We just a 2010 Rockwood Roo 233S. I added a second battery (both new), and plugged the camper in to charge for about 24 hours. The camper does have an inverter. After one night of camping (using almost no battery), the indicator inside the camper is reading 1/2 charge. I have a friend who said that the battery charger in the camper is not sufficient and you still need to use an external charger....but his camper is quite a bit older than mine. Does anybody know if this is true? Hoping I will have enough charge for this minimal usage weekend!

Post your converter/charger manf and model number. You need to have 18-20Amps of DC Current available from your converter for each battery in your bank if you have a smart mode converter/charger and want to re-charge your batteries in a quick three time frame....If you have less DC current available your batteries will still charge but will take longer...I suspect your 233S ROO has a 45AMP converter/charger installed.Roy Ken

Don't confuse an INVERTER with a CONVERTER!The former transforms 12V DC to 110V ACThe latter transforms 110V AC to 12V DC with sufficient capacity to charge your battery(ies) AND power all the 12V appliances in your unit.You need to find your CONVERTER and check to make sure it is providing those 12V. If it is working properly it will charge your batteries just fine.You probably do not have an inverter.The other thing you need to check is the drain on the batteries when you are dry camping.Fridge, CO detector, propane detector all draw a small current even if you are using nothing else.Add a few lights, water pump and the furnace fan and you will not make it through the night on a single charge.

as was said, you're talking about a CONVERTER, not an inverter.and the converter that comes with your Roo, is a 3-stage converter/charger that should have no problem keeping the battery charged. there's NO need for a separate battery charger UNLESS your converter is going bad.the one on my 2007 Roo is still going strong(knock on wood).were you dry camping when this happened?did you use the furnace?and are you sure you hooked up the the batteries correctly and in parallel configuration?

Yes...converter...whoops! We are dry camping and arrived around 11pm. Checked battery at 9am. The only thing we used battery for was a couple of led lights..not an hour total...and about an hour of fridge use when I thought the gas wasnt working. How can I measure usage?

mnmbeck wrote:Yes...converter...whoops! We are dry camping and arrived around 11pm. Checked battery at 9am. The only thing we used battery for was a couple of led lights..not an hour total...and about an hour of fridge use when I thought the gas wasnt working. How can I measure usage?if the fridge is on propane, it still uses battery power.it also doesn't work solely on 12v battery power. it's a 2-way fridge(110 AC and propane), not a 3-way fridge like you find in popups.only the electronics run on 12v DC battery power. it will NOT do any cooling on 12v DC battery power.

Do I need a battery charger? | Good Sam Community

21 Replies

wwest
Explorer
Jun 08, 2014
If you use 12 volt batteries in parallel then they should be mounted together, "exposed" to the same temperature gradients. Lead/acid battery's cell voltage will vary slightly with temperature.

Also, you will need to check on a fairly regular basis the fully charged "at rest" terminal voltage of each battery independently. A failing cell in one of the two batteries will result in draining the good battery fairly quickly.

I would always advise the use of two 6 volt batteries in series.
Oasisbob
Explorer
Jun 08, 2014
We are guaranteed three full days watching a movie every night with our twin DEEP CYCLE group 27 batteries. Do you own a volt meter? This will answer your questions about battery status and charging. We also disconnected our Co2 detector as it is a small drain.
JFHenne
Explorer
Jun 07, 2014
I have a Kiwi 23B and want to put a second battery on for dry camping. It has an IOTA DLS converter but I don't know where it is to findout its amp rating. Anybody know how to find it?
mbopp
Explorer
Jun 03, 2014
If you have a WFCO converter they're notorious for NOT going into bulk (fast) charge mode.
I mounted a separate IOTA 55A deck-mount converter in my front pass-through. It's a 3' wire run to the batteries. Much better charging off a generator.
time2roll
Nomad
Jun 02, 2014
mnmbeck wrote:
Update....We camped from Thursday night to Monday afternoon. The battery read between 1/3 and 1/2 when we left. Like I said, we use MINIMAL power when we are dry....we wear headlamps in the trailer (no lights), no fans, no radio, no furnace, etc. But, the basics are still running...fridge, alarms, etc. And, we do turn on the water once a day for dishes. It seems we didn't have a problem after all. But, I would love to know how to monitor the battery power. It looks like a multimeter measures AC power only. Is there a way to monitor, or sporadically check the battery power being used?

Start with the DC setting on that multimeter. 12.7 is full charge, 12.2 12.0 zone under light load is about 50% and time to recharge or head home. The oem indicator may or may not be very accurate.

Post the model of converter for best answers on charging.

The 12 Volt Side of Life
gwh1bass
Explorer
Jun 02, 2014
I installed a pair of Sam's Club energizer GC2 6 volt golf cart batteries on my KZ 23cfk and have made it ten days dry camping, but this is being frugal.

Propane fridge/freezer, water pump, radio and minimal light usage, but 3 bunk end fans running while sleeping at night.

The factory battery meters installed are junk.

Having got into the electric golf cart money pit a couple of years ago, I have learned a bit about batteries.

My next mod will be to install a LED battery pack digital voltage meter. The state of charge of the battery/batteries is something you need to be aware of. Deep cycle batteries should not be taken below 50% charge, so for a 12 volt system, when the voltage reaches 12.10, it needs recharging. 12.73 volts is considered full charge for a 12 volt system at rest.
Oasisbob
Explorer
May 29, 2014
We run twin group 27 deep cycles and can dry camp for about three nights. After that the TV will no longer power up through the inverter. We use an external battery charger for a much faster charge than the converter. All powered via our trusty HONDA EU 1000 Do whatever it takes for a quick charge while camping out of courtesy to your neighbors
bikendan
Explorer
May 29, 2014
KMP44 wrote:
Windwalker55 wrote:

Using batteries for the fridge could drain your batteries pretty quickly from what I have heard. Have never tried it myself. I usually get my fridge cooled down with AC power before I leave home and then switch to gas when traveling.

?? His fridge is not a 3-way that can run on battery. Its a 2 way - gas or 110V AC. But when its on gas, the controls are running on the battery.

this is correct.
Windwalker, this goes for your Kodiak's fridge also, since it is a 2-way fridge.
only if you have a big inverter and a bank of batteries, could you run your current fridge on batteries.
KMP44
Explorer
May 29, 2014
Windwalker55 wrote:

Using batteries for the fridge could drain your batteries pretty quickly from what I have heard. Have never tried it myself. I usually get my fridge cooled down with AC power before I leave home and then switch to gas when traveling.

?? His fridge is not a 3-way that can run on battery. Its a 2 way - gas or 110V AC. But when its on gas, the controls are running on the battery.
PAThwacker
Explorer
May 29, 2014
My first dry camping trip is coming up on the July 18th weekend. I am borrowing the AGM 85AH 12vt from my jon boat setup, and and toting the yamaha 2kw inverter. I should be good to go. The 27AH on the tongue is a joke.