update to questions on first boondocking trip

[dockmasterdave]

We went to a festival last weekend and did our first 3 day boondocking trip. I had lots of questions on here about battery charging/reserve power, water consumption and tank capacity.
With 2 new Walmart "deep cycle" the first night, had to run a 20" box fan all night, only got down to high 60's from mid 80's.
Both batteries were at @12.0v. I used the built in WFCO and supplemented with an 8 amp charger, ran off genny 2 hours, back to full charge.
Second morning, batteries a little lower but not bad, tried the WFCO only for 3 hours. Not as good of a charge. added another hour later in the day, and 3rd morning batteries were @ 11.8 VOLTS.
Note to self, use both chargers.
30 gal fresh water was just starting to suck air as we were pulling out.
27 gal black and grey were fine @1/2 full.
Thanks for everyone's advice. We now have a much better idea of what OUR capabilities are.
Thanks for all the advice.

[Mandalay_Parr]

12.6 volts batteries full charge
12.2 bolts batteries 50% charged
12.0 volts batteries fully discharged.
For maximum life charge when at 50%.

[ppine]

It is important to train your family how to use less power and less water. Then boondocking is easy.
A 35 gallon water tank will last us maybe 5-7 days.
I run a portable generator for about a 1/2 hour every other day.

[Lwiddis]

“had to run a 20" box fan all night”

As in a 120 volt fan with an inverter? If so, what was the 12 volt amp draw? The Fantasic Endless Breeze 12 inch pulling 3 amps at 12 volts would have been a better idea along with a Fantasic vent fan. Your electric capability goes to almost unlimited with solar. Reread AZ and Cool’s post and don’t murder your batteries.

[coolmom42]

azrving wrote:
You said the battery was back to full charge on the first day. There is no way it recharged 2 gr batteries in 2 hours. If you were counting amp hours you would see it. As you were working your way down to 11.8 you would also see that the specific gravity was dropping. WFCO is probably only doing 13.6. If you only do this for a few days at a time and go back on the cord you will probably be ok because time will fully charge but to do it for longer dry camping stretches you will never make it.

Yep. And your batteries will be toast after several cycles of this. They will never charge to full capacity after that.

[azrving]

You said the battery was back to full charge on the first day. There is no way it recharged 2 gp batteries in 2 hours. If you were counting amp hours you would see it. As you were working your way down to 11.8 you would also see that the specific gravity was dropping. WFCO is probably only doing 13.6. If you only do this for a few days at a time and go back on the cord you will probably be ok because time will fully charge but to do it for longer dry camping stretches you will never make it.

[time2roll]

If you will be doing this often I recommend 100 to 300 watts solar and replace the WFCO.

[scrubjaysnest]

Check this web site for good tips:boondock tips

[Ava]

As mentioned above,a basic portable solar panel with at least 100 watts will do a good job of helping charge batteries all day. It can easily be moved around to get the most sun.

[toedtoes]

Glad to hear.

Since you have the extra room in your black and grey tanks, you can "supplement" your fresh water for an extra day. You used about 10 gallons per day, so a couple 5 gallon bottles will get you a fourth day. Use that water for drinking and cooking and dump it equally in the black and grey tanks and you'll still be under full on each of those at the end.

With the two chargers, you're good for power with the box fan, so on cooler nights, you'll be that much better off. Heater use on cold nights will be your next "test". 🙂

[GordonThree]

Sounds like you did fine. The WFCO is notorious for undercharging batteries. Many times it doesn't recognize a battery is low and refuses to go into a faster bulk or absorption charge (14+ volts)

If boondocking is a once in a while event, no need to change anything. Just plug in when you get home and after a while your batteries will be back to 100%

If you plan to boondock more often or for longer periods, consider upgrading the WFCO to a Progressive Dynamics, they do a much better job at charging batteries.

Also depending on budget and RV construction, consider adding solar.