First Time Boondocking Plan - Tech Question
I am trying to learn & prepare to Boondock for 12 days in Oct. I have a standard 5er setup (two 6 volt batteries) and a 2000w Honda generator. For convenience I purchased a battery level indicator at ...
Forum Discussion
1. Recharge when morning voltage is 12.1 (6v 50%) not 12.0 (but no worries if you go to 12.0 a few times)
2. On recharge, you can't tell from the voltage what is going on, because the battery voltage will jump to be near the charger's voltage.
3. Which is the big thing--what is your charger? For fast charging you need it to go to 14.x volts, but some converters (single stage) are fixed at 13.8, which is only good for charging with shore power where time does not matter like it does with gen time.
4. So how do you know how long to recharge? You do what is called a 50-90 and stop. With no ammeter you can't tell when you get to 90 (approx. 5a per battery so when amps get down to 10a at 14.5v on a pair of 6s. So no ammeter, now what?
5. If you do have a charger that goes to the mid14s, at say 55a starting off, then you should run the gen/charger for 2.5 hrs and stop Close enough. If you have a 70a charger, make that 2.0hrs and if a 35a charger, then make it 3.0 hrs
If you only have a single stage converter at 13.8v, then you need a VEC1093DBD charger to take along to run from your gen. (approx. $115)
You are allowed to watch TV :) Just take along a small inverter and live a little--charge your phone too, whatever.
Have fun!
2. On recharge, you can't tell from the voltage what is going on, because the battery voltage will jump to be near the charger's voltage.
3. Which is the big thing--what is your charger? For fast charging you need it to go to 14.x volts, but some converters (single stage) are fixed at 13.8, which is only good for charging with shore power where time does not matter like it does with gen time.
4. So how do you know how long to recharge? You do what is called a 50-90 and stop. With no ammeter you can't tell when you get to 90 (approx. 5a per battery so when amps get down to 10a at 14.5v on a pair of 6s. So no ammeter, now what?
5. If you do have a charger that goes to the mid14s, at say 55a starting off, then you should run the gen/charger for 2.5 hrs and stop Close enough. If you have a 70a charger, make that 2.0hrs and if a 35a charger, then make it 3.0 hrs
If you only have a single stage converter at 13.8v, then you need a VEC1093DBD charger to take along to run from your gen. (approx. $115)
You are allowed to watch TV :) Just take along a small inverter and live a little--charge your phone too, whatever.
Have fun!
