Dry Camping Assistance

[PopupSgt]

The family and I will be traveling next weekend for a concert retreat.  We would be using the camper Thursday evening~Sunday morning.  The only items that will be used in the camper is an occasional light at night and of course the newly installed furnace.  We will not be using the onboard pump system.
The furnace would only be used at night due to it gets extremely cold in the evenings in this open forum that we will be camping at.  Should I purchase an additional battery for this adventure, or possibly one of those jump start batteries with cables to supplement the current battery.
Any insight to prepare for this outing would be most appreciated.

[MtnCamper]

What I would do, If my battery is in reasonably good shape now..... Is to buy a second group 27 at Walmart. Take good care of it, and it'll last a long time. use it for extra power when you need it, If you have a good place to transport it, just hook it up with a set of jumper cables to the first battery, Then take it apart, bring it home and charge it right away. Same with your camper battery. Charge before you go, when you get home and once a month. Also unhook the propane detector so it doesn't suck the life out of the parked camper battery. This new battery isn't much more money, than a jumper pack, and will provide 3 times the power over a longer period of time.

If it's cold at night, turn the furnace down, put an extra blanket on and go to bed. Leave the furnace set low, and crank it up in the morning. Your water pump will only use about 3 amps, and each light bulb will use 1.8amps. So a double fixture costs as much battery as your pump, Furnace fan runs around 3 IIRC. So with the dual batteries, you can use pretty much as much as you want, just be a little conservative. After all there isn't a real need to keep the camper at 70 all night long. You'll have a good time!

[oldmoose]

I agree with MtnCamper. If you're dry camping more than 2 days, buy a second Group 27 battery and use the jumper cables. That's what we do.

Moose

[OC Campers]

My two cents worth, I don't think the jump start setup would last very long.
in addition a new marine battery really holds a charge well. I really like the jumper cable idea! Never really thought of that.
 
 
Randy

[Tim5055]

Sorry, I'm comming into this a little late - things have been hectic as we get ready to move.

I agree a second battery is probably the way to go.  The jump start porta packs are just not designed for the deep discharge that use in an RV will cause.

But, I will say with just a little more effort the second battery can be wired in with a quick disconnect, rather than using the jumper cables.

Check out my Adding a Battery web page.

Dry camping is a lot of fun!  Who knows, you may begin to feel that campgrounds are just too confining and move out into the National Forest.

Good luck

[PopupSgt]

Thanks for all the help, I will purchase a group 27 battery from Wal-Mart and conduct the wiring.  I am unsure if I will have room on the tongue of my camper to place another battery box, I will have to check.  If not then the idea of using the battery with jumper cables is definetely a possibility.  Again thanks for all of the help.

[whitestar505]

Hey Guys

Where are you mounting the second battery? With dual gas tanks and single bar weight distribution system on the tongue, there is no room or is there?

[PopupSgt]

Well I looked at the tongue of my camper & with the double propane bottles, the battery currently there, & the surge tongue I will not have enough room for 2 batteries.  Guess I'll have to go w/ the original idea that was given which was too bring a battery w/ me and use jumper cables to connect the 2.

[MtnCamper]

That will work fine, when it's warmer out, leave the second one home, no sense carrying it along, and no extra weight on the tongue.

[Gone-Camping]

While I have 2 Grp-27's on my trailer tongue, I rarely carry both unless I know I'll be dry camping. However, the fan from the furnace will eat a lot of battery, not sure how many nights you'll get out of the batteries. What I do is use the furnace only during the hours we're up. Once I'm in the sleeping bag, heat is no longer needed!!! When morning comes, the first person that needs to "GO" get's the priveledge of flipping on the furnace!!!

[tlhdoc]

If your 2 batteries not in the same condition the weaker battery will drain the stronger battery.  Use the batteries separately if they are not in the same condition.  I carry my spare battery in the PU and then put it by the tongue of the trailer when camping.

Have a great trip.

[David Roder]

Wow this is good stuff.  So being new to this, would you hook the second battery up right away with the jumper cables or would you wait till the first battery gets low on juice?

[Tim5055]

Wow this is good stuff.  So being new to this, would you hook the second battery up right away with the jumper cables or would you wait till the first battery gets low on juice?

If you are going to use the two batteries together they need to be hooked up together from the start, otherwise when you hook up the second one the "Full" battery will equalize with the "empty" battery.

If you are going to use them separate, hook up the first one and after it gets below a usable level, unhook it and hook up the second one.

Other than when charging, I keep mine hooked together all the time.  That way they are a single battery electrically speaking.  

I have found that with them hooked together I rarely get down to an unusable level.  This is a key issue, because it is more damaging to the battery the more you drain it.  Using them separate one battery will always be drained and the other one will seldom be drained.

[MtnCamper]

Hook them up right away, like Tim said, They will actually last longer as a team, than 2 individual batteries.