Charging House Batteries while Driving
Hello, I am new to truck camping and thinking about needing my furnace overnight while boondocking overnight as we head south. My question is, if running the furnace and a few other small items w...
Forum Discussion
This thread has a ton of good advice, but not much you can use until you first try it with *your* rig.
Let me put it this way... You *should* be just fine. Running the furnace overnight should not deplete the battery so much that the next day's driving doesn't bring it back up to full. If, however, you have problems on the trip, then there is a bunch of good info on this thread with which to start troubleshooting.
The only advice I have is separate from your question, but related: If you bought your camper used, take a good check at the battery. When we bought our camper used, the dealer assured us the battery was in tip top shape. It barely made it one night in cold weather. I replaced it with a Trojan battery in 2007, and it has been rock solid ever since. I credit annual maintenance and storage in a heated shop to its longevity. If it is used-new to you, well, no one sells stuff because it works 'too good'.
HTH!
-Eric
Let me put it this way... You *should* be just fine. Running the furnace overnight should not deplete the battery so much that the next day's driving doesn't bring it back up to full. If, however, you have problems on the trip, then there is a bunch of good info on this thread with which to start troubleshooting.
The only advice I have is separate from your question, but related: If you bought your camper used, take a good check at the battery. When we bought our camper used, the dealer assured us the battery was in tip top shape. It barely made it one night in cold weather. I replaced it with a Trojan battery in 2007, and it has been rock solid ever since. I credit annual maintenance and storage in a heated shop to its longevity. If it is used-new to you, well, no one sells stuff because it works 'too good'.
HTH!
-Eric
