Dry camping, batteries and slide out
I've tried searching for this but not having any luck. New travel trailer owner who recently went dry camping for the weekend. When I can't figure out is battery life. I have to deep cycle batteries ...
Forum Discussion
You probably have about 200AH of batteries. 100AH is usable.
You started at 2/3s full, or about 135AH. That leaves you 35 usable AH.
During your drive, you may have added 30AH (depending on your charger). that leaves you 65 usable AH.
Your coach drains AH with various systems that are always running (propane detector, dummy lights, etc). Best case is 1AH/hour or 48AH over a weekend (My coach sucks about 48AH/day - we have A LOT of dummy lights). That leaves you about 20 usable AH.
You have a 20W solar panel - it probably gives you about 5AH/day, 10AH over a weekend. So you have 30 usable AH over the 48 hours.
It will help you a lot to start with full batteries. The 66AH you didn't have would have gotten you through the weekend unless you used the furnace a lot.
When we had a tt and no solar, if we ran out of battery we hooked up to the truck and ran the engine for about 15 minutes, then did the slides with the engine on. It worked for us. If you want to go longer than a weekend, you will need either more batteries, more solar, or a generator. The tt power suck will drain your batteries otherwise.
You started at 2/3s full, or about 135AH. That leaves you 35 usable AH.
During your drive, you may have added 30AH (depending on your charger). that leaves you 65 usable AH.
Your coach drains AH with various systems that are always running (propane detector, dummy lights, etc). Best case is 1AH/hour or 48AH over a weekend (My coach sucks about 48AH/day - we have A LOT of dummy lights). That leaves you about 20 usable AH.
You have a 20W solar panel - it probably gives you about 5AH/day, 10AH over a weekend. So you have 30 usable AH over the 48 hours.
It will help you a lot to start with full batteries. The 66AH you didn't have would have gotten you through the weekend unless you used the furnace a lot.
When we had a tt and no solar, if we ran out of battery we hooked up to the truck and ran the engine for about 15 minutes, then did the slides with the engine on. It worked for us. If you want to go longer than a weekend, you will need either more batteries, more solar, or a generator. The tt power suck will drain your batteries otherwise.
