Boondock Battery Charging

[njfishing]

This will be my first time Boondocking for more then 2 nights... We have two 6 volts wired in series and will be spending 4 nights. Not planning to have to run the furnace, AC or microwave. It will mostly be lights, water pump and will switch the fridge and water heater over to propane.

I have one of those small 700 watt Harbor Freight Generators I'll bring with me. Was going to bring my portable battery charger and plug it into the Generator to charge the batteries up when needed. I then got to thinking it might just make more sense for me the take my shore-power chord to the camper, put the 110 pig tale on it , plug it into the generator and let my onboard charger charge up the batteries.

The added benefit here could be as long as I'm on the generator, I could also use some other low amp/draw 110 things like the TV.

Anyone see anything wrong with my line of thinking here??

[ependydad]

There was just a discussion on the best way to recharge batteries from a generator. It basically came down to either external battery charger or using the camper’s built-in battery charger/converter (especially if you’ve upgraded it).

So longest story shortest- either way you’re thinking of will work.

I would definitely take the cord to the camper.

[njfishing]

Originally Posted by ependydad

There was just a discussion on the best way to recharge batteries from a generator. It basically came down to either external battery charger or using the camper’s built-in battery charger/converter (especially if you’ve upgraded it).

So longest story shortest- either way you’re thinking of will work.

I would definitely take the cord to the camper.

Thanks ependydad !!

[bikendan]

Only problem I see, is how noisy that HF generator will be!

[Flybob]

The onboard converter connected to the generator is generally your best bet. If your HF generator has a household 15A outlet on it ( most likely does) you only need one of these.https://www.amazon.com/Conntek-Male-...=15A+to+30A+RV

[njfishing]

Originally Posted by bikendan

Only problem I see, is how noisy that HF generator will be!

I hear you Dan This is private property we will be camping on not a public campground so not going offend anyone but ourselves.

[Spikedog]

Both. Use the charger and the onboard converter. You'll roughly double your charge in the same amount of time.

A 700 watt portable generator only comes with one outlet, right? Use a power cord splitter or dual wall adapter.

[njfishing]

Originally Posted by Flybob

The onboard converter connected to the generator is generally your best bet. If your HF generator has a household 15A outlet on it ( most likely does) you only need one of these.https://www.amazon.com/Conntek-Male-...=15A+to+30A+RV

Got one of those Flybob, thanks!

[Hersbird]

If two 6 volts won't last 4-5 days just using lights you have other draws. Bring the generator but you won't "need" it. We usually start ours for a 1/2 hour or so in the morning to make coffee and get some charge then. We have a super quiet 2000 watt inverter generator that goes into a even better eco mode to match load and still I hate the sound of it, private area or not. Our heater is what kills the batteries but it usually takes 3 nights just to drop voltage to about a 50% charge, 12.2 volts, which is where they say to recharge for maximum life. Without the heater I think they would last a month with just the water pump and LED lights. We disconnected the fridge door heater (.5amps) but haven't boondocked since.

[njfishing]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

If two 6 volts won't last 4-5 days just using lights you have other draws. Bring the generator but you won't "need" it. We usually start ours for a 1/2 hour or so in the morning to make coffee and get some charge then. We have a super quiet 2000 watt inverter generator that goes into a even better eco mode to match load and still I hate the sound of it, private area or not. Our heater is what kills the batteries but it usually takes 3 nights just to drop voltage to about a 50% charge, 12.2 volts, which is where they say to recharge for maximum life. Without the heater I think they would last a month with just the water pump and LED lights. We disconnected the fridge door heater (.5amps) but haven't boondocked since.

Thanks for that Hersbird... I will bring the genny and hope we don't need it....

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

Without the heater I think they would last a month with just the water pump and LED lights. We disconnected the fridge door heater (.5amps) but haven't boondocked since.

We just stayed in a hotel and left the camper in the parking lot for 5 days- with a propane fridge and parasitic draws (almost no lights or anything else used), my camper used 196 amp hours (~39/day).

[njfishing]

Originally Posted by ependydad

We just stayed in a hotel and left the camper in the parking lot for 5 days- with a propane fridge and parasitic draws (almost no lights or anything else used), my camper used 196 amp hours (~39/day).

Good to know, thanks...

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by ependydad

We just stayed in a hotel and left the camper in the parking lot for 5 days- with a propane fridge and parasitic draws (almost no lights or anything else used), my camper used 196 amp hours (~39/day).

I would look into what is pulling it down that much a day, that's almost a constant 2 amp draw. I was surprised the fridge uses .5 amps even on gas

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

I would look into what is pulling it down that much a day, that's almost a constant 2 amp draw. I was surprised the fridge uses .5 amps even on gas

Yeah, I think I’m going to pull fuses to see what’s going on.

My 2 weeks of boondocking starts in T-minus-5 days!

[chambo]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

We disconnected the fridge door heater (.5amps)...

I'm curious about this. Are you talking about the defrost cycle? If so, how do you disable that? I had that kill a battery overnight when boondocking. I've taken to power cycling the fridge every 2 days so the defrost cycle does not kick in.

[deartruc]

We boondocked for a week this summer. I bought a 100 watt solar panel which did a good job keeping the one 12 battery charged. Unfortunately the last 2 days were rainy. The battery went dead overnight during the last night. I ran the 3k gen for 3 hours the next morning with just the camper plugged in. After packing up we drove the 1/2 mile to the beach parking lot. Went to the beach for an hour or so. Dw went to the camper to make lunch. The battery had just enough juice to slide out the kitchen. Not enough to slide it back in. So, I'd recommend using the charger and not the stock converter.

[4B11T]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

I would look into what is pulling it down that much a day, that's almost a constant 2 amp draw. I was surprised the fridge uses .5 amps even on gas

My fridge pulls .7 amps with the door heater connected and .2 with it disconnected.

[Skyliner]

Converters are ok if you have the right one like a Progressive Dynamics product and it si mounted within several feet of the battery (ies).

OP with the HF 2 stroke generator. Just run it about an hour or two in the morning and about 1-2 hours in the afternoon and you won't have to worry about your battery going below 50%. The less you discharge your battery, the longer it will last. I very rarely go below 80% of my battery capacity when I boondock. I'm installing more batteries next Spring so I use 10% max of my battery capacity overnight.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by chambo

I'm curious about this. Are you talking about the defrost cycle? If so, how do you disable that? I had that kill a battery overnight when boondocking. I've taken to power cycling the fridge every 2 days so the defrost cycle does not kick in.

There is a heater that helps prevent condensation on the outside of the door? I add the question mark because I don't know the purpose but it is there and it runs on 12v anytime the fridge is turned on regardless of what "mode" it's in. So it's wired with the light. Pull the cover off the light, find the slightly heavier gauge red wire of the two and cut it. If your light still works you got the right one.

I also pull the fuse that powers the LPG/CO2 detector when I'm boondocking. I don't think it's a bad drain but for some reason mine starts to chirp on "low" battery when I still have 12.4 volts. Murphy's law requires that happens at 3 am. It reminds me I need to order a new self battery powered one because a LPG/CO2 detector isn't a bad idea in a camper.

[wharfrat48]

I always thought the onboard chargers were not very good. I have not had great success getting a charge out of mine.