DONE!!! Finally, a battery, any advice?

[jakelaw]

I am finally going to go legit with a real battery system for our PU.  For those who have done battery mods of any kind, do you have any advice?  I already know I am getting a grp29 battery,other than that, any advice on wire size, cut off switch, in-line fuses, etc.  I wil be doing the install this next week and will fully document the whole thing and post pics.

[CAPEd CODger]

The best place for good, detailed info is here: http://www.title-3.com/Battery.htm

This information and instruction is done by our own Tim5505.

This battery mod was also gone over in a past issue of Pop-Up Times Mag.

Good luck.

Bob

[wavery]

The best place for good, detailed info is here: http://www.title-3.com/Battery.htm

This information and instruction is done by our own Tim5505.

This battery mod was also gone over in a past issue of Pop-Up Times Mag.

Good luck.

Bob

Good article.

There is one draw back to two 6V batteries. If one battery fails (and it will), you have no 12V system. It takes both 6V batteries to make up your 12V system. Your system will not work off of one 6V battery.

If you are using two 12V batteries and one fails (and it will), you still have the other battery and are able to continue using your 12V system.

[lwbfl]

What about going from no battery to a battery system?

[jakelaw]

lwbfl, That is what I am doing.  Since no one is really answering my question, I am going through my massive bookmarked list of peoples web sites with their battery mods.  I will document my install with pics and info and post it in my pages as well.  So far it is going well.  I think I should be done by Thursday or Friday.

[wavery]

You're right. We really didn't answer your question. Sorry about that.

here is a copy of an earlier post that I made to someone else, about a week ago:
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If it were me (and it's not), I would install a battery (in a plastic battery box) on the trailer tongue, with a 45a circuit breaker right to the positive post. I would run a 8g neg battery cable directly to the frame from the neg battery post. I would then run the 8g positive battery cable (from the circuit breaker on the battery) inside and attach it to a well protected battery post (make sure to protect the wire, where it passes through any panels). Attach a couple of in-line 15a fuses , all in a protected box. You can run that positive wire from the fuse to any accessory that you want. You can also add as many fuses as necessary. The key is to have all of your positive connection in a well protected box so that nothing can touch that pos post. They make special panels for that job but they are expensive (pretty) and do no more than what I have just described.

If you are wiring lights (for instance), run a pos wire from the light to a fuse. Run a neg wire to any good ground or directly to the frame. Make sure that you label each fuse (as to what it controls).

If you buy a generator (which I would recommend) you can also get a 25a Smart battery charger (for under $50) that will run off of the generator. That will charge your battery. You can also run a 10g extension cord from the generator to the PU and add a power strip as you mentioned.

That will totally set you up for dry camping. If you camp where they have electrical hook-ups, you are set as well. Instead of having the converter (which I think is a joke IMO) just leave the battery charger hooked up.

You could even install the battery charger inside the camper permanently. Put the charger near the power box. Run the pos connection to your "fuse box" and the neg connection to the frame. Plug the charger into your power strip and every time that you have 110v (generator or shore power) your batteries are being charged.
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I hope that helps.

[jakelaw]

Wavery, I am using almost exactly what you described.  I canabalized some 8ga wire from a set of jumper cables.  I am only using a 30 amp in line fuse, but I can allways put in one bigger.  The power line goes to a main power switch that will turn on all of the lights if I want it to.  The switch is an automotive dash type that is rated for 30 amps and has a red led to help locate it.  Power then goes to the fuse block where the lights, porch light, water pump and fans go.  The fuse block has 10 amp fuses in it, which is what I have now and has worked well for us.  I am completely bypassing the converter for this mod, and may even take it out.  It is the old original one anyway.  We never use shore power, and if we go anywhere where there is, I will probably take the charger if needed.  I expect to get fully 10 days out of my battery maybe more based on what I currently use.  I should have the whole deal done bu Thursday and will post a bunch of pics and detail when I do.

[jakelaw]

OK, looks like I am done with my most extensive mod!! Check my new page at the PUX gallery for the battery mods. I think it turned out well, let me know what you think.

[wavery]

OK, looks like I am done with my most extensive mod!! Check my new page at the PUX gallery for the battery mods. I think it turned out well, let me know what you think.

Good job

I think that you might want to consider taking an extra battery (fully charged) if you're going to dry camp for 10 days.

[jakelaw]

I won't be bringing another, but I did leave my old 12v plug system in place so we can use our battery jumers if needed.  Those together have 50 amp hours and have given us 5 nights total before.  So I fugure a grp 29 with a reported 160 AH should do us just fine for 10 days.  I will report back after the trip in July though.

[jakelaw]

OK, now I am done with all of the captions on all of the pics. Sorry they were not there before. There are just a lot of pics.