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er78mph's avatar
er78mph
Explorer
May 16, 2016

Dry camping and power supply

Hello to all and thanks in advance!!

After completely destroying my first battery do to negligence, I just installed a pair of 6V batteries in series in my trailer. I was hoping that this set up will allow me to watch TV while not plugged in to shore power but NO!! So I've been researching and found out that an 600 pure sine watt inverter will perhaps allow me to watch TV or charge a laptop? My confusion is the on-board converter and introducing an inverter? For example, when using the inverter, would I only have access to devices hooked on the inverter? An inverter sounds tempting but I will still need to charge the batteries. If I use these two 6V batteries modestly, how long will they possibly last?Is just plugging in generator to the trailer a better option? Mostly, I will be doing day trips to beach and occasional dry camping for 2-3 days. Thanks

15 Replies

  • 600 watt inverter is at least twice the size you need to watch tv and run a laptop.

    Day trips to the beach should not be an issue if you start with a fully 100% charged battery. Long weekend may need some generator time. What converter do you have? Most give a slow trickle charge.

    The 12 Volt Side of Life

    I recommend wiring in a 150 to 300 watt inverter with a small transfer switch on one (or two) branch circuits for the convenience outlets. Converter would need to be off the circuit you connect.
  • Get a digital voltmeter mounted somewhere convenient. Be sure the voltage is always above 12 volts. Some people will go lower but that's my basic rule. An led tv will use less power than lcd. My 40" vizio pulls about 5.5 amps and I power it off a Xantrex prowatt 600 with remote pendant. The inverter pulls less than 1/2 an amp if I recall. You can find that info about the inverter in their specifications. You want to mount the inverter close to the battery with large enough cables. You can isolate the 120 circuits that you want power on such as the bed room or living room where you will have televisions. You want to run as many of your gadgets straight off 12 volts vs inverting. Some power is lost during the inversion process.

    When and how much you run the generator is part of your energy management plan. Without a monitor to tell you how many amp hours you used overnight you will have to go by your voltage. You can run your generator in the morning to charge and run the heavy morning appliances like microwave, coffee pot and hair dryers. You may also do an afternoon or evening charge while making dinner.

    As you get the hang of how much power you are using vs your battery voltage you will develop an idea of how much generator time you will need. Keep an eye on your water levels. The more you push them up and down, the more water they may use. You also need to look at your converter voltage. If it's only 13.6 you will be listening to the generator a lot.
  • Two 6 volt batteries should last 2 days if you are not running the furnace. Also a 150 watt inverter will charge your laptop or power your TV if it is a new flat panel TV. You can recharge the batteries with a set of jumper cables to your truck.
  • The simple explanation: Your electric devices have stickers on them which say how many amps they draw. Add the amps, multiply by hours you plan to use each device; total from use of all devices has to be less than about 50 percent of the amp-hours stored by your batteries. (Percentage varies with type of battery; most say don't draw down to below 50 percent.) These numbers give you a clue of what you can use and for how long. If your TV is not 12V, you will need an inverter to run it, and the inverter will waste some amp-hours.
  • Answer please
    Type, size of TV?
    Does the TV have a cord that looks similar to a lap top cord.