Dry Camping

[JoshNelson]

I have a 2019 32DS and I dry camped in it for the first time with my four kids, wife and dogs. We only planned a two night trip but by the evening of the second day the batteries were dead right around the generator quiet hours time. We had run the generator maybe an hour each day. What’s everyone else’s experience? Should they drain that quick? Do you run your generator 5 or 6 hours if it’s draining them that quick? Or what’s your dry camping strategy? We weren’t doing anything too extra. Just lights and the fridge. No heater at night. Ran a tv for a couple hours using an inverter.

[kcmusa]

What is your battery’s amp hour rating?
What do you have running, lights, fridge, water pump, inverter?
A single battery won’t last long, things like the fridge on the inverter will typically suck it dry overnight.
Running your generator, it may take hours to recharge your battery fully.
Read this;
The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)

[PhilFromMaine]

Originally Posted by JoshNelson

I have a 2019 32DS and I dry camped in it for the first time with my four kids, wife and dogs. We only planned a two night trip but by the evening of the second day the batteries were dead right around the generator quiet hours time. We had run the generator maybe an hour each day. What’s everyone else’s experience? Should they drain that quick? Do you run your generator 5 or 6 hours if it’s draining them that quick? Or what’s your dry camping strategy? We weren’t doing anything too extra. Just lights and the fridge. No heater at night. Ran a tv for a couple hours using an inverter.

That seems to be about right. If you are dry camping, you need a larger battery bank. Generally speaking, you can mathematically determine the size of your battery bank based on your expected usage. To simplify, watts=amps x volts. If you are using lead acid batteries you may also consider the Peukert's law.

Add up the usage time per day (readily available on the WEB) of the appliances used and that is approximately equal to 2X the battery bank in amp hours needed. Extra amp hours are definitely a plus.

Actually, there are many worksheet calculators available on the WEB.

[robo44]

I have a similar 2019 33DS, we mostly dry camp. When purchased the coach came with 2 Lead Acid Batteries, that died just about the same as your experience.
Given the fact you have a good size family and electrical needs may exceed your bank

You may need to look into adding some capacity or additional.

Lithium Batteries (yes expensive but well worth the investment) Battleborn will allow you to pay off over time. and some solar would extend your dry camping experience without the generator.
The solutions are many, just need to come up with a plan that works for you ...

Took me 2 years of savings and planning to come up with my set-up but worth every penny -

Best of luck

[NMWildcat]

Two batteries for dry camping works fine for weeks at a time as we have been doing it for years.
But you do have to alter your power usage and recharging habits.
Get a battery monitor of some kind, even a multimeter will work so you have a general idea of your battery charge status.
If you have a residential fridge, then it's a whole 'nuther ball game and boondocking will be difficult. So I am assuming you have a 2 way fridge.
We average 5 hours of generator run time a day. This seems to provide enough charge even when using the heater at night. But we do turn the heater down, usually around 60. Usually a few hours of run time in the morning to make coffee and watch news. Then a few more hours at night for TV/movie watching. In between we sometimes use a small inverter for TV/satellite which draws about 110watts in our case.
We also replaced all regularly used light bulbs with LED and only use as needed.
We have started using a 200w solar suitcase to supplement the generator so run time is decreased if we want to.
It is important to not discharge your batteries too low, and recharge them immediately. Never let them sit discharged.
You can spend as much as you like on battery maintenance, or next to nothing, and be fine.
Happy RVing!

[ependydad]

I wouldn't say it's unusual. If you find that you're planning on more boondocking, a proper battery monitor was a must for me. It's so helpful to be able to pull up an app (or look at a mounted display) and see exactly what your state of charge is. That way there's no surprises right at quiet time.

I personally like the Victron BMV or SmartShunt:
https://learntorv.com/victron-battery-monitor/

[timfromma]

If these are flooded lead / acid batteries have you been adding distilled water regularly? If plates get exposed to air, your battery will be damaged.