Hello Everyone. I am new to wanderthewest and the new owner of a 2004 Hawk. It is going on a Ram Ecodiesel 4x4 Crew Cab 6.4' bed. If it was designed for this truck, it could not fit any better. I used the forums do do research before I bought this camper and this forum has been extremely useful for research already.
This Hawk is pretty much the base model without options. The fantastic fan is the only electric accessory besides the lights. It has no battery. It is set up to tie/plug into the truck battery sytem. I don't like this - I often camp far from other people and would not want to drain my truck battery.
I would like to run this temporary setup past you experts. I plan to get a light weight sealed battery with about 30-40 Ah and install it in the camper without tying into the truck electrical for now. I would like to go on a few trips and see if we like this type of camping, before a fixed install / more Ah / starting to tie into the brand new truck wiring.
Here are my questions:
1) Is 35 Ah sufficient for 2-3 days off grid? The assumptions are that I am not running the fan and lights more than 2-3 hours on low. I plan on replacing the incandescent lights with LED. The fan runs about 1A on low and the lights can do 1A as well, if I dont' turn them all on at the same time. So combined runnign both fan and lights for 3 hours / day, I am looking at 6 Ah / day. I'd be about 1/2 into the the battery's rating by day 3 at 18 Ah. Does this make sense?
2) Is this a good battery to buy. (35 Ah) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K8E0WAG
3) Right now I plan to put a Marinco receptacle wired to the battery with a fuse. Then just plug the camper's stock Marinco male into the battery. This seems like it is an easy solution for my temporary needs. Does it make sense?
http://www.amazon.com/Marinco-Connect-Pro-Receptacle-Plug/dp/B000NI1BHU
4) I think the camper is all stock, including wiring. Does shore power put voltage on the camper plug - effectively charging the battery? If not, do I use a battery charger with shore power?
Again, I realize this is temporarly, but for now, I'd like to keep it simple until we figure out if we will go camping like this often. Then I plan on a fixed battery install, wired to the truck and also considering a solar panel, at least a portable one for extended trips.
Thanks!
George
This Hawk is pretty much the base model without options. The fantastic fan is the only electric accessory besides the lights. It has no battery. It is set up to tie/plug into the truck battery sytem. I don't like this - I often camp far from other people and would not want to drain my truck battery.
I would like to run this temporary setup past you experts. I plan to get a light weight sealed battery with about 30-40 Ah and install it in the camper without tying into the truck electrical for now. I would like to go on a few trips and see if we like this type of camping, before a fixed install / more Ah / starting to tie into the brand new truck wiring.
Here are my questions:
1) Is 35 Ah sufficient for 2-3 days off grid? The assumptions are that I am not running the fan and lights more than 2-3 hours on low. I plan on replacing the incandescent lights with LED. The fan runs about 1A on low and the lights can do 1A as well, if I dont' turn them all on at the same time. So combined runnign both fan and lights for 3 hours / day, I am looking at 6 Ah / day. I'd be about 1/2 into the the battery's rating by day 3 at 18 Ah. Does this make sense?
2) Is this a good battery to buy. (35 Ah) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K8E0WAG
3) Right now I plan to put a Marinco receptacle wired to the battery with a fuse. Then just plug the camper's stock Marinco male into the battery. This seems like it is an easy solution for my temporary needs. Does it make sense?
http://www.amazon.com/Marinco-Connect-Pro-Receptacle-Plug/dp/B000NI1BHU
4) I think the camper is all stock, including wiring. Does shore power put voltage on the camper plug - effectively charging the battery? If not, do I use a battery charger with shore power?
Again, I realize this is temporarly, but for now, I'd like to keep it simple until we figure out if we will go camping like this often. Then I plan on a fixed battery install, wired to the truck and also considering a solar panel, at least a portable one for extended trips.
Thanks!
George