A little discouraged

Originally posted by Jazz trumpet Why are two 6 volt batteries better and preferred than one or two 12 volts?  Sorry if I seem naive, Newbie here.

The short answer is, more amp hours.  I'm no expert in things electrical, so perhaps others will chime in to give a more detailed, technical answer, but my understanding is 6 volt batteries are true "deep cycle," having much thicker and heavier lead plates inside, etc.  Wiring two of them together in series produces 12 volts.

The downside with going that route is that 6 volt batteries are pretty expensive and heavy.  Most folks don't need the extra amp hours, since they don't camp without electric hookups that often or for that long.  For many, the single 12 volt (typically a group 24) battery that generally comes with R-pods is sufficient.

Since we do a bit more dry camping than many, but not typically for more than three nights in a row, I went with adding a second 12 volt (wired in parallel), doubling the amp hours of a single 12 volt, but not getting as many amp hours as two 6 volts.  It was a much cheaper route, since I only had to purchase one 12 volt (plus another battery box and a couple of cables to wire the batteries together).

Yes, we bought it brand new. We specifically looked for 2017 versus 2016 model since some minor updates were made for the 2017 model. The 2017 updates that I can recall at this time include: smaller 15" television (which for us is more convenient), the shower is updated (has curtain which attaches to bottom of shower), the axle is updated (sits higher). There were others, I think, that I cannot recall at this time. In general, we wanted all of the most recent "tweaks".

Why are two 6 volt batteries better and preferred than one or two 12 volts?  Sorry if I seem naive, Newbie here.

My 2017 176 seems to have small things.   Stick not screwed in under the bench seats, vent covers popping off inside.  All in all really little things, but the number of really little things is really surprising.  

If your battery doesn't charge while towing, it's very possible that the problem is with your tow vehicle. If your battery was completely drained, it may be shot.  Have your tow vehicle's wiring checked to be sure that it is charging.  Have the battery checked to see if it's dead and needs to be replaced.  Even when using propane, the fridge's "brains" do draw a small amount of power from the battery, but it's very little.  With judicious use of lights, fan, furnace, etc., you should be able to dry camp for a couple of days on one 12 volt battery.  Two twelve volts are better.  Two six volts are best.