Battery life

[dloase]

We are dry camping this weekend. Arrived Saturday afternoon and set up. Woke up this morning at 6:30 by the alarm on my refer going off. No 12 volt power.

So here is my question for the dry camping experts. How long is it reasonable to expect the battery to last dry camping. We have tried to be conservative with power draw.


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[dloase]

Fortunately we are camping with my brother in law. Just jumped off his toy hauler and charging the battery.


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[WhittleBurner]

Aside from all the great info Jamey gave you, when dry camping during set up use all the landing gear and extend slideouts while stll plugged to your tow vehichle and it running. Those items are a huge draw and will eat a nice bit of juice that can be used while camping. If possible let the truck run after set up while still plugged to it for a few mins to help the charge get back up. Unplug and enjoy the rest of your time.

 

[dloase]

Thanks whittle burner. Did not do that. Lessons learned for next trip


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[dloase]

Thanks. Got that part down. Safely home and time for another question. It is posted in plumbing


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[r_dwalton]

In the future you may want to look at using 2 6V batteries. The hold their charge better and have a higher amp hour rating than you deep cycle 12V batteries. They are more expansive but the last a lot longer than 12V Batteries. I had 6Volts batteries in my last trailer and they were still good after 6 years and possibly lasted longer if they hadn't frozen.
I could not get more than 2 or 3 years on the 12V batteries.

 

[LCBoyer]

If I were going to use 2 batteries, I think I'd use 2 12VDC batteries rather than 2 6VDC batteries. If 1 6 VDC battery goes bad you are out of business

 

[r_dwalton]

2 12V do not do the job any better than a single. I have tried both ways and the 6V still out performs. Talk to a battery distributor if you want confirmation. I have not had any problems with 6V

 

[LCBoyer]

2 12 VDC will have 80% more reserve than 1. 2 6 VDC batteries same size will have about 85% more reserve than single 12. I one 6 VDC battery fails, you are out of business. If one 12 VDC battery goes bad,,you can take it off line and get by.

 

[Cate&Rob]

I'm with LC on this. You can install as much Ah reserve as you want in either 6V packages or 12V packages, but how long it will last, comes out the same. In a small system, 12V packages (batteries) gives you the ability to isolate a problem battery and still have 12V. I always run on one battery and keep the other isolated as the spare. Unless I want to use the inverter . . . then I need both batteries in parallel to give me the same current potential as two 6V batteries in series.

As to freezing a battery . . . this is not possible if the battery is kept charged. A fully charged battery has a freeze point of -70F. A completely discharged battery has a freeze point close to that of water at +32F.

Rob