29er said:
My question is: can the batteries be converted to four 6v deep cycle as currently factory configured? I'm referring to the charging, etc., systems.
Kerry,
Let's recap a bit here...
1. Sure, you can convert your (3) 12 volt batt's to the (4) 6 volt batt's.. assuming you have the room to mount them - they are wider and higher than your original batt's, plus you're adding one more battery, which I assume you're aware of.
2. about your charging system...if your existing converter/charger is running in the 'bulk charge' mode most of the time now, you need to find out why - maybe it doesn't have a very big charging capacity (what is the charging AMP capacity?). Changing to a larger battery back with more Amp Hr capacity will only adding more 'bulk' charging time.
3. many RV'ers believe they can recharge their battery banks in a few hours, after running the batteries down for many hours...It's all about the AMP HOURS...look at your battery bank as an 'electron tank' that has a capacity equal to the total battery bank's Amp Hours...
Say your existing (3) batteries have a total of 300 Amp Hrs...if you discharge that bank down to about 10% charged, you'll have to 'pump' about 270 Amp Hrs back into your batteries to have them fully charged...If your charger is rated at 30 Amps, that means one hour of running will recoup only 30 Amp Hrs back into your battery bank!... Therefore, dividing 270 AH by 30 A, if everything were running 100% efficiently, you'll have to charge for 9 hours to be fully charged...
This 'charging' scenario above doesn't take into account any losses in your wiring, extended running time in 'finishing' mode of your charger, and of course these systems are far from '100%' efficient...which would make me tend to advise an additional 30% to your charging time for a 'true' fully charged batter bank, or a total of about 12 hours in the example above....these numbers would be different, of course if your charger is of higher capacity, say 50 Amps, which would take about 7 hours...
There is just NO FREE LUNCH when it come to recharging your batteries - what ever you remove, you'll have to replace to get back to a fully charged condition, and until one run's the 'numbers', it can be an eye opener!
If you aren't able to recharge your battery bank fully between uses, you will be fighting a losing battle...when boon-docking it's imperative to maintain a battery charging routine that will assure you'll be able to get the full use of your batteries during the next usage 'cycle'...
To get back to your question....you have to ask yourself if, when adding additional Amp Hours (more batteries) to your battery bank, can you recharge them between uses with your existing charging equipment? Or do you need a larger Amperage Capacity charger? Or can you put up with longer generator running times with your existing charging capacity? You didn't note these particular numbers, IE, Charger Amps, Battery AH capacity, etc., so it's difficult for us to predict, per your original request...but you can use your own numbers as I've shown above to get a useable estimate...
Good luck out there...