Do you have your battery on your trailer tongue?

[ZachO]

There are plenty of good reasons to take theft into consideration when camping. Most notably because: it happens. I personally don't take a "I'm camping therefore I shall worry about nothing" attitude. I have fun, no doubt. But I'm aware.

I have heard of people having their batteries stolen from the tongue, but more often in town, in their driveway. Not many people are going to walk off with that heavy thing. I know people who have portable solar panels are very conscious of them being stolen.

My battery is on my tongue (ouch! ). The benefits have been stated already: in the worst case scenario of a battery explosion, it's outside, not inside; you don't need to worry about venting; you have more storage space inside; if you go with portable solar rather than rooftop solar, it's easier to access the battery to connect the solar.

But there are also good reasons to have it inside. I'd say unless you have a special need that requires one over the other, keeping it wherever it was put by the trailer manufacturer is probably best. I would only let theft determine it's location if I knew that I was camping in areas with theft issues.

[honda03842]

Originally Posted by ZachO

There are plenty of good reasons to take theft into consideration when camping. Most notably because: it happens. I personally don't take a "I'm camping therefore I shall worry about nothing" attitude. I have fun, no doubt. But I'm aware.

I know people who have portable solar panels are very conscious of them being stolen. .

No one will every steal our solar panels unless they have a few hours. They are taped to the roof with double sided tape, very hard to get off.

I love the fact that they are always on the roof and virtually always charging, driving or parked.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by honda03842

I don't worry about voltage drop, it's secondary to the charging current. Our solar controller is located a few inches from the trailer's roof. The length of the wires is approximately 8 feet, maximum current 8 amps. Personally I have never known anyone to locate their solar controller in the battery box. We'll soon know if people do.

I certainly don't worry about heat in the battery box, my trailer definitely gets hotter in warm weather.

It not the heat that concerns me with solar charge controller mounted inside the battery box, it's corrosive nature of the gases output during charging from the battery.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by honda03842

No one will every steal our solar panels unless they have a few hours. They are taped to the roof with double sided tape, very hard to get off.

I love the fact that they are always on the roof and virtually always charging, driving or parked.

Each situation is different, different needs or desires of each trailer owner. I have a very strong alternator which charges when towing along with a very small electric demand, warm weather almost no demand. I also have a secondary battery that I want to charge, for ham radio use. I often park in the shade, so the ability to move the solar panel again is important to me.
As a side not I ran across a couple Big Bend a few years ago that had solar panels mounted on the roof. To keep their battery charged they were reduced to camping in dusty site that was open to sky. We camped on the other side of bunch of trees with grass and sun patches that moved, and solar panel moved.

[Kai in Seattle]

Originally Posted by ZachO

There are plenty of good reasons to take theft into consideration when camping. Most notably because: it happens. I personally don't take a "I'm camping therefore I shall worry about nothing" attitude. I have fun, no doubt. But I'm aware.

I have heard of people having their batteries stolen from the tongue, but more often in town, in their driveway. Not many people are going to walk off with that heavy thing. I know people who have portable solar panels are very conscious of them being stolen.

My battery is on my tongue (ouch! ). The benefits have been stated already: in the worst case scenario of a battery explosion, it's outside, not inside; you don't need to worry about venting; you have more storage space inside; if you go with portable solar rather than rooftop solar, it's easier to access the battery to connect the solar.

But there are also good reasons to have it inside. I'd say unless you have a special need that requires one over the other, keeping it wherever it was put by the trailer manufacturer is probably best. I would only let theft determine it's location if I knew that I was camping in areas with theft issues.

OK, hilarious, best laugh of the day for me, thanks!
"My battery is on my tongue." JUST what one wants, eh?

Good discussion, lots to think about. Meanwhile, Paul is wiring today, at
long, long last, and we both realize now that he's never done anything quite
like this and while not entirely lost, it's going to be a bumpy night. (Or is it a bumpy ride? Well, probably both.)

BEST.
Kai

[dbir]

I mounted mine to the tongue, welded on 2 small pieces of c channel, and then strapped the battery to it. Why there? it fit easily and boosted my tongue weight (pulling with a truck) Dual tanks also help keep the weight on the tongue where it pulls better.

[Timber Wolf]

On the tongue all locked up out of sight and out of mind: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f56/custom-nose-cone-and-storage-for-scamp-67478.html.

[DanielAG]

Pictures of battery box and batteries shown. I find it a lot easier to access the batteries when they are outside. Also use other side of box for tools.

[RogerDat]

the photo by dbir is typical. Two pieces of angle iron form a bottom and sides that the battery box sits in, the strap holds the box in place and the lid on the box. Some have the box bolted to the angle iron. I prefer strapped because I remove the whole battery box for storage in the garage.

You want about 10% of your trailer weight on the hitch, putting the heavy battery on the tongue helps in getting that desired weight distribution. Often water tanks and rear storage inside and outside on bumper can leave the camper tail heavy, which makes them prone to getting sway. Propane and battery put heavy in a good location.

Blasted things are heavy! I don't want to fiddle with trying to lower them into some under seat or slide them into cabinet storage. Drop that puppy on the tongue, connect it, strap it and done. If I do drop the battery outsdie.... hopefully it misses my foot. But it won't be smashing up the camper or spilling acid on stuff.

For a portable solar rig as others have mentioned it seems like it would be easier to hook up. My Scamp did not have one, or a place for one. As built it got power only from the TV.

There are batteries that are supposed to allow for inside installation, more money.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by honda03842

Personally I have never known anyone to locate their solar controller in the battery box. We'll soon know if people do.

I certainly don't worry about heat in the battery box, my trailer definitely gets hotter in warm weather.

Yup people do!

My solar controller for the Scamp is weather proof and mounted in a small box mounted to the side of the battery box - but I use a portable system so the small box is left partly open when solar is connected. Even when the panel is not connected the solar controller remains on and connected to the battery and it seems to have done fine in that little box for six + years.

On my new SOB trailer the solar controller is also weather proof & permanently attached to 2 - 6V batteries inside a metal battery box with lots of ventilation.

[KenjiFox]

Remote temp probes should always be used with the solar controller for longevity. This is because the required voltage for bulk absorption and float vary with temperature.

Do NOT put the charge controller in with the batteries! The gas from the battery(s) is extremely corrosive and will destroy the charge controller.
You also highly increase the risk of a horrible acid splashing explosion should a component spectacularly fail in the controller. Which is not at all uncommon.

Unless you have AGM or lithium, then throw it right in there and don't worry about it.
That said, lithium batteries should be inside the coach for multiple reasons.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by KenjiFox

Remote temp probes should always be used with the solar controller for longevity. This is because the required voltage for bulk absorption and float vary with temperature.

Do NOT put the charge controller in with the batteries! The gas from the battery(s) is extremely corrosive and will destroy the charge controller.
You also highly increase the risk of a horrible acid splashing explosion should a component spectacularly fail in the controller. Which is not at all uncommon.

Unless you have AGM or lithium, then throw it right in there and don't worry about it.
That said, lithium batteries should be inside the coach for multiple reasons.

Thanks for the info. Will have to contact the pro in California who did the new set up/install on my SOB the week prior to my picking it up to see why he felt it to be fine in that location.

[Bill Nolen]

Originally Posted by Darral T.

Here's a pic showing my battery/box factory mounted from Scamp. I'd build a metal box and weld it to the frame complete with a lock if I was paranoid of someone stealing my battery. I can tell you one thing, if they get mine, they're going to get a 6+ yo WELL worn battery

FWIW, I would not and WILL not keep a "car" battery (wet cell) inside my camper.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/50351683@N08/13991859062/

Darral, that's a good photo showing a nice simple installation!

Bill

[DanielAG]

Battery Box & tool box outside

[ZachO]

Originally Posted by honda03842

No one will every steal our solar panels unless they have a few hours. They are taped to the roof with double sided tape, very hard to get off.

I love the fact that they are always on the roof and virtually always charging, driving or parked.

Yep, which is why I said "portable". My panels are in my camper right now, because I decided to go into town for a few hours. Otherwise they're just set up on the ground outside my camper. Very easy to walk off with.

I do a lot of hiking straight from my campsite (one of the benefits of camping way out in the mountains/desert) and when I do that I usually leave them set up. My truck is still there so unless someone comes in to my camp and knocks on the door, they don't know I'm not there. But if I drive my truck somewhere and it's obvious that I'm not around, I pack them up.

[Martins HeirCon]

I have a group 31 in a boat battery box mounted on the tongue. The solar controller is housed inside a weatherproof switch cover I found at big orange. I like the way the battery box handle acts as a roof over the controller.



I like it on the tongue because I find that I need the weight there, and very much prefer it to be outside. My UHaul has the battery inside, and if I were to keep the trailer I'd remedy that.


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