BaywoodBill
pre-Yuppiedom
Has anyone worn out their LTV house battery? If so, do you know if there is a battery with more "staying power" that will fit in the same box?
Has anyone worn out their LTV house battery? If so, do you know if there is a battery with more "staying power" that will fit in the same box?
mpspan: The idea of moving the battery from the front to the back seems on the surface to go right along with your slogan at the bottom of your note.
As I understand it, the battery under the passenger seat operates some of the Sprinter stuff but I don't know what. Maybe the radio or the windows? And it addition, I guess it operates the RV stuff and those who don't have the battery in the rear, if there are any, must run out of power mighty quickly. Anyway, the battery under the passenger seat is a D-C installed item and not one from LTV.
Good. Let's hear what Wally has to say. Also, how much is the kit to install a second battery in the rear? And do we order from LTV?
I was at the rally this year. What did Wally say for the other rear battery kit ? I think I heard something like $400, that may have been installed. Anyway you can put an AGM type battery under passenger seat ,put it on it's side and you have modify the pan it sits in but the guy said it was very easy. He also had the two batteries in rear and a solar panel on top.
Good. Let's hear what Wally has to say. Also, how much is the kit to install a second battery in the rear? And do we order from LTV?
I have a 2005 van/2006 LTV conversion with the twin coach batteries - one under the front seat (very inconvenient to check) and one (connected in parallel) in the left rear, stock installed by LTV. I'd be interested in the kit and set-up. I have found, after using my van extensively for boondocking over 35 continuous travel days, that the available battery power has diminished over time, even though I have been careful not to run the batteries down to lower than 12.2 volts (checked with plug-in 12v digital meter in 12v plug next to antenna amplifier) overnight by starting the van and recharging with the engine alternator. My situation is that I use a 100 watt CPAP machine - anti-snoring unit for sleeping, connected to an inverter, so use lights sparingly and avoid the TV unless I have shore power. Thinking I had, perhaps a bad battery, I disconnected the rear one and checked the voltage of each, only to find that both, over a period of several days, maintain their voltage in the unused state, and draw down equally fast. Perhaps there is some sulfation, so I'll check them further over the winter months and if necessary, replace them before my next major trip, reasoning that the price of the batteries is small compared to the enjoyment of the trip.OK, I just spoke to Wally. He had been sick and still sounds bad.
The Battery under the seat does NOT power any windows and is ONLY for the Coach power...in parallel with rear battery if you have that option.
Wally also said that the kit is $130 US. He said it was the cables, battery box, and junction box. The junction box is to anchor the live + battery wire from the battery that is removed from under the seat.
So far I have looked only at the battery in the rear. Removing the front seat with it's pivoting base seems a bigger challenge than I know about but we'll see about that at another time.
At this time I have a question about the battery in the rear. The top of the battery has these kind of things that look like they will break if I try to take them off so I'm wondering about the advisability of trying to add water.
Aren't these the kinds of battery that tell you that you never need to add water?
Yes. Mine is an Interstate. I'm just being confused by years of only-partly-heard advertising by battery manufacturers. And one time I attempted to remove one of those caps that covers several holes and it broke.