boondocking and batteries
i'm waiting for my northstar 850 sc to be delivered and find i'm thinking alot about battery power.i'd really like to hear from the boondockers and especially the northstar owners as to what i should ...
Forum Discussion
Oh, my.
There is a lot of information that really is not helping the OP. As well as suggesting what he/she should or shouldn’t do. One thing is for sure, a couple of batteries and a long weekend is a perfect way to enjoy your Truck Camper, in all seasons. Battery management is really the solution.
Jfet has the best information shared. To be successful boondocking and using your batteries is to monitor them. A simple battery monitor would help. The idiot lights you have in your camper are warning devices for when you are in need of charging, not so much as a warning.
While you are learning and testing your boondocking limits, invest in some inexpensive batteries. Wal-Mart and Costco are good places to begin, as they have excellent warranties. Buy yourself a good auxiliary Battery Charger Clicky. I would stick to whatever batteries fit into the area you have for your battery compartment, or the areas available in the foot wells, as many have done. Invest in proper cable sizing too. If the batteries are in a remote area (wheel well) use auxiliary charging posts/cable to reach them. We had these installed on the back of our race cars and bumpers/trunks of our patrol cars. Aux Battery Post Clicky
I had suggested the same thing to another RV.net poster (DJ) here and this is what he did to assist charging his own batteries that were located in a difficult to reach Battery Compartment.
Most will do fine with a long weekend with deep cycle batteries of the Type 27 to Type 31 sizes (200-300 AmpH, which is very different than cranking amps). When driving your alternator will suffice if the distance is a couple of hours. When boondocking you are usually in a location for a day or two. With daily use and weather events complicating things, you might draw your batteries down before you are driving down the road again. Just get the aux charger, attach it to the posts of your batteries and plug it into your now running invertor generator or outlets in your camper. Charge the batteries for a maximum of 1.5 hours at a time. Surface Charge will develop and you then are wasting generator time and money for fuel. Let the batteries rest for an hour or two and charge them again, using the same procedure. A good regime is first in the morning and then in the evening, all verified by your resting State of Charge. If it is getting down to 12.2-12.1v, then you need to charge your batteries. No matter what others uses are stated, your actual battery S.O.C. is what should dictate your charging parameters.
Yes, you can do it with just two 12v or 6v batteries. Whether Flooded or Wet Cell Batteries. My best advice, don’t splurge on expensive batteries to begin with. Use this first set to learn the ropes, unless you are unlike me and have a really large checkbook. I just swapped out one of my battery banks after 5 years of hard continuous use, 1,825 cycles. The difference of the S.O.C. over this 5 year period to the S.O.C. of the new batteries is enormous. Things wear out the more you use them. But why wouldn’t you use them? Enjoy. I have attached an AmpH Demand Survey I made for myself 5 years ago, below.
b
There is a lot of information that really is not helping the OP. As well as suggesting what he/she should or shouldn’t do. One thing is for sure, a couple of batteries and a long weekend is a perfect way to enjoy your Truck Camper, in all seasons. Battery management is really the solution.
Jfet has the best information shared. To be successful boondocking and using your batteries is to monitor them. A simple battery monitor would help. The idiot lights you have in your camper are warning devices for when you are in need of charging, not so much as a warning.
While you are learning and testing your boondocking limits, invest in some inexpensive batteries. Wal-Mart and Costco are good places to begin, as they have excellent warranties. Buy yourself a good auxiliary Battery Charger Clicky. I would stick to whatever batteries fit into the area you have for your battery compartment, or the areas available in the foot wells, as many have done. Invest in proper cable sizing too. If the batteries are in a remote area (wheel well) use auxiliary charging posts/cable to reach them. We had these installed on the back of our race cars and bumpers/trunks of our patrol cars. Aux Battery Post Clicky
I had suggested the same thing to another RV.net poster (DJ) here and this is what he did to assist charging his own batteries that were located in a difficult to reach Battery Compartment.
Most will do fine with a long weekend with deep cycle batteries of the Type 27 to Type 31 sizes (200-300 AmpH, which is very different than cranking amps). When driving your alternator will suffice if the distance is a couple of hours. When boondocking you are usually in a location for a day or two. With daily use and weather events complicating things, you might draw your batteries down before you are driving down the road again. Just get the aux charger, attach it to the posts of your batteries and plug it into your now running invertor generator or outlets in your camper. Charge the batteries for a maximum of 1.5 hours at a time. Surface Charge will develop and you then are wasting generator time and money for fuel. Let the batteries rest for an hour or two and charge them again, using the same procedure. A good regime is first in the morning and then in the evening, all verified by your resting State of Charge. If it is getting down to 12.2-12.1v, then you need to charge your batteries. No matter what others uses are stated, your actual battery S.O.C. is what should dictate your charging parameters.
Yes, you can do it with just two 12v or 6v batteries. Whether Flooded or Wet Cell Batteries. My best advice, don’t splurge on expensive batteries to begin with. Use this first set to learn the ropes, unless you are unlike me and have a really large checkbook. I just swapped out one of my battery banks after 5 years of hard continuous use, 1,825 cycles. The difference of the S.O.C. over this 5 year period to the S.O.C. of the new batteries is enormous. Things wear out the more you use them. But why wouldn’t you use them? Enjoy. I have attached an AmpH Demand Survey I made for myself 5 years ago, below.
b
