171 - Mod - Dual Battery
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Category: R-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
Forum Discription: Ask maintenance questions, share your podmods (modifications) and helpful tips
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1368
Printed Date: 18 May 2024 at 1:49pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.64 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: 171 - Mod - Dual Battery
Posted By: rpodcamper.com
Subject: 171 - Mod - Dual Battery
Date Posted: 06 Aug 2010 at 8:58pm
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We do alot of Dry Camping and seem to run low on power, so we pulled the single battery out and bought 2 12 Volt Batteries. They are the Deka DC24 Battery. We also picked up some 4 gauge battery wires already made ane another battery box. Our Parts:  .The batteries:  .I Made sure to drill holes in the bottom of the box to allow water to drain  .Placed the two boxes and batteries on the frame:  .Wired the batteries in Parallel and hooked up a switch to shut off the pack:  .Dressed up all the wires and closed them up :  .Connecting in Parallel When connecting in Parallel you are doubling the capacity (amp hours) of the battery while maintaining the voltage of one of the individual batteries. Use a jumper wire between the positives of both batteries and another jumper wire between the negatives of both batteries. Connect your positive and negative wires to the same battery to run to your application.  . Important notes: When connecting batteries in a pack there are some important things to keep in mind - - Find out the requirements of your application. For example: Don't double the capacity on your Power Wheels vehicle if you're not supposed to...you could burn up the engine. Follow the recommended guidelines for your application. - Don't use two different chemistries when connecting a pack. Usually the voltages will be different, but more importantly the charge rates will be different and the capacities may be different, thus resulting in a shortened life span. - Try to match capacities as much as possible. When connecting batteries in a pack you should try to match the capacities as much as possible to avoid discharging one battery quicker than another. A pack operates at a combined voltage so your one cell that discharges quicker will likely discharge deeper than it may be able to recover from. |
Replies:
Posted By: popgoesweasel
Date Posted: 06 Aug 2010 at 10:28pm
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Great post. I'm saving this one to reference later should we start some serious dry camping. ------------- R171 2010 Frontier 2009 Site 40 Eastern Rally 2010 |
Posted By: HuronSailor
Date Posted: 07 Aug 2010 at 7:54am
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I had 4 Deka DC31s in 2 banks of 2 on my boat. The older bank was 8 years old when I sold the boat and just starting to show some signs of aging. Great batteries. Not cheap though. ------------- .: Mark & Beth :: Silverado 5.3L :: 2018 rPod 180 :. |
Posted By: rpodcamper.com
Date Posted: 07 Aug 2010 at 9:46am
| I live very close to East Penn's Manufacturing plant and they have a second's store there. I went up and picked them both up at a great price. I had an older Deka battery we used for over 10 years with our popup and I abused that one big time. The sad thing is that the batterry I removed was another brand that was only 1 1/2 years old and it was already starting to fail. I do have a solar charger/maintainer hooked to them as the camper is in storage. |
Posted By: TerryM
Date Posted: 07 Aug 2010 at 2:49pm
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Does the on board charger handle both batteries? Terry ------------- RP-175 W/Lift Kit 2011 Ford F-150 4X4 Saint Augustine, FL: The first permanent European settlement in the USA: 1565 |
Posted By: rpodcamper.com
Date Posted: 07 Aug 2010 at 9:45pm
| The charger should maintain the batteries asa it is in storage but will not be enough as we are using it. I also shut down the camper while it is in storage so the charger given enough time would charge them. I hook into power when I get home and charge the battery before shutting down everything. |
Posted By: rpodcamper.com
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2012 at 4:48pm
| Getting ready for this weekend I went over to the camper and went to turn on the lights and there was nothing. Thinking I forgot to turn off the battery switch I went and grabbed the battery charger to find out both batteries were fully charged. Turned out to be a cheap switch I used went bad. Hoping to have that switched by the weekend. Moral of the story - you get what you pay for. |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2012 at 8:31pm
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Just make sure your batteries aren't paralleled like the diagram above shows (very bottom). The negative take-off should be on the right battery so the draw is equal from both batteries. ------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual 
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Posted By: rpodcamper.com
Date Posted: 10 Jan 2012 at 8:36pm
| ok had to think and reread several times what you were saying. What you did mean is on the 2 batteries from the camper hook the positive to one battery and the negative from the other battery. then run two jumper cables between each battery from positive to positive and negative to negative. Correct? |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 10 Jan 2012 at 9:18pm
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Yes. The idea is to get the length of each run (- and +) equal. The paralleled batteries above have a longer run to the battery on the right so they won't charge or discharge the same as the battery on the left.
------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual
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Posted By: Tidalwave4455
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2012 at 3:29pm
| The dual batteries should be of the same brand, age and capacity. If one battery is not as good as the other...the lesser battery will degrade a lot faster. |