12 volt longevity and recharging??
We are heading out for a 3 week tour from Saskatchewan through Calgary then south to Phoenix. Yuma, Barrago Springs, Palm Springs, Sacramento, Chico, Kelowna then back home. Since I have them anyho...
Forum Discussion
I suspect your Truck Alternator system will keep your Trailer Battery Bank topped off just fine. The problem of course is when you run the Trailer Battery Bank down to their 50% charge state then they will be demanding a very large DC charge current for around 30 minutes and probably will exceed what is being provided by the trickle charge coming from the Truck Alternator system.
I know what I would do and that would be to run my 2KW Generator for at least an hour with the trailer shore power cable connected to the 2KW Honda 120VAC Receptacle to get past the initial high DC CURRENT demand from the trailer batteries.
When I run down my trailer batteries below their 50% charge state they will want to draw around 53-55 AMPS DC Current when they first see 14.4VDC Boost Charge mode. This DC Current will start tapering off and eventually will get down to around a 8AMP DC CURRENT charge state as the batteries are taking on charge. In an two hour run off my smart mode converter running from my 2KW Generator this will drop to around 6AMPS in a two hour 14.4VDC charge period before dropping back to 13.6VDC charge mode.
I don't think your truck alternator charging setup will do much of this with your trailer batteries so far away from the alternator. The Truck Alternator will be more controlled by the Truck Start Battery charge status then it will with the trailer battery bank charge status. The Truck Alternator will most likely sense the Truck start battery is charged up and stop sending 14.4VDC to charge the battery in only a few minutes time. This will mean you will only be 13.6VDC down the Trailer Charge lead instead of 14.4VDC.
Once your trailer batteries taper back to a lower DC CURRENT demand then the truck alternator charge system should keep them recharged ok.
People in the know here will MEX and Pianotuna and others that live and travel consistently in their motorhomes with the dual Truck Start and Trailer Battery banks.
I am being old school here and will not do things that I know will task my Truck Alternator Charging system if I can help it. Its only purpose is to maintain the Truck Start Battery, not the additional Batteries associated with the TRAILER Battery Bank. I only have one ALTERNATOR CHARGE system to get me home on...
I most definitely would run my 2KW Generator during the time I would get up and all during Breakfast before leaving my night camping location and hitting the road again.
This is what I do every morning when camping off the power grid and running my trailer battery banks down to their 50% charge by 8AM each morning. I charge them back up to at least 90% charge state using my on-board smart mode converter charger setup powered by my 2KW Generator. When I get 20AMPs worth of Solar Panels added to my trailer I will do the same thing except I will only need to charge my trailer batteries for at least one hour to get past the high DC CURRENT initial charge using the Generator and then let the Solar Panels continue the charge state until the high sun goes away. I will never start my nightly camping run off the battery bank unless I start out with at least a 90% charged battery bank.
In your case you might want to do this sitting in your drive way before you head out on your long trip. Dry runs duplicating what you expect to do on the trip might give you some very valuable information on how the Truck Alternator system is going to perform for you... I suspect your six eaxh 6VDC batteries connected in series/parallel will react like three 12VDC batteries connected in parallel. They will draw around 55AMPS DC Current when first hit with 14.4 Boost charge smart mode.
Your big question will be will your Truck alternator hold up to this big increase in DC CURRENT demand before blowing out your truck alternator charge circuit.
Sorry for long report
Roy Ken
I know what I would do and that would be to run my 2KW Generator for at least an hour with the trailer shore power cable connected to the 2KW Honda 120VAC Receptacle to get past the initial high DC CURRENT demand from the trailer batteries.
When I run down my trailer batteries below their 50% charge state they will want to draw around 53-55 AMPS DC Current when they first see 14.4VDC Boost Charge mode. This DC Current will start tapering off and eventually will get down to around a 8AMP DC CURRENT charge state as the batteries are taking on charge. In an two hour run off my smart mode converter running from my 2KW Generator this will drop to around 6AMPS in a two hour 14.4VDC charge period before dropping back to 13.6VDC charge mode.
I don't think your truck alternator charging setup will do much of this with your trailer batteries so far away from the alternator. The Truck Alternator will be more controlled by the Truck Start Battery charge status then it will with the trailer battery bank charge status. The Truck Alternator will most likely sense the Truck start battery is charged up and stop sending 14.4VDC to charge the battery in only a few minutes time. This will mean you will only be 13.6VDC down the Trailer Charge lead instead of 14.4VDC.
Once your trailer batteries taper back to a lower DC CURRENT demand then the truck alternator charge system should keep them recharged ok.
People in the know here will MEX and Pianotuna and others that live and travel consistently in their motorhomes with the dual Truck Start and Trailer Battery banks.
I am being old school here and will not do things that I know will task my Truck Alternator Charging system if I can help it. Its only purpose is to maintain the Truck Start Battery, not the additional Batteries associated with the TRAILER Battery Bank. I only have one ALTERNATOR CHARGE system to get me home on...
I most definitely would run my 2KW Generator during the time I would get up and all during Breakfast before leaving my night camping location and hitting the road again.
This is what I do every morning when camping off the power grid and running my trailer battery banks down to their 50% charge by 8AM each morning. I charge them back up to at least 90% charge state using my on-board smart mode converter charger setup powered by my 2KW Generator. When I get 20AMPs worth of Solar Panels added to my trailer I will do the same thing except I will only need to charge my trailer batteries for at least one hour to get past the high DC CURRENT initial charge using the Generator and then let the Solar Panels continue the charge state until the high sun goes away. I will never start my nightly camping run off the battery bank unless I start out with at least a 90% charged battery bank.
In your case you might want to do this sitting in your drive way before you head out on your long trip. Dry runs duplicating what you expect to do on the trip might give you some very valuable information on how the Truck Alternator system is going to perform for you... I suspect your six eaxh 6VDC batteries connected in series/parallel will react like three 12VDC batteries connected in parallel. They will draw around 55AMPS DC Current when first hit with 14.4 Boost charge smart mode.
Your big question will be will your Truck alternator hold up to this big increase in DC CURRENT demand before blowing out your truck alternator charge circuit.
Sorry for long report
Roy Ken
