Where to put battery for 10ft NCO?

[Land-roamer]

Hi all,
I'm just about to finally lift my 70's 10ft Alaskan Non-cab-over camper onto my Dodge 2500 truck this weekend.

I was wondering if anyone here would have advice on where to best put a deep-cycle battery to provide 12v to the camper when parked? I don't want to drain the engine batteries so figure I'll need another battery somewhere, charged by the engine while running, with some kind of battery isolator in the line. Eventually, that camper battery could also be trickle charged by a solar panel on the roof.

There's space between the inner side of the truck bed and the outer side of the camper base (which is 48" wide as you know), either in front or behind the wheel wells. At the front of the wheel wells, an access hatch in the camper provides access to those areas for storage etc.

I suppose if I was going to put the battery there, I should do so BEFORE I put the camper on the truck. Because I don't plan to take it off the truck anytime soon.

Anyway, look forward to your thoughts and suggestions if you have experience with these older Alaskan campers. I'm still a little new to truck campers period as you can see ... Thanks!

 

[MikeDahlager]

Hi all,
I'm just about to finally lift my 70's 10ft Alaskan Non-cab-over camper onto my Dodge 2500 truck this weekend.

I was wondering if anyone here would have advice on where to best put a deep-cycle battery to provide 12v to the camper when parked? I don't want to drain the engine batteries so figure I'll need another battery somewhere, charged by the engine while running, with some kind of battery isolator in the line. Eventually, that camper battery could also be trickle charged by a solar panel on the roof.

There's space between the inner side of the truck bed and the outer side of the camper base (which is 48" wide as you know), either in front or behind the wheel wells. At the front of the wheel wells, an access hatch in the camper provides access to those areas for storage etc.

I suppose if I was going to put the battery there, I should do so BEFORE I put the camper on the truck. Because I don't plan to take it off the truck anytime soon.

Anyway, look forward to your thoughts and suggestions if you have experience with these older Alaskan campers. I'm still a little new to truck campers period as you can see ... Thanks!


When I go on extended camping trips I put the camper battery on the left side ahead of the wheel well. I built a plywood base for the battery so it wouldn't slide around. I then made a harness which feeds through one of the factory holes in the bed and installed an identical plug to mate with the one on the camper. This works very well.

I am currently working on an LED light bar for the lean to we build each year at our elk camp. I will publish pix of the finished system and my materials sources next month.

 

[Land-roamer]

When I go on extended camping trips I put the camper battery on the left side ahead of the wheel well. I built a plywood base for the battery so it wouldn't slide around. I then made a harness which feeds through one of the factory holes in the bed and installed an identical plug to mate with the one on the camper. This works very well.

I am currently working on an LED light bar for the lean to we build each year at our elk camp. I will publish pix of the finished system and my materials sources next month.


Thanks Mike!
Yeah, you confirm my thought of putting the battery in front of the wheel well on the left, accessible by the factory access holes. I assume I'd have to have the battery in there BEFORE the camper is installed, or else I'd have to remove the camper to install it... I may need to go buy one today then, since I have someone coming tomorrow morning to help me put the camper on... Although come to think of it, that battery would sit there all winter while the truck/camper is in storage, which is probably not a great thing. I suppose I could always jack it up again in the Spring, and drive the truck ahead just enough to put the battery in, then back it up and re-attach the camper. Yeah, I think that's what I'll do... Then I'll have to figure out how to get the camper battery hooked up to the engine for charging. The hookup to the outside 12v connector at the front left side of the camper won't be an issue.
Will look forward to your pics.

 

[Land-roamer]

Quick followup. I had posted the same question on rv.net, and someone who used to own a similar Alaskan said it might make more sense to store the battery in one of the inner compartments under the benches (ie. not on the truck bed outside the camper footprint). He said this made it easier to check levels, take it in the house during cold weather, etc. Seems to make a lot of sense. Not sure there's any concern about acid or gas leakage if one goes with a high-quality sealed deep-cycle battery. Some of them can even be stored upside down from what I recall. ANy thoughts about that (storing it inside)??

 

[MikeDahlager]

Quick followup. I had posted the same question on rv.net, and someone who used to own a similar Alaskan said it might make more sense to store the battery in one of the inner compartments under the benches (ie. not on the truck bed outside the camper footprint). He said this made it easier to check levels, take it in the house during cold weather, etc. Seems to make a lot of sense. Not sure there's any concern about acid or gas leakage if one goes with a high-quality sealed deep-cycle battery. Some of them can even be stored upside down from what I recall. ANy thoughts about that (storing it inside)??


I store my camper and boat in a storage unit for the 4 months of snowy weather and bring the boat/camper battery to warm storage in my garage. I always store it on the plywood tray I built for the camper installation.
I have installed it both ways-prior to loading the camper and through the under seat access. I prefer to have it outside the camper because of the possible hydrogen discharge issue.
I haven't bothered with hooking it up to the truck charging system as I have never run the battery down enough to justify the setup. Yes, I am conservative with my usage but even on 11 day elk hunting trips I have yet to drain it down all the way.

Mike

 

[Rusty]

Robert, I keep an AGM deep cycle in the camper year round and before it goes out every year it gets charged up. Mine is under the passengers side bench seat. A few years ago I wired in a 120v outlet on the pass side just forward of the battery next to the water tank with intentions of installing a charger there, permanently hooked up with a relay. That way when you plug in the 120v on the exterior it automatically charges your battery. They've got some pretty refined charging systems these days and they'll keep a float charge on the battery.