Dry camping, battery idea?

smkettner wrote:

96Tony wrote:
1) How much battery does the CO detector draw? Can I disconnect it, since the furnace will never be running?

2) Regarding the fridge controller, could I disconnect the battery overnight, thinking that for 8 hours, without opening the doors, things will stay cold enough?

Any other ideas or suggestions are more than welcome...thanks!

My trailer idles at 350 to 500 milliamps to run the fridge, propane detector and radio memory.

Do not disconnect the propane detector. Only saving a few milliamps. You can still have a gas leak with the appliances off. Maybe if you turn off the propane bottles at the tank but then your fridge is getting warm and you don't save much.

If you want to disconnect the battery at night you will just transfer the power use to daytime. Still going to need to hold the gas valve open 18 hours out of 24. Again not saving much.

+1 for a solar panel of 100+ watts.

2 pages in and someone finally actually answered at least partially the OP's question. I wonder is it because the first 14 or 15 don't know.

Tony

You didn't mention the cpap or I missed it... They eat the juice even without the humidifier... For ours(Phillips Resperonic), I use a stand alone group 27 battery and get 3-4 days before I recharge it or in our case, just hook up the charger when we're using the gen to watch a movie or whatever not wanting to draw down the battery to far....

Hi Tony,

No.

Why? Because parasitic loads can be 300 to 400 watt-hours per day (assuming 12.8 volts).

Great thread, glad I started it, thanks a ton for all the replies and suggestions.

Regarding my two week dry camping trip - with propane fridge, light pump use, infrequent LED lighting, and nightly CPAP machine (no humidifier) - here is my current thinking:

Concorde AGM Group 31 battery, and a Windy Nation 100 watt solar system to replenish the battery during the day.

Does that sound like it would work?

Yet another option is what my Dad use to do. He had a second battery in the truck with a switch so that he could combine or isolate either battery. Once a week he would swap out one of the batteries with the one in the trailer. That battery was recharged as he drove the truck through out the week.

Another option is that if you are dry camping, run off one battery and when the lp detector starts beeping that means you are at 10 volts...switch to 2nd battery and take # 1 battery and a 10 amp charger with you to the outside electrical plug at a washroom/shower at the campground and charge it for a few hours. Nobody will steal it as campers are for the most part honest. Just an idea I use.

Interesting topic, I am glad to see so many recommending solar instead of "ruin your neighbors day generators" I dry camp all the time that is all i do.
I have 2 batteries and a 30 watt solar panel and can go forever. I do not run tvs, radios or other accessories.. Have all led lights. Use furnace sparingly. Mostly use a Mr. Buddy heater to take of evening or morning chill. Have even camped in fairly cloudy conditions and did not run out of juice. If you buy a small solar you don't even need fancy wiring or a controller. Leave it portable so you can turn to follow the sun. That way you can park trailer in shade and still have solar in sun. I have a 25 ft cable on mine.

After re-reading 96Tony's opening post I personally would :
Ask the dealer how much I was paying for ONE or TWO batteries in my new TT .
The local dealers here will deliver a new trailer with one battery unless it is specifically written in the purchase order that 2 will be on the trailer .
I would ask for a credit for the purchase price of the batteries that the dealer intends to install .
I would purchase either two brand new GC2 6 volt batteries or two brand new exide edge agm marine/rv batteries a few days ahead and plan on hooking them up myself .
It is so much cheaper to install big capacity high grade batteries at the outset , rather than having that double expense later .
The GC2 or EDGE AGM batteries will not be drawn down in percentage as much as the garden variety / cheapest cost battery that the dealer is selling .
The edge agm battery takes a charge faster , has less draw down in use , and a longer life span the a conventional rv battery
I paid $ 140 each at BiMart for my Edge AGM .
GC2 conventionals are cheaper than that , I think .
I replaced my duramax batteries with edge agm and they charge faster for my Jumper Cable to the trailer practice .
We do not require a genny or solar .
Just good batteries and # 2 AWG jumper cables .
It is cheaper to do it in the beginning .

Don

I think Roy has the better plan for camping in the heavy shade. Solar isn't cut out for everything. That's why I believe in a balanced system.

pianotuna wrote:
Hi ExxWhy,

To be fair, the panels I use are more shade tolerant than some others. Quite frankly, I got lucky when I chose the components. I got lucky a second time by choosing to have 33 volts going into the controller.

If there is going to be shade, look for panels with diodes between each cell. However, shade tolerance is about #10 on a list of features.

#1 for me is temperature compensation with a probe on the battery bank. For example, today at -6 c (21 f) the voltage going into the battery bank was 15.3.

ExxWhy wrote:
I've always wondered about solar working at all when it's not in direct sunlight. The vast majority of the time, we like to camp under trees in the shade. For that reason, the portable panels looked attractive to me. I'm still very much in the information gathering phase.

Don,
A little warmer here and heavily overcast with rain and snow, most of the day. From my single 235W polycrystaline panel, I was seeing 14.85 on the Victron. This is with temp compensation hooked to a Morningstar SS MPPT-15l. I am always still amazed to see harvesting under very low light conditions.

I'm mentioning it so others can know what to expect out of a garden variety poly module (I do have it tilted, but fixed, pointing South).