Another battery question
After a search on this forum and google, I am still a little lost on a battery alternative for my nortstar 650. It will be used 80% dry camping and I am considering solar as an add on. Is the idea of ...
Forum Discussion
Most rv's have woefully small banks for the demands placed on them. Many charging systems are inadequate to the needs of recharging to 100%.
The fastest way to destroy a bank is to deep cycle it to well below 50% state of charge.
Next on the list is failing to charge back to 100%. I believe this is often due to inadequate charge time on battery charging devices that are not capable of equalizing the bank.
Over charging is something to avoid.
How to avoid the pitfalls.
Use a combination approach to charging. On long trips the alternator can do a lot of the "heavy lifting". Solar takes care of equalization and temperature compensation for me. Because I run my rv as if it had no propane I do opportunity charging via a generator because the pure sine wave inverter is not yet installed, and I have two devices that absolutely require psw.
This approach has allowed me to use 12 volt jars. With four of the seven, I'm at nine years and counting.
Now that I full time, my solar system is unequal to the task of returning the bank to 100% daily, so next years modification will be a fairly large upgrade to 1250 watts. My hope is to make the generator totally redundant.
I'm hoping that when the time comes to replace the battery banks that some better and affordable (not cheap) battery chemistries such as those based on LI will be available. If they are not, I'll probably seek out 2 volt AGM jars and drop my capacity somewhat.
Let me finish by saying this approach to off the grid power is not for everyone. It has worked well for me.
The fastest way to destroy a bank is to deep cycle it to well below 50% state of charge.
Next on the list is failing to charge back to 100%. I believe this is often due to inadequate charge time on battery charging devices that are not capable of equalizing the bank.
Over charging is something to avoid.
How to avoid the pitfalls.
Use a combination approach to charging. On long trips the alternator can do a lot of the "heavy lifting". Solar takes care of equalization and temperature compensation for me. Because I run my rv as if it had no propane I do opportunity charging via a generator because the pure sine wave inverter is not yet installed, and I have two devices that absolutely require psw.
This approach has allowed me to use 12 volt jars. With four of the seven, I'm at nine years and counting.
Now that I full time, my solar system is unequal to the task of returning the bank to 100% daily, so next years modification will be a fairly large upgrade to 1250 watts. My hope is to make the generator totally redundant.
I'm hoping that when the time comes to replace the battery banks that some better and affordable (not cheap) battery chemistries such as those based on LI will be available. If they are not, I'll probably seek out 2 volt AGM jars and drop my capacity somewhat.
Let me finish by saying this approach to off the grid power is not for everyone. It has worked well for me.
