Buying 2 6-volt Trojan T-105's soon, any last minute advice?

[B_and_D]

OK, I'm about to go out and buy 2 new 6v Trojan T105 batteries to replace the 12V deep cycle that we have. There is someone who sells them locally for $75 a piece. I think we can rig something up to secure them on the front of the trailer using L-shaped cross bars and a larger battery box.

We will remove the other 12v battery and possibly use it to become an auxiliary battery in our truck (when we get that rigged up).

Does anyone have any last minute advice about this?

It seems, from what I've read, that it would be better to take off the 12v battery if we're going to install the two 6 volt batteries.

Have started reading the "RV Electrical Systems" book by Bill and Jan Moeller, but haven't gotten too far in it. I was a business major in college and never took physics, so I'm really having to struggle over the basics at the front of the book.

Any help/experience with doing this would be sincerely appreciated!

[Caver]

I had my dealer try to mount two T-105s on my 3023 but they were too tall. There is little or no additional height available. I ended up with two 24 series 12 volt batteries at 85AH each (20 hour rate). A better but heavier choice would be two 27 series 12 volt batteries. I ended up with two of the Interstate SRM-24s.

http://www.ibsa.com/www_2001/content...uct_marine.asp

If you have a slide model then I would recommend that you use two T-105s mounted in a case such as:

http://www.alliedbattery.com/boxes.htm

I would prefer two 6 volt batteries but haven't located any of the right height. Let me know if you find some that fit. Hopefully I will keep these for three years before I need replacements.

I have 180 watts of solar panels mounted on the rear section. I don't have much experience with these yet. I just installed a shunt tonight so I can measure the current.

Ray

[rotor_wash]

I have the same Trojans and I think you will appreciate the extended battery life. The batteries do weigh considerably more than the somewhat feeble 12V supplied with your TM. Placing them forward from the location provided for your 12V is also a good idea because I ended up putting them in the rear access in my 3124. That makes me load light in the rear and heavy front to preserve the handling characteristics.
I camp exclusively in Colorado National Forest areas, which is to say I boondock. If you follow any of Rocky Mtn Ray’s threads, you will see some of the benefits to a good battery bank as well as a solar system. I have upgraded to a 100W 42 cell solar panel with MPPT charging and cannot seem to put much of a dent in available power over a long weekend.
As far as trying to keep the 12V, if you do try to keep it as part of your system, your battery bank will be only as good as your weakest battery. I was thinking of going this way until I did some research. I just removed it. I have more info on the solar system I installed if anyone is interested but, I have to admit I stole a lot of Ray's ideas!
Greg

[B_and_D]

The Trojan website says that the T105 is slightly less than 11'' high:

http://www.trojan-battery.com/Voltage.asp

The battery that we have on there now with the box is about that high, and it's a foot away from the base of the trailer. It looks like it could be dropped down a bit with a little tweaking of the bracket...

What is different about the 3023 vs the 2720 that would make it so hard to mount? Is the 11" not including the top posts?

Maybe I should go to the battery store and measure the battery in person, and then go back home and close down the TM with a box fabricated to be as large as the battery would be in place of the battery we have now.

I really appreciate your input. As my husband always says, measure twice, cut (buy) once!

I've considered going with the solar thing too, but I think I may go there bit by bit. We'll see how far the 2 six volts take us, then if we need more will do more. We are kind of in the fog zone here, and like to camp places with trees, so am not sure how much good the solar would do us, although I think it's a great idea. The question is: how would it work for us, given the kind of camping that we do?

D'

[Caver]

D

On my 04 3023 with the front shell closed it literally rests on top of the existing battery boxes which are the normal series 24 boxes. The dealer ended up installing the two T-105s he purchased for me on the inside another TM.

11.12 vs. 9.5 inches is too much for my TM. I would have to modify the bracket or move them inside which would require venting. I would rather keep the flooded cells outside but for inside I would consider going to the AGMs.

Perhaps you TM has the support for the battery boxes lower in which case you just need a case that will fit the T-105s. In addition to the higher AH capacity of these batteries they will have a better service life in deep discharge applications such as boondocking.

A good board that discusses solar applications and batteries is:

http://www.wind-sun.com/forum/index.php


Ray

[B_and_D]

Well, we got the Trojan's mounted today. I only bumped my head about 3 times on the underneath of the front bed (ow!) but they're in, and they work!

Had to go buy more drill bits (man, that steel is hard to drill through, luckily DH did it :P ) and the battery boxes don't really fit. There's one made by Allied Battery Products made especially for two 6v batteries that we will probably order. We were going to put in a battery disconnect switch, but the one we bought at Camping World, after we considered it for a while (a simple lever disconnect) looked like a shock waiting to happen, no matter where we thought about mounting it, so I think I will look for one of those knob-turning ones.

Made a run to Camping World yesterday and picked up some more boondocking stuff, blue water tote, etc. Now I can't wait to actually USE all this stuff and reap the fruits of our labor!

We'll keep the other 12v battery in the truck in case these run low.

Also bought one of those battery meter thingies that go into the 12v outlet, but I don't think it's working right. I stuck it in my car, my H's car, and the TM and all of them registered around 9.9 volts....??

[Bill]

[quote author=B_and_D link=board=19;threadid=1949;start=msg14077#msg1407 7 date=1086574141]Also bought one of those battery meter thingies that go into the 12v outlet, but I don't think it's working right. I stuck it in my car, my H's car, and the TM and all of them registered around 9.9 volts....??[/quote]

D' -

Do you mean one of these things?
http://www.cetsolar.com/voltmeter.htm
You are right, that reading is way off. You should see something on the order of 13 volts or more on a good battery. Take it back and exchange it. I have one of these, and I like it - but the readings make sense!

Bill

[B_and_D]

That is the exact same thingey that we bought. I used our other voltage meter and it reads (on a 50 volt scale) somewhere between 12 and 13 volts. On the 10v scale it goes way over.

That sure would be a handy gadget, if it worked!

Yes, I am going to take it back!

[RockyMtnRay]

[quote author=B_and_D link=board=19;threadid=1949;start=msg14077#msg1407 7 date=1086574141]
Made a run to Camping World yesterday and picked up some more boondocking stuff, blue water tote, etc. Now I can't wait to actually USE all this stuff and reap the fruits of our labor!

We'll keep the other 12v battery in the truck in case these run low.

Also bought one of those battery meter thingies that go into the 12v outlet, but I don't think it's working right. I stuck it in my car, my H's car, and the TM and all of them registered around 9.9 volts....??

[/quote]

You are so going to love having those Trojans. I got mine installed the evening before a 2 day boondocking trip (left Sunday, came back Tuesday) and was really impressed with how much more power I now have. I too have one of digital voltmeters (except mine, like Bill's, works properly) and watched it pretty carefully. With the old Group 27 battery I'd usually be down to around 11.6 volts after an evening of using the lights and and the early morning furnace runtime (plus lights, etc.) before sunrise. My first morning with the Trojans, the lowest battery voltage I saw was about 12.3. Monday was bright and sunny all day and it wasn't until around 4 pm that the solar controller detected full battery charge. After lots of use of the lights on Monday night and a couple of hours of furnace run time on Tuesday morning (night time temp dropped to about 44 degrees), the lowest battery voltage was 12.7 (IOW still almost at full charge). And the solar controller detected full charge by 10:30 am on Tuesday...the earliest in the day that it's ever done that.

Two conclusions:
1. If at all possible, put your new batteries on a charger (ideally an external with float charge) a day or two before departure...they are probably not fully charged when you first install them.

2. These batteries are apparently a lot more efficient at absorbing the 11 amp charging current from my solar panels than the Group 27 Interstate battery that was installed by my TM dealer. So not only do they have about twice the rated storage capacity, it won't take nearly as long to recharge them when they do discharge.

Anyone who regularly boondocks ought to switch to Trojan 105s immediately, if not sooner.

I've considered adding T-105's to our TM, but always wonder about charging them. We tend to camp in shaded sites and in early spring/late fall when the days are not quite as long so solar panels would not provide signigicant benefit. Well, they would work great on the interstate. Anyhow, we'd need to recharge them either with that TV or the first choice of a small Honda generator. How much charging current can the pair take, and where might I find a charger that could replenish, say, 60-70 amp/hours of juice in a couple hours of runtime? Is that even resonable to expect? I like to dry camp, but the DW likes lights and heat. Poor little battery that could! (Sometimes I imagine that I can hear it .... I think I can, I think I can...)

Camperboy