A different twist on more battery life?

Rad

like most here, I love the T@b, but need to find ways to extend some of the features that limit its use when not on full hookups.  

I can can solve some issues, such as an extra propane tank and h2O in the tv. I can even solve black and grey  waste capacity with any one of the aftermarket rolling waste tanks. 

However, extending battery use time is a bit more difficult.

Going solar is big on the cool factor, but it appears to be a good chunk of change for a limited amount of recharge.

The generator option sure would work (been there with my previous rv) other than two things, min $1,000 investment and then you have the noise.

I read about a guy on another forum that solved the issue for himself by having a second battery in the TV that was wired into the tv's charging system.  This way he always had a charged spare battery to swap into his rig.  Driving around doing tourist things during the day kept the spare battery charged.

It appears to be a logical idea, with less start up cost, depending on the TV wiring issue.

I'm considering it.  Anybody here doing something similar?

Nomad

Don't quite understand the "limited recharge" for solar.

As long as you have some kind of sun - even light/medium overcast you're getting a charge - even a little under a full moon. If I didn't have a couple bigger draw items, I'd ditch my generator.
I've never actually unplugged the solar to see how long my battery would last but a lot depends on what you have running. A guy in a little scamp down the way claims three days on a full solar charge. Said he had a $180 special deep cycle battery, not a hybrid deep cycle (don't know what that means or what he has)

Rad

PXLated said:

Don't quite understand the "limited recharge" 

I have zip solar experience, I'm going off what I read here and on the solar panel web sites.  Comments like, 2 amp hrs added in 8 hrs of charging on a cloudy day.  Even Zamp recommends 2 type 24 batteries or a single type 27 for best use of their 80 unit. I have, like most here, a single Type 24. 75 or 80 amp hrs at best.

You could be correct, a solar system could work for me, but I worry because I think we will use a bit more than most boon dockers.  This is because my wife has very limited mobility due to her MS so camping for her is mostly about being in or around the rig.  I get her around a bit in her wheelchair when on a good surface, but most of her day and night involves reading and watching TV. It is really as close to nature as we can get her.  She is a real gamer and it is fun to camp in a remote spot and let her enjoy the experience.  

I will do a bit more research on the solar thing

Thanks

jkjenn

Rad, not all solar panels and chargers are equal. It can be a little overwhelming, but worth it to investigate. I was able to get enough juice in little time to charge a dead battery enough to take a shower and have lights as well as another time enough to keep the fridge running on propane. In your case, if you can keep your panels out of the shade and go with more than 200 watts of panels, you should be able to pull it off.

I also keep a couple smaller back up batteries charged for accessories like cell phones, my Surface Pro 3, and camera batteries that are very easy to recharge in my TV while I am out exploring or via solar.

Lastly, I do leverage some  lighting that does not run off of the T@b. I find that in particular, the light above the sync really drains the battery fast.

mash2

Rad, my initial solution for the power was to run two wires from a battery box to the 7 way hookup to the tow vehicle.  When I wasn't towing the tab, I plugged in the second battery to charge it up.  I attached a photo of the "device" (hopefully the setup is self evident).  If you go to solar at some point, I'd recommend two batteries anyway so if you think through what a solar system might look like you could get a matching battery (assuming your current one is not too old...they should be relatively comparable batteries if you run in parallel.  
  

BTW, there is some discussion and photos over in the Yahoo group.  Here is an excerpt from the electrical folder....

Get a couple of 10 gauge wires, put a 7 pin plug on one end, hook it up to the 12v+ and 12v- connectors

in the plug, get a couple of medium sized alligator clips to hook to the other ends of the wires. Remember

red is +Pos and black is -Neg.

Plug the 7 pin plug into your tow vehicle, run the wire through the bottom of your hatch, door or window in

the back of the vehicle and attach the clips to the battery. Be sure the battery won't slide around in the

back of the vehicle and drive.

Or you could look at the cool photos in the- *Electrical -photo album here in the photos by "issimo” &

“grovesttab" and build a battery box with built in connectors and shutoff switches.

I quit using when I went to solar.  I waited til I found a deal on solar panels and added 136 watts with the controller for about $230 a while back.  

Hopefully this helps.   I could get you a bit more information if you need it.  It definitely worked (though switching heavy batteries can get a bit old).

Nomad

It all comes down to figuring out how much power one needs over what period. What stuff you need to run aun and what that takes.

Like others, I have auxillary lighting (battery powered) so am not using the main lights too much at night when reading. The ceiling fan seems to draw a lot so I only use that during the day when getting solar. If you forget to turn off the porch light at night you'll be low in the morning - done that way too many nights.

Deltaboy59

I think the most simple upgrade is to switch to an AGM type battery, ie Lifeline ....it will extend your service... last longer...and not add any significant weight or space. You can daisy chain them and add one inside the cabin since they are vent free. Can still charge from your TV.

leenscottfl

Something that I haven't seen discussed is the practice I have noticed of charging from the TV while the T@B is set up for camping. My question is, how long does it take for the TV to power up the stock Group 24 battery when the TV is plugged in with the 7 way and idling? Yep, I imagine it will depend on the battery and the TV's capabilities. But is it feasible to do?

Mercator

leenscottfl said:

Something that I haven't seen discussed is the practice I have noticed of charging from the TV while the T@B is set up for camping. My question is, how long does it take for the TV to power up the stock Group 24 battery when the TV is plugged in with the 7 way and idling? Yep, I imagine it will depend on the battery and the TV's capabilities. But is it feasible to do?

I think you would be better to turn the TV around and use jumper cables from your TV to the T@B house battery.  Much faster and more efficient than using the thin charging wire through the 7-pin plug.

jkjenn

Mercator said:

leenscottfl said:

Something that I haven't seen discussed is the practice I have noticed of charging from the TV while the T@B is set up for camping. My question is, how long does it take for the TV to power up the stock Group 24 battery when the TV is plugged in with the 7 way and idling? Yep, I imagine it will depend on the battery and the TV's capabilities. But is it feasible to do?

I think you would be better to turn the TV around and use jumper cables from your TV to the T@B house battery.  Much faster and more efficient than using the thin charging wire through the 7-pin plug.

Would this be bad for battery life? I am thinking it would be.

Mercator

jkjenn said:

Mercator said:

leenscottfl said:

Something that I haven't seen discussed is the practice I have noticed of charging from the TV while the T@B is set up for camping. My question is, how long does it take for the TV to power up the stock Group 24 battery when the TV is plugged in with the 7 way and idling? Yep, I imagine it will depend on the battery and the TV's capabilities. But is it feasible to do?

I think you would be better to turn the TV around and use jumper cables from your TV to the T@B house battery.  Much faster and more efficient than using the thin charging wire through the 7-pin plug.

Would this be bad for battery life? I am thinking it would be.

If the house battery needs to be charged it can take the output from your TV alternator, just like the TV battery can take the charge. 

jkjenn

Yes, but wouldn't you want a tender or charge controller?

Mercator

jkjenn said:

Yes, but wouldn't you want a tender or charge controller?

Your TV alternator does control the charge. It will 'see' the low battery and increase/ decrease output as required. 

Deltaboy59

OK...does anyone know about how long it would take to charge the RV battery by directly connecting TV battery with jumper cables ?
This is just a great common sense thing to know in tight situations.
Also would you let the TV engine run and how long ?

Mercator

Deltaboy59 said:

OK...does anyone know about how long it would take to charge the RV battery by directly connecting TV battery with jumper cables ?
This is just a great common sense thing to know in tight situations.
Also would you let the TV engine run and how long ?

Like everything else - it depends.  What is the output (in amps) of your alternator.  If you know who many amps have been used in the house battery and you know the rate of charging (in amps) into the battery it is easy to calculate how much time it will take.  And, yes you would need to leave the TV engine running in order for the alternator to be working.

leenscottfl

OK so far I see that it is better to run jumper cables from the TV to the house battery. With the unknown variables the length of time it would take to power up the battery is yet to be determined. One of those things I'll just have to try. This is just a stop gap while I decide to go with generator or solar. The way I am leaning is that you can do anything with a generator that you can do with solar. Plus the ability to run a/c. And my guess is charging with generator takes less time. Big problem is that after a lifetime of tent camping I hate generators!

Mercator

leenscottfl said:

OK so far I see that it is better to run jumper cables from the TV to the house battery. With the unknown variables the length of time it would take to power up the battery is yet to be determined. One of those things I'll just have to try. This is just a stop gap while I decide to go with generator or solar. The way I am leaning is that you can do anything with a generator that you can do with solar. Plus the ability to run a/c. And my guess is charging with generator takes less time. Big problem is that after a lifetime of tent camping I hate generators!

I also dislike generators in a campground.  Rather than run your generator to shore power and through the converter to charge your house battery, another trick is to get a fast smart charger and run that to the house batteries.  It will take less time to charge your house battery than through the converter - thus less generator run time annoying the neighbours.

mash2

In the short run, maybe you could keep an AC battery charger in the car.  When battery gets low, hook up the charger to an inverter in the car and see how long it takes to recharge the battery (with car running).  Should give you some idea of how long you need to charge the battery.  That was my approach early on, but that's a while ago and I don't recall (I started swapping out for a second battery that was charged when I drove around pretty early on).  

Nomad

"Rather than run your generator to shore power and through the converter to charge your house battery"
There's an accessory cable for the Honda 200i generatory for connecting directly to your battery.

Solar vs generator - Solar's a lot lighter to set up - Realized just how much easier today when I broke the connector plug on the solar and had to haul out the gen.

Deltaboy59

In the Deep South where temp and humidity can reach the 90's regularly during RV season, the AC is a must, so a generator is the only way to go for me... Until they make an AC that can run on solar. My battery will charge while the AC is running at night. 

Nomad

Air Conditioning - That's the only reason I bought the generator - Don't like to haul it out though. I suppose if I was staying in one spot for more than a day or two it'd be a different story though.