Starter batteries

[dsomonster]

Has anyone had to replace the chassis batteries in their Supernova with the International VT365?
I've had my 6400 for 15 months and it is out of warranty.
I tested both batteries and one was sulfated but I reconditioned it and now it is holding at 12.7v for over 36 hours with no draws.
The other one is on it's second recondition session since it only held a full charge for maybe a few hours.
They are the same exact battery but the tops are so beat up I can't see the manufactured or installed date.

Anyone else out there with the same issue. 15 months for a "new" battery that is only used for starting the rig seems short to me.

-Ron

[Nanaeve]

I'll do this from memory, as our unit isn't available, but our 09 6341 on the International chassis "starter" batteries are both sealed batteries, the others the "Coach" are marine deep cycle and are serviceable. Our unit is an Endura, so may be the batteries are different, but they are sealed for the chassis.

[dsomonster]

Nanaeve,
You are correct, the starter batteries are the sealed, maintenance free type.
The house batteries were the deep cycle type in the 12v version.
I have since chucked those house batteries, actually sold them, and upgraded to a 6-6v Interstate U2200 battery bank. We mainly boondock.
My starter batts were sulfated because I was being lazy and I actually revived one but the other is being a royal pain in the butt.
I don't understand why one would be worse off than the other. I thought, maybe if others had these issues I should just replace them.
If that is the case, I don't want to replace them with the same brand. It looks like they were manufactured for International. That is the only legible thing I can read on what is left of the top sticker.
It looks like the installer at Gulfstream really did a number on the sticker during install. The case looks immaculate, but the information on the top is done.
The second battery is on it's second reconditioning and I hope it gets revived. If not, it's a battery search for me.

Thanks,
Ron

[Nanaeve]

Ron, years ago I bought two batteries for use on my jeep so I had them wired through an isolator so that when wenching I won't kill my starting battery. I used to switch out the position of them so that the wear was the same, One battery soon gave me problems. As I was a Biomedical Engineer I talked to the guys who we contracted to do batterys in our portable X-Ray machines. They said that because batteries are the same age, same lot and maybe even made by the same person on the same day, the the components inside could have just enough difference in resistance, chemical make up, ect that while doing all the right things, sometimes they are just different and they fail. The resistance in the wire could be just enough to make the current flow in the batteries differ, the connections, all the things that make up the circut could have little differences that add up to being different enough that you are going to have this problem. I interested in what you find and would love to hear what you do, best of luck, Steve.

[nailerman]

To dsomonster, where did you put these six - 6 volt batteries on your SN. I have a 6263 with two Size 31's and want to put in 6 volters, but where? :?

[Georunner]

I had 4 golf cart batteries (6 volt) installed in my Super Nova. The folks I had do it built an extension to the existing batter box and they fit fine. I also boondock often, and this set up will last a couple of days of normal lights, furnace etc.

[dsomonster]

Nailerman,
I moved the starter batteries back one spot to where one of my grey tanks are. In the compartment where the starter batteries used to be (behind the driver's side door), I placed all 6 Interstate U2200's.

Here are some pics:

http://www.gsowners.com/attachments/photobucket/img_8631_cccf43f323296e5f1f3e6473be7fd3f6.jpg
http://www.gsowners.com/attachments/photobucket/img_8631_2cc3ff34d84fcfbea6792396d42fbb0e.jpg
http://www.gsowners.com/attachments/photobucket/img_8631_f32d94ed1c80fdd9532e64b31c1a9064.jpg

[nailerman]

Just a couple of questions. Which Xantrex unit did you use and did you replace the converter/charger that came with your SN?

[^SN6400]

Yes, if you would give as much info on your upgrade as possible I personally would be in debt to you. :D

I just purchased a 6400 and was planning on doing something like this and found this thread while researching.

Also, if you would please, list some pros and cons of doing this upgrade.

Thanks

[rshallz]

I'm in the military was recently out of town for a few months. One day when my wife tried to start up our 2008 SN 6372, no joy. A friend decided to help by removing the batteries to try to charge them. Several complications ensued. First, they tried to recharge all four with a home recharger, but this did not work with the maintenance-free batteries. Second, they did not take a picture of the wiring before disconnecting the batteries. Based on posts already in this thread, I'm pretty sure they did not reconnect the battery wiring properly.

Right now my RV is stored on a military base and won't start for me to drive it to be repaired. When I try to start it, I don't get the "WAIT TO START" light at all, and when I try to turn the key after the gages/lights settle down, I just hear a single click on the passenger's side of the cab and 10 beeps from under the dash. This even happens when I have jumper cables connected from the battery terminals to the battery of my running truck with its engine running. Voltage gage on the SN reads close to 14 volts during this process.

I'm interested in the power upgrade projects discussed here, but need to get back to square 1 first. Is there anyone out there with a diagram for the stock SN battery wiring? How 'bout posting a photo of the stock wiring configuration? Help!