Wiring a Goal Zero battery to house lights?

[OffTheGridMaps]

I purchased a 2005 Eagle this spring that did not come pre-wired for a house battery, and (so far) I have not had the truck battery wired to connect to the camper umbilical. I checked with a semi-local vendor and they quoted me about $500-600 to purchase the AGM battery and do the other wiring and install.

We don't have anything that "requires" a battery (no heater, no fantastic fan), it would just be nice to run the house lights, charge some portable devices, run a USB-powered fan, etc. The previous owner gave us a Goal Zero solar panel, so I was wondering if it is possible to instead buy a Goal Zero power station and (somehow) wire that GZ battery into the house lights?

What would it take? Is it possible? Anyone done it before?

 

[HughDog]

I recently did a similar setup.

You will want to first track down the different connection point(s) for the lights If they are not already daisy chained to one line.

Look into Anderson Power Pole Connectors from amazon after you decide how many connections you want / need - Make sure you properly match the gauge the wire to the connector. Also - there are anderson power pole panels available too - but doubt you need to get fancy if you are just running lights.

If the lights are not all on the same line, but you already have your liner off or panels down, I'd re-wire using some splicers and chain them all into one line with one connection point into the GZ (its nice just to have one wire hanging out of the ceiling corner).


Also - You probably want to decide what GZ battery to get based on draw rate of the power you will actually have, . . . My non technical guess is that you could run your lights for a really really really long time w/a small GZ powerplant mated with that panel you got . . . Keep in mind that you may want room to grow and consider the benefit of an over sized battery.

At the end of the day, make sure that the power plant that you buy will accept the solar panel plug and the anderson connectors (As I'm not sure about the smaller GZ's port connects).


To put into some perspective, I run a 37 Quart ARB fridge constantly. Fantastic Fan sometimes, and led lights from a GZ yeti 1000 w/ a small 100 Watt panel . . . I have infinite power on trips - assuming there is sun . . . Though you can do a lot w/an AGM or other battery setup for a lot cheaper, I did the GZ because I have other portable uses.


Feel free to reach out w/any other questions. Good luck -

 

[longhorn1]

Kimbo campers uses goal Zero and their solar panel on their campers. I purchased a Goal Zero lithium 400. The portable goal Zero solar panel has a connector that matches the goal Zero power pack. I would suggest contacting goal Zero. I purchased the power pack as a back-up for our home and as a back-up in the camper. I can charge the power pack with their 12-volt plug while driving or with the solar panel. jd

 

[Mark G]

In my 2000 Eagle I changed my lights to LED and run them for a long time on an 8 pack of D batteries. I run my fridge and charge USB stuff off a solar panel and controller. Very simple and low maintenance.