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NEW BATTERY BANK

RoyB
Explorer II
Explorer II
Well with income tax refunds in I guess I will go for some new batteries...

I have built-up a new battery bank for my Starcraft R/T14 Off Road POPUP Camper with two PARALLEL groups of two 6vdc GC2 220+ AHs in series. This will give 12VDC at 440AHs + capacity for my off-road use...

I was wanting to go with the TROJAN T105s 62LB batteries but can't really find an affordable price and delivery here without a whole bunch of hassle.

BATTERIES PLUS store here in Fredericksburg VA is listing the DURACELL SLIGC115 6VDC 230AH Battey for $114.99 with local pickup. Core deposit will be $20 each and I am trying to ask them if they will accept 12VDC Automobile Batteries for the core cost. This DURACELL 6VDC Batteries weighs 64LBS. BATTERIES PLUS also has a 15% sale going this week...

I am hoping I will get great performance out of the DURACELLS. This is the same battery COSTCO has here for sale I think.

Google Image

Been waiting for over a year now to replace my very poor performance 12VDC Interstates and have been slowly getting my battery box built-up. My battery box is almost complete with just a couple of orders to AMAZON now to get all of the internal battery cables. My Blue Sea Switches and Bus Bars have already been installed on the BOX.

This TORKLIFT Box came with a single solar panel to mount on the slide off lid so I want to add a second one for the second battery group. This will keep all four 6V batteries a good trickle charge sitting somewhat in the sun outside on the the trailer tongue area.

Google Image

The new Torklift box (59-inches long) will slide right on my trailer tongue area where you can see the right angles welded in place here supporting the plastic battery boxes holding my three each 12V 85AH Interstates...



Any thoughts on DURACELLs verses TROJANs appreciated.

I'm about to get excited - been a long wait here...

Roy Ken
My Posts are IMHO based on my experiences - Words in CAPS does not mean I am shouting
Roy - Carolyn
RETIRED DOAF/DON/DOD/CONTR RADIO TECH (42yrs)
K9PHT (Since 1957) 146.52M
2010 F150, 5.4,3:73 Gears,SCab
2008 Starcraft 14RT EU2000i GEN
2005 Flagstaff 8528RESS
9 REPLIES 9

RoyB
Explorer II
Explorer II
Had a great buying experience with the BATTERY PLUS guys in Fredericksburg VA... Did pick up the 4EA DURACELL SLIGC110 6VDC 215AH Batteries for my Battery Box...

Now I need to get busy and order some items from AMAZON and get this Battery Bank mounted on the Trailer tongue area. Looks like the straping down and all is going to be ok.

My new battery box has the slide on lids and inside is three compartments. The two outside compartments will hold two each 6V DURACELL Batteries wired in SERIES and the middle compartment will house the BUS BARS and BLUE SEA Selector 4-way rotary switch (OFF-BAT1-BOTH-BAT2).

These batteries weighed 60.5 lbs each and are rated at 215AHs...

Was able to get the 15% discount as well as was able to give them 4EA DEAD 85AH 12V Interstates for the core fee. This made the batteries cost $84.99 each...

I should be rolling again here soonest... OFF to Westmoreland State Park for a couple to three day shakedown running off the batteries and running my systems.

Again a great buying experience at BATTERY PLUS.

Roy Ken
My Posts are IMHO based on my experiences - Words in CAPS does not mean I am shouting
Roy - Carolyn
RETIRED DOAF/DON/DOD/CONTR RADIO TECH (42yrs)
K9PHT (Since 1957) 146.52M
2010 F150, 5.4,3:73 Gears,SCab
2008 Starcraft 14RT EU2000i GEN
2005 Flagstaff 8528RESS

RoyB
Explorer II
Explorer II
Just got off phone with Batteries Plus. They did not have any of the DURACELL 230AH in stock and said none of their somewhat local stores did either.

They had plenty of the Duracell SLIGC110 215AH models in stock and the price is now $99.99 each... Could not talk them into taking my four 12VDC Interstates batteries as cores so that adds $80 to the order now..

I will get the 15% discount so that pretty much pays for me not having turn-in cores I guess...

That comes to around one dollar per AH so not too bad I guess...

The SLIGC110 215AH 6V battery weighs 60.5 LBS
These batteries have the 12 month warranty

Still thinking about the deal...

Roy Ken
My Posts are IMHO based on my experiences - Words in CAPS does not mean I am shouting
Roy - Carolyn
RETIRED DOAF/DON/DOD/CONTR RADIO TECH (42yrs)
K9PHT (Since 1957) 146.52M
2010 F150, 5.4,3:73 Gears,SCab
2008 Starcraft 14RT EU2000i GEN
2005 Flagstaff 8528RESS

RoyB
Explorer II
Explorer II
theoldwizard1 wrote:
RoyB wrote:


Never had this much battery capacity before - Hope I don't blow up something...

I doubt you will "blow things up" but remember with that much capacity it will take a lot longer to recharge with your current charger.


I will have 60A available using multiple smart mode charging voltages using my PD9260C converter/charger...

To be safe I probably should order the 80A version which also has 14.8VDC charging mode...

Had not thought about not having enough charger. Right now i am running my 2KW Generator for three hours to use my on-board PD9260C to charge my three 85AH Interstates. How much longer do you think I will need to run my generator for two paralleled groups of two 6V batteries wired in series. Guess I can charge a single group of two 6V batteries in series if I have to... Where I camp at in the Natl Forest has generator run time restrictions... Running the generator three hours in the early mornings worked out great for me...

Roy Ken
My Posts are IMHO based on my experiences - Words in CAPS does not mean I am shouting
Roy - Carolyn
RETIRED DOAF/DON/DOD/CONTR RADIO TECH (42yrs)
K9PHT (Since 1957) 146.52M
2010 F150, 5.4,3:73 Gears,SCab
2008 Starcraft 14RT EU2000i GEN
2005 Flagstaff 8528RESS

theoldwizard1
Explorer
Explorer
RoyB wrote:

I decided to just order my internal 4AWG equal lengths short cables from AMAZON. They are the ANCOR brand cable I like.

Being ANCOR, I assume that the copper is pre-tinned. That greatlt reduces any chance of corrosion.

RoyB wrote:
Never had this much battery capacity before - Hope I don't blow up something...

I doubt you will "blow things up" but remember with that much capacity it will take a lot longer to recharge with your current charger.

RoyB wrote:
My Ham Radio/Computer room runs off of a small POWERWARE 5125 UPS Unit so I all I need to do is keep it running to keep its batteries charged.

Time to go QRP ? You can run a laptop off of a DC-DC boost-buck supply.

RoyB
Explorer II
Explorer II
skipro3 wrote:
East Penn builds the Duracell batteries. For the price, I think the Duracells are the better value. Especially if you are getting an additional 15% off.

You shouldn't have a problem with your 12 volt batteries as cores. When I got my Duracells from SAMS, the guy let me keep my cores and just pencil whipped the receipt for the core charge. They still have life in them, just not fresh after 5 years. Now I got all 4 in service!


Thanks for the report... I definitely have a pile growing here with 12V Dead batteries. There is four 12V 85AH interstates in the pile that came off my 14 R/T trailer plus a few other that came from the truck and car...

I know where Placerville is.... Used to live in Shingle Springs down the road from you. Was working for good friend in Sacremento back then at TAYCO Industries doing rehab of Electronic things for the Air Force Depot.

I ran all those roads with my JEEP and utility trailer back in those days. Did alot of camping back there in the GOLD FIELDs country hehe... Even PARKER on CBS GOLD RUSH would have liked some of my camping sites hehe... This was the first time I was introduced to the gold fields history... Left that part of Calif and headed back here to King George in 72 I think it was. Had a caravan heading back East with moving van, family car, off-road truck and Jeep... Had to leave my camping utility trailer I pulled behind the Jeep all the time...

Had Momabear driving the moving van truck with two kids and two cats pulling the family car and I was pulling my Jeep with one Kid and one dog hehe... We made it just fine running down I40 across the country.

Roy ken
My Posts are IMHO based on my experiences - Words in CAPS does not mean I am shouting
Roy - Carolyn
RETIRED DOAF/DON/DOD/CONTR RADIO TECH (42yrs)
K9PHT (Since 1957) 146.52M
2010 F150, 5.4,3:73 Gears,SCab
2008 Starcraft 14RT EU2000i GEN
2005 Flagstaff 8528RESS

RoyB
Explorer II
Explorer II
theoldwizard1 wrote:
RoyB wrote:

I am hoping I will get great performance out of the DURACELLS. This is the same battery COSTCO has here for sale I think.

Actually, Costco sells Interstate brand batteries. Interstate buys batteries from various suppliers (there was an Internet rumor that the Interstate GC2 bateries were actually Trojan t105, but no one could ever confirm that).

Sams sells Duracell brand batteries and they have 2 different kinds of 6V golf cart batteries, GC2 and EGC2, 215 and 230 AH, $85 and $118.


Thanks for the clarifications on COSTCO and SAMs CLub... We have the SAMs Club here so it looks like BATTERIES PLUS is failing right in line with SAMs Club cost for the Duracell 230AH at $114.99 each. I just looked again about their on-going 15% sale price which ends 4-30-2018 so I better get something on paper pretty quick hehe... I haven't confirmed yet these are in stock here locally but I can wait on that with no problem. At least I can pickup locally some 25 miles away from the house here in King George... Someone on here or maybe POPUP PORTAL forum said that BATTERY PLUS would be a good place to get batteries if you wasn't a member of Sam's CLub which I am not. My Neighbor is tho hehe...

I am starting to get excited now...

I decided to just order my internal 4AWG equal lengths short cables from AMAZON. They are the ANCOR brand cable I like. I am going to use RED and BLACK color adhesive heat shrink tubes to show which cable goes to which terminals on the batteries. I have some of this left over from my working days I can slip over the crimped on ring terminals. Have done that in the past for battery connections and it helps this old man from wiring up wrong when removing batteries... I also have cellphone photos of what it suppose to look like all connected up... Never had this much battery capacity before - Hope I don't blow up something...

This battery box sitting on my 14 R/T trailer tongue is also going to run my emergency power for my Radio/Computer Room here at the house when we lose power. Will have an extension running from the Trailer 1500WATT Power inverter to a couple of extension cord zones inside the house. Our small local power company doesn't get into any hurry sometimes after the storms go through here... Got to keep the house fridge going for sure... My Ham Radio/Computer room runs off of a small POWERWARE 5125 UPS Unit so I all I need to do is keep it running to keep its batteries charged. It will run off of its internal batteries for 4-5 hours as it is...

Trying to always have a good PLAN B...
Roy Ken
My Posts are IMHO based on my experiences - Words in CAPS does not mean I am shouting
Roy - Carolyn
RETIRED DOAF/DON/DOD/CONTR RADIO TECH (42yrs)
K9PHT (Since 1957) 146.52M
2010 F150, 5.4,3:73 Gears,SCab
2008 Starcraft 14RT EU2000i GEN
2005 Flagstaff 8528RESS

theoldwizard1
Explorer
Explorer
RoyB wrote:

I am hoping I will get great performance out of the DURACELLS. This is the same battery COSTCO has here for sale I think.

Actually, Costco sells Interstate brand batteries. Interstate buys batteries from various suppliers (there was an Internet rumor that the Interstate GC2 bateries were actually Trojan t105, but no one could ever confirm that).

Sams sells Duracell brand batteries and they have 2 different kinds of 6V golf cart batteries, GC2 and EGC2, 215 and 230 AH, $85 and $118.

Ski_Pro_3
Explorer
Explorer
East Penn builds the Duracell batteries. For the price, I think the Duracells are the better value. Especially if you are getting an additional 15% off.

You shouldn't have a problem with your 12 volt batteries as cores. When I got my Duracells from SAMS, the guy let me keep my cores and just pencil whipped the receipt for the core charge. They still have life in them, just not fresh after 5 years. Now I got all 4 in service!

Lwiddis
Explorer
Explorer
I’ve thought about a Torklift box but seems they are expensive and would raise the height of my two T125s...but you could probably mount a light bicycle on it.
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad