brianstrange wrote:
I am literally taking this out 5-6 trips per year, mostly dry camping. Is it safe to say that slow charging it with my car charger before a trip, and using the car alternator to juice it back up while away from home is all I need? or will that plan hurt the battery?
Lot's to learn here for you. You might want to check out the "Tech Issues" forum to get lots of excellent advice on batteries and dry camping.
But as far as your questions:
1. Batteries will last longer and work better if they are kept fully charged when in storage. Using a battery maintainer, solar panel or plugged in with a 3 stage converter is best.
2. Charging the trailer battery from the tow vehicle is usually not very effective. Some charging does occur (assuming your tow vehicle is set up to charge the trailer battery) but it is done very slowly usually. Yes it should be enough to maintain a charged battery while driving.
3. Yes, slow charging with your car charger should charge it well, but it might take 2 or 3 days to charge depending on the charger and the state of the batteries.
Check out the "Tech Issues" forum and ask questions there. Lots of friendly advice there, especially about batteries and charging.
Ed
