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How long on your batteries

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 5:31 pm
by John S.
I ran the inverter the other night. The only thing on was a fan and two CPAP’s. The batteries lasted less than 6 hours. How long do yours run?

Re: How long on your batteries

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2019 7:28 pm
by montir
John,
I haven't tried a test quite like that but if you were using the humidifier on both CPAPs that was probably somewhere around a 120 Watt load. That will drain your batteries pretty fast.

When I use my CPAP on 12 V, I turn the humidifier off but put water in the tank so that I do get some humidification. We can watch TV for 3 hours in the evening and run the CPAP for 7 hours and still have plenty of battery power left in the morning. Since my CPAP will run directly on 12 V, I don't use the inverter for it as that would be less efficient. It has been long enough since I have used it that way that I don't remember exactly how much battery power was left in the morning but I think it was over 70%.

Re: How long on your batteries

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2019 11:08 am
by whemme
John, you did not say what type or capacity rating are your house batteries nor their age. My experience with the Interstate deep cycle batteries is that once they are 5 years old they are basically done with little charge capacity remaining.

Re: How long on your batteries

Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2019 11:08 am
by John S.
Mine are the originals so 4 years old. No humidifier running either. I will look at replacing them soon.

Re: How long on your batteries

Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2019 2:21 pm
by whemme
John,

Also, repeated discharging your house batteries below 50% level will shorten their life.

Re: How long on your batteries

Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2019 5:36 pm
by bcope01
What I did was replace my two 12v Interstates in parallel with two 6v Trojan batteries wired in series and never looked back. Always considered the Interstate battery to be a hybrid starter/deep cycle battery, whereas the Trojan battery is a true deep cycle.

I know I will get a strong debate from Bill Hemme on this. :D But I was well beyond 5 years on the Trojan batteries when I sold my coach and they were still performing as new.

Bill Cope

Re: How long on your batteries

Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2019 6:08 pm
by whemme
Bill, no I agree with you that the Trogan golf car deep cycle batteries are better and longer lived than the original Interstates originally installed by Born Free.

Re: How long on your batteries

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2019 8:00 am
by John S.
Will look into those

Re: How long on your batteries

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2019 8:52 am
by perleys
So do the two 6v Trojan batteries wired in series take up the same space as two 12 volt batteries and give the same amount of power over time? Can the modification be done from the pull out battery drawer or is more wiring or work needed?

Re: How long on your batteries

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:26 am
by bcope01
perleys wrote:So do the two 6v Trojan batteries wired in series take up the same space as two 12 volt batteries and give the same amount of power over time? Can the modification be done from the pull out battery drawer or is more wiring or work needed?
The Trojan batteries fit in the existing tray that held my Interstates. Used existing wiring to wire the Trojans in Series. You end up with one short cable extra. Look at my photo above and you can see the extra red cable in the foreground of the tray.

Re: How long on your batteries

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 3:47 pm
by tomzleapin
The Trojan T-105 batteries are taller than the Interstate 12 volt, so measure the height of the opening to make sure they will fit.

Re: How long on your batteries

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 8:54 pm
by bcope01
tomzleapin wrote:The Trojan T-105 batteries are taller than the Interstate 12 volt, so measure the height of the opening to make sure they will fit.
True

Re: How long on your batteries

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:53 pm
by perleys
Thanks for the info on the 6 volt. I have a bit of time before I need to worry about it. Was thinking about plans for when I need to buy batteries again!

Re: How long on your batteries

Posted: Sat Aug 03, 2019 6:09 am
by tomzleapin
Here's a link to a thread on how some folks installed Trojans in a newer coach:
https://www.bornfreervclub.org/bulletin ... lit=trojan

Re: How long on your batteries

Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2019 1:06 pm
by lafons
2 Trojans for me too. Both are now 9 years old and are still strong. When they do weaken I’ll definitely replace them with the same. They have been well taken care of over the years. I also use a Cpac machine, two nights will leave me at about 70%