Lance 650 Battery Issues?
Hi everyone,
Please forgive my lack of technical terms, I'm a young woman owning a truck camper for the first time and have been figuring out how an RV works for the past year, but I wanted to know if the battery issues I've been having with my Lance 650 are just a part of owning a small truck camper or are an issue. I must mention that I have to use the battery as the places I camp at don't have electricity to plug into.
I bought my 2016 Lance 650 in March. The first trip I ever took it on was a two night/3 day trip and a 3 hour drive each way. My battery lasted for 3 days with no issues or drainage. By the way, a Lance 650 comes with just one deep cycle RV/Marine battery where some of the larger truck campers may have more than one, or a built in generator just like some larger living quarter horse trailers might have 4 deep cycle batteries on them.
After that first trip, my battery barely made it through 24 hours. The only time it has lasted any longer is within the 2x I've gone back to the dealership and all they do is give me a new battery and say the last one was bad. I finally got solar panels installed hoping it would solve my issues, and it has a little bit. I was told to keep the battery on all the time while my camper charged itself everyday. However, there is never enough battery power to lift all four jacks up at the same time, so even with the solar panels I have to use a battery charger at the power level of jumping a car to get all four jacks to work at the same time. My last trip was only a two day, 1 night trip and the battery got really low at abut 5am the following morning. That night I spent a couple hours with a friend in the truck camper and used the rear outside light, and a few of the interior lights, and then woke up to my smoke detector going off at 5am which is my sign that the battery is low. On all my trips the battery is used minimally as I am outdoors most of the day and my fridge is run on propane. I basically just use the interior lights at night.
My question is; is all of this hassle what I should expect out of a smaller truck camper or is their a deeper issue that I am having? I also need to mention that it is rare that I can plug in my 120v connection from my camper to my garage to do a slow, deep cycle charge. My HOA has issues with my camper in my driveway and it is stored on a dirt field.
Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!
Please forgive my lack of technical terms, I'm a young woman owning a truck camper for the first time and have been figuring out how an RV works for the past year, but I wanted to know if the battery issues I've been having with my Lance 650 are just a part of owning a small truck camper or are an issue. I must mention that I have to use the battery as the places I camp at don't have electricity to plug into.
I bought my 2016 Lance 650 in March. The first trip I ever took it on was a two night/3 day trip and a 3 hour drive each way. My battery lasted for 3 days with no issues or drainage. By the way, a Lance 650 comes with just one deep cycle RV/Marine battery where some of the larger truck campers may have more than one, or a built in generator just like some larger living quarter horse trailers might have 4 deep cycle batteries on them.
After that first trip, my battery barely made it through 24 hours. The only time it has lasted any longer is within the 2x I've gone back to the dealership and all they do is give me a new battery and say the last one was bad. I finally got solar panels installed hoping it would solve my issues, and it has a little bit. I was told to keep the battery on all the time while my camper charged itself everyday. However, there is never enough battery power to lift all four jacks up at the same time, so even with the solar panels I have to use a battery charger at the power level of jumping a car to get all four jacks to work at the same time. My last trip was only a two day, 1 night trip and the battery got really low at abut 5am the following morning. That night I spent a couple hours with a friend in the truck camper and used the rear outside light, and a few of the interior lights, and then woke up to my smoke detector going off at 5am which is my sign that the battery is low. On all my trips the battery is used minimally as I am outdoors most of the day and my fridge is run on propane. I basically just use the interior lights at night.
My question is; is all of this hassle what I should expect out of a smaller truck camper or is their a deeper issue that I am having? I also need to mention that it is rare that I can plug in my 120v connection from my camper to my garage to do a slow, deep cycle charge. My HOA has issues with my camper in my driveway and it is stored on a dirt field.
Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!
