Using TV to charge battery

We do alot of camping off the power grid with our OFF-ROAD POPUP camper.


What we did was to beef up our trailer battery systems and plan it all out to have enough battery capacity to run all of the 120VAC Appliances/Items using a right sized INVERTER and all of the 12VDC appliances/items direct connected to the battery bank. We get by just fine with our 255AH 12VDC Battery bank with all the things we want do when camping.

The concept is run all the things we want to have available to use using the battery bank and not run it down more than 50% charge state over night and then re-charge the batteries back up to their 90% charge state at 8AM the next morning when allowed to run our 2KW Honda Generator set. Using smart mode charging we can accomplish this is just three hours of generator run time. Now we are good for the next nights run off the batteries. Been doing this concept since 2009 and batteries are just now showing signs of needing to be replaced.

Very seldom have to tap into the truck start system for camping. This is designed to keep the truck running and would be breaking one of my rules to never do anything to the truck battery system as this is usually the only way to get back home on haha...

Once you get all setup it all becomes second nature camping off the power grid. Never have to worry if you are going to run down your batteries and do without the things you want to have available for you to use. We do just about everything we do at Electric and Water sites except no air conditioning or high wattage microwave use. Watch HDTV and play with my Ham Radio toys everynight...

Its all in the planning and having great PLAN Bs in place.. Try it out in your CAMP BACKYARD and see how you make out with no cheating...

Roy Ken

You're only needing battery power for 3 days. How much power do you expect to use during that time?

The reason I ask is because I put in a group 31 AGM 12v house battery in my clipper. I have LED and florescent lighting in the RV which I use only as needed. I leave the water pump on all the time (it only runs when water pressure is needed - flushing toilet or running water). I may listen to music (using computer speakers plugged into the 12v) or charge the netbook and/or cell phone and/or kindle as needed. Everything else is on propane (fridge, water heater, stove/oven) - no microwave, toaster, hair dryers, etc. I use a Mr Heater Little Buddy for heat if needed.

I can go four days without putting a dent in my battery power. No charging required at all. So, depending on your usage, the right battery may be all you need. As you're used to tent camping, you might find this an easier solution than dealing with solar, generators, etc.

If you are disconnected from the trailer, turn the truck around and use a set of jumper cables. You will get a much better charge rate.
You could wire up a connector on the front, like used on trolling motor with larger wire instead of jumper cables.
You will not get as good of charge through the trailer connector.

Charging through the connector from the tow vehicle to the trailer is very slow. You would get perhaps a couple or few AH in a half an hour, which may not be enough to keep up with usage if you're running the furnace or water heater or some lights. You'd be far better off with some other system—a little generator and a good battery charger (or a good modern converter) or a solar setup. Granted, either of these does cost more money than the tow vehicle you already have...

You would get faster charging if you hooked up a good pair of jumper cables between the tow vehicle and the trailer battery. Still far from an ideal solution, but closer to workable than charging via the trailer connector.

So how is 4' of snow a problem to a VT skier?

You will get very little charge from the tow vehicle. Even if you run it all day, the battery may still not be fully charged.