s... Talk about pin weight overload...

The only thing I suggest is upgrading the converter. I still have the wimpy 30A Iota + IQ4. Someday I will up it to the 75A. That way it charges way faster when the gen is running...

Thanks Procomp for the information and opinion. I read a lot of the facts from prior posts, your thoughts are appreciated. I got the prices from a dealer of Trojans ealier. Not cheap, but they sound like good batteries. I have a pretty good understanding of the 6 v battery, now I'm also looking at having an inverter installed, probably 1000-1500 watt since I really only need it for the tv's I plan on installing. Anyone have hookups on batteries and inverters.

thanks again

here is my setup. 4-6v batteries. trailer is a 2008 weekend warrior cr3905. ordered it this way, with this set up, from headinjury when he worked for giant rv. i dont know what kind of batteries they are, but they have worked flawless for 2 1/2 years now. i keep them charged, and full of water. i have a battery fill system that i purchased from camping world, that makes filling the batteries a snap. if you look closely at the second picture, you can see the rubber hoses that are hooked to each cap on each cell. they are all hooked together, and there is a grey quick connect fitting that hooks to a squeeze bulb with a hose on it. i drop the hose into a bottle of distilled water, and pump the water in. once the bulb will no longer squeeze, the cells are full. disconnect the pump, and good to go.

i have never really tested the capacity, as far as how long they will go before they die out. i run my generator daily when im out, i paid good money for it, so im not a weenie, and scared to use it. convection oven needs electricity, a/c units now and then, etc. i have a 1000watt inverter for watching the tv's at night for my kids. i will say this though, when out by myself a few times, i have run the heater at night for 2 nights in a row, without the generator, and no issues.

Thx for posting pix saychz. Now i can do mine, i was wondering how to get 4 of 'em in there.

Four T105's fit nicely in there as well. This setup makes it easier to fill with water. These are going on 6 years and I keep em filled and plugged in 24/7. That is the key to long battery life.

Heres another bit of advice. READ THIS TOP TO BOTTOM 12 volt side of life

no problem, but it is a pain in the @$$ to fill the batteries if you dont get the fill system that i have. removing batteries on bottom rack everytime to fill them, was gonna fly for me. either do what kevlar did, or make sure you get the filling system i have.

Great post! My four-6v interstates are three years old. Now I know what to replace them with.

I moved the bottles left ans spun them to get 4 in there like Kevlars.

For inverter, I used a Xantrex Xm1000 because it has a built in transfer switch. Overkill for just my tv circuit but is was an easy install that way.

Thanks for all that posted info, I really like Kevlar's set up, hopefully I have room for the 4-T105's without much mods. Giant quoted around $1100 for a 1000 watt inverter installed, not true sine and without charger. 350ish for inverter, 550ish install, and the rest misc parts. Is this a bit high? I was thinking less on the labor? I'm in the Chino Hills, Ca area.

Thanks

Look here for inverter installs. http://www.glamisdunes.com/invision/index....howtopic=184547

6v batt. 11in tall , 10-1/2 long, 7-1/4 wide.

How often do you guys have to fill your batteries? I put 4 of them in my boat to power my stereo about 4 months ago and the water level is still right at the top. BTW, I LOVE these 6v's. Cant wait to put them in my hauler when the time comes!

Thats a purdy setup! I would be worried that when the batteries charge the acid will seep out and destroy the carpet.

Very nice though.

Jeff

If any of you get 6V batts and need to get rid of your old 12V ones please PM me. I need some for my trailer.

Did you add any additional suport under the perferated metal? mine only has two suport bars going the direction of the length of the trailer.

I cut down a larger battery tray from work to fit. I also cut out the angle iron and welded in some 1x1 square tubes as a frame under the tray.

I am running 2 6v now they are great I am thinking about going to 4 but my batteries are on the tongue of my TH. Can I put 4 batteries across the front of the TH? Right now they are protected from the road by propane bottles. I am thinking I could build a box and go 4 wide across the front. What do you think?

I put the two 6 volts in place of the two 12 volts in the same location of the two 12 volts on the front (tongue) of our TH. They worked so well that I added two more 6 volts into the battey bank. I built a frame that holds the other two batts above the two batts that sit in the original location and the framework that I built sits down onto the tongue frame so the weight of the framework (20 lbs.) and the weight of the two additional batts (61 lbs. each) is sitting on the tongue of the trailer not the other battery holder. So its 142 lbs. that I added to tongue of the trailer.... so far so good. I also made a bracket that goes over the entire set up and a bracket that hooks under the frame so I can lock all of it together. This way the batts. are locked on but I didnt do any welding to the frame. We have made three trips so far with this set up and like I said, so far so good.

Do you have a pic? this is sounds like a great idea.

That's really high.

You can get a 1,000w to 1500w inverter off of Ebay or Harbor Freight for under $100 - 125. You can install it yourself for free. Some come with cables, or you can buy battery cables at Walmart for $7 ea. I installed a 3,000 w inverter in mine for about $240.

The best price on 6V batteries is Costco GC-2 batteries. I guess they're equivalent to T-105s. Lst time I bought some (4 of them) they were $75 ea plus $9 core charge. Another must have item is an Iota 75 amp battery charger. I replaced my 30 amp charger with the 75 amp model and it really puts a good charge on them fast! Do an internet search for this, the prices vary widely.

I have 16 amps of solar panels and a 25 amp Solar Boost 2000e controller. At the time it cost me about $1300 to install it. Now, the same system would cost about $2000 to do. Not cheap. I've been recommending Champion 3500w generators from Kragen. They're about $400 (look for 25% off coupons online). They're not as quiet as Honda gennies, but for about $50 you can enclose the frame with sound absorbing neoprene and cut the noise down to almost Honda levels. They have a 30 amp RV plug, consume about 1qt of gas/hr and are powerful enough to run the A/C while burning 1/2 the fuel of the onboard genny.

Don't have any right now and trailer is not home right now. I'll try and get some pics this weekend and post them.... if I can figure out how... ha ha.. if not I'll have my daughter show me how... ha ha

Thanks,
So these inverters are easy to install. I just don't want to screw it up or short something. I've heard you can get an inverter that charges your batteries when the geni's running, I don't think I need solar, or at least I don't want to pay that much.

thanks

Sounds good! I can't figure this out how to post a pic either. HAHAHA I gotta call my wife.

Has anyone every put a 6 and a 12 together out of curiosity

do you have any more info on quieting those gennys down? i've been looking at them and read a little on rv.net, i would like to go that route and not drop 900 bucks on a honda 2000.....i do have an onboard but i have a front bath and the genny is right under the closet...i swear it's louder inside than outside....my ideal set up would be to pick up that champion and put it on wheels (supressed) and roll it under my brothers rig

using the thick foam with a wood frame was whata friend of mine did and it was unbelievably quiet the foam he used was insulation foam and he made a so to speak tent over it and then left the front and back 3inches off the ground for air travel thru it

Quickest easiet way to quiet down the champion at glamis is just put a couple pieces of plywood around them with all the ambient noise you will not hear not from the other side of the trailer.It aint the noisiest and it aint the quietest but a good gen overall for the price.I have many hours on mine.Only reaon i take this one to glamis vs buying a smaller one is to run my air compressor when i leave,If it werent for that a 1k would be plenty.

ok... here goes for the pix for the battery framework and the lock down for the four 6 volt batts on the tongue, if it works there will be 4 pix. .... gonna try it myself, so I pretty sure its not gonna work.... Click to view attachmentClick to view attachmentClick to view attachmentClick to view attachment

wow, it worked....ok.... so I had a little help from the wife.... but their on there so... its a good thing. I'm not a welder or a fabricator by any means but its holding up pretty good so far...and I can lock them on to keep them from walking away.

I'm going to work on my trailer tomorrow, I'll take some pics of the genny with the existing sound absorbing stuff, and then with the new baffles for intake and exhaust ends.

Thank you this looks good. I got a guy that can do some welding and I hope we can come up with something.

cool...... good luck...

I always like the 12 volt setups better, they are easier for new installs. As far as solar goes look for smaller footprint panels if you have a smaller roof. Our 95 watt solar kit always does well although we have some closeout 50 watt panels as well...

95 Watt Solar Kit

50 Watt Solar Panel Clearance

here is a good RV solar guide if you want some basic design information:
RV Solar guide



For inverters try to stay away from modified sine if you can, your appliances and stuff will appreciate it. Sine have come down so much in price, it just isn't really worth giving crappy AC power to say your laptop or LCD TVs.