Portable battery charger. What do you carry?

KJINTF wrote:
Why do you good folks carry a portable charger?
Help me out what am I missing?
Is it that you do not have an
On board hard wired converter
Or a capable solar system
or the engine alternator is not connected to the battery bank

Very good question.

Full disclosure, I use a Black & Decker too and my convertor is disconnected.

My Solar system is very capable, but when your demand use is 150 – 200AmpH a day and you only have 900w, you still carry a separate charger. Redundancy is an important factor when you boondock 98% of the time and haven’t plugged into electricity for a few years. What you might not be considering is the days when you have cloudy weather, or the outside temperatures drop and your S.O.C. is low, due to no fault of your Solar (batteries lose % capacity faster below 70?F). So those that use their Solar/Battery Banks in the winter season, need supplemental charging when their AmpH demand exceeds their daily solar harvesting. I liken my Battery bank (1,168AmpH) to a checking account. If I am withdrawing a sizable amount of cash (amps) every day and I am hoping to have a daily deposit equal or greater than my withdrawals, I am good. If I have a day that my withdrawals don’t match, I can assume that I might withdraw less the next day and or have more deposits. But if you don’t, your checking account will slowly become deleted with the daily withdrawals and deposits that are not equal. My checking account is assessed a high Fee if I allow it to drop below the Minimum Deposit I have agreed to (55%). If I drop below this minimum deposit too many times/often, my checking account could be closed without my permission (Dead Battery Cells). So yes, it is important to keep your Batteries charged up during those times when your Solar is not keeping up with your demands, due to cloudy, cold temperatures and or heavy use. A Aux Battery Charger can and does have its advantages.

Charging with an alternator? That works when your assumption meets reality and you are moving frequently and for sustained number of hours or running it. Many of us travel shorter distances, where an alternator does not function in an efficient way. Running an aux battery charger/generator is often less expensive that the operation of a Tow Vehicle’s engine.

As

KJINTF wrote:
Hi mena661

Guess that's why the Paramode converter has temp compensation
Most good converters do
Just sounds easier to me to use the hard wired option rather than connect up a portable unit

One day soon when you get your 800watts of PV solar array you will leave the portable charger at home. Your solar array will easily get the Equalization done when needed and will have temp compensation

That might be a good plan, if;

You don’t run into multiple days of cloudy weather.

Outside temperatures below 70?F that reduce your battery capacity.

Or camp in an area that is full of trees, as most campgrounds in the mountains are. (Funny how the majority of RV owners are looking for shade and those that are Solar Snobs, like me, are parking out in the sun.)

b