Battery Change from 12 volts to 2 golf cart batteries

Al Spivey · 03-12-2008, 01:05 PM

Hi to all, I am sure that someone out there has converted their house battery system from the 2 12 volt batteries to 4 6 volt batteries in a 2004 Winnie Adventurer 35 U. This is what I would like to do. I have seen picture of it being done in other brand coaches but has anyone actually changed out for their Winnie?? If so, How did you do it and what was required for it to fit in the box that is located under the steps. My measurements show approximately 29" x 13". Also, the T6 batteries by Trojan are rather expensive and I have found batteries at Sam's Club that are about 25% less. Anyone have experience with Energizer golf cart batteries?? If any one has done this, I would be most greatful for details and pictures if possible as to how to make the change. I need to buy new batteries before I can take a trip and thought this would be a better way to go because of the longer boondocking benifits the 4 golf cart batteries can provide. Also, does anyone have advice on cleaning the floor of the battery box from acid, rust, etc? How do you prevent the build up from coming back? Is there some type of paint, liner, etc. that you have had success with. Thanks for any advice. Al

Al Spivey · 03-12-2008, 01:05 PM

Hi to all, I am sure that someone out there has converted their house battery system from the 2 12 volt batteries to 4 6 volt batteries in a 2004 Winnie Adventurer 35 U. This is what I would like to do. I have seen picture of it being done in other brand coaches but has anyone actually changed out for their Winnie?? If so, How did you do it and what was required for it to fit in the box that is located under the steps. My measurements show approximately 29" x 13". Also, the T6 batteries by Trojan are rather expensive and I have found batteries at Sam's Club that are about 25% less. Anyone have experience with Energizer golf cart batteries?? If any one has done this, I would be most greatful for details and pictures if possible as to how to make the change. I need to buy new batteries before I can take a trip and thought this would be a better way to go because of the longer boondocking benifits the 4 golf cart batteries can provide. Also, does anyone have advice on cleaning the floor of the battery box from acid, rust, etc? How do you prevent the build up from coming back? Is there some type of paint, liner, etc. that you have had success with. Thanks for any advice. Al

Mikeso · 03-12-2008, 01:25 PM

Al,
I have done this sort of conversion on my previous MH. It had 3 12volt batteries and I replaced it with two 6 volters and it worked great. Much better than the two 12 volt batteries. You will probably need raw cabling that it available from most any auto parts store along with connector ends for terminating the new cables. The 6 volt batteries need to be connected in 'series'. This means connecting the 'positive' terminal of one battery to the 'negative' terminal of the other. Lets call them batteries 'A' and 'B'. The negative post on battery 'A' would go to chassis ground. The positive post on battery 'A' would go to the negative post on battery 'B'. The postive post on battery 'B' would be the 'hot' side that powers everything. When doing these connections, the connection to the negative post on battery 'A' should be you last connection. This prevents arcing and sparking. Cleaning can be accomplished by putting together a baking soda and water solution and scrubbing it down with a course brush. If necessary after cleaning and drying, spray it with some rattle can paint primer, such 'Rustoleum'. This will help protect it.
Mike

lthrnk · 03-12-2008, 01:54 PM

I can't give you any input on the battery changes but as far as cleaning the box Mikeso is correct about the Baking soda and water solution to get rid of any sulfation. After complete cleaning and drying, rather than use a paint, which will eventually flake and peel, go to an auto parts store and get a spray can of undercoating. It will hold up and not need to be redone as soon as a paint job.

Harry B · 03-12-2008, 03:21 PM

Al,

I changed over to golf cart batteries a couple of months ago. I went from 3x 12 volt batteries to 4x 6 volt batteries. I decided to make this change after I replaced two sets of house batteries and I wanted to add some power. It increased my amp hours by about 60 amp hours to a total of 440. If I remember correctly, I needed 14 inches of width to install two six volt batteries next to each other. The tray I believe is 14 1/8" wide and had plenty of depth.

The change over required me to make some modifications to the battery tray as the hold downs braces for the batteries now needed to run left to right instead of front to back. I made new brackets to go across and had to weld tabs onto the sides of the slide out tray to be able to clamp the battery braces in place. This takes the place of the holes in the tray through which rods held the braces in place before. You have to watch where you weld these new brackets as the drawer has to clear the rails upon which it slides in or out.

I made spacers out of 2x4 to prevent the batteries from sliding from the front of the tray to the back as the tray has to much depth and you want to keep those rear battery cells to the front as much as possible. I sprayed a bed liner coating onto the tray bottom to prevent any future corrosion. Maybe that was overkill as I did not have any corrosion now but it was easy to do when everything was out.

It is more mechanical work than electrical. All my old cables fit so nothing there had to be changed or added. I just tidied the cables up better. Access is somewhat restricted to last two battery cells due to the increased height of the golf cart batteries, so I added the automatic water filling system to deal with that problem.

I also needed to reset the charger to now deal with amperage in excess of 400 amps, which in my case was the amount where the required setting changes.

All in all it wasn't a difficult modification.

The easiest change out is to spend the money for AGM batteries, but in my case it would have decreased the total amp hours available from what I had with the three 12 volt batteries.

John Hilley · 03-12-2008, 04:09 PM

I did it on my 1999 Brave 35U which has the same size battery pan. I used 4ea of the Sam's Club 6 volt GC2 batteries and left the 12 volt chassis battery. I had to make a small spacer to keep them from moving and add the jumpers to series connect the 6 volt batteries. There is a picture on this forum of an installation.

Sammie · 03-12-2008, 04:13 PM

Al, this link might help your conversion project.

Batteries

Thudman · 03-12-2008, 04:25 PM

Here's a photo of my two 6V house batts (Exide).

Thudman

Al Spivey · 03-12-2008, 05:10 PM

Thudman, Please send the pictures again. They did not post on the site. Thanks, Al

BryanL · 03-13-2008, 10:53 AM

Must be something about spring. This topic is coming up all over the place.

If you are thinking about 4 T105 sized batteries, why not instead think of 2 8d sized?

Why is it so many folks think their RV is a golf cart and needs the same batteries?

Why is battery voltage the only thing many seem to think about when issues such as total capacity, size, terminals, cost, warranty, and source can actually make a difference?

We've got some comparisons here, already, that illustrate just how off base this discussion cant get. "It had 3 12volt batteries and I replaced it with two 6 volters and it worked great" - what size and type of 12v? What 6v? What is "worked great"?

Your usable battery bank capacity is about 10 watt hours per pound of battery. It doesn't depend upon the voltage of the batteries in the bank.

If your batteries don't have the life they think they should, take a look at your usage and your charging and maintenance.

I don't think just changing batteries hoping for nirvana is a good idea, especially if you think just changing the voltage of the bank components is going to do it.

Harry B · 03-13-2008, 01:41 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">If you are thinking about 4 T105 sized batteries, why not instead think of 2 8d sized? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Two 8D sized batteries next to each other are 22 inches wide. How do you fit those on a battery tray that is 14 inches wide? T105's or equivalent cost substantially less per amp hour than 8D sized batteries do.

If you have the ability to handle the width and the cost is the same it is a good option.

jimandsue60 · 03-13-2008, 01:42 PM

Four of the T-125 (same size as the T-105) will give @480 amp hours at the 20 hour rating. Two 8d's will give @ 460 amp hours at the 20 hour rating and will weigh 70 pounds more.

Trojan batteries offer the T-105/T125 as a Recreational Vehicle battery. So they must think they will work in an rv.

Jim

dirko · 03-14-2008, 09:41 AM

Hi Ho: About 3 years ago I went to a battery shop here in Salt Lake City and asked for 4 T105 batteries. The salesman said, "sure we have those" and took me out to the storage rack. They had about 50 T-105's and he said that they also sell a different brand. The size and weight was the same, but the cost was about 30% less. He offerered me a choice but said that he sells a lot more of the other brand. They have had good experience with both, so I figured that for more than $30 less per battery it was worth a chance. Since the batteries are only 3 years old, it is a little hard to make a judgment from experience, but I wonder if others have had good luck with T-105 copies.
Dirk

Al Spivey · 03-15-2008, 05:37 PM

Hi to All, Thanks for all the help. I have decided to bite the bullet and buy 4 golf cart batteries and install them as per information gleened from this forum. My one last question is to John Hilley who has already done this. John, Did you have any trouble with your converter being able to keep the golf cart batteries charged and did you feel you needed a larger than 45 amp converter to do the necessary. Also, does it make any difference if you use a lesser gauge wire to attach the batteries together. By the way, the undercoating made a huge difference to the way the battery box looks after cleaning and spraying the hard stuff on. Looks almost new. Now for the batteries. Will get Sams Club golf cart batteries and install this week. Thanks to all who replied to this post. Those sites that I was referred to really helped.
Happy Camping to all,

Al