Battery Life and Low Temps
I have been having a ball up at Iris Meadow off of Rock Creek Road, Close to Mammoth Lakes, CA. It's the steeper side of the Sierras just East of Yosemite. It's a little known area comparably, but v...
Forum Discussion
NinerBikes wrote:
pnichols, the OP doesn't have the luxury of a pedestal and long hours at 13.XX volts. He is dry camping au natural. He needs his battery charged up and charged up now, with his current usage rates over night and with previous days. The charge controller he has now is not getting the job done with his generator. He does not have the luxury of a constant 120V 24/7. Which is what then begs for higher voltage to complete the 90% charging process in a couple of hours, not days, while dry camping.
Well stated!
And IMHO, your statement above should kinkof be a stated qualifier to threads discussing why the charging of batteries "must be done" at higher voltages than the standard stock converter voltages of 13.6 to 13.8 volts.
For our hit-and-run 2-3 days here, and 2-3 days there, style of motorhome (as opposed to TT or 5'er) camping like a lot of RV folks do, the engine alternator between camping spots and the converter or solar while at camping spots keeps the batteries topped up just fine ... there is no need to buy/install yet another battery charger piece of equipment so charging voltages can be kept above 14.XX volts while at camping spots.
Also, I'm wondering if the OP even started out their cold weather camping trip with the batteries fully charged by having them on a 13.6 to 13.8 volt converter for enough hours before the trip?
(Our batteries are always on 13.8 volts when the rig is sitting at home - except in extreme hot weather - so we always are starting out on trips with them fully charged ... a very important point to make with folks becoming newly familiar with RVs and taking care of the batteries in them.)
