Battery

[swenny]

We've been out 4 times so far and always had electricity at our site. We will be camping soon in a park with no hookups. As a newby to trailer camping could you tell us how long a battery will last on a full charge if we use it for the 12v pumps, occasional light and in hot weather our fantastic fan. We own a 16' Scamp with a standard marine battery supplied. A generator does not sound very appealing to us. Buy an extra battery? We will be camping 4 days and nights. Would it last that long before a recharge?


Thanks

[cpaharley2008]

stop by Harbor Freight and pick up a 45 watt solar panel, that should keep you battery charged every day

[Thomas G.]

You should know that if you run your battery more than 1/2 way down, it will damage it. So you need to keep an eye on the voltage to gauge the battery state of charge.

You can use something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Equus-3721-Bat...oltage+monitor

Or if you are handy, this:

7 Function Multimeter

Good reference: The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)

[Darwin Maring]

Thomas, I have one of these and it is well worth the money.
http://www.amazon.com/Equus-3721-Bat...oltage+monitor

[swenny]

Thanks for the info. I think I will try that solar panel hookup.

[Roy in TO]

There are a lot of threads discussing solar panels. Some very good info to read before you buy. those by peterh and others come to mind.

[Carol H]

If the battery has been run down more than a few times to below 50% or if its more than 4 years old it isnt going to last long - a day or so. One that is new or older but has been well maintained is a different story.

I dry camp a lot with only one battery. But I have replaced all the standard lights with LED replacements. I use LED headlamps at night if I am going to be reading to save power. I have a 16' scamp as well and run the fridge on propane. The water pump uses a little bit of power but not a great deal and I only run the Fantastic Fan as really needed. I can get by 4 days without having to plug in the solar.

[john warren]

as long as you go light on the fan usage you will have no problem mine went about two weeks like that. take jumper cables along and if you need to you can disconect the battery and charge it from your tug

[KevinScamps]

change the light bulbs to LEDs. The lights tend to suck a fair amount of current.

[kayleigh0302]

When I can afford to upgrade to solar I'm going to do that. I have a float charge but thats worthless until I get home so its been suggested I should let my car charge it as I drive what is the feed back on this? How quick could it charge it back up

[Orcus79]

It fine to charge it from the car while you drive, as long as you have the correct wiring. How fast it charges depends on the size of the battery, and the size of your alternator. to get a good charge an minimum of an hour of driving should do it.

For a brand new battery though, I highly suggest getting a quality battery charger and charging it that way before you leave.

[Perry J]

A ebay Ramsond 50w panel, $155.00 bid should buy it, and a controller are not much more expensive than the bulky, very heavy Harbor Freight set up.
My first solar experience was with the Harbor Freight set up.
I used it once and lost money selling it in a yard sale.
John