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henryv
Senior Member
Joined: 09 Feb 2017
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 259
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Topic: One Battery..or Two? Posted: 01 May 2017 at 6:45am |
If you plan to be on the road for awhile, and not hooked up to shore power, is two batteries a good idea? I know I'll only be able to use things like lights, fan, tv,music..but will 2 batteries double the time? or just one, and it gets charged when going down the road..and what kind of battery..the battery on there now is probably a good one from the factory?
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furpod
Moderator Group - pHp
Joined: 25 Jul 2011
Location: Central KY
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6128
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Posted: 01 May 2017 at 7:37am |
If you are going to be boondocking, the more battery you carry, the longer you can go between charges. The dealer supplied battery is usually a group 24. Dual g24's will double your usable aH's. Switching to dual GC2's will nearly triple them.
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TheBum
Senior Member
Joined: 26 Feb 2016
Location: Texas
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1407
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Posted: 01 May 2017 at 3:52pm |
Dual GC2s here, 230Ah.
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jato
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Feb 2012
Location: Kewadin, MI
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3257
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Posted: 01 May 2017 at 8:09pm |
We use 2 12v group size 24 deep cycle. When these expire, they are beginning year 7 now, I plan on replacing with 2 6v golf cart batteries. As for now we plan on 3 days per battery when the night temps are upper 30's to lower 50's, that is using the furnace a fair amount at night to keep it around 60. During the day, not much gets used as we are normally outside hiking. Fridge, HW tank, and LED lights use minimal battery compared to the furnace.
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God's pod
'11 model 177
'17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost
Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."
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IdahoBoy
Groupie
Joined: 24 Oct 2015
Location: Ketchum, Idaho
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 65
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Posted: 06 May 2017 at 11:00am |
Excuse my ignorance, but what is a GC2?
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lostagain
Senior Member
Joined: 06 Sep 2016
Location: Quaker Hill, CT
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2595
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Posted: 06 May 2017 at 11:33am |
I just switched out my 12v group 24 deep cycle for 2 GC2's (golf cart batteries), so now I'll find out how much time I'll get from them. I am waiting for a some 8 awg connectors to finish the pig tails to connect to the battery for a fast connection to the 100w solar panel and controller. Hopefully, this will make us pretty self sufficient for purposes of electricity. The only issue will be if we need the AC. In that case, we'll have to connect to shore power or use a generator, which I can put in the back of my truck if we're going where we think we'll need it. I'm saving my old 12v as a spare and will keep it charged in the garage so it's ready to load if we anticipate needing it.
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
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furpod
Moderator Group - pHp
Joined: 25 Jul 2011
Location: Central KY
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6128
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Posted: 06 May 2017 at 2:13pm |
Originally posted by IdahoBoy
Excuse my ignorance, but what is a GC2? |
GC2 is a standard 6v battery for golf carts. Very good true deep cycle batteries that fit in the foot print of two group 24 12v's. Dual GC2's is the most aH storage you can put on the tongue of a Pod with out any modifications.
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IdahoBoy
Groupie
Joined: 24 Oct 2015
Location: Ketchum, Idaho
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Posts: 65
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Posted: 06 May 2017 at 4:13pm |
Thanks!
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Pod People
Senior Member
Joined: 22 Sep 2011
Location: Chapel Hill,NC
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1078
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Posted: 06 May 2017 at 4:40pm |
For what it is worth, the GC2 batteries are generally available at lots of retail stores including Sam;s Club and Costco. We got ours at Sam's for about $120 each after turning in the old ones for the core charge. the good thing about buying them from Sam's or Costco is that these stores are everywhere, so if you need replacements it is easy to find them . The ones we bought have 115 Amp hours each (if I remember correctly). Wire them in series and we have 230AH available. Vann
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Vann & Laura 2015 RPod 179
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jato
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Feb 2012
Location: Kewadin, MI
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3257
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Posted: 06 May 2017 at 4:59pm |
Interesting to note that when we purchased 126 new golf carts from Yamaha we were given the opportunity to test drive their new electric carts (we purchased gasoline powered carts). I was very impressed, lots of power BUT also surprised that they have moved away from 6 volt batteries used in the 36 volt systems for many years. Now they have gone to a 48 volt system and use 6 8volt batteries instead. Hopefully the 6 volt batteries will be around for a long time.
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God's pod
'11 model 177
'17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost
Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."
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