Battery boomdocking dlemma.

[rbpru]

We have been considering doing a bit of boon docking. We have noticed several opportunities in our travels.

Unfortunately we barely get two days use out of our battery even though we have installed LED lights, and the frig, water heater, run on propane. The furnace is a big draw so we seldom use it, that leaves only the pump and phantom loads. I even shut off the TV booster and pulled the fuse for the radio/DVD player.

According to the battery information I have gathered, my 100 A/hr. battery would like to be charged at C/10 or 10amps for 10 hours.

So, I have three questions.

1. If the battery is half depleted, does it only take 5 hrs. at 10 amps?
2. If I park in the sun with solar panels on the roof, the TT heats up like an oven. If I park in the shade the solar panel lose their output; unless I move the panels off the TT roof to the ground. But, then I must leave them unattended while we tour the local tourist traps. What am I missing here?
3. I could buy a small generator to provide the 10 amp charge but then I would have to leave it running unattended for 10 hours when I am not there or run it at night when we are in camp. These sound like poor ideas.

At this point I am curious what others do to keep their battery charged up.

[pianotuna]

Hi 2oldman,

Too bad you don't have a hybrid inverter/charger, then the solar could shoulder some of the load.

Are you able to run them in eco mode?

2oldman wrote:
I'm going to amend that to $10 or more/day. Especially when running 3 hondas in 90F for 10 hours. It's hot enough and I'm in full sun and except for 3 or 4 cycles, they run continuously. Going through 5 gallons/day.

[Sunnysidebeach]

Dennis12 wrote:
Buy a Honda 3000 inverter. Problem solved. If you maintain it it will out live you. Money well spent

That's what I did last Monday.. And with the tropical weather we are getting in Florida this week, I'm very happy I did.

[2oldman]

2oldman wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Any idea of the cost per day for fuel when the air is needed?Any success with running the air from the solar?

In 90F running about 8 hours/day I'd say it's around $5/day.

I'm going to amend that to $10 or more/day. Especially when running 3 hondas in 90F for 10 hours. It's hot enough and I'm in full sun and except for 3 or 4 cycles, they run continuously. Going through 5 gallons/day.

[Chuck_and_Di]

A single battery should be plenty for 2 days if the furnace is not used much. If it only lasts a day, you either have a bad battery, or you have more phantom loads to get rid of. For me the big power hog was the propane detector. YMMV.
A generator only serves to annoy everybody within a couple miles of you.

[profdant139]

siamese, is boom docking when you have a downwind berth and you are running wing and wing??

(Sailor talk for getting shoved into the pilings by the wind -- not a fun moment.)

[CavemanCharlie]

mike-s wrote:

birish21 wrote:
If you had 2 200+AH 6V wired together would that still be 200+AH at 12V or would it go up to 400AH? Sorry for the dumb question.

If wired in parallel, the capacity adds, the voltage doesn't. If wired in series, the voltage adds, the capacity doesn't. In series, you'd have a 12V, 200AH battery.

Yes.

Deep cycle golf cart batteries can be drawn down to a lower state of charge without damaging them. And,, I've found, just by using them that they seem to keep there charge longer.

I have a simple voltage gauge mounted inside my TT. During a big power usage, like running your furnace, the voltage will drop (of course). But, when leaving them at rest the next morning it seems to bounce back.

I don't understand it but, it has been working for me on my weekend trips for the last few years.

After I get home I plug in my TT with the converter that I bought at "Best Converters" and I charge them back up fully. I then flip the converter off using the breaker in the panel. Before I go out again I will flip the breaker back on for a few hours to give a boost to the batteries. And,,, my wire from the pickup gives them a little boost on the way to the park.

I check and maintain the battery water level once and awhile with distilled water. I clean the terminals once a year and spray them with battery protecting spray.

I keep a very close eye on the voltage level and don't let the battery set there and charge constantly when I'm plugged in. (The power converter I bought is not suppose to let that happen but, my TT is so old and the wires so bad that it does not work right)

As just a weekend camper I am happy with my results. I have about 5 seasons on my batterys now and they seem to be holding up well. ( Of course that could change at any time)

It takes a little learning. You are asking the right questions but, it takes time to understand and find a system that works for you.

Best of luck. Have a nice day.

[mike-s]

birish21 wrote:
If you had 2 200+AH 6V wired together would that still be 200+AH at 12V or would it go up to 400AH? Sorry for the dumb question.

If wired in parallel, the capacity adds, the voltage doesn't. If wired in series, the voltage adds, the capacity doesn't. In series, you'd have a 12V, 200AH battery.

[birish21]

CavemanCharlie wrote:
I have 2 deep cycle 6 volt golf cart batteries. As long as I don't run the furnace I am good for 3 days. Maybe 4. Running the furnace sparingly I can easily go 2 days. Maybe 3 or more.

I am just a weekend camper so I have never had the opportunity to go longer then that.

Buy yourself some good batteries. You will not regret it.

If you had 2 200+AH 6V wired together would that still be 200+AH at 12V or would it go up to 400AH? Sorry for the dumb question.

[westend]

CavemanCharlie wrote:
Buy yourself some good batteries. You will not regret it.

X2, and a meter to see what's happening.

[CavemanCharlie]

I have 2 deep cycle 6 volt golf cart batteries. As long as I don't run the furnace I am good for 3 days. Maybe 4. Running the furnace sparingly I can easily go 2 days. Maybe 3 or more.

I am just a weekend camper so I have never had the opportunity to go longer then that.

Buy yourself some good batteries. You will not regret it.

[siamese]

We're just getting back into trailers after a 14 year hiatus. During that hiatus, though, we've been cruising on our sailboat, where batteries are a big deal.

We plan to boondock (although "boom" dock sounds like more fun), so we got a little generator.

My smart charger replacement for the crummy WFCo charger in our Jayco just came in the mail today, so I'll start installing it tonight.

I think we'll start with:
1. a capable and quiet generator
2. a good smart charger that will top off the battery in a couple hours with the generator
3. We'll start with the battery that was supplied with our trailer, but will upgrade to a pair of quality 6v batteries wired in series for 12v.

[ADK_Camper]

DownTheAvenue wrote:
Turn off the condensation eliminator on your Dometic refrigerator. It slightly warms the the frame between the freezer and refrigerator sections and draws a lot of 12 volt power.

This is really good advice. But you may not have an oem installed switch to shut down the door heater. My dometic does not have one. It is easy to install your own. The wire supplying power to the heater probably runs through the refrigerator light housing. It's the heavier of the two red wires. I installed a switch on my refrigerator several years ago and have never found it necessary to turn the heater on since.

[Vintage465]

profdant139 wrote:
If you have been letting your batteries run down below 12.1 volts, they might be damaged. We often get four days from one group 31 battery, without charging it at all. With a 120 watt portable solar panel, it lasts a week or more.

Please don't ask how I learned that improper battery maintenance kills the batteries. Very expensive lesson. Sigh.

I second that. Absolutely no idea how many batteries I've donated to recycling over a 10 year period due to boiling them out from the converter/charger being plugged in all the time. At least 10 batteries..........maybe more We have 300w solar and controller with two 6v Interstate batteries. We never run out of juice.

[rbpru]

Thanks for the information. At this point it sounds like the easiest way to find out if we really want to Boone Dock is to pick up a second battery and one of those $100.00, 800 watt generator wonders from Harbor Freight.

I have a multi-stage Black and Decker charger and if I do not have to worry about a complete charge on the battery, the charger will provide 15 amps.

Therefore, a three or four hour charge on one battery while the other runs the TT should do us until we decide of we really want to Boone Dock for any length of time.

I have in the past disconnected the TT battery and run a set of jumpers to the TV and pumped some juice into it for twenty minutes or so to buy us an extra day. Crude but effective and when you are in the middle of an open field there are not to many other options.