Battery reserve rather than Genny

DMiller

DMiller

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2014
Location
Charlotte, NC
Long story short, been running a genny for awhile (1 year), its loud enough to be bother some, cant run it at night while sleeping. I like to camp because its peaceful, and as soon as I start her up, its like im back at work! Of course, you drown it out eventually, but when she shuts off, its soooo nice to have that consistent "HUM" gone.

Anyway, who all on here is running strictly from battery reserve?

Looking for a little bit of inspiration and some first hand experience from fellow campers.
 
I have dual parallel 12v group 24 deep cycles on our pop-up, LED inside lights. Have run only just batteries for a weekend with heater running at night never had issues, sucked down a tank of propane pretty quick though

( dual series 6v Trojans would be the better option as far as AH goes, but this works well for now )

Honestly, the only thing I'd want a generator for is to run AC if I was somewhere without hook ups. Other than the back yard, the only place we've gone with no power was Ocracoke NPS campground and you don't need AC at night most of the time (we haven't anyway)
 
We have a pair of Trojan 105s. The generator only gets used to run the air conditioning. But we don't have a big inverter or a bunch of Crap that we'd like to run of of it. If we did, we'd add a second pair of Trojans.

We can do a weekend of cold camping, easy.
 
shawn said:
We have a pair of Trojan 105s. The generator only gets used to run the air conditioning. But we don't have a big inverter or a bunch of Crap that we'd like to run of of it. If we did, we'd add a second pair of Trojans.

We can do a weekend of cold camping, easy.
Click to expand...
Please post link to said batteries.
The coach batteries are dead in my rv and need to be replaced asap.
TIA!
 
Good deal, so series 6v's at 225 ah per battery should get me 12v's and maximum of 450 ah? I am just doubling the ah due to running two batteries, is this correct math?

and I know 225 ah can only be reached at a small draw over a 20 hour time frame.... so its more of an estimate.


How often have you had to refill them?
 
DMiller said:
Good deal, so series 6v's at 225 ah per battery should get me 12v's and maximum of 450 ah? I am just doubling the ah due to running two batteries, is this correct math?

and I know 225 ah can only be reached at a small draw over a 20 hour time frame.... so its more of an estimate.


How often have you had to refill them?
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I don't think you get to add the amp-hours, because you have to double the voltage.

Mine don't get cycled that much, so I rarely put water in them. It's maybe a couple times a year.

@redneckcj5guy if you have a golf cart place around, you might get a decent price there.
 
Ah, yes, im cheating. if it were to remain 6v parallel, it would probably be close to double ah. 12v will make it 225 ah total.
 
* Hijack*
My coach runs two 12 volt batts hooked + to + .
-to - equals 12 volts in parallel correct?
Why would 2 six volt batts in series that equal 12 volts be superior?
School my dumbass.
 
redneckcj5guy said:
* Hijack*
My coach runs two 12 volt batts hooked + to + .
-to - equals 12 volts in parallel correct?
Why would 2 six volt batts in series that equal 12 volts be superior?
School my dumbass.
Click to expand...

Well, for starters: how many batteries do you have in total? I'm guessing one 12v regular car battery to start the motor, and two separate 12v batteries to power the house stuff. Sound about right?

There's nothing inherently better about running a 6V battery instead of a 12V battery. What's nice about the Trojans is that they're built to be put in golf carts and stuff. So they have great big lead plates in them, and they're designed to accommodate steady power needs over a long period of time, and be recharged over and over again. They are true "deep cycle" batteries. It just so happens that they make the 105HD which is a nice size, has decent capacity, and can be picked up for a decent price. It's just 6V, so you need two of them. And yeah, you have to connect the house negative to one battery, house positive to the pos on the other battery, then connect the two batteries together via the leftover pos and neg terminals. That's in series. In parallel means neg to neg and pos to pos.

Also, since we're on the subject: I have a main disconnect at the house batteries on the trailer. They get disconnected whenever the trailer is going to sit for more than a few days. Draining a battery down with a CO sensor or some stupid crap is going to kill it, regardless of how fancy it is. I also bought a "good" charge controller when our old one died. It's supposedly smart, pulse width modulation and all that crap, so the batteries should last longer.

All said and done, you would probably be fine to just go and buy a couple of big group 31 12v marine batteries from Sears or something. They'd cost you about the same as the Trojans ($125/ea?), provide about 200 AH, and you'd be able to buy new ones just about anywhere if the need arose. The Trojans would be "better" and might provide more power and last longer before needing replacement, but you'd also have to check the water levels, etc.
 
El correcto you are. Coach has two batts, chassis has it's own. Got disconnects on both.
Float chargers on each.
The coach (camper) eats batteries like hell even with religious maintainence. SP?
Like every year.
 
redneckcj5guy said:
El correcto you are. Coach has two batts, chassis has it's own. Got disconnects on both.
Float chargers on each.
The coach (camper) eats batteries like hell even with religious maintainence. SP?
Like every year.
Click to expand...

Are you keeping them on the float charger while it's "in storage"? Maybe that's part of the problem. Charge them up, then disconnect them and let them sit.
 
We get the 6v trojan batteries for golf carts and some lift truck applications at work from battery specialist in hickory, might be an option if you cant get any local.
 
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