Alright Im beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed here. If only money grew on trees.
Since I have a generator I'm feeling like my best bet is to start with a good battery setup and worry about the solar later. I have to start somewhere and I can't do it all straight away. I'm thinking I will go for 2 6v GC2 batteries from Cost co. This is a dumb question im sure but when you see batteries rated at 200Ah. You are only actually able to use half that correct? Because you don't want to discharge a battery below 50%?
That brings me to my next question. What is the best way for me to monitor my batteries? I've seen remote digital monitor setups but they are all $150+ Is there a cheaper option or is walking outside with the volt meter the only cheap option? While I mentioned waiting on the solar initially I did see that many of the solar charge controllers have digital displays indicating charging current and batt voltage. Can that be used to monitor voltage instead of using a separate monitor built just for checking voltage? What if I were to buy a charge controller and only attach it to the battery as a monitor initially?
Since I'm going to be using the generator I want to have a good converter to make sure these batteries last. The current one in my trailer is a TODD PC30 single stage charger. Can anyone recommend a good 3 stage? How does the amperage listed affect the different converters?
Finally the whole reason I got on this solar trip was initially over concern of maintaining the battery while in storage. If I dont have a trickle charger and no solar/solar maintainer is my battery at risk during storage? Is just disconnecting the terminals enough to ensure its ok the next time I head out?
Thank you for reading my novel ;) JJ
