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Has anyone added a 2nd battery to a Lance 825? I have a 2018 and need more capacity. How do you get it to fit?
“Should fit”? So, you haven’t actually done it? I believe the compartment is perfectly square. Seems there would be less rerouting of cables if I could get the 2nd battery to sit beside the first one in it’s current location. The OEM battery is in a countersunk “tub”. A second tub might fit but would require chopping out a chunk of woodwork.
Not that this answers your question, but I have a Lance 825 also. Here is what I did instead. I am running dual batteries in my truck. I have them on a toggle controlled relay from painless wiring. So now I have dual batteries for my truck and my camper. I can flip the switch, and run off of the truck battery, and also charge both batteries when I drive. To be perfectly honest I am wiring it up now, so I can’t speak for how awesome it is yet, but I wanted to maybe give you some outside of the box thinking.
To answer your question, you might be able to fit two odysseys in there if you don’t want to dual battery your truck.
Also lastly, if by chance you have an torklift extension lift as I do, I noticed that torklift has a shelf you can buy that bolts on the hitch extension that you can haul batteries on.
I hope this helps.
I wonder if my OEM Power Control Center, a Progressive Dynamics PD4045KA, is compatible with AGM batteries?
I note that the GoPower controller for my solar panel requires me to change a setting if I switch from flooded to AGM.
And another thing. Prices of AGM’s vary widely. For examlple, the six-pack looking Optima’s cost twice as much as other some brands (Diehard, etc). What’s so great about an Optima?Bill, if you have a TITANIUM 5-er, you probably also have a diesel truck with 2 batteries. I tied all three, same size batteries together in parallel (with a low number cable) so the truck’s alternator charges all three and the 4545 Wizard charge center does the same with the help of our 200W of solar when the engine is off. For 20 years i’ve been told we are living on the edge with this, but so far, so good. Only once when I foolishly left the fridge on 12v for 5 hours overnight did it take down all 3 batteries. All three batts were marginal by this time with 6 years into them. The only woe I’ve run into is parking the TC in its shed and not having any sun to keep the batteries charged over months and months of non use. The shed has no power. When the sun comes out, which has been very rare on the west slope northern Sierra Nevada this winter, the TC is basking in the sunlight with green lights abounding.
The only other option I see for you, since I have the same footprint TC and battery box size as you, is to measure the battery box and find a couple of smaller 6 volt golf cart batteries to see if they will fit. I have not tried this. For the first 15 years with the camper we used 12v to run the fridge while travelling since the flame kept blowing out using propane on the road. My RV guru showed me how to shield the flame so we now turn the propane fridge on at the beginning of a trip and just leave it on for the duration. It’s much more efficient anyway. We rarely use hookups. With no oven, no microwave, no air conditioner, we were very cognizant of power usage and have never had a problem since.
jefe2020 Ford F-350 XLT FX4 4WD SRW SB SC 7.3L Godzilla Gas TorqShift 10R140 397 amps dual Alt dual batts Frnt Dana 60; Rr Dana M275 E-locker 4.30's 4580/4320/4066# payload 7243# curb wt. 11,300# GVWR 5-er prepped. 2020 Northstar Laredo SC, 12v compressor fridge, cassette, 320w Solar sub zero insulation.
jefe4x4
I do have a diesel with dual batteries. I have also forgotten to take my fridge off DC and then ran my battery flat. I’m reluctant to gang all three batteries together in case I do that again. Also, my three batteries are not the same type. Why would I have a diesel starting battery in the camper? I still use DC for the fridge when on the road to save propane, since I have only one 20# LPG tank.
You mentioned your TC being in it’s shed and not having the sun to keep your batts charged. My TC is always outside but on inspection I noticed that my solar line is disconnected if I pull the batt disconnect switch. I wrote Lance and was told that it was “by design”. I don’t get it. I no longer pull the batt disconnect.
I’ve taken your suggestion and just ordered two Lifeline 6 volt AGM’s. (Now I have to hide the credit card statement from my wife.) With AGM’s eliminating the venting requirement, there’s plenty of room in the 825’s batt box for the two taller 6 volts.
You wrote that your TC is in the shed “for months and months”. There’s the problem. Get traveling 🙂Bill Beyatte
Bill,
I’ve also got a Lance 825 and looking for more options for a second battery. Were you able to fit it in? I’m using a Ram 2500 with only 1 truck battery.Do the 6-volt batteries provide additional boondocking capability?
Bruce G.
Bruce,
I installed two Lifeline GPL-4CT AGM 6V 220 Ah batteries in place of my single Interstate Group 27 flooded battery and it made a world of difference. Yes indeed, the two 6V provide additional boondocking capability. I boondock almost exclusively. I do have 100 watt solar and a Honda 2000.
I had no trouble fitting the Lifelines. The 825 has plenty of space if you’re installing AGMs, which don’t require venting.
I had to do only a minor amount of “surgery” on the wooden platform that supported the single battery.
I took photos of the installation as it progressed, but I’m not clever enough to attach them here.
If you send your contact information to me at billbeyatte@hotmail.com or call me at 505.301.7461, I can tell you how I did what I did.
As an example of the improvement – I have occasionally forgotten to take my fridge off DC when I stop. When I did that with my Group 27, I ran the battery flat. I did that recently with the Lifelines, for two hours. It didn’t make a dent in the charge state.
If there’s a down side, it’s the cost, $330 each. A lot more than for flooded but a lot less than lithium.
Email or call me.
Bill
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