First Time Boondocking Plan - Tech Question

[RLGetman]

I am trying to learn & prepare to Boondock for 12 days in Oct. I have a standard 5er setup (two 6 volt batteries) and a 2000w Honda generator. For convenience I purchased a battery level indicator at Camping World that plugs into the 12 volt receptacle in my coat closet and it reads 13.7v when I am connected to shore power. I have a multi-meter which reads exactly the same as the indicator.
My pre-boondock test plan is to disconnect from shore power, switch ref & water heater to LP, turn off all ghost circuits (clocks, TV, etc...) and just use lighting (I have LEDs) when needed. I want to see how long my batteries will last before needing a charge (I read that 12v is 50% and time to charge). I will then run the generator and see how long it takes to charge back up to 13.7v.
Is this a good plan? What am I missing?
Thanks

[64thunderbolt]

batt is not the issue 12 /15 days? how big is your blk tank? That would be my concern unless there's a dump station close by.

[mena661]

BFL13 wrote:
Mena's sister the mermaid isn't that wild (mostly), but is preferable to a fighting moose. She likes some shade for her naps and isn't so keen on solar.

LOL! Seems she's taken a liking to you guys. You're not feeding her, are you?

[mena661]

reed cundiff wrote:
Cary was excited about newer solar and battery concepts so we now have 1.42 kW of panels and 9.7 kW hours of lfp. The lfp weigh 160# total.

VERY nice battery bank!!

[BFL13]

Mena's sister the mermaid isn't that wild (mostly), but is preferable to a fighting moose. She likes some shade for her naps and isn't so keen on solar.

[JiminDenver]

While using the solar last year we saw more wildlife closer to the sites than we did when we ran a generator a few ours a day. I'm not sure if it's the noise or the smell of the gas but the critters didn't seem to like it. This year we had deer a nd rabbits coming right through the sites.

[reed_cundiff]

We have considerable solar and lfp batteries. We have not tied into line power or generator since our older son designedand fabricated system in June. Have run ac for 3.5 hours at times and the forced air heater in 0 F and snow for a week at a time (still got 150 W with total overcast once snow was brushed off the 6 x 235 W panels.

We Are full timers and boondock invariably: Alaska, Newfoundlnd\Labrador, Baja, Yucatan/Belize. We did use semi-developed RV parks in Mexico but no real hookup places (electricity would fry m/w anyway). Dry camped at all night trucker stops going to Yucatan and at a nice place in San Miguel Del Allende. We did stay at Inglewood RV park in Belize, the only one in Belize so we. Would leave rig and drive to Tikal in Guatemala.

Our older rig did have glass mat and they were doing great at six years but totaled rig in 70 CSR pileup 80 miles west of Vera Cruz. Son is solar designer fabricator (has contract on 1.5 MW Project for panels and low voltage). Cary was excited about newer solar and battery concepts so we now have 1.42 kW of panels and 9.7 kW hours of lfp. The lfp weigh 160# total.

Read through the posts on this thread and we pretty much agree with the ideas on life style expressed. We choose not to bother wildlife and others who might also be engaged in dispersed camping' there are definite payoffs: we had two adolescent bull moose "fighting" within 25 meters of our rig at Vedauwoo this last September.

Reed and Elaine

[horseman_64]

We boondock a lot horse camping. Just go ahead and charge battery every day in evening. We've found the biggest draws on battery are heater and exhaust fans and late nite lites. I would use a regular compact battery charger to charge batteries more efficient and better. Just be obsessive battery power saver!

[KendallP]

mena661 wrote:
Thanks KP! And I blame PT SOLELY for going the wet cell route. :B 😛 J/K PT!

PT gets partial blame for your foray into the 12V realm, is all. Serious inverter abusers ought to consider 12V, either flooded or AGM, over GC batteries. That said, if you've got a massive GC bank like Mr. Wiz, your inverter should still be good to go.

[RLGetman]

Thanks everyone, I feel pretty good about my prep for my 12 day boon-dock and will be performing my two day test this coming week. Thanks Again.

[mena661]

KendallP wrote:

Heh heh heh. Now THAT'S good stuff, Mene dog!

Lurkers take note...

There are some folks around here who have spent a pile of time educating themselves on these kinds of subjects. Mena here is definitely one of those. Ironically, it sort of sounds like he's bashing AGMs. But yet he's seriously considering them for his next purchase. "How could that be???" You ask?

Well...

Mena's not just a fanatic fanboy. Like many of us, he's a realist who happens to be well educated in the subject at hand. AGMs, like anything, have their strengths and weaknesses. Rather than beat his chest and prop up his own ego, he's more interested in what's best for he and his family.

His concerns for high current draw to support the big inverter are rooted in proven science. Now if only he'd listened to ol' pianotuna so many years ago...
.

Thanks KP! And I blame PT SOLELY for going the wet cell route. :B 😛 J/K PT!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1mngQrQss

[KendallP]

mena661 wrote:
...BTW, no battery will freeze if fully charged so not sure where you get that misinformation from...

Heh heh heh. Now THAT'S good stuff, Mene dog!

Lurkers take note...

There are some folks around here who have spent a pile of time educating themselves on these kinds of subjects. Mena here is definitely one of those. Ironically, it sort of sounds like he's bashing AGMs. But yet he's seriously considering them for his next purchase. "How could that be???" You ask?

Well...

Mena's not just a fanatic fanboy. Like many of us, he's a realist who happens to be well educated in the subject at hand. AGMs, like anything, have their strengths and weaknesses. Rather than beat his chest and prop up his own ego, he's more interested in what's best for he and his family.

His concerns for high current draw to support the big inverter are rooted in proven science. Now if only he'd listened to ol' pianotuna so many years ago...
.

[RoyB]

RLGETMAN - When you get all stuff ready to go then make a dry run at your house... I have done what you are wanting to do many times camping off the power grid. Watching the DC VOLTMETER is what makes mine successful...

We do just about the same as we do camping at regular camp sites except high wattage thing like the air conditioner, microwave, and furnace blower. Our battery bank is only 255AHs (Three each 85AH standard issue 12VDC Interstate deep cycle batteries)...


About the only difference with your OCT time frame is you may run into some cold nights and be forced to run the propane heater. I always managed to use mine as a backup and the goal was to make it until we went to bed and then just curl up in some heavy blankets.

Try all of this out in your backyard just like you would be camping and if you can survive the first day/night and end up with 12.0VDC at 8AM the next morning the recharge the batteries in about three hours time using the 2KW generator running your smart mode converter/charger. I haven't checked the input power requirements of the PD9180 and it may be more than the usable 1800WATTs the 2KW generator puts out... You may have to play some games here until you get you initial charge current down to something the generator will handle.

If you can do all of this for two days in your back yard and end up with around 12.0VDC still in the battery bank at 8AM each morning then you should be successful for your 12-day trip. There is a limit however on doing these 50% to 90% battery re-charges. I also have found my battery bank needs to get a full charge after 12-14 days which will takes around 12 hours or so of generator run time other wise I will start doing harm to my batteries... Where we always camped we was not allowed to run our generator that long of time so this was usually when we came back home.

Just takes some planning

Roy Ken

[mena661]

tplife wrote:
Of course, that's no reason avoid an AGM, unless you like buying new Levis after you change out your batteries. And corrosion in your battery box. Explosive hydrogen gas. And split battery cases when your battery freezes. I'll never know these things because my batteries are AGM.

Oddly I don't get any of that on my wet cells. No damaged pants, no corrosion, and no split battery cases. BTW, no battery will freeze if fully charged so not sure where you get that misinformation from. And AGMs are not immune to freezing either. They'll freeze just like any other lead acid battery. Another thing, wet cell batteries don't gas unless charged. AGMs gas too when charged but MUCH less than wet cells. I'm not an AGM hater either and will probably get some on the next go around if lithium ion batteries are still too expensive. They have one advantage I'm interested in and that's less voltage drop under heavy loads.

[KendallP]

tplife wrote:

BFL13 wrote:
...AGMs may be wonderful, but I would hate not being able to measure to know for sure...

Instead of using a hydrometer, you use a load tester, around $40.00.
Kendall's right about the time to charge on a converter. Charge advantages are using higher-Amp 110V chargers or alternators to charge the battery. Of course, that's no reason avoid an AGM, unless you like buying new Levis after you change out your batteries. And corrosion in your battery box. Explosive hydrogen gas. And split battery cases when your battery freezes. I'll never know these things because my batteries are AGM.

Agreed. They definitely do have their advantages.

Again, my take...

If you almost always will completely recharge after each draw... you want to "set it and forget it"... and the extra cash is not an issue for you, then by all means... go for it!

This is probably the case for many RVers who rarely stay where there isn't shore power.

However, if you're a boodocker or dry camper of any amount, then a little more research is in order. Topping batteries from 90-100% takes some pretty serious time. IMO... ANYONE who camps without shore power and isn't running the generator for 6 hours each day falls into the latter category. Most of us might run the genny for a couple of hours a day and do successive 40-80s or 50-90% chargers. BFL's exhaustive experimentation efforts have shown, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that "progressive sulfation," or "Progressive Capacity Loss (PCL)" occurs in these instances. And topping to 100% after a trip like this can take some effort. And if you don't do it, the sulfate may harden beyond repair and with it goes some capacity.

We remedy this with controlled overcharging ("equalization.") It's not that hard, really. Just necessary. And this is what the sailors discovered about AGMs. They need it too... only MUCH more care need be taken to keep from blowing one's self up.