Want 6v Trojan AGM Deep Cycles - help?

[RoadtripsAndCampfires]

Learning all this stuff is difficult. Not just normal difficult. I push myself hard because it is important to force myself to think and push through the hangups. After a stroke a got a jury duty excuse from my neurologist due to cognative issues. I have made a lot of progress since then. For a long time I couldn't learn things very easily. Well, they still aren't easy but some of this stuff isn't easy for most of us I bet.

I thnk between the use of the brain and pushing it plus the thinking along creative lines (which is a lot more fun than the first) is why I've improved so much.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Adding about 300-400 pounds of lead acid batteries to your trailer is not trivial. Be sure to take into account the physical placement, weight, balance, accessibility, and securement of these batteries.

Another option is to go with just 2 of the new lithium iron phospate (LiFePo4) drop-in replacements.

They will cost more, but will weigh a lot less, and many are rated for thousands of full deep-cycles, possibly lasting 10 years or more.

 

[Tom_M]

If you can deal with the weight of each battery (128 lbs), you might want to consider Renogy 12 volt AGM available at Walmart for $339.99 each:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Renogy-Deep-Cycle-AGM-Battery-12-Volt-200Ah/900928791

 

[RoadtripsAndCampfires]

The entire trailer is being built with weight totals and distribution being charted. This is an experiment in building a trailer around my stuff that is the shortest and least wide we can comfortably travel 2 years with while maintaining all weight limits of the truck and trailer while camping in comfort and fun once we get there.

The 400 pounds of battery will be directly over the dual axle. The water tank will be 30 gallons which will hold a maximum weight of 250 pounds when full. That will be just after the axle. At least if I go with that size. Right now I am doing math totals of what will be in the back of the truck (dining room IN MY HOUSE has truck bedliner with everything packed and on it as we speak. We will build a cover on the truck to fit over that and provide access - there are no storage bays on the trailer like are found on store bought RVs.

We will carry 4 gallons of water in the truck (the most weight we want to have to lift) and two 6-gallon portable water containers in the trailer. That gives us the option of carrying (30 + 4 + 6 + 6) 46 gallons. If the weight doesn't work out for travel we will reduce the amount of water carried and fill up when we get to our destination. We won't know the weights for sure until things are finished but we are estimating and adjusting as we go along.

The pantry will be stationary but the items on it can be redistributed during travel if needed as all canned goods, grains, and everything else one puts in a pantry are located in rubbermaid type bins that sit on the shelf (there will be cupboard doors - one of the doors is a removable table my grandfather made in the 1950's with folding legs and a wood checkerboard design on front). If I need to take 75 pounds off the pantry and put it in the front or back or wherever I'll be able to because of the containers as long as I can box them in where they can't move. The pantry sits across from the refrigerator so I think the weight of the two will balance each other out there as the fridge is 92 pounds plus what goes in it. The pantry food will be heavier than the fridge food I think.

Next to the pantry is a shelf on wheels that can be moved wherever and will be secured for travel. It contains the propane oven/stovetop and some kitchen items. It's probably about 70 pounds but I have not yet weighed it. If we have to station that elsewhere for travel we can do so.

And let's not forget the weight of the solar panels.

Part of why we went small (besides easier to get around in) with dual axles was so that we could put a lot of weight in it, that it safely holds the weight. The CCC is about 4600. We've added flooring, insulation and wood. We've added a 44 pound SS counter and sink in the front and 2 20 pound propane tanks on the tongue. It came with the electric brakes and small battery for that. The tub weighs almost nothing and the frame for it is wood as is the fridge frame.

My biggest concern at this point is mapping out the electrical components and finding enough space for it all that it doesn't interfer with where we want to put the windows. So I am tallying up the electrical wants to make sure the intended solar system will be what we want before I know the componet sizes and weights as all of this is tied together.

No permanent table so we don't have that normal RV weight. The wood framed bed will be special order mattress and 1/3 of the mattress and frame will be removable with ottomans. We are figuring this out.

Working on small is critical as to where everything goes. Not likely too many do-overs. A lot of things originally going are now not.

The tongue weight has to be combined with the payload of the truck and passengers to make sure we don't overload the truck tires.

No quick answers - it's an ongoing process.

 

[RoadtripsAndCampfires]

Oh - lithium is out. The batteries have to go in the cabin - no outside storage bays. Thus we are going AGM under the bed in a built for it containment box vent with holes in the floor.

 

[RoadtripsAndCampfires]

128 is too heavy. Wayne is soon having a double hernia repair due to lifting a large battery sent through his FedEx ship store. The 4 we are thinking of are 95 pounds each - still not light.

Fortunately the problem was caught and will be fixed through workers comp before retiring and traveling.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Oh - lithium is out.  The batteries have to go in the cabin - no outside storage bays.  Thus we are going AGM under the bed in a built for it containment box vent with holes in the floor.

LiFePo4 batteries are fine inside the living space, in fact they dont really like outdoor temps below freezing. They don't outgas like flooded lead acid batteries.

Our smartphones, laptops, and tablets use lithium batteries.

 

[tx2sturgis]

128 is too heavy. 

Those 4D and 8D batteries are heavy, but most people use a handtruck and a helper to position them where they are going.

 

[RoadtripsAndCampfires]

I had not heard that, lithiums did not outgas. I thought only AGMs were safe inside.

Well, I figure by the time the AGMs wear out there will be something else new and great and I"ll decide then. Too many places to put $$ when building from scratch. Paint alone. Insulation, flooring, solar, electrical, meters and on and on.

BTW, if I had it to do over again I would buy one 5-gallon bucket of primer instead of five one gallons. Had no idea I would use that much!

 

[tx2sturgis]

AGMs are a good choice...I have two of them directly under the bed in my truck camper. I bought mine locally from Batteries Plus and they offer online discounts when you pick them up locally. Of course, you have to pay local tax but no shipping charges are 'folded in', as they are in every online website that says 'free shipping'.

I recently replaced a FLA battery with a Battle Born lithium battery in my comm trailer and so far, it is working well. It's a LOT lighter than the battery it replaces, and offers more usable capacity.

 

[RoadtripsAndCampfires]

I will tally the weights for the trailer and truck as best I can before we purchase the batteries just in case that weight matters, as well as if I were to discover I need six 6volts instead of 4. Just in case I'll be sure to know before we buy. We are not doing this twice.

We have a 7 x 16 and I wish we had a 7 x 18 ha ha. I do not like the batteries and all the space they and the solar system wants to grab. But that would be my fault for wanting to run this and this and this and this.....

 

[MotorVation]

If you can deal with the weight of each battery (128 lbs), you might want to consider Renogy 12 volt AGM available at Walmart for $339.99 each:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Renogy-Deep-Cycle-AGM-Battery-12-Volt-200Ah/900928791

That sounded like a good deal so I looked into them. Their description is down right misleading. They claim they're rated at 200Ah but when you check the specs they're rated at 200Ah at 10 hours not the industry standard for deep cycle @20 hours. I don't know the math on that but it sounds like half to me..

 

[tx2sturgis]

 They claim they're rated at 200Ah but when you check the specs they're rated at 200Ah at 10 hours not the industry standard for deep cycle @20 hours. I don't know the math on that but it sounds like half to me..

That's a good catch! And I verified it on the Renogy website. 

But it's actually more.

The shorter time means the battery was worked even harder and still showed 200ah.

As you can see from their spec sheet, as the time period is shortened (with a higher drain rate) the ah rating goes down, so if the time period is lengthened (with a lower drain rate) the ah rating goes up. It's all related to Peukert's law.

If they drained the battery for twice as long, at half the drain, it might have actually been rated as more than 200ah.

But staying conservative is a good thing in battery ratings. It should perform well for most users.

 

[RoadtripsAndCampfires]

i'm looking at these Trojan solar AGM deep cycles. They say 335 rating for 100-hour. 20-hr only has like 1.89. Now I'm totally confused.

https://www.trojanbattery.com/solar-agm-2/

 

[RoadtripsAndCampfires]

Oh - wrong column. 1.89 was an energy rating. The 20-Ah is 315.

So these are good if I got 4 if I have the weight for them and the funds?

 

[B and C]

Looks good to me. A better link for those 6V batteries: https://www.trojanbattery.com/pdf/SAGM_06_315_AGM_DS.pdf

 

[RoadtripsAndCampfires]

I just went to batteries plus website and they only offer Trojan replacement batteries so I will look elsewhere. First I have to finish the weight project.

Weight Project In Color

I found a box of colored chalk the big kind for sidewalk drawing. Had picked up a box last year on a whim at the dollar store. There are no cooincidences. I knew I need that chalk some day.

I drew outlines on the black truckbed liner on my dining room floor of what I have stacked on the half between the axle and the tailgate. The outlines are of each item on the floor of that space. Then I weighed that. I still have the other half to do and what is sitting on a light-weight table allowing for easier access. I will not have the weight of the cover building materials for some time but at least this will give me a weight for the truckbed cargo. And I'll know if something is too heavy on one side or too light - say I usually have 48 pounds of water but the container is empty or vice versa I will just know where to move things around if I have to. The plan is to not have to.

So I'll eventually photo it and add it all up. Right now I'm keeping a list as I go along just in case the chalk writing gets walked on one too many times.

I blame this project on the local once a year Italian Festival where artists gather around the sidewalks before the show opens and create all kinds of interesting chalk work. Made me want chalk. Had chalk. Had to find reason to use chalk on "ground."