Battery bank in 5er

I have 2 of the 12V Lifeline group 31 AGM batteries wired in parallel. I do not do a whole lot of boondocking, but when I do, I run the generator to charge the batteries if need be.

Two most important things to look for in any unit if planning on doing any dry camping are water capacity & the size of the battery bank, or space to increase the size of the battery bank.

These days most builders don't seem to place much importance on either one.

My 32' boat has 5 group 31 gel cell batterys which through switching are arranged in 3 individual banks or combined to be 1. Not so with a typical towable RV. Accommodation is only for a couple of 6V GC batterys, a couple of group 27 12V batterys or a single 4D, possibly a single 8D battery.

Not much space for a battery bank so a method of recharging is required. For most this means a small generator for quick charging or solar which is much slower & dependent on exposure to the sun. Some of us like shaded camping.

The cheap wet cell battery that the majority use needs exposure to open air so that poisonous & flammable gas can safely vent. Changing & expanding the battery bank to a non venting sealed type such as AGMs allows you to place batterys anywhere you please, including inside the living spaces if you wish.

AGMs are not cheap but they have a very long service life. I have a 4D AGM coming up on its 8th season. No life ending signs yet.

boondock and have your fridge/ac/micro

The first thing is to realize and accept the fact that using the AC off the batteries is not a reasonable expectation. The battery bank would be far too heavy for a fifth-wheel to be able to run the air conditioner for any significant amount of time. I'd even be very conservative about using the microwave. But the MV is used for short periods of time. If the AC is needed it would be run continuously.

It is the refrigerator which would be a large factor in determining the capacity of the battery bank. (my opinions)

padredw wrote:

boondock and have your fridge/ac/micro

The first thing is to realize and accept the fact that using the AC off the batteries is not a reasonable expectation. The battery bank would be far too heavy for a fifth-wheel to be able to run the air conditioner for any significant amount of time. I'd even be very conservative about using the microwave. But the MV is used for short periods of time. If the AC is needed it would be run continuously.

It is the refrigerator which would be a large factor in determining the capacity of the battery bank. (my opinions)

Absolutely agree, i just did my math and i would need close to 800Ah to run the domestic fridge and some other appliances and allow for 50% discharge on batteries between the charges (daily) from geny as i dont think solar is capable to do this alone.

bacil wrote:

padredw wrote:

boondock and have your fridge/ac/micro

The first thing is to realize and accept the fact that using the AC off the batteries is not a reasonable expectation. The battery bank would be far too heavy for a fifth-wheel to be able to run the air conditioner for any significant amount of time. I'd even be very conservative about using the microwave. But the MV is used for short periods of time. If the AC is needed it would be run continuously.

It is the refrigerator which would be a large factor in determining the capacity of the battery bank. (my opinions)

Absolutely agree, i just did my math and i would need close to 800Ah to run the domestic fridge and some other appliances and allow for 50% discharge on batteries between the charges (daily) from geny as i dont think solar is capable to do this alone.

Check out my cousin's husband's bus rebuild at http://www.beginningfromthismorning.com/. They're going with a 98% electric configuration, with propane only used for the water heater. Electrics come from 3500 watts of solar and 3200+ Amp hours of battery storage. Battery is from a Nissan Leaf, plus one extra module to provide the proper voltage. He gives excellent details on everything they're doing. Last project was a complete new dash with an added tach and a GPS-enabled speedometer! :B

Lyle

When installing our solar I doubled the AH of our battery bank going from 2-6v wet cells to 4-6v lLofeline AGMs. It gives us about 440AH capacity I relocated the battery bank to an unused area that has plumbing vent lines which were partitioned off and not the easiest to get to for everyday storage.

RollandB wrote:
... 4-6v lLofeline AGMs... I relocated the battery bank to an unused area that has plumbing vent lines which were partitioned off and not the easiest to get to for everyday storage.

Good choice for batteries in a hard-to-get-to place.

laknox wrote:

bacil wrote:

padredw wrote:

boondock and have your fridge/ac/micro

The first thing is to realize and accept the fact that using the AC off the batteries is not a reasonable expectation. The battery bank would be far too heavy for a fifth-wheel to be able to run the air conditioner for any significant amount of time. I'd even be very conservative about using the microwave. But the MV is used for short periods of time. If the AC is needed it would be run continuously.

It is the refrigerator which would be a large factor in determining the capacity of the battery bank. (my opinions)

Absolutely agree, i just did my math and i would need close to 800Ah to run the domestic fridge and some other appliances and allow for 50% discharge on batteries between the charges (daily) from geny as i dont think solar is capable to do this alone.

Check out my cousin's husband's bus rebuild at http://www.beginningfromthismorning.com/. They're going with a 98% electric configuration, with propane only used for the water heater. Electrics come from 3500 watts of solar and 3200+ Amp hours of battery storage. Battery is from a Nissan Leaf, plus one extra module to provide the proper voltage. He gives excellent details on everything they're doing. Last project was a complete new dash with an added tach and a GPS-enabled speedometer! :B

Lyle

I love the idea using electric car battery :-)

for now i am looking at 4x 200Ah Li-ion battery, but they are bloody expensive, but will see it will all depend on the rig we get on the end :-)

"Electrics come from 3500 watts of solar and 3200+ Amp hours of battery storage"

Laknox, no one said it was "impossible" just very difficult. Batteries with a total of 3500 amp hours would weigh....using wet T105s...34 batteries at 210 amp hours (6 volts) to get to 3,500. Thirty-four batteries times 62 pounds each...that's over a TON of batteries. Not practical.