Replacing house batteries

[Tom Turay]

Hi, any suggestions on replacing house batteries. I have 2009 Journey, four house batteries, dealer advised they are bad. I bought the RV this year, I believe original batteries. Wondering if I should replace with 12v or go with the 6 v golf cart style. thanks

[BFlinn181]

You will get more amps out of 6 v than 12 v. Golf cart deep cycle are usually the best.

[clyon51]

You definitely want true DEEP CYCLE batteries. Those in 12v are still expensive. You would be much better off $$ and performance wise with 6v GC batteries. 4 of them would put you in the area of 480 Amp Hours, with a cost in the area of $380-$400.

[1ciderdog]

If you are considering the change from 12 volt to 6 volt be sure to measure the height of the battery compartment. Six volt batteries are, I believe, taller than are 12 volt batteries. At least that was my experience when I changed from 12's to 6's.

[vsheetz]

What is in place now - four six volt? I would stay / go with six volts. As others have said, more capacity.

As for actually changing them. Make a wiring diagram before disconnecting anything. Take several pictures. This will help to ensure it works after you take it apart and put it back together.

Consider a watering system, such as Pro-Fil. Makes it easy to maintain the water levels Easy will mean you will do it on a proper recurring basis. Thus the batteries will give better service and last longer (paying for the watering system).

[perrybass]

Just saying, I learned the hard way that deep a cycle battery is just what it says. it can only be drained fully so many times before it is truly "dead". Regardless of age, once she's dead she's dead. What's most important is management of your $500 investment.

[bobmac]

You might want to consider AGM batteries as well but there is a significant premium. Advantage is they are sealed, should last longer and do not require regular attention to the electrode levels. SAMs Club has Group 31 AGMs for $170 vs about $100 for a flooded battery. You will need to check the clearance height on the battery tray if you consider 6v batteries. They may or may not fit. The carriage bolts securing the current batteries are likely too short for taller 6 v cells and are difficult to find.

[clyon51]

Originally Posted by perrybass

Just saying, I learned the hard way that deep a cycle battery is just what it says. it can only be drained fully so many times before it is truly "dead". Regardless of age, once she's dead she's dead. What's most important is management of your $500 investment.

Deep cycles can go down to 70% discharged 100's of times if not left there. Keeping them above 50% and fully charging after reaching there has given many 10 years of use, I have 8 so far.

After putting a new starting battery in my truck last year, I developed a large phantom drain. After 2-3 days of sitting, it was dead. I did my best to keep on top of it, but after the 6th drain down, the battery was shot. Thats the reason you don't use starting batteries in your coach.

To me, watering systems are a waste of money, with a good 4 stage charger. I've been waiting over a year for the water to get low enough to top off with mineral oil and I'm plugged in 24/7. Now I don't see any use for it. If I can't add water once a year, I don't need a MH

[AFChap]

Unless you boondock a lot I don't believe you need to go through the trouble of changing from 12v to 6v batteries. My coach has 3 12v house batteries, "marine deep discharge" which most purist do not consider true deep discharge batteries. I have replaced them twice (2007 and 2011) in the past 9 years, most of it fulltiming.