Upgrading to RV 6 Volt AGM Batteries / Longer Lasting Power

[@TheCSRTech]

That's a battery MONITOR, not a battery MANAGER. You spent (or were given) $940+ dollars plus tax and shipping on 112 usable AH of capacity. You could have put at least 200 AH of LiFePO4 capacity in that same space, and upgraded your converter charger, and installed a battery monitor for much less $.

[@RunawayRoses]

Thanks for the comment. Per Go Power it is called a manager not a monitor but yes that is what it basically does. It actually does manage the different settings for whatever type of battery is selected. Our batteries do have 224 AH however the monitor is smart enough to know to show half of that as usable hours to keep someone from overusing their batteries. I've already upgraded my converter to a lithium compatible unit. I know a lot of people love lithium batteries for their power, but we chose to stay away from lithium batteries for safety reasons. Thanks for watching!

[@TheCSRTech]

@@RunawayRoses What safety reasons? We're talking LiFePO4 chemistry, not Lithium Polymer, which is much safer then Lead Acid. And in both your link description and on the Etrailer site it is called a "Go Power Touchscreen Battery Monitor Kit".

[@samtheman83]

You could have built 2 12v 320ah LiFePo with Bluetooth BMS for $1050. In parallel you would have 640ah..

[@bob_frazier]

Ok, interesting. Even though you have 224 amps of battery power, that monitor knows you should only use the top 50%, thus it displays that you have 100% of 112 USABLE amps available. Get that app and show us!

[@RunawayRoses]

Yeah, I thought that was pretty cool and smart too. That way it'll keep me from draining them down too bad.

[@esousa486]

@@RunawayRoses Bingo .... And hopefully longer life span on your NEW AGMs 👌

[@brentmcmahon8188]

Don’t waste your money and just get lithium batteries they are a lot cheaper now and will last as long as you are going to own it. Don’t under stand whey you would put gulf cart batteries when you can get 2 100 amp 12 volt the 6 volt set up is very old school and the lithium batteries will weight half as much. There is a guy on u tube that does all this stuff for homes cabins motor homes and 5 th whelk set ups. So please do your research and with the prices down around 1/2 price now and they will last 12 plus years and have warranty around 10 yrs and can go up to 25 yrs with a little drop like like 80% so do your research.

[@tomb1734]

I agree in this case but I have the problem of charging Lithium. My Magnum inverter will not fully charge Lithium nor will my alternator so unless I want to brake the bank and switch everything I'm stuck with lead acid, gel or AGM.

[@KennyJJ50]

Always good and informative videos! Thanks

[@esousa486]

I like how Todd "keeps things simple", so everyone watching can follow along, and learn from it !! 👌👍

[@JohnAnderson-km1fb]

Super helpful. Thanks!

[@charlescoushaine]

Great video! I needed a battery monitoring system so followed your etrailer link and purchased the one you recommended! However I started to wonder if this device draws constant current and could negatively draw down my batteries when not using the camper?? Can you find a spec on this?

[@RunawayRoses]

Hey Charles, it does stay connected as well as our solar controller does stay on too with our camper battery disconnect off. So I found those two things do have a slight draw on the batteries. I was thinking about putting an easy flip disconnect on the negative of the battery for a long term disconnection. I’m not sure if there is a way to turn it off, I need to look into that. So far I like it though.

[@esousa486]

GREAT video Todd & Carla .... I believe this "should" extend your "usage" time between charges .... I hope at the end of this camping season, that you do an "update" video on how well this conversion worked for your camper set-up ...... PS : Hopefully you won't have to "lighten" the Beer cargo in the fridge to "off-set" the extra Battery weight.... 🤣🤣😂😉👌👍 "Thanks" (Eric from Massachusetts)

[@ogaddcb]

I had 6-volt batteries on my rig for over 5 years. Had battery problems. One of the cells dead shorted. I considered replacing with newer 6-volt batteries any acid chemistry batteries. Long story short, instead of two new 6-volt any acid chemistry batteries I decided to give Solorage X 12V 100Ah Mini LiFePO4 Lithium Battery from Amazon a try. 10.15"D x 7.08"W x 9.65"H and 23 pounds each. We’ve been out several times now and the batteries have performed flawlessly.

[@bob_frazier]

You still have your Northern Lite? Did I miss someting?

[@RunawayRoses]

The Northern Lite has been sold since we made the video. Thanks again for watching!

[@bob_frazier]

I bought 6 volt AGM's. Took the door off to make them fit, they lay on their side. Isn't a problem, but an extra step. I think I'll go Lithium next time due to weight.

[@bob_frazier]

I put a piece of black foam on top of my batteries so they cant bounce around and tear their box apart. I need that battery monitor!

[@tomb1734]

Nice video, I'm doing a swap on my batteries and am having trouble deciding on which way to go 6volt vs 12 volt. I like the new Victron SuperCycle AGM 170Ah batteries with 70% dod but they are pricey. How do you like your new set up?

[@RunawayRoses]

I did like the 6v battery setup we had in our Lance. We just sold that Lance camper, but I liked the battery setup enough to take it all out of the camper before we sold it. I may put it in our new travel trailer. Next time I buy batteries I'll probably go with 12v lithium batteries, but we'll see. The 6v setup has worked well so far though. Thanks for watching!

[@videocritico7241]

Great video!! Thank you for sharing your upgrade. Noticed your norther lite in the background, is that still for sale or are you keeping in for different plans?

[@RunawayRoses]

The NL has been sold. Thanks for watching!

[@brentmcmahon8188]

And a great thing to add to your system is put in a dc to dc charger so when your driving your truck it charges your house batteries while you engine runs .

[@Umi-imU-We-Are-One]

I can't imagine after all these years of traveling that they haven't done this already.

[@AveCruxSpesUnica3]

I am curious, if you have two agm batteries in series and each battery is 224 Amp Hours... doesn't that mean you have to set the setting to a total of 448 Amp Hours? I don't know, just wondering.

[@bob_frazier]

But they are 6 volt batteries, so you double the voltage to 12 but not the amperage. I didn't understand this at first either.

[@AveCruxSpesUnica3]

@@bob_frazier Got it, thank you 👍

[@dorisshanks7295]

@@bob_frazierThat is because they still provide only 50% usable amp hours so that puts it back to half of the total.

[@bob_frazier]

@@dorisshanks7295 Yeah, exactly. So it sounds like 448 amps, half that due to the 6v rating you get 224 and half that again because you can only use the top half so you only get 112 usable amp hours. 2 years ago lithium batteries were still twice as much, today its an easy choice- buy Lithium Ion batteries and upgrade your charger if necessary.

[@WhiskeyHunterVAT69]

With Truck Campers, is there a way to get power from your truck, when it's running, to the camper?? Thank you for the VOD, more great info. 👍👍

[@RunawayRoses]

You could use a DC to DC charger to charge the camper batteries while driving. That way the alternator helps charge the batteries. We have never used one but I hear good things about them. Hope that helps, thanks again for watching!

[@WhiskeyHunterVAT69]

@@RunawayRoses Thank you, I have added that to my list. 👍👍

[@brentmcmahon8188]

I put Battle Born 100 amp x 2 but that was 4-5 yrs ago and they can run my ac for 5+ hrs and they weigh 35 or 37 pounds each so they are at least half the weight of lead acid or AGM’s and AGM’s don’t have the problem with battery acid making a mess .

[@larrywade9041]

Thank both of you for putting out this very helpful video. I will definitely mark this video to SAVE, so when I get around to needing information along this line I will have it. Keep up the good work on your channel folks. Have a great day! Cheers!! Illinois, USA

[@brentmcmahon8188]

And if you have a dc to dc charger just start your truck to help with power .

[@brentmcmahon8188]

I always fire my generator up or plug in to shore power so that I don’t pull a lot of charge out of you batteries.

[@TravelswithDelaney]

Great job of upgrading your batteries. You always do such a good job of simplifying processes for others to follow along. And I think you pointed out something important which is not everyone needs a massive lithium and solar setup. It all depends on a persons needs and how they camp. Great video as always!

[@RunawayRoses]

Hey Patrick, thanks for your nice comments. Like you said it’s not a massive upgrade but it should be enough of one for the way we camp. Tell Patty, Bess and Truman we said hello.

[@dorisshanks7295]

I am upgrading my 6 volt lead acid batteries to 6 volt AGM batteries in my motorhome. I did the same upgrade on my old motor home and also added a Progressive Industries Charge Wizard to my 70 amp Prog. Ind. deck mount converter/charger. This provides the proper charging cycles up to 14.4/6 for full charging. Although these batteries do charge faster and hold the charge longer, my research says you should still not discharge them below 12.2 as they are still provide only 50% usable amp hours. 52% is not recommended. I have a combo dc and ac fuse box with the converter/charger combo . It is a 100 amp WFCO unit but not compatible with AGM or Lithium. I do not like what I learned about their new Auto Detect system so I will go to Ptogressive Industries again but with a multi mode unit with a built in Charge Wizard. I do plan to also add a shunt and a Victron Battery Monitor which provides similar info as your BMS does plus Blue tooth on the phone. Glad I found your channel as most are about upgrading to Lithium. Like you I chose the AGM due to my needs and cost considerations.