Trailer battery charging while towing

Hi Korbe,

What does the volt meter say 24 hours after you have arrived home? (assuming you do not plug in)

pianotuna wrote:
Hi korbe,

How did you determine the 50%? and the 90%?

korbe wrote:
here is what I experienced. My 2 6-volt batteries were at about 50% discharge when we took off for home. After 7 hours of driving, my batteries went up to about 90%.

My crude process was my volt meter. About 12.10v to 12.6v - after I let it sit awhile.

ekirkland wrote:

smkettner wrote:
The charge may start a bit higher but 10 amps is about the most you will get.

The best solution IMO is 200+ watts of solar.

Is there a portable solar charging system you can plug in and set outside on the ground instead of having to permanently mount it on the roof?

Roof has a lot of advantages. Including charging while driving.

https://www.solarblvd.com/index.php?cPath=1_272

Also check amazon ebay etc

Some of the replies went right over my head. It sounds like some are saying a separate heavy gage charging wire with battery isolator is the way to go and some saying that's not such a good idea. What is a mechanically and electrically challenged person to do? I guess I have the options of parallel charging line with isolator vs. solar vs. generator. About the most I intend to dry camp is 3-5 days and then hit a campground with power to recharge on our next trip to Utah. I would imagine the batteries (2 ea. 24's) would be pretty depleted in that 3-5 day period. My present Jayco camper is new and we have not done any dry camping yet; only powered camping. With our previous Casita, we could do maybe 4 days with very frugal power usage on one battery. I'm trying to decide my best (maybe cheapest) means to extend battery power. Thanks for all the help.

Yes, but with panel prices as low as $0.28 per watt why not do a permanent installation.

ekirkland wrote:
Is there a portable solar charging system you can plug in and set outside on the ground instead of having to permanently mount it on the roof?

Hi korbe,

How did you determine the 50%? and the 90%?

korbe wrote:
here is what I experienced. My 2 6-volt batteries were at about 50% discharge when we took off for home. After 7 hours of driving, my batteries went up to about 90%.

smkettner wrote:
The charge may start a bit higher but 10 amps is about the most you will get.

The best solution IMO is 200+ watts of solar.

Is there a portable solar charging system you can plug in and set outside on the ground instead of having to permanently mount it on the roof?

The charge may start a bit higher but 10 amps is about the most you will get.

The best solution IMO is 200+ watts of solar.

Without getting into the nuts and bolts of wires and diodes and the like, here is what I experienced. My 2 6-volt batteries were at about 50% discharge when we took off for home. After 7 hours of driving, my batteries went up to about 90%.

A long long time to get fully charged.