11.23.2009-Friday
Earlier in the week Dad added a shelf to the top of the generator box. The purpose of building a shelf with a space between the generator box was to isolate vibration by allowing for any pressure waves that may result from the generator being absorbed by the box and not transmitting to the batteries. A rubber mat was also added to the shelf to absorb other kinds of vibration. The batteries were then moved from the floor to the shelf. Theses precautions were taken because vibration is known to decrease the life of batteries.
It was a rainy day. Dad had picked up 6 more batteries from Sam’s Club. A bit of digging and I was able to discover that the Energizer branded deep cycle golf cart batteries as actually made by Johnson Control. Each has an estimated capacity of 220 Ah.
In order to install the batteries we made up some more cables out of #2 welding cable. Welding cable has become our cable of choice for this system due to its extremely thick insulation and great flexibility. Using a hammer crimp, dielectric grease, and a bolt cutter I turned out the nine addition cables that we needed.
The new location of the batteries also improves the overall safety of the system. The bus bars are now much higher and more difficult to access unintentionally. In addition to safety it is much easier to do maintenance on batteries that are off the floor and we may also find that the batteries stay warmer in winter.
In a few weeks Dad will install the final two batteries, bringing our total battery count to 14.
offgridcabin 
hello ,
I have Four 12V bolt batteries i wired each two to get 24 v then wired the two 24 V sets in parallel to add there capacity can i use a BMV 600S battery monitor to monitor the 4 batteries all together?
Thanks
I see no problems with that. The BMV 600S measures from 0-135V and 10-500A so there should be no issues with 24V. If you google the Victron BMV 600S you should be able to locate a detailed product manual with settings and technical data.