Ideas to extend stay when dry camping/no generator

I've read many threads here on the topic and have learned a lot, but so far haven't found anything that totally works in my situation. We have a small pop up with a single group 24 battery. The good news is that our electrical needs are pretty minimal, a few lights, the water pump and depending on the weather, the furnace for at most a few hours a day. I figure we normally don't exceed 20 Ah per day.

There's a campground we enjoy that doesn't allow generators. The sites are very shady so solar wouldn't really help much. We've been ok for 2 nights, but any more than that won't work without a way to charge the battery. More/larger batteries would help but there just isn't room on our pup, plus we would still be limited in how long we could stay. What I would like is a reasonable way to charge the battery while I'm there. Since we always do at least an hour of driving around on any given day, using the truck's alternator seems like a perfect solution.

Here's what I'm thinking - put a deep cycle/house battery in the truck connected to the alternator just like is done with motorhomes. This battery would be more or less fully charged each day from driving around. Then I would have 3 possible ways to use the power from the truck's house battery:

First I could connect the truck's house battery to the pop up's battery using jumper cables each evening. Although this method would never fully charge the pop up battery, power should certainly flow from the fully charged battery to the somewhat discharged battery until they equalize.

The second option would be to connect an inverter to the truck's house battery and then plug the pop up's 120v shore power cord into the inverter, thereby charging the pop up's battery via the converter.

Finally, I could just swap the two batteries once each day. Although this would be more of a hassle, it would result in the pop up getting a freshly charged battery once each day.

I'm interested in hearing the advantages/disadvantages of each of the above plans. I was thinking about actually trying each one out, but I'm betting that there are other RV'ers out there that have already tried these (and maybe other ideas as well). Any advice or suggestions would be really appreciated!

vermilye
Explorer
Sep 24, 2013
Almot wrote:
Vermilye, with 95W panel and all those devices, it is more likely that batteries are "near full" by noon, in full sun. Somewhere at 80-85%. So they need a proper charging once in a while, like when it's parked at home. That little green light on solar controller is a very rough indicator, you need to see the float current in absence of loads or a voltage of rested battery.
I monitor with a Tri-Metric, so I'm fairly sure what the SOC is.
mena661
Explorer
Sep 24, 2013
BFL13 wrote:

Ooohhhh, are you ever in trouble! You were a Believer but now you have Fallen. You must go to a deeper circle in Hell where things are tougher than ever. Almot will be there with his whip, saying "Battle speed!" as you pull your oar.

Actually I understand Almot's frustration with other people. But in our case it is with other dog owners who disobey campground rules about loose dogs and picking up their poop. Those of us who do that right get dirty looks anyway.

At least in regulated parks you can complain if somebody runs over the gen time rules or plays loud music outside after hours. No problems at all here on the Island in provincial or private parks. Maybe Almot should choose the Island instead of wild and crazy Mexico where nobody is in charge. :)
LOL!!!! A crack up, you are! /Yoda

I most certainly understand Almot's frustrations. I just want to make sure he knows I'm not the target of his ire. :) And, yes, I have fallen...somewhat. :) Still, if I could eliminate generator use 100% (including A/C), I would. It would be so cool to remove the genny and install a bank of batteries in its place. But battery tech and A/C efficiency isn't quite there yet.
BFL13
Explorer II
Sep 24, 2013
Almot wrote:
The Island sucks. When there are no dogs, there are geese. Same poop.

Correct. Your dog(s) keep the geese away, and you look after your dogs' poop. No problem! :)
Almot
Explorer III
Sep 24, 2013
The Island sucks. When there are no dogs, there are geese. Same poop.
BFL13
Explorer II
Sep 24, 2013
mena661 wrote:
RickSo wrote:

Couldn't agree with you more! You paid all that money for that stuff... you might as well use it. Just need a little bigger solar system to run the unit. I know that the large solar/battery system I installed makes it more enjoyable and am never in the dark with a flashlight. :B
Yessir!! One of these days I'll get some solar and a big inverter too so I can run that convection oven from battery.

Ooohhhh, are you ever in trouble! You were a Believer but now you have Fallen. You must go to a deeper circle in Hell where things are tougher than ever. Almot will be there with his whip, saying "Battle speed!" as you pull your oar.

Actually I understand Almot's frustration with other people. But in our case it is with other dog owners who disobey campground rules about loose dogs and picking up their poop. Those of us who do that right get dirty looks anyway.

At least in regulated parks you can complain if somebody runs over the gen time rules or plays loud music outside after hours. No problems at all here on the Island in provincial or private parks. Maybe Almot should choose the Island instead of wild and crazy Mexico where nobody is in charge. :)
mena661
Explorer
Sep 24, 2013
RickSo wrote:

Couldn't agree with you more! You paid all that money for that stuff... you might as well use it. Just need a little bigger solar system to run the unit. I know that the large solar/battery system I installed makes it more enjoyable and am never in the dark with a flashlight. :B
Yessir!! One of these days I'll get some solar and a big inverter too so I can run that convection oven from battery.
RickSo
Explorer
Sep 23, 2013
mena661 wrote:
We got a motorhome. It's got a bunch of stuff in it. We like to use all of that stuff. Sure it requires a bunch of amp hours but we have plenty of that too. Don't even need to charge batteries while we're camping either. Complicated? Not fun? Nope! The exact opposite. Our rig is setup for camping not turning off lights behind people, not filling up generators that have run out of gas, not running the furnace for only 5 mins a day, not crappy 12V TV's or etc. We get to a CG, drop the levelers, put out the slide and maybe the awning, grab some chairs and drinks and relax and do what WE want to do.

This is our fav campsite. It's a state beach. There's no facilities to speak of except some porta potties. We sail through a 3 day weekend with lights blazing into the night. Furnace rocking out at night. Hours of TV during breakfast and dinner (sometimes we take a TV outside and watch there or maybe not watch it at all). No all day genny running here either. ALL BATTERY except the convection oven (no propane oven...wasn't a deal breaker).

Couldn't agree with you more! You paid all that money for that stuff... you might as well use it. Just need a little bigger solar system to run the unit. I know that the large solar/battery system I installed makes it more enjoyable and am never in the dark with a flashlight. :B
Almot
Explorer III
Sep 23, 2013
mena661 wrote:
...have nearly 40 years of tent camping behind me and I'm done with that. And the vast majority of that was NOT in some campground either. Most of my spots you had to hike into. Tons of fun and great memories too. Still done with it.

... and you are right. Today, tenting on a camp with no hookups can be a disaster. To me, the wake up call was when I unwittingly set my tent next to somebody with a diesel generator.

Doesn't necessarily mean that now with RV I can - or should - do the same. But at least, it's quieter inside, when somebody else is loud because they are doing what "they" want.
mena661
Explorer
Sep 23, 2013
BFL13 wrote:
Mena, you are such a sinner! Repent, and get one of those tent things in your photo and a candle lantern.
I am!!! :) We're actually only in our 3rd year of RVing believe it or not. Was tent camping before that. I, personally, have nearly 40 years of tent camping behind me and I'm done with that. And the vast majority of that was NOT in some campground either. Most of my spots you had to hike into. Tons of fun and great memories too. Still done with it.
Almot
Explorer III
Sep 23, 2013
Vermilye, with 95W panel and all those devices, it is more likely that batteries are "near full" by noon, in full sun. Somewhere at 80-85%. So they need a proper charging once in a while, like when it's parked at home. That little green light on solar controller is a very rough indicator, you need to see the float current in absence of loads or a voltage of rested battery.

Forum Discussion

Ideas to extend stay when dry camping/no generator

About Technical Issues

Related Content

Camping with no electricity

Extended Run Generator setup

Hitch Extenders

camping with CPAP (no electric hookup)

camping in public campground no hookups