Battery Cycling and Life

[Timber Wolf]

Originally Posted by Night Sailor

My goal for boon docking is to be able to carry 60 gallons. My goal is to make my camper more off grid full time capable--including four season comfort.

A larger inverter, a big lithium battery, and more solar panels would allow me to run more AC loads like a satellite TV w/DVR 24/7, a DC fridge, and also handle running my furnace and electric blanket more heavily. As a bonus I could also carry more water and perhaps distill water.

With a truck mounted camper couldn't you pull a smallish trailer with the extra stuff, but only when needed? Similiarly I have wondered about a water bladder in my truck bed for extended boondocking. I wonder if there are any nice bladders with internal baffles so a sharp turn would not pitch you off the road when the water rolled over.

[Ron Merritt]

No need to find an expensive bladder - you can get nice poly tanks at your local farm supply store that will fit in the back of a pickup. They are light too, so you can take them out when not in use.

You know, you could do the same with a battery pack - rig up something in a case to put in the back of your pickup to carry when you have those long boondocking trips. I've thought about building something into a wheeled Stanley toolbox.

My new trailer is coming with 4 - 6 volt AGMS in a slide-out tray. These will be fine for my use for a few years. Later, I can see upgrading this to lithiums and save a few hundred pounds.

There are some folks running air conditioning off an inverter in Class B motorhomes. Their battery banks are around 800 ah. You can get a few hours out of that before the autostart on a generator kicks in. To me, trying to make a system to run air conditioning is just a fools errand. Just too difficult and $ wasteful for a variety of reasons. If we all had fuel cells instead of batteries and generators, then maybe.

[Night Sailor]

Originally Posted by Timber Wolf

With a truck mounted camper couldn't you pull a smallish trailer with the extra stuff, but only when needed? Similiarly I have wondered about a water bladder in my truck bed for extended boondocking. I wonder if there are any nice bladders with internal baffles so a sharp turn would not pitch you off the road when the water rolled over.

My Uncle Tom has been recommended this to me as well. I have a small trailer and I'm not really using it for anything. I was thinking about making it into a fueling trailer for refilling my excavator. 5 gallon jugs is a PITA. It would be so nice to fill it right up with a pump.

So I have been thinking about putting a diesel tank in it and a smaller gasoline tank premixed for a chain saw, plus a mount for a pair of 40 lb propane tanks. If I can repair the genset, I might need another tank for regular unleaded. Lots of fuel and being on a trailer I can store it all away from the house.

So I have considered it. It would help with heating in the winter to have extra propane. Winter camping is rather nice because most places are empty.

Still, I'd prefer to avoid pulling a trailer. I want to stay as light as possible and still be able to park in a single parking space.

In any event, having a trailer set up for hauling extra stuff, adds flexibility.

Water bladders are a great idea. I looked at those. There are a few types. Nothing I've seen with baffles. If you have a water system and a winterizing valve there is a method to use your on-board pump to refill your tank using a short length of hose, a switch and another valve. Some people put pumps right on a five gallon portable tank. I'd like to try using a bladder tank in my generator compartment and a combination of these so I could refill without breaking camp.

Amazon sells AC powered distilled water maker--these cost between $200 and $500. 580 watts for a basic model. I'd like to test one of these out. My solar panels could handle that on a sunny summer day.

http://tinyurl.com/ozefjww