First Trailer is A HI-LO 190TD
 

Hello my name is betts and we just purchased are first HI-LO and she is a beauty. The children named her SS Velma. Well we have taken her on two trips now and realized that we need to invest in good batteries. I would appreciate any advice, any suggestions on what works best out there, I am after all very green to travel trailers. Thanks for any help and its been a pleasure to have found this site, already have read some very useful info.

Not knowing what model year your HiLo is I will go with the assumption that it takes Group 24 size batteries. You need deep cycle batteries, they are designed for RV usage. Car batteries will not last long for this application. Interstate battery dealers, Sears, Walmart, and Costco all sell deep cycle batteries.

As RR mentions, before offering any recommendations people would need to know what size you need.

Will you be dependent on batteries or have camp power available?

In my case, I don't anticipate ever camping without campground power, so for me the very best battery was overkill; I did upgrade from a single battery to a pair, just in case. I used Walmarts (12V) $90 marine/ deep cycle.

Are hi-lo is a T190 year 2000. When I purchased the trailer It came with a 12 volt 350 crank amps Lawn and Garden battery. And it was old to boot. First trip to Santa Barbara battery when out on us. So I have been looking at Costco battery. 2-6volt Deep cycle golf cart battery's. We will be spending a lot of time in areas with no hook ups so I figure I better get this one right. Thanks for the help. @wrascal @richr

bettsb, First it is good to note there is another Hi Low owner here in Southern California, secondly, don't forget to check your battery compartment to make sure golf cart batteries will fit. In my 2005 the golf cart batteries are too tall for th compartment.:(

I agree with Garry, check the battery compartment as most HiLo's won't have room for two 6 volt golf type batteries. I added an extra group 24 to my 2294 Funlite. You can see the installation on the Yahoo forum here:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/...bums/768071871

Scroll down 3 rows and you will see the pics for the aux. battery installation. If you are going to do a lot of dry camping I would suggest you switch all of the lighting to LED as this seems to be the highest usage when camping. The refrigerator runs on gas (must have a 12V source) and other than occasional use of the water pump and possibility the furnace fan are the only other items using the battery. (maybe a TV, but who wants to ruin a nice camping trip with a TV?!?! )

The album shows some other modifications I have made. Probably the most important one is the installation of the baffles behind the refrigerator. This mod improves the efficiency of the refrigerator significantly.

I am also a SoCal HiLo owner. Welcome, Kenh

Thanks for that info garry. I no I had heard that some were but had placed in the back of my mind. I will make sure to measure the battery compartment.

Betts, I really doubt you will have room for two 6V batteries, but two Group 24 12V batteries will most likely fit. Make sure you connect them in parallel.

Welcome to our happy band of campers!

- Jack

Thanks jack I will look into those 12 volts Battery's. So 2-12 volt in parallel keep my 12 volts. In series, I would need to 6 volt battery's. But in either series or parallel amp hours are increased. Correct?

Absolutely correct, Betts. By connecting the 2-12V batteries in parallel, you double the Amp hour capacity compared to a single battery.

The 6V option is different. A 6V battery normally has a higher capacity than the 2-12V option (due to the internal construction). Hooking them in series to get 12V will not increase the capacity, but since the capacity of each is higher than the 12V pair, you come out ahead anyway.

If you had room for them, the 2-6V option gives you more runtime, but, if either one fails, you lose all DC power. The 2-12V lets you limp along on one if one fails.

Hope I'm making sense here. :)

If you can see past the dirt, I have a picture of my two 12V batteries hooked in parallel in the 4th post of this thread: https://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f16/...allation-4354/. I bought the short connecting cables at Checker Auto Parts.

- Jack

Saw your location, bettsb. Is that Ramona, Ca?

Wow, looks like we have enough Californians to start a Hi Lo club!

Agree with you on converting to the LED bulbs. Also agree the heater fan will suck down a lot of the battery juice.

Luckydog - I think you have a great idea.

Count me in!!:)

I nominate Les for President and Garry for Vice-President! :D

Send me a PM if you guys are serious and we can discuss!

A California Hi Lo club really sounds great!
Id like to be a member :cool:

I think we've hijacked this thread enough (my apologies to bettsb29). I'll start a new thread in the "Clubs" section to gauge interest.