Power issues

I still do not understand why FWC install "duel purpose batteries" in their campers. IMHO your batteries are not being fully and correctly charged. The Tacoma alternator will put out enough voltage and amps to charge an agm battery, but it will take time, depending on the amount of discharge. The guage of wire between the start battery, acr, and house battery makes a difference in what the house battery will actually receive reguarding charge. The arc can be set to a low open of 12.25 if so desired.
Your solar, depending on the set up will fully recharge your batteries. Remember "between 102% and 110% of the discharged ampere-hours must be returned for a full recharge" (http://lifelinebatteries.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/6-0101-Rev-E-Lifeline-Technical-Manual.pdf )
As others have said you need a monitor to properly track your charging such as a Trimetric or Victron.
I would also add that the Blue Sea ARC that is a better fit would be the https://www.bluesea.com/products/7700/ML-RBS_Remote_Battery_Switch_with_Manual_Control_-_12V_DC_500A but that's just my opinion based on my professional experiance.
Cheers,
Tim
 
broverlanding_tacoma said:
I have a 100 watt panel right now. I will be upping to a 300 watt system, which should provide more than enough in the florida sun
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300 should be plenty anywhere, but I would note that Florida sun/solar suffers from low elevation, humidity, and heat ;)
 
300 watts won't help you at night, 150 should be more than enough solar power for your battery bank. I wouldn't think that you are drawing much off of the bank during the day. And like CaptnM said, the Tacoma will not properly and fully charge an AGM battery. I ruined 2 Sears AGM's before I got solar and solved all my issues. Ron
 
Trying to understand state-of-charge from voltage readings alone is difficult. I recommend that you install a monitoring system, like TriMetric, that keeps track of and displays state-of-charge. If you do, I'm pretty sure you will discover that you don't have a problem.

I will say, once again, that the FWC scheme for charging a camper battery from a truck alternator by just hooking them together and hoping something happens will probably usually not result in much charging. Get a CTEK. With my TriMetric, I routinely see significant amperage (up to 20 Amps) going into the camper batteries at 14.2 Volts from the truck battery at 13.6 Volts. That can't happen if they are just hooked together!

- Bernard
 
Wow, hot topic! Pun intended :)

Monitoring is crucial. Your frustration is understandable given that it makes no sense, yet.

150AH is a goodly amount for what you have said you are loading it with. The guidelines for PV arrays is that they should have 2x the power that you are charging up, so 300w PV is a good number to aim for. That said, I have 220AH of battery and 265W of solar on the roof. The other day I noticed the camper batteries were down to 80% after a few days of camping in the shade. I moved into the sun at 3pm and by nightfall (first time I checked again) the batteries were at 100%.

The big problem with the battery separators and camper connection to the alternator is the wire size and resulting voltage drop. That's why Bernard likes his CTEK, and I put in 2g wire between my starting and camper battery arrays.

I've seen upwards of 70A going over that connection for 10 minutes or so before it drops down again. That would easily exceed max 32A allowed on your typical 14g trailer wiring. Plus which the ACR will sense the voltage drop and interpret that as meaning the source voltage is too low and disconnect the alternator just when you need it most. If you listen for it, you might here a click/click every few seconds as the VSR connects and disconnects.

I use this ACR as it give me manual control from the cab of my truck - and I can connect/disconnect at will.

From the monitoring I have been doing, when the batteries are almost fully charged I see 13.78v at the camper batteries. Once charged and "settled" overnight, that looks more like 12.8v at full charge.

I set my "low voltage alarm" in my Victron BV-702 for 12.2V, or approx 50% charge. I have yet to get anywhere close to that. :giggle:
 
So, to augment this, i forgot that i have an inverter plug in the truck bed

Decided to disconnect the camper, lift it, plug in an extension cord, run it to the other side, and put it in the nook next to the aft turnbuckle. With the 1000 watt selected, charges the camper via shore power perfectly.

Sooooo. With 300 watts of solar, battery and the truck itself. Dont think I have any issues now :D
 
broverlanding_tacoma said:
So, to augment this, i forgot that i have an inverter plug in the truck bed

Decided to disconnect the camper, lift it, plug in an extension cord, run it to the other side, and put it in the nook next to the aft turnbuckle. With the 1000 watt selected, charges the camper via shore power perfectly.

Sooooo. With 300 watts of solar, battery and the truck itself. Dont think I have any issues now :D
Click to expand...
So am I understanding this correctly, you are getting a high voltage charge from using the inverter in the bed (hooked to the shore power plug) than just the regular charging set up from the wires ran to the trucks batt?

Trying learn what's up, as I get my new fleet in a couple weeks, going on a 2011 Tacoma
 
MattC said:
So am I understanding this correctly, you are getting a high voltage charge from using the inverter in the bed (hooked to the shore power plug) than just the regular charging set up from the wires ran to the trucks batt?

Trying learn what's up, as I get my new fleet in a couple weeks, going on a 2011 Tacoma
Click to expand...

broverlanding_tacoma said:
So, to augment this, i forgot that i have an inverter plug in the truck bed

Decided to disconnect the camper, lift it, plug in an extension cord, run it to the other side, and put it in the nook next to the aft turnbuckle. With the 1000 watt selected, charges the camper via shore power perfectly.

Sooooo. With 300 watts of solar, battery and the truck itself. Dont think I have any issues now :D
Click to expand...
I'd like to understand that too. I'm thinking the key is knowing what this inverter plug in the truck bed is powered by. As it sounds now I am am envisioning an battery pack being charged by solar on the roof, then those batteries running the inverter to create 120v, which is then plugged into a battery charger that is charging the same batteries that are running the inverter.

That can't be right, so....
 
If the Tacoma AC inverter in the bed is being used to provide shore power to the camper, I hope the engine is running for the duration.

Paul
 
Vic Harder said:
I'd like to understand that too. I'm thinking the key is knowing what this inverter plug in the truck bed is powered by. As it sounds now I am am envisioning an battery pack being charged by solar on the roof, then those batteries running the inverter to create 120v, which is then plugged into a battery charger that is charging the same batteries that are running the inverter.

That can't be right, so....
Click to expand...
Many Tacomas (mine included) have a smaller inverter with an outlet in right rear of the bed as an option.
I am trying to remember, but I think they are only 400w when the truck is running (and 100 when not running)

So I am thinking that he is saying the camper will charge itself to a higher voltage using the inverter as shore power, than opposed to just using the truck alt. and the 12v system?
 
^ or possibly to "smart" charge.

Normally I rely completely on the alternators but on occasion I've used the camper inverter together with an iota charger to smart charge expensive agm house batteries while driving. Like any charging system this method has specific requirements to work well - including, in my version, circuit separation.
 
I look at battery power as sort of a tripod. One leg is how hot is it? If it's hot, the fridge runs a lot and the fridge is far and away the biggest user of power on most trips for us. The next leg is how sunny is it where the camper is? We have 200W of solar on the roof and the energy into the batteries varies quite a bit depending on shade, clouds and even level. The last leg is how much driving are we doing that day? Some days the camper sits and we hike from the campground other days we drive quite a bit.

The point (finally) is that if at least one of those legs is strong, the batteries will be OK -- maybe not indefinitely, but for that day they will be fine and I don't worry. If it's hot, we are parked in the shade and we aren't moving, then I worry about battery power and make plans to do something about it (like change the weather).

On our recent trip, we had three nights reserved at Zion NP and the weather was warm so I figured we might need to move the camper one day to a sunny spot if our site was shady. Turns out there is a secret fourth leg -- the CG had electrical hookups that I forgot about when making reservations months ago so no worries at all.

Alan
 
broverlanding_tacoma said:
It really doesnt matter at this point. I run 300 watts of solar and the two batteries
dont actually even have the truck connected
Click to expand...
Well then I guess we will quit trying to understand what you were talking about, because you don't do it now.
 
MattC said:
Well then I guess we will quit trying to understand what you were talking about, because you don't do it now.
Click to expand...
its just a matter of normal usage 150AH isnt enough to really do much without a good recharge method. thats all.

but yes. You can plug your camper into the truck bed inverter and charge your camper while driving.
 
broverlanding_tacoma said:
its just a matter of normal usage 150AH isnt enough to really do much without a good recharge method. thats all.

but yes. You can plug your camper into the truck bed inverter and charge your camper while driving.
Click to expand...
Ah, that makes more sense now. Thanks for clarifying. So, while driving, you are generating enough power to run the inverter, which then runs the onboard IOTA with IQ4. The advantage of this is you are able to use the charging logic of the IQ4, and if the vehicle alternator isn't putting out enough VOLTAGE to charge the batteries, then you can do it this way.

Cool.

I took the truck/camper out for a drive today and noticed that the solar on the roof actually charges BOTH the camper and truck batteries when the sun is out (even though it was cloudy), and sometime the current runs the other way, from alternator into the camper batteries, all depending on the engine RPM.
 
Vic Harder said:
Ah, that makes more sense now. Thanks for clarifying. So, while driving, you are generating enough power to run the inverter, which then runs the onboard IOTA with IQ4. The advantage of this is you are able to use the charging logic of the IQ4, and if the vehicle alternator isn't putting out enough VOLTAGE to charge the batteries, then you can do it this way.

Cool.

I took the truck/camper out for a drive today and noticed that the solar on the roof actually charges BOTH the camper and truck batteries when the sun is out (even though it was cloudy), and sometime the current runs the other way, from alternator into the camper batteries, all depending on the engine RPM.
Click to expand...
Its not really a matter of the vehicle not putting out enough, but the diminutive wire size used to connect the camper to the vehicle. Useless IMO. I disconnected my camper from the vehicle after running some tests.

CougarCouple said:
Hi b_t
How many batteries in the camper, sorry reread and not sure if it's one or two.
Russ
Click to expand...
two batteries
 
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