One of the most satisfying things about being a Do-It-Yourself RVer is the ability to complete projects that are often (mistakenly) thought to be too challenging for a non-professional.
We’ve tackled several projects that we initially thought required a professional RV technician, like replacing slide toppers. The same was true of replacing our house and chassis batteries. We’d never done it before, and were concerned about our ability to get everything re-wired correctly during the installation of the new batteries.
Once we figured out the trick to keeping track of all the cables, our concerns ended up being for nothing. Like many motorhomes, ours came with four 6-volt deep-cycle house batteries, wired in series-parallel.
This wiring method effectively makes them equivalent to two large 12-volt batteries. House batteries power an RV’s onboard lights, water pump, vent fans and other 12-volt equipment.
We also have an inverter, which converts 12-volt DC into 110-volt AC current to power TVs, coffee pot, toaster, microwave, and other household appliances.
As our battery tray was badly in need of some TLC, we had the added satisfaction of making it almost like new while the batteries were out, taking it down almost to bare metal and re-painting it with flat black Rustoleum. Part of our motivation for being DIY RVers is that we can’t picture anyone else being as meticulous as we are when it comes to this type of detail work.
Regular care and maintenance kept our original batteries in good condition for 6 years. But when the time came to replace them, we decided to splurge on a set of Lifeline AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) batteries. These are direct replacements for our original 6-volt flooded-cell batteries, but they’re completely sealed, accept a charge faster and perform better in every way. They’re just extremely expensive!
Whether you have 12-volt, 6-volt, or AGM batteries, our video will show you how to replace them when the time comes.
If you’re interested in high performance, maintenance-free AGM batteries like ours, you can check them out by clicking here.
More info on RV batteries:
- How to Perform Open Voltage Testing on Your RV House Batteries
- Bring Your Van Camper to Life: How to Add Batteries and a Solenoid to Your Stealth RV
- Introduction To RV Solar Panel Kits and Systems. Get Up To Speed On The Basics Of RV Solar Power Systems.
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