Forum Discussion
rexlion
May 27, 2017Explorer
If you are running the battery down to where it's almost out of juice, you are damaging your battery (shortening its life and reducing its ability to store as much energy). Lead acid batts like to be kept above 12.1V or thereabout, which is about one-half discharged; below that they start to sulfate. Got a volt meter? If so, take it camping and check your TT battery once in a while. You might be surprised.
Do not expect the battery to get anywhere near fully recharged on the drive home. That long, thin gauge charge line can't feed many amps back to your TT. Plugging the TT into shore power at home will do loads more charging than your tow vehicle.
For your level of power usage, I think a 100W solar panel would keep you going for many days... provided you have sun. Or get a generator. Or get a pair of golf cart batteries, which have heavier plates and can stand up to abuse, plus they'd give you more capacity.
Do not expect the battery to get anywhere near fully recharged on the drive home. That long, thin gauge charge line can't feed many amps back to your TT. Plugging the TT into shore power at home will do loads more charging than your tow vehicle.
For your level of power usage, I think a 100W solar panel would keep you going for many days... provided you have sun. Or get a generator. Or get a pair of golf cart batteries, which have heavier plates and can stand up to abuse, plus they'd give you more capacity.
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