battery charging & solar panel

When the batteries were not dead how were you determining that they were fully charged?

Inside the TT on the control panel there is a button i push that shows the level of charge. It has always been full charge when i checked. I've also always been able to move awning and slide. Today....nothing.

Being new to this i am trying to determine if the batteries drained, and that is normal, or if they should not drain and there is some other issue.

A 20W solar panel is the bare minimum that would keep an unconnected battery charged. If you have any peripheral current drains on the battery, then even the solar panel may not be sufficient. Also, you said it went dead after it had been raining .... indicating that if it was cloudy and dark, then solar panel simply could not keep up. If I were you I'd either get a larger solar charging panel and system ... or hook up some trickle charger to the battery in adddition to the solar.

Too much parasitic drain for a 20 watt panel. You might get by if you can disconnect the loads but keep the solar charging. Do you have a main switch to be storage or in-use? Otherwise you really need 100 watts to keep up and even then still run the risk of a depleted battery with no sun for an extended period. 20w is storage only. No real help while camping.

As Ed said.
It will be even worse if you had it sitting with the frig on gas. My rig just sitting with the frig on and everything else basically turned off will consume about 1.6 amps per hour. 1.6 x 24 hours = 38.4 amp hours. To put that back in with 20 watts or about 1 or 1.2 amps at it's very best in noon sun it would take 32 hours.

So lets say you have your rig stored in full sun and get 6 hours of charging you will produce about 6 amp hours of energy. 6 ah hours divided by 24 = .25 amps available per hour plus you need to keep up with the normal self discharge of the battery. That is with ideal conditions.

I cant remember my bare minimum drain with just the led tank light panel and propane sniffer and radio but I'm guessing its more than that .25 amps. Other guys know more about solar but I'd guess 50 to 100 watts would do it. If you get to that point stop and consider your future camping possibilities and wire it and add a worthwhile controller for more solar that you may add down the road. You can add good wire and controller and depending on those components start with say 100 watts and later add panels without redoing everything.

It gets deep and gets into generators, running the ac, wanting to invert and on and on. You have come to the right place as some of these guys have been doing this stuff a very long time.

So you basically need to plug it in and then keep an eye on the battery water usage. It wont need constant watering but you will need to check it monthly or whatever until you get a handle on it. Use distilled water and fill to the proper level. You are basically safe as long as electrolyte is over the plates all the time. You can fill until the liquid touches the bottom of the vent area side channels. As you slowly add water it will suddenly look like what they call a cats eye. That's as high as I ever run it. To fill it more you will start getting a lot of corrosion and filth on top of the battery.

Wear safety goggles and have an eye flush bottle on hand when working with batteries. NEVER create a spark of any sort near the battery as hydrogen gas is produced during charging and discharging.

Hi,

The idiot lights don't give you much information, and are pretty much useless.

A volt meter is a place to start.

A temperature compensated hydrometer is the best tool, but not much fun to use at -40.

While in storage the batteries need to be disconnected from the house loads. Often there is a disconnect switch.

The batteries are going to need some attention to bring them back. Do you know the make and model of the converter (that's rv speak for battery charger).

rbadger28 wrote:
Inside the TT on the control panel there is a button i push that shows the level of charge. It has always been full charge when i checked. I've also always been able to move awning and slide. Today....nothing.

Being new to this i am trying to determine if the batteries drained, and that is normal, or if they should not drain and there is some other issue.

Battery type (group 24 or 27) and number of batteries would also help.

As mentioned previously there will be drain on the battery even when you are not using the TT. If nothing else, your carbon monoxide and propane alarm are probably drawing power. I doubt whether your 20A solar panel could keep up with them at this time of year and as far North as Sacramento.

Am I okay to let the batteries sit dead for a couple weeks and just let them charge when on shore power next?

We take our battery in to be charged before we camp once a year. We have an electric hitch and if we use it when the battery is low ~ charging the battery using the truck, we may blow a fuse. Not worth it. We also unhook the battery when we aren't camping and the battery pretty much stays charged when we camp every 4 weeks. We use shore line when we camp ~ state parks mostly. Enjoy learning your trailer. It's half the fun!

rbadger28 wrote:
Am I okay to let the batteries sit dead for a couple weeks and just let them charge when on shore power next?

The short answer is no. Any time batteries are left at less than full charge damage is being done, shortening their service life.
Dead batteries will also freeze, while fully charged ones are safe until -70F.
As has been recommended, 100 watts of solar will do a excellent job of maintaining batteries in most situations.
A wealth of information is available at www.batteryuniversity.com