switch from older 6v battery system?

I have an older TM and after reading a few posts in this forum (and having a dead battery), I'm wondering if I should switch to two 12s in parallel vs continuing with the twin 6's. Thoughts?

Thanks

Mike

[TREXHUNTERS]

There are tradeoffs; like anything else.

- With the two 12's, if one goes bad you can take it out of the system and continue on with the other one if on the road, not with the sixes. (You should change both when replacing either way though.)

- Availability:There are many marine 12v batteries marketed but not many of them are true deep cycle batteries. Most 6v batteries are deep cycle as they are used in golf carts and fork lifts, etc. I use two 6's as it was easier to find high capacity deep cycle ones in my area compared to 12s. We dry camp a lot so getting more battery storage was important for us.

If the capacity of two 12v marine batts.meets your needs or if you have a local source of true deep cycle 12v then go that way as it will give you the best of both worlds.

- In comparing battery capacities, the 1st order comparison is weight (volume of lead). 2nd order factors are chemistry, other technology, and the marketed capacity (in AmpHours).

[ShrimpBurrito]

I don't know if this is accurate or not, but my understanding is that, for any given amp-hour rating, a big advantage of a pair of 6v's over a pair of 12v's is that they have thicker plates.

Each cell in either of these batteries is ~2v, and therefore there must be 6 of them in a 12v battery, whereas there are only 3 in a 6v battery. You can tell this because there are 6 water caps (or at least water filling holes) in a 12v battery vs. 3 in a 6v battery. Since there are more cells in a 12v battery, they must by definition be thinner, which is associated with some diminished performance, the specifics of which I cannot recall. Maybe lesser discharge capacity or shorter life (of the battery, not the charge)? I can't remember. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than I on battery technology will chime in, but absent that you can Google information along those lines.

Dave

[Chilean]

I use two 12 volts Battery, the branch Life Line, no problem very happy
Regards

[Padgett]

For me, two GC2s (210 AH) or GC2H (260 AH) fit exactly im my rear storage compartment. I thought about 2 grp 31s (105AH) but they would not fit as well and are not as common.