Posted 2008-04-02 1:35 PM (#80975 - in reply to #80967) Subject: RE: Setting up Battery Power for Trailer - How many?
Expert
Posts: 5870 Location: western PA
My weekender LQ has a single battery with a solar charger. My full sized LQ has two batteries. It depends on how long your continual usage will be. You will not be able to run your microwave or water heater off a battery; any 110 V using an inverter will greatly shorten your battery life.
Posted 2008-04-02 2:05 PM (#80978 - in reply to #80967) Subject: RE: Setting up Battery Power for Trailer - How many?
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 383 Location: Texas
At least two. I would try to find the two biggest golf cart (6v) batteries you can and hook them parallel if you can..... that's what the 5th wheel and rv bunch do. Of course the more batteries (and bigger) you have the longer you can go between charges. The fridge is going to eat battery power like there's no tomorrow running on 12v.
Posted 2008-04-03 5:57 AM (#81018 - in reply to #80967) Subject: RE: Setting up Battery Power for Trailer - How many?
Elite Veteran
Posts: 662 Location: Vanzant, Missouri
My trailer is all city hookup for water /elec. So at a campground with hook ups I'm good. Now rough camping I carry a 65 gal water tank on the truck that I have a flow jet pump hooked up to one battery that runs the water pump. The rest I run off of a Honda 3000 generator....It runs everything else without a problem. I can't run ac & microwave at the same time though .I'm not self contained at all...
Posted 2008-04-04 8:57 AM (#81140 - in reply to #80967) Subject: RE: Setting up Battery Power for Trailer - How many?
Charter Member
Posts: 251 Location: Holland, Tx
Ah....yes I left off the AC, but I didn't plan to ever run it from the battery power.
I do plan on getting a generator mounted pretty quick as well, but won't always plan to turn it on if I'm at something local and small. Just having the ability to turn the lights or water on inside will be nice.
Posted 2008-04-04 6:29 PM (#81201 - in reply to #81140) Subject: RE: Setting up Battery Power for Trailer - How many?
Veteran
Posts: 216 Location: Chillicothe, Ohio
Did you get an good answer to your question? If I understand your original post you are wanting to run a fridge and water heater from 12volt batteries. This is not going to be practical due to the huge power draw required to heat water. There are some small 110volt fridges on the market that use a new Danfoss compressor that is extremly effecient. These are still 110vac and you would need an inverter of sufficient size but still the fridge is only going to run for a limited time on 12 volt battery power unless you are considering hooking up several batteries. You can do your own research on batteries, and there are several ways to go but for the cost using two 6volt golf cart batteries available at most any battery supplier including SAMS clubs is one of the best setups. Keep in mind that you must perform water maintenance on these batteries. However they will last much longer than typical "deep cycle" marine batteries. If you are thinking about just running a fridge and water heater for a couple hours at a show it might be possible to run these off say 4 batteries and a large enough inverter but I would suggest you spend the money on ...propane powered RV appliances. With the following setup, you can camp indefinitly without hooking up to shore power or running a generator assuming you dont need Air. If you need Air Conditioning you are going to have to be hooked up to shore power or run a generator. One 80watt solar panel, two 6 volt golf cart batteries (4 if you have the space) wire these up in series so they provide 12volt, if you use 4 wire up 2 pairs in parallel. All your lighting will be 12 volts, your water pump will be 12 volts, you can use a small 400watt inverter to power up a small color tv, your fridge will use propane except for the controller power using 12 volts, your water heater wont use any 12volts if you have a basic unit with a pilot flame, some of the fancy remote control models will use 12 volts. We have this setup in our lq and can camp for weeks with our 2 kids. If you just need enough time for a one day show you certainly dont need the solar panel. You can't sit inside with all the lights blaring and a flat panel tv running but you can sit outside with a coleman lantern hissing around a campfire eating smores, then take a hot shower, and watch the news before turing in. FYI this webpage has some good practical info for battery power: phrannie.org
Posted 2008-04-05 3:42 PM (#81274 - in reply to #80967) Subject: RE: Setting up Battery Power for Trailer - How many?
Charter Member
Posts: 251 Location: Holland, Tx
I really don't plan to run anything off the batteries except lights and occasionally the water pump if I want to wash my hands or something simple like that. I want to have power inside for those days when I am hanging out in the trailer w/o running the generator. It was previously advised that I don't rely on the batteries of my truck for that, which totally makes sense.
Other than those small items (or for plugging in my laptop to charge or cell phone charger - which I do rarely) I will rely on the generator or shore power for everything else.
For the next year or two, the plans for this trailer include everything from hauling to one day shows to staying in it for up to 4-5 days (thankfully I haul a lot by myself as it will get pretty cramped). I don't hang out in the trailer much (unless I have a migraine) so I don't need the batteries to do a lot....and even when I have a migraine, I promise I won't be utilizing much electricity inside....I sleep a lot at those times.
Setting up Battery Power for Trailer - How many?
