pjw73nh wrote:
BFL13. All of my camping is dry camping. No AC available. I guess I don't have a specific number of AH. But I'd like to be able to go 4-5 nights parked without dropping down so far that the refer starts to reset. I believe it needs min 9.75vdc to run on LP for the control circuits. I have a WFCO converter that I converted to a PD 4655 switching PS, a non-mounted, 100 watt, Renogy Mono-Crystalline solar that I relocate throughout the day to achieve best sun. No permanent generator. I do carry a Honda 3k on the trips where I expect to experience extreme temps for the few hours I need it, but I dislike carrying it and the fuel for it. All my lights have been converted to LED. I am very conservative in my use of the water pump. Hardly ever use the heater or hot water (DSI). The one luxury I indulge in is the Fantastic fan. I like to run it on 1 or 2 all day long. I do need to run a CPAP for 6-8 hours per night. Draws between 35 and 90 watts depending on the settings.
LWiddis, Thank you. I'll look into the Trojans, though I think they may still be a little more than I need. But I can be convinced.
Dessert Capt. Thanks. I've got a good B+ close by and I have a VERY good relationship with them (business). I am really fond of Interstates (I use them in my cars).
JPlante. Tnx for the reply. I like the idea of 2 GC2s but as I mentioned, I don't think I have the room on the trailer A frame to mount them. Too wide for two.
KTMRFS, Thanks for taking the time to reply. I don't know your camping habits, but I wonder if perhaps you and I are very different. We NEVER camp where there is power. The only power we ever get is when leaving home fully charged, charging while driving (minimal), and solar. Occasionally we will stay with friends for a day and plug in. Most of our trips are 4-5 days of boondocking. The only thing that ever came close to lasting for us was my 2 GC2 setup. As I said it lasted 4-5 years and then we sold the trailer with them still performing pretty well. I have to think that if you're getting these extreme liftimes out of your batteries, you may be spending way more time (revolving your life around) battery maintenance. I don't know this, and I'm not judging. I do know that I will put a reasonable effort into maintaining my batteries, but I am not going to devote a major effort to it. I've been into RVs for 30 years, have a pretty good electro-mechanical knowledge of all RV systems and for the 8,10,12,15 years of life, with the deep discharges you are claiming, I have to say in all my RV time, I've never heard of such great results. I hope to learn your secrets. Thank you.
we camp about half the time boondocking. That said, which is still between 40 and 60 days each year boondocking, often with no power for between 5 and 10 days. Before solar my batteries would get down to 25 to 40 percent or so SOC before I would run the generator. get them up to 80 percent or so and repeat. then when home fully recharge them. We have LED lights, and conserve reasonably, but still DW does run the microwave off the inverter to reheat tea, cook veggies etc. we run the fans as needed, and the furnace as needed.
Hint, a panasonic true inverter microwave doesn't cycle between full and 0 power, but holds a constant variable power, so I dial it back to a 50 percent cycle and it draws about 900VA and runs fine off a 1000VA inverter and 4 GC. Don't try this with 2 GC. voltage drop from battery internal resistance kills you, and will shut the inverter down at much below 80 percent SOC.
Looking at the charts posted above 500 cycles to 25 percent SOC on a pair of trojan golf carts is well within reason, and actually less than stated cycle life
But there are at least several things you must do
1) never, ever, let the battery water level go below the plates
2) get them FULLY charged ASAP when returning home. and even the PD charger really doesn't get them fully charged, you need to get them up to about 14.8V, which the old Black and Decker charger would do
3) equalize them occasionally, once a year or so.
4) keep them charged when in storage, either charging them as needed, trickle charge, or on a solar charger.
do all this and IMHO age will be what ends up being the end of life, not cycles. but you should still be able to get 8 to 10 years IMHO out a a pair of trojan GC, but it does take some additional attention.
I monitor battery SOC with a trimetric meter,
Now that I have plenty of solar, the latest set sees less deep discharges, but still get them in cloudy days and/or in campgrounds with lots of trees that keep even portable panels from daily long sun exposure.
If you can't fit the GC, consider the trojan 12V deep discharge. The drawback is that they really are best used down to 50 percent SOC or so, and even then have lower cycle life than the GC. But from the spec's it looks like they will take plenty of cycles down to 25 percent and still give decent life.
Upside is that they are much better for high current loads if you want to run an inverter and microwave.
