Dual 6v into 07 C190P Roadtrek

[booster]

Originally Posted by Floorman

Booster's knowledge and skill sets are epic. Thanks Bud for your post. The exisiting battery wiring seems to be about 5/16" or 6awg. Going 4awg sounds a safe bet and I reckon about 8 1/2 ft in length. I carefully measured the existing tray and came up with max of 12 7/16" x 7 x 9 1/4 high. There are not a lot of group 27 AGM batteries out there that fit the tray. I looked for 2 hours went back and forth about Lithium or AGM but almost everything is just a bit too big. Bass Pro S has one made by Universal Power . Deka has a pricey HR3500, Crutchfield has a XS Power D2700 and Banchee has a semi pricy one on Amazon. I always read the 1 star reviews and try to avoid the brands that have Customer service negative remarks. Bass Pro and Crutchfield have great Customer service but so does the local Auto Zone who has a group 27 lead acid for cheap. Thanks again for your experience and advice. I'll hack something together

Be sure to take a good look at the pictures of the batteries. It is pretty common for there to lift strap ears on the top ends and they count that toward the length. I have routinely had to cut them off in the past to fit different applications with limited space, even in cars that took the big battery in the old days.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Floorman

Booster's knowledge and skill sets are epic. Thanks Bud for your post. The exisiting battery wiring seems to be about 5/16" or 6awg. Going 4awg sounds a safe bet and I reckon about 8 1/2 ft in length. I carefully measured the existing tray and came up with max of 12 7/16" x 7 x 9 1/4 high. There are not a lot of group 27 AGM batteries out there that fit the tray. I looked for 2 hours went back and forth about Lithium or AGM but almost everything is just a bit too big. Bass Pro S has one made by Universal Power . Deka has a pricey HR3500, Crutchfield has a XS Power D2700 and Banchee has a semi pricy one on Amazon. I always read the 1 star reviews and try to avoid the brands that have Customer service negative remarks. Bass Pro and Crutchfield have great Customer service but so does the local Auto Zone who has a group 27 lead acid for cheap. Thanks again for your experience and advice. I'll hack something together

Be sure to take a good look at the pictures of the batteries. It is pretty common for there to lift strap ears on the top ends and they count that toward the length. I have routinely had to cut them off in the past to fit different applications with limited space, even in cars that took the big battery in the old days. When Roadtrek did two batteries in those days, they used gp27 batteries in both compartments, that is how ours was from the factory. The wired the second battery positive across under the body toward the driver side to a binding post where the other battery connected as well as the cable to the charger area. That helped keep the cable lengths more even for better balance. They used #2 battery cable material for both batteries to the binding post and #2 cables to the chassis at separate points for the negatives.

[Floorman]

Morning Bud. Spent an inordinate amount amount of time looking for battery alternatives on the web. Came up with a Interstate SLA1189, 100AH, a wheel chair AGM battery that's $299 and hard to find, almost impossible to have shipped. Thought it would be better than batteries from China. This morning having a second look at the SLA1189 Interstate spec sheet for the battery I saw a back side view that I had missed with Made in Vietnam on the label just like the Mighty Maxes you found on Amazon at $179 each. Thanks for the recommendation and I will give the MMaxes a try.

[Floorman]

In case anyone else is considering the addition of a second battery to an 02CRT190P or similar RT that has the accessory compartment just in front of the rear passenger wheel here is a scope of this small project. I am replacing the dead Centurian 3000 CS 4500 converter charger bottom circuit board with a Progressive Dynamics (PD 9245C) stand-alone converter charger that has the 4 stage Battery Wizard charger (best price from E trailer). It has some great features like high low voltage protection, equalization charging and can accommodate the 2 batteries wired in Parallel. Not sure yet on a hard-wired PD EMS 30-amp surge protector or just a simple sacrificial plug in. I think a key to surge protection is to have a receptacle tester and to use it each time before plugging in the shore power. I have always used a simple receptacle tester that I plug into a 30-amp adapter to test campground receptacles for the correct wiring. The input 120 vac of the New converter /charger will be connected to the D2 Circuit Breaker and the output 12vdc will be connected to the 12vdc fuse busses in the top half of the CS4500. I will mount the PD 9245 in the adjacent compartment and ventilate with drilled holes in the access door and if that proves insufficient will replace the center section of the door with a metal grill. The connections to the existing single battery will remain stock and the new battery will be connected by 4 awg 3/8 x 8 foot in 2 (negative/positive) split plastic automotive conduits (1/2" os diameter) that will be routed and hung on the RT frame with insulated cable clamps and snaked into the existing rear battery box through the existing battery cable route. It was a challenge for me to figure out the route and length of the new battery cables. I was able to run some 14awg electric wire to figure it all out, most important the length of the cables which are available premade on Amazon (Spartan Power 4awg x 3/8 x 8ft). Have ordered everything on Amazon including 2 Mighty Mac group 27 AGM 100ah Batteries, (thanks to Bud ) . Here's the part list: 2 batteries, battery cable set, battery hold down for the accessory compartment (Atwood 9091 group 27 battery tray), Mankk 1 1/2" cable clamps. Zhiyo 3/8 x 20 ft automotive conduit, self-drilling screws for the cable clamps and will use either 1/2 or 3/4 EMT jakes for the fair leads into the fiberglass accessory compartment. Am wondering if there is a need to ventilate the accessory box Any thoughts, advice and encouragement will be appreciated.

[Bud]

Originally Posted by Floorman

In case anyone else is considering the addition of a second battery to an 02CRT190P or similar RT that has the accessory compartment just in front of the rear passenger wheel here is a scope of this small project. I am replacing the dead Centurian 3000 CS 4500 converter charger bottom circuit board with a Progressive Dynamics (PD 9245C) stand-alone converter charger that has the 4 stage Battery Wizard charger (best price from E trailer). It has some great features like high low voltage protection, equalization charging and can accommodate the 2 batteries wired in Parallel. Not sure yet on a hard-wired PD EMS 30-amp surge protector or just a simple sacrificial plug in. I think a key to surge protection is to have a receptacle tester and to use it each time before plugging in the shore power. I have always used a simple receptacle tester that I plug into a 30-amp adapter to test campground receptacles for the correct wiring. The input 120 vac of the New converter /charger will be connected to the D2 Circuit Breaker and the output 12vdc will be connected to the 12vdc fuse busses in the top half of the CS4500. I will mount the PD 9245 in the adjacent compartment and ventilate with drilled holes in the access door and if that proves insufficient will replace the center section of the door with a metal grill. The connections to the existing single battery will remain stock and the new battery will be connected by 4 awg 3/8 x 8 foot in 2 (negative/positive) split plastic automotive conduits (1/2" os diameter) that will be routed and hung on the RT frame with insulated cable clamps and snaked into the existing rear battery box through the existing battery cable route. It was a challenge for me to figure out the route and length of the new battery cables. I was able to run some 14awg electric wire to figure it all out, most important the length of the cables which are available premade on Amazon (Spartan Power 4awg x 3/8 x 8ft). Have ordered everything on Amazon including 2 Mighty Mac group 27 AGM 100ah Batteries, (thanks to Bud ) . Here's the part list: 2 batteries, battery cable set, battery hold down for the accessory compartment (Atwood 9091 group 27 battery tray), Mankk 1 1/2" cable clamps. Zhiyo 3/8 x 20 ft automotive conduit, self-drilling screws for the cable clamps and will use either 1/2 or 3/4 EMT jakes for the fair leads into the fiberglass accessory compartment. Am wondering if there is a need to ventilate the accessory box Any thoughts, advice and encouragement will be appreciated.

I don't understand how the battery tray will work inside of the compartments after it is bolted down. I did not use a tray with the original battery compartment. I could use a tie down strap without a battery tray.

With the optional battery compartment, I used a strap Under the battery tray. But NOT the strap with plastic buckles (very weak), rather a lashing strap with a buckle. I also found it necessary to reduce the height of the tray where the battery is inserted into the compartment. The top of the compartment is Metal with my 05/04 190P!, careful.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Bud

I don't understand how the battery tray will work inside of the compartments after it is bolted down. I did not use a tray with the original battery compartment. I could use a tie down strap without a battery tray.

With the optional battery compartment, I used a strap Under the battery tray. But NOT the strap with plastic buckles (very weak), rather a lashing strap with a buckle. I also found it necessary to reduce the height of the tray where the battery is inserted into the compartment. The top of the compartment is Metal with my 05/04 190P!, careful.

I agree, no tray needed with AGM battery as you won't be pulling it out regularly. Just a hold down of some sort will be plenty to hold it in place.


I would, though, put it on a sheet of plastic so it will slide in easily. Even 10mil plastic sheet is good enough and strong enough. Leave some extra hanging out to grab a hold of if you need to remove it to help pulling it out.

[Floorman]

The '02 CRT190P's accessory battery compartment is totally fiber glass with a laminated ply floor that does not extend all the way to the back of the box. The normal hold down metal L bolts would only be supported by fiberglass. There is also a metal bracket support piece under the box that will be the target of carriage through bolts that will have "custom" rectangular washers holding down the tray. Have to clear the latch plate when removing the battery and there is plenty of height, (11") so the tray and the hold downs will work for me. I like that the tray has sides to keep the battery centered and it is group 27 battery size specific. Thanks for the input and will report on the progress of the installation hopefully by the end of next week. The boss isn't always on the job so it's murphy's law to guide me in life and keep me in check.

[Bud]

Originally Posted by Floorman

The '02 CRT190P's accessory battery compartment is totally fiber glass with a laminated ply floor that does not extend all the way to the back of the box. The normal hold down metal L bolts would only be supported by fiberglass. There is also a metal bracket support piece under the box that will be the target of carriage through bolts that will have "custom" rectangular washers holding down the tray. Have to clear the latch plate when removing the battery and there is plenty of height, (11") so the tray and the hold downs will work for me. I like that the tray has sides to keep the battery centered and it is group 27 battery size specific. Thanks for the input and will report on the progress of the installation hopefully by the end of next week. The boss isn't always on the job so it's murphy's law to guide me in life and keep me in check.

Sorry, I had it wrong. Went and 'Looked', I used battery trays in both original and optional battery compartments. As you said, the optional was only fiberglass with the rear, original with metal. I did remove the original tray prior to the battery tray. Murphy's law applies to memories, mine.

Bud

[Floorman]

Can't thank both you, Booster, Markopolo and others enough for your input and advice. I got more than a few projects going on the RT. Have received all the new front end suspension, steering, brake parts, drive shaft u-joints and support bearing and the RT is going into Bishop Automotive (Bishop, CA) tomorrow morning to get it all installed. The additional electrical retro fits and additions should get us on the road by the first week of September with a planned journey across Nevada to Grand County, Colorado.