will this work?

[ae6black]

I will be the first to admit that I am no electrical genius. I know enough to be dangerous. I don't even have my Casita yet but already getting through the winter by thinking through my application and future needs.


1. I want to be able to disconnect my battery and probably either carry it inside the garage or in the house and put a battery tender on it for the winter months. I'd try leaving it in place but that didn't work out so well on my previous travel trailer. I didn't get that one hooked up to house shore power often enough and ended up killing the battery prematurely. Even although I tried to hook that other trailer up to shore power every two or three weeks, the battery still ended up going completely dead a few times. If I left the battery tender on the Casita where I have to park it all the time, it would just get stolen. On this new Casita, I am wondering if a little house custom Anderson Connector kit with the circuit board, matching red anderson connections, rivets and brass nuts could be placed between the wiring harness and the battery to help facilitate this operation and help keep the battery from going dead because of residual current load caused by that co sensor and who knows what else might draw current.


2. Secondly, I would like to also install another "grey plug" anderson connector directly to the battery that would just sit in the battery compartment that I could attach to my Renogy 100 Watt solar suitcase when I was boondocking, something I like to do about two or three times a year. The grey anderson plug matches the plug on my Renogy suitcase. From what I've seen there just isn't room for hands to attach the alligator clips that came with my solar suitcase to the battery terminals. I would think having that spare anderson plug hooked up to the battery would enable me to charge with the solar suitcase when I was out boondocking.



Am I thinking this through right?


Art

[John in Michigan]

Art, what you are proposing in (1) and (2) would work. Another common solution for eliminating battery drains while the camper is in storage is to install a cutoff switch.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by ae6black

..and help keep the battery from going dead because of residual current load caused by that co sensor and who knows what else might draw current. ..

I would (and I did) install a battery cutoff switch that disconnects the battery from everything so there is no drain on it. Then you only have to top off the battery every 2-6 months, and that takes maybe a day.

Originally Posted by ae6black

2. Secondly, I would like to also install another "grey plug" anderson connector directly to the battery that would just sit in the battery compartment ...

Assuming it was high enough rating it would work but in the battery box, corrosion would occur. It would be faster with a regular wet cell battery and slower with a AGM. But corrosion would occur with the battery post connection anyway, therefore maintenance and occasional replacement would be called for regardless. I guess it makes sense if you have to remove the battery very often due to theft risk, but for keeping it from discharging the switch is the better option IMHO.

[ae6black]

Please elaborate about the corrosion part of your comment. Do you mean the connections to the battery is where the corrosion would occur? Another possibility for connecting that solar power cable could be to the block where I assume the disconnect cables would be mated to the wiring harness.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by ae6black

Please elaborate about the corrosion part of your comment. Do you mean the connections to the battery is where the corrosion would occur? Another possibility for connecting that solar power cable could be to the block where I assume the disconnect cables would be mated to the wiring harness.

Sure.. I could.. but others have better than I could. Here is one good explanation (its about cars but still applies):

https://chaseautomotiverepair.com/20...orrosion-safe/

The corrosion on the battery posts would also occur to the connector I am sure. But its just a part of maintenance, and one of the reasons I switched to an AGM battery.

[CarlD]

Art,


I have a Renogy Rover MPPT solar charge controller which I picked because I have a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) type battery. I can provide details for this selection if you wish. The Rover instructions state that the battery must be connected to the controller prior to connecting the solar panel. I am installing a disconnect switch on the battery and on the solar panel. The battery switch is a 2 pole (2 independent circuits) and the solar panel switch is a single pole. Regarding the battery disconnect, I connect one pole between the battery and the trailer loads and the other pole between the solar panel and the charge controller. This insures that the battery is either connected at the same time or prior to the solar panel being connected. Bear in mind that other solar controllers may be different. Check your manual!


Carl

[Mike_L]

I'm not quite sure if I understand you correctly but here goes.


I sometimes leave my trailer in the back country unattended and am concerned about theft of my battery and solar panels so I need to be able to remove both quickly and easily. My solar panels came with a plug (connection) for installation to my trailer wiring harness that fits the plug on the solar panels. I installed alligator clips on the connection intended for connection to my trailer wiring harness and plugged it into the connection on my solar panels. This gives me a quick way to hook up the trailer battery or any other battery I may need to charge such as tow vehicle etc.


I'm not sure where your corrosion is coming from. The threaded connections on your battery should be stainless or some other corrosion resistant alloy. The lead posts shouldn't corrode unless acid vapor is leaking up from the battery.


A battery tender can be hooked to your battery and left to maintain it for long periods of time, that's what they are used for. It's best to disconnect the battery from the trailer's wiring harness when you store your unit otherwise the gas detectors and other things will continue to draw power.

[ae6black]

I saw a post in Little House Customs that a kit is available that I think would work for my application. Does anybody know if they are still in business? I was talking to a salesman at Casita and he mentioned that someone down the road from them that did a lot of modifications on Casitas went out of business. According to the salesman, Casita is now offering some of these conversions themselves. This wasn't little house customs was it? I am not from Texas and really don't know the lay of the land down there. I just saw their website and thought they had some pretty great offers on it. I even placed an order with them. My Paypal account says that they were paid. But I've never had anybody answer the phone when I've called their shop.

[Borrego Dave]

Art, I believe that LHC only closed down the in house shop work and possibly the in the field work/mods, but the sales portion is going strong. My first dealing with LHC was online with questions that Larry answered. I was very surprised to receive the items I had asked about a few days later. Called Larry to say I hadn't ordered/paid yet. All he did was chuckle and said he figured I needed them ASAP so he sent them out. PayPal got him squared away within minutes . I always check LHC first for parts. BTW, I have the LHC red connector you're asking about, works great.

[ae6black]

Dave, did you have to cut away much of the original wiring to mount the block that LHC supplies in their kit? Since I don't have the trailer in my posesssion yet I am only guessing at what I want to do to make this work for me. There isn't any danger of hitting anything with the rivets when attaching the block is there? I mean with the both doors open you can see what's on the other side of the battery compartment before you start drilling holes? Would there be room on the battery or would the block that they sell work better for attaching an auxiliary lead for hooking up a solar panel?


Thanks in advance,


Art

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by ae6black

Dave, did you have to cut away much of the original wiring to mount the block that LHC supplies in their kit? Since I don't have the trailer in my posesssion yet I am only guessing at what I want to do to make this work for me. There isn't any danger of hitting anything with the rivets when attaching the block is there? I mean with the both doors open you can see what's on the other side of the battery compartment before you start drilling holes? Would there be room on the battery or would the block that they sell work better for attaching an auxiliary lead for hooking up a solar panel?
Thanks in advance,
Art

Didn't have to cut any wiring to mount the block. I'm guessing you're talking about the inside door on the bench face. I think I looked through there for clearance and there was plenty. Being the battery box is small, I used an angle drill with a short bit. I'd run pigtails off the block for the solar which is still on my list of things to do. To me, the whole point of the disconnect plug was the battery lugs are just about impossible to get to for anything without pulling the battery out.

[LarryB.]

Connection for the solar panels notwithstanding, here is what I did to maintain my Casita’s battery. After my Casita was in storage for about 10 weeks, I found that the propane/CO2 detector had effectively killed the battery requiring me to replace it.

I installed one side of an anderson type connector to the replacement battery using 6 gauge wire and then installed the other side of the connector to the black, white and green wires in the Casita's battery compartment. For the connections to the battery, I used waterproof marine butt connectors for the battery post connections. The connections to the butt connectors and the anderson type connector were crimped and soldered.

When I put the Casita into storage, I remove the battery and put it in a place of honor in my heated basement. Then I connect a trickle charger to the battery posts to maintain it.

Pictures:




Parts List:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.harborfreight.com/15-amp...ner-99857.html