best practices for long battery life
I cannot get more than 3 years out of my battery on my TT. Original battery was an interstate. It was replaced under warranty going into its third year. The replacement lasted two years. I then trie...
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I want to confess to murdering my first pair of batteries. My defence is ignorance - I thought the 3 little lights with the word “battery” meant something. We were on a long trip, driving every day and those idiot lights said “full” every time I checked. We never plugged in because the batteries said they were full! Engine charging seemed sufficient. I had a meter which said the battery voltage was at least 12.6 every night. It was cold so we needed the furnace in the morning. One morning the furnace wouldn’t go and the batteries had about 8 volts.
New batteries from Costco got us home. A battery monitor gave evidence that the batteries never actually got to 100% charge when travelling, though they did get to 12.6 volts. We boondock all the time so a good charger wasn’t going to solve the problem. What did the trick was a single 100 watt solar panel, charging all day whether driving or camping. Those Costco batteries, now 6 years old, never get below 80% charge and they provide all the energy we need. Of course we would need more solar power if we watched TV, used a microwave or other electric heating appliance.
New batteries from Costco got us home. A battery monitor gave evidence that the batteries never actually got to 100% charge when travelling, though they did get to 12.6 volts. We boondock all the time so a good charger wasn’t going to solve the problem. What did the trick was a single 100 watt solar panel, charging all day whether driving or camping. Those Costco batteries, now 6 years old, never get below 80% charge and they provide all the energy we need. Of course we would need more solar power if we watched TV, used a microwave or other electric heating appliance.
