Battery Question

Thanks again!!

Almot wrote:
Yep. LED lights are not to be underestimated when drycamping.

Solar... Some people just can't make it on a solar, even with +300W solar and sun 9 days out of 10. Some other can. I am not convinced that drycamping in Ca will necessarily lead to acquiring a "quiet" generator, and neither have I seen any. The smallest and quietest one is advertised at 55 dB, but it's really 65-70 dB which is not quiet, IMO. Unless you have to run airconditioner, there is nothing that can not be done with 300-600W solar.

Yep. LED lights are not to be underestimated when drycamping.

Solar... Some people just can't make it on a solar, even with +300W solar and sun 9 days out of 10. Some other can. I am not convinced that drycamping in Ca will necessarily lead to acquiring a "quiet" generator, and neither have I seen any. The smallest and quietest one is advertised at 55 dB, but it's really 65-70 dB which is not quiet, IMO. Unless you have to run airconditioner, there is nothing that can not be done with 300-600W solar.

Thanks minerbikes!!

As an added bonus, since you are new to this electrical management shindig... If you dry camp, instead of at campsites with full hookups, and really need to start managing your power consumption off the battery, here's a couple of pointers.


1. If you have a stock WFCO 9855 charge controller, it works fine with full time hook ups. It does not work well charging off the grid. Alternatives include Iota chargers, and Progressive Dynamics 92XX chargers. Both of these are smart chargers and 3 stage. They will do a good job of getting your batteries quickly to a 90% state of charge. Of course, dry camping, what you save in not paying $35 to $60-70 a night, initially, will go towards acquiring a small portable QUIET generator, and the etiquette to operate it in an unobtrusive noise pollution manner. Honda and Yamaha, and for others on a smaller budget, Champions in 1000 to 2000 watt persuasions are quite popular around here. Think Red, Blue and Yellow colors for the corresponding brands. Do a search here for more info.

2. Consider a generator and suggested charge controllers above, and a 2 hour run in the morning to top the batteries up early in the day. You don't want to leave the batteries sitting deeply discharged, it causes sulfation of the cells, so the sooner you can get the batteries out of a deep discharge state, 50% considered tops, the better.

3. Dry camping can really be done better with true deep cycle batteries, think Golf Cart Batteries, with 5% antimony in the lead plates.

4. A solar panel, even portable... 120W to 160W, is a great, non intrusive way to top off the charge on your batteries after the generator run in the morning, if given sunny days to work with.

5. If you do dry camp, first order of business is to replace all your incandescent bulbs in your rig with LED lights. Do a search here to find out more.

The box with the magic stuff in it.:-)

I think it's "battery tender", not "mender" :)...

But this is for long absences only. When fully charged, you can leave it disconnected in storage with no tender for 8-9 weeks.

Thanks Almot!!!

In a new trailer - no, shore power won't hurt "the trailer" if you disconnect the battery. All the 12V appliances will work fine because the converter will convert 120V AC into 12V DC.

It's better to keep them connected because they self-discharge even when all the loads are off. Converter will keep them topped up. If there is a theft problem, take them into garage or whatever. For absences more than 2 months put them on 120V battery mender aka maintainer.

Great advice THANK YOU ALL!!! I bought it new Dec 2013. A Heartland Trail Runner (TR SLE 25) no slide outs. But it sounds like It would be safer to leave the battery connected until I learn more about it. We are new campers wanting to get going. Just didn't want to leave the battery in the box while it is in the driveway. Afraid someone might steal it. We just got the driveway finished to the point where we can keep the camper closer to the house instead of up the street on a very nice neighbors property. I will get a lockable cable tie and secure it that way until I can get a lockable metal box for it.
THANKS AGAIN!!!

Depends on which converter is in your unknown trailer.

Provide more info and better details can be provided.

Not all converters play well without a battery