Questions, our weekend wasn't good, need advice!

[lman2b]

So we went out for the first time this weekend in our Coleman Utah. Here are my questions:

The battery was charging on the way to the site.  We are in CO so the heater was a must at night. Our p/u has a bunch of lights, the fridge was running, and the water pump was running. We did not use the water heater. Last night, middle of the night, the battery runs out and we had no heat!!! We froze!!!  Is this normal? Since we used the lights, fridge, and water pump, was it normal for the battery to lose all its juice in less than 2 nights? Or was it maybe not charged enough? How long do you charge it before a trip? What is a normal battery time?

We had a terrible time trying to regulate the temp on the fridge, it was either too cold and froze everything or too warm. how do you get a happy medium?

Thanks! I can't think of any other specific questions, I'm sure I have more though. We are exhausted! We got no sleep after the battery stopped

[PJay]

This was your first time dry camping I am guessing.  The battery power is severly limiting and the more you draw on it the faster it will go down.  If your camper is new, they probably gave you the lowest quality battery available.  There will probably be others who will comment as to how long you charged the battery while getting to your site.  (ie length of drive)  For future reference, you can also back your vehicle up very carefully, and with motor running, recharge the battery for longer stays.
We have a family of five and find dry camping especially shaky as we know that each draw on the battery limits how long you will have power.  I think that we have gone three nights on battery alone, but we kept lights off, went to bed earlier.  I think we avoided cold nights as we knew that might be an issue.
As far as the fridge goes, we own a coleman bayside and also have fridge issues to some degree.  The very top shelf is where I keep what I don't mind freezing.  We tend to camp with both fridge and coleman extreme cooler.  I find that moving the fridge dial only slightly with each adjustment you will soon find the happy medium.  Even after 5 years of pop-upping we recently tried to scramble frozen eggs!  

PJay
2000 Bayside
Wife of AustinBoston

[AustinBoston]

So we went out for the first time this weekend in our Coleman Utah. Here are my questions:

The battery was charging on the way to the site.

Not necessarily.  If you are planning on dry camping, avoid driving with the fridge on 12 volts.  It can actually drain power from the battery, even though you have a charge line from your tow vehicle.

We are in CO so the heater was a must at night. Our p/u has a bunch of lights, the fridge was running, and the water pump was running. We did not use the water heater.

If you have a propane option on your fridge, use it when dry camping.  It will use zero (or very close to zero) electricity from the battery.  Most likely, if you left the fridge on battery power, it would have killed the battery in 3-4 hours or less.

The water heater also does not use battery power at all.

The water pump uses quite a bit when it runs, but usually only runs for short periods.

So that leaves the lights and the furnace.  The fan on the furnace can draw quite a bit of power, and if it runs continuously (as opposed to turning on and off) it will run you dry in 1-2 nights.  Make sure you turn it off when you don't need it.  If it runs all day while you are not there, it's just sending propane and battery out through the canvas.  Another tip: Dress warm!  The battery will last longer if the thermostat is at 55 than if it's at 70.

If you actaully use all those lights for extended periods, they can use as much power as the furnace.  Use only as many as you need, and only when you need them.

Last night, middle of the night, the battery runs out and we had no heat!!! We froze!!!  Is this normal? Since we used the lights, fridge, and water pump, was it normal for the battery to lose all its juice in less than 2 nights? Or was it maybe not charged enough? How long do you charge it before a trip? What is a normal battery time?

I suspect both over-use and under-charged.  Depending on the size of your battery and how you use it, battery life can vary from 1-2 nights to 5-6 nights, but the 5-6 nights is really pushing it with large batteries and very little demand.

We had a terrible time trying to regulate the temp on the fridge, it was either too cold and froze everything or too warm. how do you get a happy medium?

We're still trying to figure this one out.  The fridge temp is partly dependent on the outside temperature, which means if you leave it alone it can freeze overnight and be too warm in the day.

Rest well and get warm!

Austin

[ForestCreature]

[indent]

Originally Posted by lman2b
 So we went out for the first time this weekend in our Coleman Utah. Here are my questions:
 
 The battery was charging on the way to the site.     [/indent]
  Not necessarily. If you are planning on dry camping, avoid driving with the fridge on 12 volts. It can actually drain power from the battery, even though you have a charge line from your tow vehicle.

 You can also disconnect the battery for the drive, that way the 12 volt will be directly thru the vehicle and converter. Just be sure to unplug from the vehicle if you are making a long stop along the way (remember to plug it back in as you leave)
 Hook the battery back up once you are set up on site, and run the fridge on propane.
 
 A fridge fan like THIS
 will help cut down on freezing most items except lettuce and some veggies. We place ours on the center rack. If I don't want an item to freeze it does not go directly over the fan.
 
 Hope your next trip turns out better.
 

[Camping Coxes]

We have dry camped in Tahoe for 7 days and used our lights and water pump and ran out of juice during the last dish being rinsed (good timing, huh?).  As mentioned, run the fridge on propane.  I still don't understand how burning propane makes your fridge get cold, but it works, so that' s all I care about!  

After a weekend of camping we have a layer of ice on the bottom of our fridge.  They just work too well!  I use a fan, too.  I keep things that won't matter if they get really cold in there, vs. the eggs, which hard hard to scramble when they're rock hard!  
 
If your battery is old, it may not be holding a charge too well.  Since you're just starting this new venture, I'd probably go ahead and invest in a good quality battery so you know what you have.  It's kind of like doing an oil change on your newly purchased used car as soon as you get it so you know where you're starting from and when you need to do it again.

[AustinBoston]

[indent]  
 
 You can also disconnect the battery for the drive, that way the 12 volt will be directly thru the vehicle and converter.

Be aware that under some circumstances, this may be illegal.  Basically, if you are required to have breakaway brakes, and the trailer has electric brakes, disconnecting the battery disconnects the breakaway brakes.

Austin

[PLJ]

Invest in a cheap battery meter. You'll be able to tell how much life you have in your battery. Someone once posted a chart on this forum. If you plan on doing a lot of dry camping then definately invest in a larger better quality battery. It may make sense carrying along an extra charged battery.

I think on Tim's webpage he mentions something about having a guage on his camper showing the battery charge at all times.

The more you camp the better you'll get and it won't be too long until your the one giving us advice on battery saving tips

[ForestCreature]

Be aware that under some circumstances, this may be illegal. Basically, if you are required to have breakaway brakes, and the trailer has electric brakes, disconnecting the battery disconnects the breakaway brakes.
 
 Austin

Very good point. I tend to forget about those brakes, we don't have them.

[vjm1639]

Unless it's terribly hot or terribly cold, we seem to dry camp more than we camp at places with plug-ins.  We limit our battery usage as much as possible.  We use battery operated Coleman lanterns or the little touch lamps in the camper as much as possible and really try to limit turning the overhead lights on.   We also have one of the Coleman Black Catalytic heaters and recently picked up a Mr. Buddy also.   I don't like to sleep with these on but have found they will certainly get the camper nice and toasty before bedtime then we can just leave the propane heater on a low temp during the night.  I don't use the fridge at all if we don't have hookups. I'll just use the coolers.  
 
We now have a Honda generator so we really don't have to conserve as much as we use to since we're able to bring the battery charger but we still don't like to run it unless we just have to.

[hoppy]

Although we haven't dry camp in a number of years, I remember getting about 3-4 days of a FULLY charged battery if you conserve the power.

  First, run the fridge using the propane selection. The fridge running on the 12 V option will kill a battery in 4 or 5 hours. The heating element that is used to move the amonia gas solution in the fridge cooling process draws a large amount of amps. BTW, the water heater does not use any power, and only uses a small amount of propane....... so you can use this option when ever you like.

 Second, limit the use of the overhead lights as much as possible. Use rechargable flash lights and lanterns as much as possible. These can be recharged during the day using the 12 V ports in your TV.

  The water pump will draw a fair amount of amps, but are only using power while they are in use.

   The furnace fan will also draw a fair amount of amps. The furnace temperature should be set to run for around 10-15 minutes, and shut down for 20-25 minutes.

   Another suggestion is purchase a good battery charger for use at the home, and a good volt meter. You need to be certain that you start off with a fully charged battery to begin with. (about 12.75 volts) The battery should never be discharged more than 50% or about 12.25 volts. Also do not use the trailer battery to power the fridge during travel. Disconnect this battery, and allow your TV battery or the propane setting to power the fridge in transit.

   Just a couple of tricks conserving the trailer's battery can go a long way to making your camping trips more pleasurable.

    Determine the number of amp/ hours your battery can deliver, determine the amp draw of each of the appliances use per hour, and you should get a pretty good idea just how long the battery can last. Use the "Dry Camping" section on this forum for more advice regarding this subject.

   Hope the next trip goes smoother for you than the first one. They generally do as you gain more expierence with the operations of your PU.

[tlhdoc]

I use the refrigerator fan like Marcy has.  It does circulate the air in the refrigerator so that you don't get cold and warm spots in the fridge.

Two nights off of a battery is not unusual when running the furnace.  We don't run the furnace at night.  We have warm sleeping bags and use them like comforters so that the furnace doesn't have to run.  
 
I also have a power cord that I can plug into my PU and my TV if my battery goes dead.  Here is a picture of the cord http://community.webshots.com/photo/54009005/245197002TmYEfH
 
What size is your battery?  I have 3 group 31 batteries and if we will be using a lot of power I take all 3 batteries.  When traveling one is on the tongue and the other two ride in the PU in plastic battery boxes.  I put the spare batteries on the ground near the tongue and use each battery as needed.
 
To extend our battery I have installed one LED bulb in each of the over head light fixtures.  Here is a picture http://community.webshots.com/photo/54009005/245196321vCfZRa
The light is not as bright, but it is fine for general tasks.
 
Good luck and don't give up.

[beacher]

.....I also have a power cord that I can plug into my PU and my TV if my battery goes dead.  Here is a picture of the cord ....

I really like that!  I wanted to rig one up from Radio Shack parts, but I would not have thought that it was a Fleetwood option at one time.

[Dave Krahl]

What about the solar battery chargers? Does anyone have any experience with one of those.

[ForestCreature]

What about the solar battery chargers? Does anyone have any experience with one of those.

We use Solar, here is another thread that is about Solar
 http://www.arveeclub.com/showthread.php?t=54013

[tlhdoc]

I really like that! I wanted to rig one up from Radio Shack parts, but I would not have thought that it was a Fleetwood option at one time.

I don't know anyone else that has one.  I saw it at my dealers one time and decided I should get one.  I have never had to use it but, I think they are a great item for anyone with an electric water pump.  Even if you camp with electric, the power can go out and you no longer have running water.  With this cord you always have back up power.