Cheap Costco RV Batteries Solar Battery Bank Interstate 6 Volt GC 2 Maintenance & Review

This is a battery bank of four 6V batteries for my solar system in my RV that was purchased at Costco for $89.00 each. I show the wiring in series and parallel and show an overview, review and maintenance. Electrical system with inverter, charge controller, smart charger. Can be used in tiny house, tiny home, RV, Cabin, Vanlife Van life, Rving.

[@TechStories79]

Always love your solar explanation videos. Even right back to your first solar videos. Thanks.

[@281covfefe5]

Appreciate the in depth look at ur system looking forward 2 more on the set up👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@daviddavis7855]

Battery maintenance is critical. However, if the breaker opens, there will be an arc. If there is the usual hydrogen outgassing, there will be an explosion. Ugly. MOVE the breaker outside the box now. Vent is not enough! Dangerous.

[@drphibesrises]

The key to these is the maintenance. Which is not that hard, but people tend to neglect it. That is why they have bad performance. Thanks for the video.

[@1951Roy]

Thanks for sharing, great tips.

[@andreabelian1861]

Good video very detail explained. I was thinking to buy golf 6 v batterys for solar system. Now I know for sure it worth it. specially buying from costco. thanks

[@348loadedlever3]

Mine are 10 years old and I should of replaced them 2 years ago. But I’m happy with the performance

[@notyoung]

Most of the cheap "audio" breakers trip at 70% of their rated amps, as in a 300 amp breaker will trip in a couple of minutes at 210 amps. The 200 amp breaker on my small solar backup system is from a hydraulic tailgate lift and it actually holds at 200 amps. Those little bits can make a big difference if you're running power levels near the rating of the breaker.

[@ytSuns26]

Big box stores have name brands build stuff to their specs all the time. I buy mine from my mechanic, he keeps a fairly good supply. I don’t buy cars new , so when ever I get a car I do all the maintenance including replacing the battery immediately. I look for well maintained Toyota with 100 k miles , clean them up for another 100 k trouble free miles , the interstate battery keeps up no problem.

[@tork568]

Great video on lead-acid batteries & maintenance. Keep on RVing.

[@teaberrywmn]

Great information. Can you give a list of how many of each battery cables I'll need to do this? It's difficult to see in the video.

[@plantbasedprepper]

Wow, your batteries still look brand new!! I just bought the Duracell GC2 batteries at Sams Club. I think they are exactly the same! I'm putting together my 400 watt solar system this weekend. How do you charge yours? Also, does it matter the order connecting them in series and parallel so I don't spark anything?

[@debrajoy4ever]

Hello The Ramblin CamperVan Man, thank you for this great video. I have a question. You mentioned you use a "Volt Meter" to check the health of your Battery before buying it. What brand of "Volt Meter" do you recommend? Thank you.

[@birdmann144]

What are the gauge size wires on the batteries?

[@billryland6199]

You need a lot more venting than that. There has to be a flow of fresh air through the box.

[@DowntownSound1]

Ramblin Camper👍🏼. Great video. Are you familiar with " marine rv batteries "?

[@IDVDalot]

What gage are those wires that are connecting batteries and are they already made or do you make them

[@12vLife]

The Voltage charts are for at rest or with loads? I've been using a really cheap $100 Excide 115AH deep cycle battery as my starter and house battery for about a year and half. I've taken it down to 11.5v about 50 nights. I am wondering how long it will last. One number that confuses me is Reserve capacity. If my battery is rated 115AH, I presume that means i have about 700WH of usable but have never been able to achieve that. Also If they claim it has a 205 minute reserve capacity @25amp, what does that REALLY mean.. not really (205*12*25)/60 = 1025WH of usable right?? How is it possible that a 12 fridge that is consuming about 40watts took my battery from 12.6v to 12.1v from 9pm to 6am?

[@ima4tubing]

Am wondering at what rate (ie amps) you are able to charge these batteries assuming that they incur a discharge while you are camped off-grid. eg suppose your bank had been discharged by use by 100 ah (just for a round number) and you decided you wanted to charge them back full. You stated in this video that you had a smart charger so i don't know how your recharging is accomplished (using truck alternator or ? with engine on or using a separate gas generator or ?). Question is: how long would you have to run an engine to get back full charge (ie return 100 ah to bank ? I believe that you also said that you have solar capability (on roof of my van I have 100w panel into 10a-rated MPPT Charge Controller) so would your solar-panels on a good day by themselves keep up with replacing pwr consumed with solar generation ?

[@xxheadshotxx5562]

For how long you can run a TV and a Xbox with these batteries?

[@nicholas9362]

thanks daddy

[@rolandomarinhdez8262]

How is your solar setup?

[@bdonnell1]

Why did you buy Golf Cart batteries instead of typical RV/Marine deep cycle batteries?

[@Schmitz3]

They are better made, have thicker plates and are made to be discharged. I had 4 - 6 Volt Costco Interstate batteries in my last RV and they were a little over 4 years old when I sold it. In my new RV I use 4 - 6volt batteries from Sams Club and they are 2.5 years old now, still work great.

[@DuTangTheCryptoSurfr]

🙏🏼 #VOLTINU

[@sammkinder5858]

Where is your safety glasses ?? for poss. of splash

[@geraldhenrickson7472]

I have found the costco 6v batteries last exactly what the warranty is and not a month longer. I have moved on to quality deep cycle sealed batteries.

[@wiboater4]

He said in the video the warranty is one year and he's been using them for four with no problems. That being said He's probably not using them a lot since it is in an RV.

[@woobydoocat]

I find this installation dangerous for one reason. If the batteries are within the sealed box and the fuse blows (either one) there is a potential for an explosion due to the gasses that accumulate.

[@thomasdipaolo2349]

He said boxes vented to outside at 1:15 of the video

[@woobydoocat]

@@thomasdipaolo2349 I did hear that as well however gasses will still be present in the box. Seems like a potential still exists. A simple remedy would be to move the fuses/breakers to the outside of the box.

[@thomasdipaolo2349]

@@woobydoocat - oh, i understand now. That does make sense

[@nicklcarey]

I think you just sold me on lithium batteries.

[@ytSuns26]

Interstate are the very best batteries period. I am 68 years and have used them since way back. The batteries at Walmart are worthless. Surprisingly deacon batteries are good batteries . All the rest are imo a crap shoot.

[@daveyboy8907]

Straight Whitemale i have always had interstate batteries but they are different now and it seems they have a few classes. I usually see these black ones with a sticker on them but the older clear ones with embossed interstate logo and a green top were the best interstate batteries. just as good year tires sold at wal mart are not the same as good years at the good year store. i have 4 of these batteries and I hope they last..

[@mrbilllollar]

Most battery manufacturers recommend topping up the water level once a month. If you checked them more frequently, you wouldn’t have to add SO MUCH water to each cell. You must have put 6 or 7 syringes full of water.

[@thekhiman1]

The reason you're having to add water every 3 months is because you're overcharging a batteries. You may check your charge controller and set it to a lower voltage. Technically your charge controller should be set at 13.2 volts maximum. A fully charged 12 volt system is only capable of holding 12.6 volts. Once it is topped off at 12.6 volts it will start converting the sulfuric acid to hydrogen and oxygen. It can store a limited amperage at 13.2 volts in the hydrogen and oxygen, but this makes the batteries volatile. After 13.2 volts it starts bubbling off the hydrogen and oxygen into a gas and this can become explosive. The reason your batteries are sealed isn't because the chemicals are hazardous to breathe is because the hydrogen and oxygen mix can become explosive. I generally set my charge controller at 13 volts that way it guaranteed to get the full 12.6 volts charging with a little extra to spare. Anyting over 13.2 volts and you're just boiling off your water. You don't get a significant amp hour boost once you charge above 12.6 volts. Any voltage above 12.6 volts and that power is sucked up significantly faster during the discharge.

[@nismo4x4n]

14.4 is fine for charging as you need to overcome the internal battery and line resistance, 13.2 is what you want as your float voltage.

[@MYCHANNELWITHMYSTUFF]

Boiling off does not take place at 13.2 volts. It doesn't start until 14.0v. and off-gassing is not necessarily a bad thing, it's actually required for a proper charge. You need a 3 phase charge controller that will bulk charge the battery @ 14.4v up to 80% then reduce the charge to 13.8v for the absorption phase for the remaining 20% then float charge @ 13.2v so you never drop below 12.6v. A healthy lead-acid battery can hold up to 13.4v. You should also check the water level every 2 weeks until you know how often the off-gassing will deplete your water then you can extend the water checking intervals. The water level should never go below the top of the plates.

[@thekhiman1]

@@MYCHANNELWITHMYSTUFF you really have no idea what you're talking about and you're destroying the life of your batteries and encouraging other people just Roy the life of theirs. There are absolutely no advantages to overcharging your batteries. all that extra point to volts will get you is a drop-in life span from five years to one year. but acid batteries are factory tested time and time again for longevity and the most efficient charge rate is a maximum of 13 volts. The drop-off curve over the lifespan of the battery is dramatic after overcharging above 13.2v on a regular basis. There are countless articles with scientific evidence for the lifespan of lead acid batteries and regular charging cycles. I have personally read hundreds of articles before I even decided that lead acid batteries were solution for me. the reason lead acid battery stop holding a charge is because that played to become sulfated. That happens when the sulfuric acid solution becomes too concentrated due to the loss of water from the solution. Everytime you create a singlebubble in your battery you are decreasing the water from that sulfuric acid solution and concentrating it. If done on a regular basis you end up with a layer of lead sulfide covering your pure lead plates. The more rapid the boil, the more damage is done. Overcharging once or twice is usually easily corrected on the next charging cycle provided you add the proper amount of water and you don't continuously overcharge.

[@MYCHANNELWITHMYSTUFF]

@@thekhiman1 OK your right and all of the experts are wrong. Sulfation does not occur due to boiling it occurs when a battery is deprived of a full charge i.e. LOW VOLTAGE. Why do you think you need high voltage and low amps to de-sulfate lead plates? 14V @ 4 amps is typically used to de-sulfate a battery.

[@thekhiman1]

@@MYCHANNELWITHMYSTUFF now you're just being dumb. batteries begin to sulfate when the temperature is too high. Charging your battery at lower amps means it's a slow trickle charge and the temperature never rises above ambient. Sulfuric acid does not chemically react with lead at temperatures below 170°f. The sulfuric acid simply allows the transfer of electrons to and from the lead plates during charge and discharge. Overcharging the battery causes the acid to boil, the temperature to rise, and the lead to chemically react with sulfur in the sulfuric acid physically changing its chemical structure from pure lead to lead sulfate. Preventing the acid from boiling is the reason battery chargers drop-off in voltage before they reach peak charge. If you set your battery charger to 14.8 volts maximum charge the charge won't drop off until 13.4 volts. By that time you're already boiling the acid and sulfating your battery.

[@Joshua5654]

Knock on wood

[@thomashorn9152]

Why not just use two 12 volt batteries instead of 4 6 volt batteries

[@AlzWorld57]

When you use 6 volt batteries wired in series you double the amp hours...way more usable power than 12 volt batteries wired in parallel

[@thomashorn9152]

@@AlzWorld57 but can you do the same thing with two 12 volts in series

[@daviddavis7855]

You can, but the storage in amp hours is much greater with the four 6v batteries. There are large capacity 12 volt batteries, but they seem to be very expensive.

[@agent8699]

Four 6v batteries will perform better than two 12v batteries with the same cumulative AHs. One 6v 100AH battery weighs roughly the same as and is physically similar in size as 12v 50AH battery. said another way, a 12v 100AH battery would be about the size of 2 6v 100ah batteries and weigh about the same. The more power (voltsxampsxhours) the battery can deliver, the larger and heavier it will be... simple math.

[@jamesmalmquist4256]

Liked the video but you should know that those batteries need ventilation, during charging they may release hydrogen and oxygen and you dont want those gasses stuck in that box as they are explosive. Good luck!

[@dfxjedi]

He does have a vent, he shows it in the video.

[@drphibesrises]

You obviously didn't watch the video. Maybe do that before giving advice.

[@richarddegen6184]

dumb ass, watch the video

[@MYCHANNELWITHMYSTUFF]

In 2019 the reviews on these batteries are horrible. May have been good batteries in 2014 when you bought them but the reviews say otherwise now. Not sure why. I haven't tried them yet but at the current price, if they last only 2 years they are still cheaper than trojan T-105's that last 7 years. So I guess it depends on if you care that you may have to replace your batteries every 2 years or not. Any usage past 2 years you can consider them bonus years.

[@Schmitz3]

A lot of people say that, but if you look closely, Costco sells 10000 of those batteries a month, yet there are less than 100 reviews, and most people don't know how to maintain batteries properly.

[@MYCHANNELWITHMYSTUFF]

@@Schmitz3 I agree