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
RED31:
I have never said low and slow was not effective, only time consuming and costly... WHEN BOONDOCKING. And the OP said he assumed his rig had all the newest gadgetry to support boondocking, but the fact is, it doesn't.
If you go back to the earlier posts in this thread, it is clear the context of the discussion was charging, while boondocking, in the cold. But Pnichols accused some of trying to give the impression that only fast and furious works, ever! After pointing out the context of the discussion, he then "asserted" his method was at least as good, if not better for the task at hand. I in turn showed that his set-up was anything but better, and more costly in the long run. And another poster confirmed my statements regarding fuel consumption using the eu2001 vs. the ex650.
Look, the OP woke up in the cold and dark, and surprisingly was still pretty good-natured about the whole situation... kudos to him! But after a few more times of that happening, I'm guessing the novelty will soon wear off.
And like I said, everyone can and will do as they please, but please do not try to convince me a 5a generator coupled to a 15a charger is sufficient to get the job of charging, while boondocking, in the cold, done. It simply is not. It is costly, time consuming, and highly wasteful. Yes it was a freebie, but that doesn't change the fact it's long term operating costs do not justify its use. I, in fact, applaud Pnichols for giving that little charger a chance to prove itself. And I certainly understand his desire to make do with what he has. But simply put, that 13.8v converter will take hours and hours to get the job done, especially in the cold, and that genset just doesn't have what it takes to supply power to the required, higher voltage, 30a charger needed to get the job done, in what I, and many others, would consider a reasonable time span. And I think I'm safe in assuming Rmack has better things to do than charge his batts 10-16 hours a day. And remember, without sufficient voltage, that converter may be hard pressed to deliver much more than 10a, let alone 15.
Fine, some folks enjoy running their gennie for hours on end, while others don't. And I'm sure there are those out there that just don't know any better. Well, all I'm trying to do is compare the options, with real world data, not assumptions or vane imaginings.
If his plan is to do short 3-4 day weekend trips, and then plug in to the receptacle at home for one or two weeks, then yes a small set-up like Pnichols may suffice, but for any thing longer than that, the added fuel costs, plus the inconvenience of having to drive around to get the batts somewhat up to snuff, and so on, all seems less than desirable to me. But hey, that's me.
And please keep in mind, the facts are starting to reveal themselves regarding charging slow and easy. Apparently, when these low powered converters say your batts are full, guess what, they're not! So, at some point, the OP will need to know what is required to actually fully charge his batts. And this can only be accomplished thru highly regulated, high voltage, constant current charging... something that simply cannot be achieved with a 550w genset or a 10-15a converter; even if it is plugged in to the grid.
hope this helps explain my rantings.
I have never said low and slow was not effective, only time consuming and costly... WHEN BOONDOCKING. And the OP said he assumed his rig had all the newest gadgetry to support boondocking, but the fact is, it doesn't.
If you go back to the earlier posts in this thread, it is clear the context of the discussion was charging, while boondocking, in the cold. But Pnichols accused some of trying to give the impression that only fast and furious works, ever! After pointing out the context of the discussion, he then "asserted" his method was at least as good, if not better for the task at hand. I in turn showed that his set-up was anything but better, and more costly in the long run. And another poster confirmed my statements regarding fuel consumption using the eu2001 vs. the ex650.
Look, the OP woke up in the cold and dark, and surprisingly was still pretty good-natured about the whole situation... kudos to him! But after a few more times of that happening, I'm guessing the novelty will soon wear off.
And like I said, everyone can and will do as they please, but please do not try to convince me a 5a generator coupled to a 15a charger is sufficient to get the job of charging, while boondocking, in the cold, done. It simply is not. It is costly, time consuming, and highly wasteful. Yes it was a freebie, but that doesn't change the fact it's long term operating costs do not justify its use. I, in fact, applaud Pnichols for giving that little charger a chance to prove itself. And I certainly understand his desire to make do with what he has. But simply put, that 13.8v converter will take hours and hours to get the job done, especially in the cold, and that genset just doesn't have what it takes to supply power to the required, higher voltage, 30a charger needed to get the job done, in what I, and many others, would consider a reasonable time span. And I think I'm safe in assuming Rmack has better things to do than charge his batts 10-16 hours a day. And remember, without sufficient voltage, that converter may be hard pressed to deliver much more than 10a, let alone 15.
Fine, some folks enjoy running their gennie for hours on end, while others don't. And I'm sure there are those out there that just don't know any better. Well, all I'm trying to do is compare the options, with real world data, not assumptions or vane imaginings.
If his plan is to do short 3-4 day weekend trips, and then plug in to the receptacle at home for one or two weeks, then yes a small set-up like Pnichols may suffice, but for any thing longer than that, the added fuel costs, plus the inconvenience of having to drive around to get the batts somewhat up to snuff, and so on, all seems less than desirable to me. But hey, that's me.
And please keep in mind, the facts are starting to reveal themselves regarding charging slow and easy. Apparently, when these low powered converters say your batts are full, guess what, they're not! So, at some point, the OP will need to know what is required to actually fully charge his batts. And this can only be accomplished thru highly regulated, high voltage, constant current charging... something that simply cannot be achieved with a 550w genset or a 10-15a converter; even if it is plugged in to the grid.
hope this helps explain my rantings.
