2020 320S dual 6V AGM golf cart battery install

YanniLazarus

I think I've read every post about powering a 320.  Best advice seems to be that everyone needs a personal power plan based  upon their camping style and location.  I've tried to assemble one for myself, and am looking for your collective... encouragement!

Here are our parameters:

1.  We are northeastern (CT state) residents who plan to continue solid three season camping with rare winter outings.

2.  We want a simple enough system so that I don't have much to manage (or worry about) while camping.

3.  We want a system that will allow us to boondock for two days at a time.  We will almost never stay in any one no-hookups location for more than two days, and would like to depend on our TV to charge our battery in transit between sites.  Probably two thirds of our stays are only one night -- and our original equipment lead acid battery works fine for that!

4.  We mostly camp at Harvest Host sites or parks without hookups.

5.  We will do almost anything to avoid generator noise.

6.  We are willing to camp without use of our air conditioner.

My (latest!) plan:

1.  We have already modified the ceiling fan with a variable speed controller, and we have several rechargeable battery light sources and an Ipad all of which help to reduce our 12v battery use.

2.  We don't want the complication of setting up or managing solar power.

3.  We don't want to bring along a generator.

4.  We are getting ready to buy a 100AH AGM battery.  We're hoping this is sufficient for our needs because we would prefer not to deal with changing our factory installed charger to use a lithium battery efficiently without topping up with solar power.  I would also prefer to be able to just leave the battery in place year round, with shore power plugged in when at my house.

5.  I would like to bring a set of car jumper cables to use if in a jam, directly hooked from TV to T@B battery, if desperate -- to use my TV alternator to charge.  Not sure if it would help in such a situation to keep the 7 pin connector hooked up as well.  This would (so the plan goes...) a very rare occurrence, indeed.  If there is a better emergency backup, I'd consider using it if it did NOT require permanent installation in the TV or T@B, and worked more or less like jumper cables.

advice?

webers3

Well, I too am in CT, with pretty much the same parameters as you. I still have the original 75AH battery, no solar, no mods, no upgrades, no TV, no A/C no complications, just camping at HH, state parks and national parks, moving every 2-3 days, mostly without hook-ups, from early spring to late fall. The longest time without hook-ups was 1 week in the summer using electric for lights, fan and device charging, used about 400WA. Although I am considering replacing my 4 year old battery so far I have been able to camp without any electrical power issues, but, using the electrical power sparingly. With 100AH AGM battery I don't think you will have any issues.

ScottG

Can you run your fridge on propane?

I'm not sure when exactly they switched from the 3-way to the 2-way in the 320s. 

YanniLazarus

Yes... propane refrigerator. 

pthomas745

@YanniLazarus I camp the same basic way.  I have a stock battery and a 3 way fridge that works on propane.

Your fridge model is important to your calculations, as Scott pointed out. 

The best possible thing you could do:  buy an autoranging multimeter and learn how to use it.  Learn what a rested battery is.  Your battery state of charge will be a known value in your two or three day trips.  There will be no guessing/worrying/wondering.  You will know. 

Knowledge= power to camp for more than a couple of days without external charging sources.

(Full disclosure: I have a 100 watt panel).

VictoriaP

YanniLazarus said:

3.  We want a system that will allow us to boondock for two days at a time.  We will almost never stay in any one no-hookups location for more than two days, and would like to depend on our TV to charge our battery in transit between sites.  Probably two thirds of our stays are only one night -- and our original equipment lead acid battery works fine for that!

If this is your priority, then besides what @pthomas745 says (which is critical), this is where you need to start. Not all vehicle alternators are capable of charging a trailer battery, in fact, quite a few can’t. You need to figure out if yours can, and if not, whether a DC to DC charger would work with your vehicle.

Since you haven’t bought your battery yet, I’d also consider something larger or a two golf cart battery setup. A 100ah AGM is a still only 50ah usable, and many people find they use 20-30ah a day. Draining your battery of all its usable capacity before you can recharge fully means it will take a LOT longer to charge, and the more often you do that, the more likely it is you’ll have to replace it sooner.

Given the rest of your criteria, I have to add that I think ignoring solar is short sighted. It’s a no-maintenance, no noise solution that also adds no wear and tear on your expensive tow vehicle, unlike your proposed emergency plan. All it takes is some initial cost and installation of a single solar panel and controller on the trailer. Once that’s done, you can ignore it and it will produce at worst a trickle charge during all daylight hours, and at best, it may well top up the battery fully. Given that you only want two days of boondocking ability and your 2020 320s has a 3 way fridge that you’ll be running on propane, with a single good quality 100w permanent solar panel and an MPPT controller, you quite literally might never need to worry about emergency charging. It certainly would be a less frequent occurrence. And you’ll be less likely to drain your battery to the point where you’d need far more charging time than your current emergency plan can produce. 

This owner lays out what he did for a very simple install of $350: https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/8869/my-solar-install-clean-and-simple

Sharon_is_SAM

@YanniLazarus - the only caution that I would add is, as Victoria noted, can your TV recharge enroute to your next campsite.  Can it recharge at all, versus, is the distance great enough to allow enough time to recharge your battery.  If I was going to camp for longer periods of time, moving from site to site, I would opt for more battery capacity.  You already have the other side of the equation figured out - that is, conserving power. 

ScottG

YanniLazarus said:

Yes... propane refrigerator. 

In which case, if you keep your consumption in check, I would expect you could dry camp easily for two days. I've done so with my aging 100aH wet cell, so your set-up should offer even greater performance. Do monitor your battery though, even if it is just with a multimeter or cheap plug-in voltmeter. There are limitations to these simple systems, but you will learn them soon enough and adapt accordingly.

As VictoriaP noted, whether or not you will be able to fully charge on the road between campsites is another story. My T/V seems to do a pretty good job topping up the battery in transit, provided I don't run the fridge on DC while underway.

I completely agree with your regarding generators. I don't want to lug one, don't want to lug gas for it, I don't want to listen to it, and I sure as well don't want to listen to yours in my favorite state parks! (Yeah, sore spot...ha ha.) However, I'll second the advice to rethink solar. A 100W suitcase is easy to set up and will give you a little something--even on a cloudy day or in shady campsite. I recently managed four days of dry camping with my old battery with just a teeny bit of sun poking through the thick trees.

Olena

Solar is not complicated. Fussing with jumper cables and charging off your TV is way more complicated. My T@B was pre-wired with a Zamp port, and I don't know if your 2020 model is too, but even if it isn't, connecting a port to the battery looks easy (and I am not technical). Once you have the port installed then the panel is literally plug and play. Zamp also has new suitcase panels out that are very lightweight (10 lbs rather then the previous 35 lbs for 100W). A panel with a charge controller included is all you would need. I know Zamp is one of the more expensive panels on the market, but I don't know if systems from other companies would be as simple to set up. Perhaps someone else could chime in!

The suitcase panel is definitely the way to go over a fixed panel on the T@B. The suitcase allows you to adjust the angle during the day and follow maximum sun.

In 2019 I camped for four months solid (my set-up was similar to yours - no fridge on the battery and I used USB lighting and an Ipad to watch movies) with only charging off my 120W panel, and I never had battery anxiety (the battery was just the dealer supplied group 24 lead acid battery). 

I know there are a lot of highly technical people on the forum who have lots of gadgets for monitoring every volt, but if you have a simple set-up you shouldn't need anything more complicated than I described above. It worked for me for four months!

Olena

By the way - I discovered this site recently: thesolaraddict.com

It is a treasure trove of information about solar presented in a very clear and readable way. 

pthomas745

The solar "port" is a simple SAE port, and it easy to use with any panel.   The  myths that surround the "Zamp" port are legendary.  Just wire your controller correctly.  Very simple to do.

I do agree that if you are wrestling jumper cables from one vehicle to the trailer, it would be even easier to run battery clamps....er....jumper cables...from your solar panel to your battery.  Could not be easier.

4ncar

Whether via the 7pin or via a jumper cable from your TV battery(much more cumbersome), the first thing I would do is verify whether your TVs alternator is up to the task(as previously mentioned) Secondly, I would suggest that you get a proper battery monitor that will provide you a true State Of Charge(SOC) of your battery. This will take all the guess work out of whether you have enough battery charge to last X period of time. It will give you the information in plain English in a manner that is easily understood. Also previously mentioned is the upgrade to dual 6V golf cart batteries. Highly advised. These will provide you as much as 235 AH (117.5ah usable). Easily 4 days worth of battery power, if you are conservative.

FYI

atlasb

Cant Speak to the solar, alternate battery systems, etc.  But, can speak to the jumper cable issue.  We were camping sometime ago and everything was going well.  Came time to head home and went to start the TV and the battery was dead. It!  Was not hooked up to the T@B but the battery just expired.  Seems as though when the batteries are done in most vehicles today they just quit with no warning.  Found a fellow camper and was able to get a jump for our TV.  After hooking up headed home with no issue.  Got home and shut the TV off.  Went to restart at a later time, and the battery was done for.  Jumped the TV and headed to the Auto store for a new battery and a battery jump pack that I now keep the jump pack charged and in the TV for the next time the battery dies on me!! 

Don't forget the possibility of being Boon docking and having the TV battery go belly up!

YanniLazarus

so. latest plan after digesting all the great advice here!  I hope it appears as though I am both listening and open minded!

1.  junk the original battery and battery case.  buy two 6V AGM batteries that are tallish -- 9.5long, 7.3 wide and 11 high:

VMAXTANKS 6 Volt 225Ah AGM Battery: High Capacity & Maintenance Free Deep Cycle Battery for Golf Carts, Solar Energy, Wind Energy.

Install them in existing 320S 2020 non-boondock front box, leaving the propane tank and pvc blackwater tank hose drain storage pipe in place (i actually do store my hose in it!).  stagger/angle batteries as required to fit.  build serious/effective hold-downs as required (likely straps to new anchor points), possibly staggering or angling two batteries.  Get insulated covers for all connections, but otherwise leave the new AGM batteries exposed to save space. 

2.  No doubt that our alternator is successfully charging our existing battery well and quickly.

3.  so much reserve battery from this arrangement that i may be able to just continue to keep an eye on my battery performance with my cigarette plug in volt meter, which I keep in the T@B.  Factory installed charger to remain.

4.  If any issues, I'll spring for bayite DC 6.5-100V 0-100A LCD Display Digital Current Voltage Power Energy Meter Multimeter Ammeter Voltmeter with 100A Current Shunt, which I would be tempted to mount adjacent to the batteries to keep it as simple as possible.

sane?

4ncar

Sounds good. The shunt monitor will be well advised.

rh5555

I would also point you to a thread I started 15 months ago:

AGM battery Depth of Discharge myth busted

@YanniLazarus, you will have about 180Ah of usable charge in your 2-golf-cart-battery setup.

YanniLazarus

Making progress... if I stack the two 6V batteries the footprint is 9.5” x 11” with a height of 15”, which fits easily with the propane tank and the storage tube in place!  Requires moving terminal hookups to the front instead of top. Entering the excited phase...

webers3

@YanniLazarus show pics

YanniLazarus

I will... when I get past the planning and into the purchasing phase!   It even looks like the factory installed battery cables are just right as is.   This may be the easiest mod I've done with the most change for the better... here's hoping. 

VictoriaP

One thing to double check is your tongue weight limit. That battery pair weighs 144 pounds. If that works out with your tow vehicle, it definitely sounds like a good solution for you.

pthomas745

One of the things I'm reading about AGM batteries is they can be installed in any position except upside down. I can't find any reference to this in most Forums/searches except from manufacturers and battery FAQ's.

rh5555

I'd be happy to mount an AGM battery on its side except if it was going to get bounced around.  Without the benefit of any inside knowledge, I'd bet that AGM batteries are designed to take much more up-and-down forces than side-to-side.  I'd get explicit approval from Harris before going down that road.

pthomas745

When I do finally switch out to a new AGM, I'll try to find some sort of battery "box" that would have a vertical configuration and anchor it well.  I find  many comments from people across boating/camper Forums who have done this, but they provide very few details. 

YanniLazarus

pthomas745 said:

When I do finally switch out to a new AGM, I'll try to find some sort of battery "box" that would have a vertical configuration and anchor it well.  I find  many comments from people across boating/camper Forums who have done this, but they provide very few details. 

I'm planning on making a base with aluminum edge "stops" that key into my existing open steel angle frame,  and then strapping the batteries and base in place with two straps side to side and one strap front to back.   No holes in the existing frame required,  simple,  cheap..... and completely reversible by me or future owners. Ordering the batteries now but won't arrive for what looks like 2 or 3 weeks.... so. Photos to follow. 

YanniLazarus

Installed 2 Vmaxx 6v golf cart batteries: 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009MOR58A/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_fabc_A2FbGbSQWC6V4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

This looks like it's working out,  so share time.   Disclaimer:  I believe that the factory original steel angle frame can carry the 140 pounds of battery.   

This is what my 2020 320S front compartment looks like: 

YanniLazarus

This is what my pressure treated base looks like to begin with.  One piece omitted for clarity.   I ripped 2x wood to 1" so it would match the smaller steel angles which run front to back so that the battery can overhang the frame side to side.   I also left a 3/4" raised stop on the back pressure treated board so that the battery fits just right between the front angle vertical face and the back wood stop. 

YanniLazarus

I left a bit of swelling room in the wood base! 

YanniLazarus

batteries in place.   Fasten the first wire on before tipping first battery in place = easier. Tight but adequate room.

YanniLazarus

Close fit: 

YanniLazarus

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017902W8G?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

these are the straps I used.  interlaced on sides.  one of the three running side to side actually loops around the gas tank steel strap.  One horizontal strap (not visible here) holds two 2x2 aluminum angles (about 10" in height) on the back two corners of the batteries to keep them aligned.  I did use a bit of two-sided adhesive tape to keep everything aligned while assembling.

these are the terminal covers:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017E086AO?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

and the connecting battery wire:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JGJGLWW?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

and finally, the battery charger and connector that I will use from time to time to maintain battery health:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07W3QT226/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_fabc_L6FbGbDE1WDS7

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LWQ35Y/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_fabc_B5FbGbPZEVTVT 

YanniLazarus

This was do-able, and simple enough for me to accomplish... I hope it is useful to others.  Should be a huge amp hour boost!!!