rich
Contributors
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2007
- Messages
- 463
Hello Everyone,
We are back from a two week road trip which was really the shake down trip for our camper. I am running one 24 series deep cycle battery with the poor mans auxiliary charging system, just a 4 post solenoid drawing power from the windshield wiper motor so it only charges when the key is on. For a little extra safety when off the beaten path I put two quick disconnects in the system as a poor mans battery isolator. In established campgrounds I don't worry about it but for a little extra piece of mind in the back country I pop the hood and disconnect those two spots which means even if the solenoid fails the camper can't draw the truck battery down. The system worked great, even when stopped for 4 days with minimal heater usage the lights didn't even dim. However, one night in Death Valley we decided to set the thermostat and leave the heater on and able to cycle overnight. We woke up to a dead battery. My in laws were near by with a battery charger and generator so we just drove to them and charged back up. It was a good test. Also we found ourselves wanting to charge the laptop in places without shore power so I got thinking about an inverter. This left me with a few questions that you all may be able to help me with.
1. For those of you running two batteries and perhaps larger batteries are you able to set the furnace thermostat and leave it on overnight or is that always too much draw?
2. For those running hard wired inverters how many watts are you running and do you need to have two batteries to keep the lap top and phone charge draw from killing your battery?
3. I want to install a meter that gives me real time info about my battery charge. I know FWC and ATC install them in their new campers but has anyone found an aftermarket one that they really like?
Thanks for the help guys!
Rich
We are back from a two week road trip which was really the shake down trip for our camper. I am running one 24 series deep cycle battery with the poor mans auxiliary charging system, just a 4 post solenoid drawing power from the windshield wiper motor so it only charges when the key is on. For a little extra safety when off the beaten path I put two quick disconnects in the system as a poor mans battery isolator. In established campgrounds I don't worry about it but for a little extra piece of mind in the back country I pop the hood and disconnect those two spots which means even if the solenoid fails the camper can't draw the truck battery down. The system worked great, even when stopped for 4 days with minimal heater usage the lights didn't even dim. However, one night in Death Valley we decided to set the thermostat and leave the heater on and able to cycle overnight. We woke up to a dead battery. My in laws were near by with a battery charger and generator so we just drove to them and charged back up. It was a good test. Also we found ourselves wanting to charge the laptop in places without shore power so I got thinking about an inverter. This left me with a few questions that you all may be able to help me with.
1. For those of you running two batteries and perhaps larger batteries are you able to set the furnace thermostat and leave it on overnight or is that always too much draw?
2. For those running hard wired inverters how many watts are you running and do you need to have two batteries to keep the lap top and phone charge draw from killing your battery?
3. I want to install a meter that gives me real time info about my battery charge. I know FWC and ATC install them in their new campers but has anyone found an aftermarket one that they really like?
Thanks for the help guys!
Rich