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Best boondocking batteries?


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8 hours ago, BlueLghtning said:

I'm doing all that research now.

The three most important steps when designing a power system:

1. Energy audit

2. Energy audit

3. Energy audit

A clamp meter/multi and a kill-a-watt are your best friends and tools you'll use over and over again.

Then, in order of importance:

1. Battery bank

2. Wiring

3. Everything else  ;)

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I've got a Kill-a-watt that I've been using at the house and keeping track of stuff. I need to get back on that, thanks for the reminder! :D  

I'll be on a laptop all day with an external monitor along with the associated internet devices . The tough one is my wife. She'll be sewing and using a sewing machine and her emboridery machine, but the real killer is her iron. Thankfully it's only short blast of up to 1500w, but seems to drop down to 1.5w on standby. I just need to do some tracking on everything.

You got a suggestion on a clamp meter? I have some multi-meters. 

Dan (Class of 2017) - 2012 Ram 3500 & 2005 Alpenlite Valhalla 29RK
Contact me at rvsolarconsulting.com or Two Wheel Ramblin

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1 hour ago, BlueLghtning said:

You got a suggestion on a clamp meter?

Like anything.. you kinda get what you pay for. I run a Fluke 325 that I'm very happy with, but they aren't exactly cheap. For a true-RMS clamp though.. it's not "terrible". The 323 usually runs around ~$95 and the 325.. ~$265.

A lot depends on what you want it to do. Take a look... 

There are others on the market. RMS isn't a requirement, but expect to pay right around $90-$100 for a decent one... $40-$50 would probably be doable, but I wouldn't know which to recommend in that range. Hopefully others will chime in.

The Klein Tools CL800 isn't a bad little meter. Pretty feature packed for it's price range. Probably a better buy than a Fluke 323 even though it's $5 more it'll do things the 323's can't.

 

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10 hours ago, BlueLghtning said:

You got a suggestion on a clamp meter?

Before you spend the money to get the best, ask yourself how much accuracy you need and how often you will use the new meter? I have long been a user of meters by John Fluke and still prefer them, but I have also learned that less costly meters will do 90% of the jobs that I do and 100% of what the vast majority of RV owners do. For that reason, I now use meters by Triplett for much of my work because they cost far less and handle most jobs in the field, I suggest the Triplett 9200a which is available from Amazon for $40.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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Just to throw my 2 cents in ,I picked up 2 Trojan 105s and I can go 5 nights without the generator possibly more since our battery level is still reading 2/3 juice left,but 5 is usually what we do dry camping. We practice energy efficiency but we still will watch TV for maybe a hour a night. Plus I will take a shower about every other day so the pump gets used. I picked up mine for $93 a piece so it was a no brainer to get them. Meanwhile our camping friends are running there gen, early am and late evening.

Mike Foster

2020 Transcend 221RB

2017 Chevrolet 2500 HD

 

 

20190920_161514.jpg

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On 7/20/2017 at 11:46 AM, Yarome said:

Before other sparkies start jumping down my throat.. the following is not "technically" correct, but for ease of concept understanding...

That opens up another whole dimension to the charging issue that is probably best left for another day. ;)

Can I quote both of those Yarmoe?:)

A converter uses a different program than a true charger does. Primary purpose of a convert is to supply power. Primary purpose of a charger is (should be) maintaining the batteries.

I haven't run into a converter that requires a battery to power a trailer. Any info on these?

Our converter never idles below 13.4V. With a 3 amp load the converter is 13.6V-13.8V. It will remain (always on) at this level for days.

The ProN charger is programmed to "maintain" the batteries below +/- 13.5V. Rather than continually charging it goes sleep allowing the batteries to rest even with a 1 amp ghost load from our trailer. It will take +/-10 seconds to wake up when there is a large draw as such it cannot power the trailer without a battery.

When on shore power I rest the batteries by unplugging the converter. The ideal would be a converter with a program that allows the batteries to rest but I haven't found one.

2011 Cameo 34SB3

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On 7/21/2017 at 3:59 PM, Yarome said:

A clamp meter/multi

 

........just told a buddy to buy a clamp on meter.  He came back with one that only measures AC amperage through the clamp and only 10amps DC though the probes.

The Fluke 325 is good. At 400amp it will check the DC amperage draw on an inverter.

2011 Cameo 34SB3

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Yo J-T,

I like your post about giving the batteries a complete rest break time to time with NO CHARGING happening. My PD9280 Floats at around 13.2 volts which I think is plenty and likely not overly harmful, but I have also time to time turned it off completely and let the batteries go down to around 12.6 volts which is 100% SOC. I would have to dig out my manual but don't think if left to its own it ever shuts off all charge. I still question if and when or for how long I should leave the solar (or PD for that matter) operating when I'm plugged to shore power, batteries are at 100% SOC, and the PD if on is at the 13.2 volt float level. 

John T

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14 hours ago, oldjohnt said:

Yo J-T,

 I still question if and when or for how long I should leave the solar (or PD for that matter) operating when I'm plugged to shore power, batteries are at 100% SOC, and the PD if on is at the 13.2 volt float level. 

John T

When the PD is plugged into shore power batteries are not needed as long as the PD has enough output to run the trailer at peak loads. 

The batteries can be disconnected (I never disconnect the brakes) from the PD, house load and solar for week(s) or month(s) depending on the self discharge rate. Testing the battery voltage for the first 4-5 days tells what the self discharge rate is. 

 

 

2011 Cameo 34SB3

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Wanted to say a few words about Roll batteries. we have 2 S-550 ( 430Ah, 12v) and have been using them for the last 4 years. We are very happy with them. We boondock most of the time so our batteries are being used constantly. I only bought them because they were on sale and about $100 cheaper than Trojans but i have never regretted the decision.

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As it relates to the PD... there is a lot going on in the voltage reading you see at your meter so... to break it down just a bit...

Let's say your batteries are at 100% SOC. There is absolutely no load present (parasitic or otherwise). You're PD will continue to output 13.6v (normal mode) for approximately 30 hours. If there is no significant battery usage during that time (as determined by the charge wizard algorithm) then you're PD will drop into a "float" or "storage" mode of 13.2v. It will maintain that 13.2 "float" level and is constantly "reading" your batteries. NOW... there are several things that are going to happen. As long as darn near 100% SOC is maintained then current output will drop to .02-.025 amps (pretty darn near a "rest rate" as mentioned in previous posts). Your batteries WILL self discharge at that rate. Once they have self discharged below a preset threshold then you're PD will "pop up" to 13.6v to top your batteries off and then drop back down to 13.2v and .02 amps. To confuse the user.. it will ALSO pop up to 14.4v for 15min every 21 hours to help prevent stratification... which is also adding charge.

Now say that your batteries are at 100% SOC and are actively in use. Your PD will provide a constant 13.6v nominal and will provide current (not to be confused with voltage) to meet load demands. If your batteries SOC drops below a preset level then your PD will pop up to 14.4v to push more current and then drop back down to 13.6v once preset SOC levels are reached.

What does that mean in practical terms? Under normal usage you should see a constant, optimal, voltage rate of either 13.6v or 14.4v... although... if your energy requirements are low... you many never see your PD pop up to 14.4.

With the caveat that much of the following is strictly my own opinions and with regard to the PD convert/charger w/charge wizard and similar... 

Is it okay to leave your converter on all the time? Yes.

Do you need to turn off your converter from time to time? For most folks, it depends. If you are regularly seeing bulk charges and don't necessarily want to have to worry too much about actively maintaining your battery bank it's not necessary. You're not really "hurting" anything. However, if you stay pretty much in absorption with only the very rare bulk charge, then yes. It would be recommended to shut down your converter every 10-14... 30 days (whatever you're comfortable with) to drop your battery bank down to.. say.. 65-70% SOC in order to "exercise" your batteries.

After a long period (30 days or more) of no-load storage/float mode only... ABSOLUTELY. I would drop them all the way down to 50% and recharge on shore or genny just to "wake them up".

J.T- You mentioned you are getting readings from 13.4-13.8. I am going to assume you're getting those numbers off your battery meter. That tells me 2 things. 

1. You are having active bulk charge cycles (13.8) so running your batteries down from time to time by shutting off your PD would be an "optional" depending on the length and depth of your bulk charge cycles. It's never a bad idea to excercise your batteries, but the benefit against the bother of remembering to do it regularly would be marginal.

2. You might have some wiring issues. Either your wire guage is not adequately large enough for the length of your runs or you have some connection point issues. Your PD should be outputting 14.4v and 13.6v (I would check that at your converter outputs), but if you're only getting 13.8v and 13.4v, respectively, at your batteries, you're charge times will be considerally longer and make it very difficult to reach a full SOC under normal usage conditions.

I will say... if you are running "stock" wiring, then having a 3%-4% loss is really very typical in the industry. Inadequate, IMHO, but the nature of the beast. Having a decent multi-stage charger or stand alone charger is only part of the equation. Something you might consider if you wanted to improve performance and overall health of your battery bank.

John- For you specifically... yes. You SHOULD really be killing your inputs (ideally) every couple of weeks to get a decent bulk charge on. My recommendation? Kill your solar, drop your 105's to around 60-65%, pull them up hard with your genny or shore then let your solar finish them off.

To note: That's specifically in HIS case based on knowing his system, energy usage, lifstyle and mindset with regard to his energy systems. 

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On 7/23/2017 at 5:48 PM, oldjohnt said:

I still question if and when or for how long I should leave the solar (or PD for that matter) operating when I'm plugged to shore power, batteries are at 100% SOC, and the PD if on is at the 13.2 volt float level. 

If you're on shore power there is no need to have your solar active. Might as well give your controller a rest and let your PD do it's job. Unless you're on metered shore power that is. In that case.. take the free juice. ;) 

What's going on now.. and why your PD is staying in float (13.2) is because your solar IS on and supplying load. You're not pulling enough juice to pop your PD up to nominal (13.4).

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On 7/23/2017 at 3:34 PM, J-T said:

........just told a buddy to buy a clamp on meter.  He came back with one that only measures AC amperage through the clamp and only 10amps DC though the probes.

I've actually been looking around since this thread came up. If I were buying one today.. and the budget was tight I would probably try this UNI-T UT210D (600V 200Amp AC/DC) for 35 bones... or... bang for the buck... probably the Klein Tools CL800 (600V 600Amp Cat IV/1000v 600Amp Cat III) for $106. 

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1 hour ago, Yarome said:

If you're on shore power there is no need to have your solar active. Might as well give your controller a rest and let your PD do it's job. Unless you're on metered shore power that is. In that case.. take the free juice. ;) 

 I THINK I AGREE I have a breaker and shut off right by the solar charge controller, so if I'm gonna be long term on shore power with the PD sitting there in "float" mode at 13.2 volts and the electricity isn't metered GIVE THE SOLAR SYSTEM A REST !!!! The PD has an auto "equalize" cycle which after a certain time will kick up the voltage to the BULK charge rate for a pre set time to get the juices flowing and shake things up a bit which reportedly helps reduce sulfation on the plates.   I have maybe once or twice a year used my big honkin 100 amp home charger to "equalize" in accordance with Trojans directions which takes the voltage up to 15+ and reallyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy gets them cooking wooooooooo hooooooooooooo don't over do it. 

FWIW I think a 13.2 float voltage level is plenty, I've see some smart chargers that float at maybe 13.6.  

I just discovered I have to start using a CPAP machine at nights so that will greatly increase my energy requirements and concern about my solar and energy storage capacity. If it runs say 8 hours at night (along with vent fans and my small Haier 120 VAC fridge) that's gonna add quite a bit. I have 715 solar watts and 450 amp hours with my four Trojans and could easily add another 245 solar watts, but don't want to add two more batteries unless it becomes absolutely necessary.

 Nuff said

 John T

 

 

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1 hour ago, oldjohnt said:

 I have a breaker and shut off right by the solar charge controller

Is that the shut off on the controller to battery leg or and actual panel disconnect? Something to consider.

Just for general information... If you use your controllers log data I would leave the controller powered (from the batteries being fed by your PD and log data is retained) and just kill the panels so your controller goes inactive. If you don't use the log data it's kind of a moot point. Kill the panels AND shut down the controller.

Yeah.. your auto equalize will run 15 minutes every 21 hours in float, but it's an excellent idea to do as your doing with your 100amp'er at 15.5.. if it'll do that. They DO getta cooking don't they. ;)

Float rate kind of depends on the size and type of your battery bank. For your 4-105's.. 13.2 is plenty enough to push the .025amps to keep you out of nominal when it's really not needed.

Well.. that's a bum deal. I don't run a CPAP, but I did some measurments for a fella on his last year. I'm sure it depends on which machine you're running, but his, on 12v pulled around 2.5amps@10cm water pressure and 4.5@20cm's. If that helps any. I wouldn't worry too much about your battery bank being able to handle that, and quite honetly, I don't think you'll have much issue getting it pushed back in with what you've already got up top. I would let it run as is... but if you got the pocket change and run across a great deal... another 245watts never hurt NO one (with the additional base load or not). Worst case, you might need to relax a bit and let your SOC's drop another 10-15% between gen runs (OH NO! You're at 65SOC?!? :lol:). No big deal in the whole scheme of things.

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21 hours ago, kinseypw said:

Wanted to say a few words about Roll batteries. we have 2 S-550 ( 430Ah, 12v) and have been using them for the last 4 years. We are very happy with them. We boondock most of the time so our batteries are being used constantly. I only bought them because they were on sale and about $100 cheaper than Trojans but i have never regretted the decision.

 

Rolls open cell are made in (as of 05 / 2016) North America.....AGMs are made offshore.

2011 Cameo 34SB3

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17 hours ago, Yarome said:

As it relates to the PD... there is a lot going on in the voltage reading you see at your meter so... to break it down just a bit...

Let's say your batteries are at 100% SOC. There is absolutely no load present (parasitic or otherwise). You're PD will continue to output 13.6v (normal mode) for approximately 30 hours. If there is no significant battery usage during that time (as determined by the charge wizard algorithm) then you're PD will drop into a "float" or "storage" mode of 13.2v. It will maintain that 13.2 "float" level and is constantly "reading" your batteries. NOW... there are several things that are going to happen. As long as darn near 100% SOC is maintained then current output will drop to .02-.025 amps (pretty darn near a "rest rate" as mentioned in previous posts). Your batteries WILL self discharge at that rate. Once they have self discharged below a preset threshold then you're PD will "pop up" to 13.6v to top your batteries off and then drop back down to 13.2v and .02 amps. To confuse the user.. it will ALSO pop up to 14.4v for 15min every 21 hours to help prevent stratification... which is also adding charge.

Now say that your batteries are at 100% SOC and are actively in use. Your PD will provide a constant 13.6v nominal and will provide current (not to be confused with voltage) to meet load demands. If your batteries SOC drops below a preset level then your PD will pop up to 14.4v to push more current and then drop back down to 13.6v once preset SOC levels are reached.

What does that mean in practical terms? Under normal usage you should see a constant, optimal, voltage rate of either 13.6v or 14.4v... although... if your energy requirements are low... you many never see your PD pop up to 14.4.

With the caveat that much of the following is strictly my own opinions and with regard to the PD convert/charger w/charge wizard and similar... 

Is it okay to leave your converter on all the time? Yes.

Do you need to turn off your converter from time to time? For most folks, it depends. If you are regularly seeing bulk charges and don't necessarily want to have to worry too much about actively maintaining your battery bank it's not necessary. You're not really "hurting" anything. However, if you stay pretty much in absorption with only the very rare bulk charge, then yes. It would be recommended to shut down your converter every 10-14... 30 days (whatever you're comfortable with) to drop your battery bank down to.. say.. 65-70% SOC in order to "exercise" your batteries.

After a long period (30 days or more) of no-load storage/float mode only... ABSOLUTELY. I would drop them all the way down to 50% and recharge on shore or genny just to "wake them up".

J.T- You mentioned you are getting readings from 13.4-13.8. I am going to assume you're getting those numbers off your battery meter. That tells me 2 things. 

1. You are having active bulk charge cycles (13.8) so running your batteries down from time to time by shutting off your PD would be an "optional" depending on the length and depth of your bulk charge cycles. It's never a bad idea to excercise your batteries, but the benefit against the bother of remembering to do it regularly would be marginal.

2. You might have some wiring issues. Either your wire guage is not adequately large enough for the length of your runs or you have some connection point issues. Your PD should be outputting 14.4v and 13.6v (I would check that at your converter outputs), but if you're only getting 13.8v and 13.4v, respectively, at your batteries, you're charge times will be considerally longer and make it very difficult to reach a full SOC under normal usage conditions.

I will say... if you are running "stock" wiring, then having a 3%-4% loss is really very typical in the industry. Inadequate, IMHO, but the nature of the beast. Having a decent multi-stage charger or stand alone charger is only part of the equation. Something you might consider if you wanted to improve performance and overall health of your battery bank.

John- For you specifically... yes. You SHOULD really be killing your inputs (ideally) every couple of weeks to get a decent bulk charge on. My recommendation? Kill your solar, drop your 105's to around 60-65%, pull them up hard with your genny or shore then let your solar finish them off.

To note: That's specifically in HIS case based on knowing his system, energy usage, lifstyle and mindset with regard to his energy systems. 

I sort of agree :D 

Voltage drop on stock wire at 3%-4%?....I think it is 10%.  Wiring in our trailer is (overkill) not stock...be surprised if there is a voltage drop. 

I don't mind the PD bulk charging.  I do mind it remaining above 13.4V when there is a low draw on the batteries. From a 100% SOC if we turn on 2 or 3 LED bulbs the PD pops up. As long as these lights are on the PD remains up. 

With the same lights on the ProN will take between 10 seconds and sometimes hours to wake up. When it does the voltage is 13.4V. If the load does not change it remains at 13.4V for a few hours then goes back into standby.

Over next few day we are expected to see temperatures around 90-95F. Our battery compartment faces South so I have the PD unplugged because it doesn't have a battery temp sensor. 

 

 

2011 Cameo 34SB3

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On 7/20/2017 at 0:13 PM, secessus said:

They do not mention the absence of batteries.

When I read that I wondered if what he meant was NOT that there are actually no batteries physically present but "when your batteries are at 0 and may as well not even be there".

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On 7/20/2017 at 1:46 PM, Yarome said:

"Some have the bulk charge rate (voltage) set too low to charge batteries properly."

That is true, in a sense, but there are other factors at play that often prevent a decent charge from a stock converter/charger, or even many smart converter/chargers for that matter.

 

I don't understand how Bulk stage could have a voltage setpoint set too low when it doesn't have a voltage setpoint.  Bulk is constant current rather than constant voltage, right?  My guess is J-T meant referring to the absorption voltage setpoint being too low.

If the broader point is that "OEM converters generally fail to charge batteries properly" then I'm on board with that.  :-)  Don't know if I mentioned it in this thread or elsewhere, but I got around the problem by homebrewing that functionality out of a 24v power supply and an inexpensive-but-configurable MPPT charge controller.

 

 

 

 

--

2017 Promaster 159" , 570W mono, 220AH FLA

blog | RVwiki project

 

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7 hours ago, secessus said:

Bulk is constant current rather than constant voltage, right? 

Constant voltage.. variable current. The higher voltage is simply to be able to push the highest level of current your battery/ies will accept.

ohms-law.jpg

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7 hours ago, secessus said:

Bulk is constant current rather than constant voltage, right? 

I know what you are saying though.. "smarter" chargers w/temp comp and such will increase voltage to meet current allowances. But it isn't a given.. like the PD's.. They are constant voltage.

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A dumb charger that just has a target voltage doesn't have a Bulk stage.  It doesn't have any stages as far as I know.

A normal three-stage charger with a Bulk stage will be constant current / rising voltage during bulk up to the absorption setpoint.  I don't seem to be alone in this opinion (Forgive the formatting in the following quotes;  I could not paste as plain text in this browser):

 

from Battery University:

Quote

Lead acid batteries should be charged in three stages, which are [1] constant-current charge, [2] topping charge and [3] float charge. The constant-current charge applies the bulk of the charge and takes up roughly half of the required charge time; the topping charge continues at a lower charge current and provides saturation, and the float charge compensates for the loss caused by self-discharge.

 

from Trojan:

 
Quote

 

Bulk Charge
Constant current at 10% of C/20 Ah rating
in amps to 2.40 volts/cell


 

 

from Iota

 
Quote

 

Stage 1 Bulk:
Also called the boost stage, this is a period of constant current and
increased voltage that provides most of the charge.

 

 

from Chargetek:

Quote

 

Stage 1: Constant current charging or bulk charge mode

Assuming the battery is starting in a discharged state, the charger is operating in constant current mode, where the charger current is maintained at a constant value and the battery voltage is allowed to rise as it is being recharged. Approximately 80% of battery capacity is returned in the constant current region.

 

 

What am I missing?

 

 

 

 

--

2017 Promaster 159" , 570W mono, 220AH FLA

blog | RVwiki project

 

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On 2017-07-20 at 11:44 AM, BlueLghtning said:

Yeah, I was kind of confused about all that too and glad you asked that.

.....

I'm also seriously considering putting the generator on it's own starting battery, so even if the house batteries go dead, I can still start the generator. I have a small lithium battery from a motorcycle that I'm not using that could probably handle that. All it would do would be start the generator and then I have a specific trickle charger for it when it's plugged in or the genny is running to maintain it. The house batteries would get charged by the converter when plugged in or running the generator. Just so much to learn. 

I connected a dedicated generator starting battery using an isolator called Amp-L-Start. The starting battery is maintained any time shore or gen power is present.

"Are we there yet?" asked no motorcycle rider, ever. 

 

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10 hours ago, noteven said:

I connected a dedicated generator starting battery using an isolator called Amp-L-Start. The starting battery is maintained any time shore or gen power is present.

Thanks for sharing that, as I didn't know those existed. In my case though I have a Shorai motorcycle battery (Lithium) that I've just been hanging onto that should work and it has it's own specialized charger. I think in this case, I could just run a wire to a house plug that's in the storage compartment and let it charge when every I'm plugged in. 

Dan (Class of 2017) - 2012 Ram 3500 & 2005 Alpenlite Valhalla 29RK
Contact me at rvsolarconsulting.com or Two Wheel Ramblin

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So I wanted to ask some suggestions feedback on my thoughts here.

Our toy hauler currently has two exide 12v (80amp hr each) batteries that are split between a side compartment and front compartment. We were told they were a year old, but just in the time we've been trying to get the trailer ready to leave for full time, we seem to draw them down fairly quickly with some slide use, jack use, and what ever else is hooked to them. I think we had some parasitic draws too that was causing issues and really drawing them down, but hopefully I got that fixed. There is no inverter at this time in the trailer, so just the normal 12v things that run off the battery.

We finally were able to put a trickle charger on them for the past couple weeks to keep them topped off while in storage, but that doesn't really tell me how they might work in the real world since we haven't even really camped in the trailer yet. However they've been really dead at least 3 times already that I know of in a very short time period, before we kind of learned what we were doing in that time frame, so I'm in the mind set just to replace them and start with known fresh batteries. I would hate to get out there and find these are absoolute crap and we have to dive into this right away on the road. The last time they were dead, they were down to about 3.5v each which is crazy low I know, so I'm thinking they are pretty much done, plus they seem to come up to full charge way too quickly which I know isn't right either. They are probably very sulfated and I think the battery tender is just masking it right now. When I checked the water after we bought it, they were all pretty low and one cell had exposed plates, so I don't think the previous owners treated these batteries very well.   

We do want to eventually get an inverter and expand our boondocking capabilities once we have the equipment to support it, maybe even invest in solar down the road, but I need to research all that stuff before I dive into that. In the mean time we have a built in 5500 Onan generator that we can use when we need to, and our current needs is just battery to maintain the normal 12v things that run the trailer. I'm sure we'll focus on places with electricity until we get the hang of all this and learn what we need to be successfull at boondocking vs hookups. 

My first thought was to just get two 12v Trojan 1275's which are rated at 150Ah each and I can get them for $150ea. That's about 300Ah total, but yeah no more than half of that available. However, I did some measuring and I should be able to fit two 6v T105's in the side battery compartment and easily 2 more in the front, maybe even up to 4 in the front, not sure? Just 2 T105's alone gives me 225Ah which is more than I have now and if I get four, that puts me at 500Ah which is probably overkill for what I currently need, but a good base to start with once we have an inverter. Four T105's would probably be the max I would get right now, even if I could possibly fit two more in the front compartment, and yes I know you are supposed to get all your batteries at the same time, but if we decide to add 2 more in 6 months, is that really a big deal? It seems if we plan on boondocking more with an inverter, it would be smarter to go the 6v route and 500ah is probably a decent start although 750Ah would probably be pretty nice? We are currently in Peachtree City, GA which if you don't know is a huge golf cart community and so I can get new T105's for about $103 each. 

Once on the road, I'll research inverters and try to understand what will meet my power nedes and if I need a different converter or how all that works because I'm still confused on that part, plus I want a good way to monitor the battery voltage and understand better how to monitor them and not draw them down past what they should be. 

Without an inverter, we definitely are going to have to rely on our generator when we don't have electricity as during the week, I need to be on my laptop/computer for 8h/day. I even thought about a small Honda EU2000 to run during the day to work off of  when we don't need AC since it sips gas (8hrs/gallon vs 3hrs/gallon) and is so much quieter than our Onan and could easily keep our batteries charged up. The Honda could hold us over for awhile until we get this all figured out and hopefully by this winter we have figured out a setup that works?

I think the hardest thing about this is just not having experienced any of this yet? 

 

Dan (Class of 2017) - 2012 Ram 3500 & 2005 Alpenlite Valhalla 29RK
Contact me at rvsolarconsulting.com or Two Wheel Ramblin

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