batteries

[Blair]

At 11:37 AM 11/2/2005, you wrote:
>Rich When I got my 89 SP 36' it had 4-12 Volt Deep cycle Interstate for
>the house in the front compartment & 2- 12 Volt Deep cycle in the rear for
>the Cat starting batteries. The house batteries had 2 that were weak so I
>changed the 4 to 4-- 6 Volt Trojan batteries & left the 12 Volt deep
>cycle in the
>rear as they were good. Was that a bad idea??? Now two years later I am
>going to change the Starting batteries to 2--12 volt Interstate starting
>batteries as I thought they are better for starting than the Deep Cycle.
>Is that
>going to work & be good?
> Don
> 89 SP 36'
> Butler, PA
Deep cycle batteries are made totally different from starting
batteries. They can be discharged
to 50% for 1000-2000 cycles before dying, sometimes more. However, they
are NOT made to
be used for a high amperage discharge rate as when in starting your
engine. It will kill them
very quick. 50% discharge is about 12 volts. It you set it up so the
lowest voltage is higher
than 12 volts, the life of the batteries is greatly increased

If you take a starting battery, brand new in your car, and let it run down
overnight and then
recharge, and do it night after night, it might last, if lucky, ten
days. They are not made for
multiple cycles of deep discharge. They are designed for short, high
amperage discharge as in
starting your engine.

The best mix is to have a separate starting battery and another set of deep
cycle glass or AGM's
for the coach. If you use AGM's, you can use the same bulk and float
settings as on the starting
lead acid battery, making it real simple to set up. Not so with glass mat.

I installed 3 8D AGM's for the coach and 1 8D lead acid for the
chassis. The bulk charge is 14.4
volts and the float charge is 14.0 and it echo charges the chassis battery
to 13.5volts. This give
me over 800 amp hours at 12 volts for dry camping. When the voltage
reaches 12, it signals the genset
to start, makes it real simple...

Blair in Oregon



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