Second battery

OK I think I have every thing I need to add a second battery:

1) A type 27 deep cycle battery
2) A new battery box for the above
3) A Guest marine battery switch (1,2,both or off)
4) Some appropriate crimp on terminal lugs
5) 6 feet of number 6 wire

I was a bit surprised at the battery box attachment to the rails at the front of the 2619, there wasn't any other than the battery box strap. Is this normal? I thought I'd be drilling attachment holes.

My plan is to run a wire from the ground on battery two to the ground on battery one. Run a cable from each battery hot terminal to the appropriate switch lug. And then attach the trailers hot lead to the other outlet lug.

I understand that I need to run one battery or the other never both since they are not the same battery type and brand.

Anything I'm missing. Right now I'm just trying to come up with a housing for the switch to keep road grit off it.

BK

[wbmiller3]

Mine just has the strap too, and I was also surprised. But it's been hanging in there for 7 years now.

The plastic buckle on the strap is looking a little UV damaged so it's on my list to replace.

[ShrimpBurrito]

I think you'll find it more trouble than it's worth to connect each 12v battery separately vs. in parallel. If I were to go the 12v route (vs 6v), I would go get another battery just like the one you just bought (maybe $70?), and get rid of the one in the TM now. Otherwise, when you're camping, you'll have to switch the batteries at some point, and that time may be in the middle of the night when it's 30 degrees out. Or when your campsite is being stalked by hyenas.

Then when you get home, you'll have to charge one battery all the way up, and once it's done, switch the charger onto the next one and charge it.

Too much to think about when you're supposed to be relaxing and there's already a nice little list of things to do as it is.

But that's just my preference.

Why do folks install battery cut off switches? Is it to prevent a parasitic draw when the unit is in storage? The only thing that should be drawing power I would guess is the radio. My Link 10 says the load of the trailer with the bathroom walls down is about 0.1A, so that's about 2.4Ah/day, or 75Ah/month, which is fairly substantial. So if most of the load is the radio, why not put a switch on the radio power to prevent the hassle of housing the switch outside?

Dave

Well the type 27 may have a bad cell. The dealer just replaced the type 24 that came with the trailer. So maybe that is an option. The Dealer RVtech said that the LP gas detector would eventually run the battery flat in storage.

[ShrimpBurrito]

I'm pretty sure the LP Gas detector turns off when you fold down the bathroom wall. I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Dave

"The only thing that should be drawing power I would guess is the radio".

The easy solution is to pull the fuse for the radio before closing the trailer.

[ShrimpBurrito]

Originally Posted by Tuscany Bandit

The easy solution is to pull the fuse for the radio before closing the trailer.

Great idea. It didn't dawn on me that the radio is on its own circuit. I'll try that the next time I have the TM set up, and see if the Link 10 still measures a load.

Dave

[Bill]

The radio is the major parasitic load, but I think there are a couple others. I think the furnace controller is one, the water heater controller may be one (though I'm not sure). If you leave the TV amplifier on, that may be another. And of course, if you leave the refrig on DC (as I have done several times), that is a whopper of a "parasitic" load. I haven't measured to see what these total up to, and I should. If you get an answer, Dave, please post it.

The LP Gas Detector does shut off when you fold the bathroom wall - that is the quick little BEEP sound you hear when the wall goes down.

Bill