Boondocking with hydraulic levelers and slides

NCBBA11043 · 05-03-2020, 07:29 PM

Not sure if this is the right forum, but it is electrical related. I've got (2) 6V golf cart batteries (Trojan T105) and they do a great job. I haven't done any hardcore boondocking, but have a concern on the current draw for running the hydraulic pump for leveling and/or slides. Typical draw is 30-40 amps for a short duration. Has anyone considered using jumper cables from their towing vehicle to the trailer? Maybe even disconnecting the trailer battery during this? Just thinking of ways to save the run time on the batteries. Any ideas?

SlowrideHD · 05-03-2020, 07:41 PM

That's what I have and I generally just make sure that my static voltage on my battery bank is at least 12.05 volts before I get ready to break camp, ie; run my three slides in and bring my jacks up. I have done it with less voltage but be aware that the lower your voltage, the higher the amp draw of the hydraulic pump.

I have a Honda 2000i for backup power if I had to have it.

A32Deuce · 05-03-2020, 10:18 PM

I used a jump box one time for my levelers just to see if it would work. This is the same jump box I use for loading and unloading cars on my car trailer.

NMWildcat · 05-03-2020, 10:33 PM

We usually either hook up the generator or the TV plug when moving the slides or auto leveling/retract all, just to help out a little. The main thing is to have fully charged batteries. We have 2 series 27 that works well for us while boondocking.

lmiken · 05-03-2020, 10:37 PM

I have had to go the other way. My truck would not start, so I used the trailer battery to jump my truck.

Then went to town a found my truck batterys were dying and replaced them. They were old and a cold winter probably did them in

TitanMike · 05-04-2020, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NCBBA11043

Not sure if this is the right forum, but it is electrical related. I've got (2) 6V golf cart batteries (Trojan T105) and they do a great job. I haven't done any hardcore boondocking, but have a concern on the current draw for running the hydraulic pump for leveling and/or slides. Typical draw is 30-40 amps for a short duration. Has anyone considered using jumper cables from their towing vehicle to the trailer? Maybe even disconnecting the trailer battery during this? Just thinking of ways to save the run time on the batteries. Any ideas?

The key part here is "short duration". If you draw 30-40 amps from a good battery bank for let's say 2 minutes total (use whatever time it actually takes to run in/out slides or level) the actual amount of power used is only about 1.3 amp hours. (40*2/60) As long as the batteries are charged and in good condition the use you are asking about won't really kill the total run time of the batteries.

It's the lower current draws that go for hours on end like TV, DVD, furnace, lights, etc, that draw down the batteries the most.

FlaNative · 05-04-2020, 10:04 PM

Agree with NMWildcat: use the TV plug or generator. The worst thing you can do is have low voltage at the hydraulic pump. The low voltage will kill the pump motor over time, or any electric motor for that matter.

extremebike · 05-05-2020, 08:06 AM

Hi

I boondock and I also have hydraulic slides and levelers. I also have two 6 volt AGM and before that I ran two group 27 marine batteries.

i can tell you I had no issues. Now having said that I drive 2 hours with fully charged batteries before the levelers and slides are deployed. I do not charge the same day but I make sure to charge the next day fore sure.

I have the trailer charger/converter turned off at the fuse and use an automatic car charger at 25 amp charge rate so the charging is a lot faster. The AC current needed is just over 2 amps so I also plug the trailer into the inverter generator so the DW can do her thing inside.

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NCBBA11043 · 05-06-2020, 09:02 AM

Thanks for the input everyone. One thing I'm confused about is making sure the tow vehicle is plugged in. Those 7 wires are probably in the range of #16-#14. No way would they support a current draw of 30-40 amps.

NMWildcat · 05-06-2020, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NCBBA11043

Thanks for the input everyone. One thing I'm confused about is making sure the tow vehicle is plugged in. Those 7 wires are probably in the range of #16-#14. No way would they support a current draw of 30-40 amps.

You are right, they don't. But they do supply a little extra charge that can make the difference if your RV batteries are a little low. There have been times when we need to leave very early (before we recharge batteries with gen while boondocking) and batteries are low and the low voltage indicator will come on if I try to raise the hydraulic levelers to hook up the truck. Plug in the truck, and all is well. So now we are in the habit of never operating the hydraulics w/o the truck being plugged in, the generator attached, or plugged into shore power.

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