6 Volt vs 12 Volt Batteries.

[Bishop at Supreme RV Service]

This week I would like to discuss why we install 6 volt deep cycle
batteries in motorhomes instead of 12 volt deep cycle batteries. To
fully understand this, you need to understand a basic electrical
principle regarding series and parallel circuits and how they effect
amperage and voltage.

Batteries connected in series:

A set of batteries are considered to be connected in series when the
batteries are electrically connected from the load to the negative of
battery A, from the positive of battery A to the negative of battery
B, from the positive of battery B to the Load.

In this configuration, voltage increases and amperage remains
constant. Therefore, if the batteries in the previous example were
Lifeline GPL-24T's, 12 Volt, 80 AmpHour AGM's , then the voltage would
be 24 volts and the amp hour rating of the bank would be 80 amp hours.

Batteries connected in parallel:

A set of batteries are considered in to connected in parallel when the
batteries are electrically connected with positive posts of the
batteries connected and the negative post of the batteries connected.

In this configuration, the amperage increase and the voltage remains
constant. Therefore, if the batteries in the previous example were
Lifeline GPL-4T's, 6 Volt, 220 AmpHour AGM's, then the voltage would
be 6 volts and the amp hour rating of the 440 amp hours.

For the 12 volt application of a motorhome, we use a combination of
series and parallel to achieve our 12 volts. Our battery banks are
designed with 4 6 volt 200 amp hour batteries per bank. Within the
bank, a set of two batteries is connected in series creating 12 volt
220 amp hour battery. The same is done with the other set of two
batteries. Now these batteries are connected in parallel to create a
12 volt 440 amp hour bank.

Now if the batteries were substituted for 12 Volt 80 amp hour
batteries, the batteries would need to all be connected in parallel to
maintain the 12 volt supply. The rating of the bank would be 12 volts
320 Amp Hours. That's a 27% lost of Amp Hour capacity. But that's not
the most telling stat. A 12 volt battery does not have to storage
capacity of a 6 volt battery. This is point is made by looking at the
chart from Lifeline Batteries at http://www.lifelinebatteries.com/rvdeepcyclebatteries.php
A 12 volt battery has 149 minutes of discharge at 25 amps. Under the
same conditions, the 6 volt battery has 492 minutes of discharge at 25
amps. That is a 330% difference in usable time.
That is critical, especially to you boon dockers.
I hope this posting has be helpful and informative

Bishop

[trau...@aol.com]

Thank You !!!!! ThankYOU !!!!

Now,  Whats the best 12 volt batteries out there ?   I am hooked up to shore power most of the time !!   MY 05 Select

May need a set ?  how long Can I expect out of them,  I have always keep them wet with distilled H2O

Guess I need to find a Specific Gravity Checker and Check each Cell Correct  ?

Jon

05 select

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[Bishop at Supreme RV Service]

Jon,
Are you looking for Chassis Batteries or House Batteries? The cost
difference between a good 12 volt and a good 6 volt battery is usually
less than 10%. As for checking your existing batteries, yes, you will
us a Hydrometer to determine if the acid levels of the battery are
high enough to perform the electrolysis.
Bishop

On Jan 29, 6:10 pm, trauma...@aol.com wrote:
>  Thank You !!!!! ThankYOU !!!!
>

> Now,? Whats the best 12 volt batteries out there ??? I am hooked up to shore power most of the time !!?? MY 05 Select
>
> May need a set ?? how long Can I expect out of them,? I have always keep them wet with distilled H2O
>
> Guess I need to find a Specific Gravity Checker and Check each Cell Correct? ?

> chart from Lifeline Batteries athttp://www.lifelinebatteries.com/rvdeepcyclebatteries.php