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What's your battery setup on your travel trailer?

OregonMan
Explorer
Explorer
Hey guys, I'm wondering what your battery setup is on your travel trailer. I have a 2018 Wolf Pup 16BHS travel trailer and am still using the original battery which I believe is a 12 volt deep cycle. However I've never been impressed with the battery... on a full charge it lasts maybe a day with moderate use. Do any of you have a multi-battery setup where you have 2 or 3 batteries for longer use? Are there bigger batteries? Could you install a Tesla power wall on your trailer? ๐Ÿ˜‰

Basically I'm looking for solutions to boondock for longer. I've got solar and a power generator but a better battery setup would be great. Thanks for any tips!
19 REPLIES 19

ssthrd
Explorer
Explorer
I have 2 x 6 volt golf cart batteries (250 Ah) which can be supplemented with 260 watts of solar power and/or a 2000 watt inverter generator when needed.

Works well for me when dry camping.
2014 Keystone Laredo 292RL
2013 Palomino Maverick 2902
2018 GMC 3500HD, 4x4, 6.5' box, SRW, Denali, Duramax, Andersen
DeeBee, JayBee, and Jed the Black Lab

The hurrier I go the behinder I get. (Lewis Carroll)

ktmrfs
Explorer II
Explorer II
need to know a little more about what you want to power.

6V golf carts are good for low-medium draw applications, less than 30A or so max. Above that voltage drop from internal resistance comes into play and can limit use with large inverter draws. A solution for that is 4 GC to reduce draw/pair if you have room. Or if you constantly want high current draw, good 12V deep discharge are a better choice.

And how often and how many days do you want to boondock. If it's only a few times/year and a few days at a time, a couple of decent true Deep discharge 12V may be the best cost solution.

For my situation I have 4 GC batteries about 500AH. Of which about 350AH is useable. Good GC can be drawn down to 25% SOC (75% DOD) and still give hundreds of cycle of life.

And the GC are taller than a regular 12V so do you have room for them?

And finally, the weakest link in most trailers isn't the battery, it's the WFCO charger which almost never will go to bulk charging mode so (1) batteries never get fully charged and (2) charging current limits to around 10A which means you can run the generator all day and not get the batteries charged. Solution is a Iota or Progressive dynamics drop in replacement,

I have solar, yes it really helps when the sun shines and you can have either the trailer or the portable panels in the sun.
2011 Keystone Outback 295RE
2004 14' bikehauler with full living quarters
2015.5 Denali 4x4 CC/SB Duramax/Allison
2004.5 Silverado 4x4 CC/SB Duramax/Allison passed on to our Son!

Lwiddis
Explorer II
Explorer II
Where would one buy low priced but quality 6 volt batteries that donโ€™t need full recharging daily for longest life?
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad

Mike134
Explorer
Explorer
If I was boon docking and wanted a low priced setup use 6V golf cart batteries.
2019 F150 4X4 1903 payload
2018 Adventurer 21RBS 7700 GVWR.

Lwiddis
Explorer II
Explorer II
I use two Trojan T125s at 240 total amp hours. My desired energy use survey determined I needed about 90 AHs per day, so I hardly ever dip below 40% DOD. The batteries are fully recharged almost every day by my solar system.

Since deep cycle batteries should be fully recharged daily for longest life, I donโ€™t understand your โ€œlonger useโ€ comment. Few 12 volt batteries are deep cycle. Trojan makes a couple. What make is your battery? What is itโ€™s AH capacity? Does your solar watts equal your total battery amp hours? Why isnโ€™t your solar fully recharging your battery daily?
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad