Help with a battery decision.

[GoofyJohn]

I'm not new to popping up and certainly not new to camping, but I have absolutely no experieince running my pop-up on a deep cycle battery.

I'm prepared to run the frig on propane and we can use flashlights at night--not a problem.  But I'm really curious about running the furnace on the battery.  It's still pretty cold in the Northeast and I promised DW that I'd keep the popup warm.  We're planning to camp for two nights and run the furnace throughout the night (thermostatically controlled).

Do we stand a chance of the battery lasting?  I don't currently have a battery so I'm very interested in suggestions for amp-hours.

Thanks in advance for your help.

John

[flyfisherman]

I'm not new to popping up and certainly not new to camping, but I have absolutely no experieince running my pop-up on a deep cycle battery.

I'm prepared to run the frig on propane and we can use flashlights at night--not a problem.  But I'm really curious about running the furnace on the battery.  It's still pretty cold in the Northeast and I promised DW that I'd keep the popup warm.  We're planning to camp for two nights and run the furnace throughout the night (thermostatically controlled).

Do we stand a chance of the battery lasting?  I don't currently have a battery so I'm very interested in suggestions for amp-hours.

Thanks in advance for your help.

John

Here's an old site I've had for battery reference (hope it still works!)

http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm

Maybe it might give you an insight as to what you need.


Fly

[tlhdoc]

Welcome to PUT.  

As a general rule a battery and a tank of propane will last about a weekend.  I would recommend getting as big of a battery as you can.  I use group 31 batteries and they have a reserve capacity of 205 amp hours.  Where and when are you going camping?

[mike4947]

FLy, thanks for the link. We can never have to many 12 volt/battery links. I've added it to my favorites and it'll be added to my education links list.
 
 
Here's a couple more for John to help complete his 12 volt education:
 
http://www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm
 
http://www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volta.htm (page two)
 
http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/
 
There is an old standing joke about how it's a race between the battery and propane tank as to which one will strand you at 3am without heat...LOL

[mountainrev]

Two nights of the furnace running on a freshly-charged battery with a full propane tank should not be a problem.  I've done it many times.  Keep the thermostat at a reasonable range.  From my experience, the battery will run out long before the propane.

[GoofyJohn]

Thanks a lot for the help.  I appreciate your responses.

We have two trips planned this month: next weekend we'll be at Big Meadows campground in Shenandoah National Park and then a couple of weeks later at Codorus State Park.  We'll have A/C electric at Codorus, but no hook-ups at all at Big Meadows.

Thanks again for the information.

John

[Herbie]

I'm not new to popping up and certainly not new to camping, but I have absolutely no experieince running my pop-up on a deep cycle battery.

I'm prepared to run the frig on propane and we can use flashlights at night--not a problem.  But I'm really curious about running the furnace on the battery.  It's still pretty cold in the Northeast and I promised DW that I'd keep the popup warm.  We're planning to camp for two nights and run the furnace throughout the night (thermostatically controlled).

Do we stand a chance of the battery lasting?  I don't currently have a battery so I'm very interested in suggestions for amp-hours.

Thanks in advance for your help.

John

I just finished my shake out trip, weekend of 23 Mar 2007.  I ran on a Group 27 battery several years old (115 Amp Hr.).  This was one of my concerns, because I had not been on top of keeping it charge regularly over the winters.   I have a 1996 Colman Shenandoah, the heater ran abut every hour for about 10 minutes for two nights.  I did not use the fridge or water pump (fridge would use propane and water pump should not use that much power), but did use the overhead lights.  It was supposed to get to around 34 degrees at night.  I had no problem and still had power to spare.  I

[DoubleD]

DW and I went to the Colorado mountains last weekend.  As we were hooking up the PU to the TV, I discovered I had not disconnected the little white connector when we stored the PU 4 weeks ago.  I was pretty nervous about running out of power, and was considering my options when I called the dealer.  I explained what I had done, and he said that I had probably discharged the battery 30-40%.  He said to take it easy with running fans, lights, etc, and I should be OK.  I reminded him I have 2 batteries, and he suggested I run off one the first night, the other the second night.
The first night got down to 3 degrees, that is right 3 degrees!  The furnace ran almost constantly, but never ran the battery out.  I hooked up to the 2nd battery the second night, when the temps only dropped to 22 degrees.
Needless to say, we made it through the weekend on the remaining battery power, and the batteries are now getting charged by the Battery Minder.  I am glad that I have 2 batteries, but was very surprised that I hadn't discharged them more during the 4 weeks of connected storage.  I also remembered to disconnect the little white connector.

[mtjeeper]

I run dual batteries now (sometimes 3) and dual tanks. I have never run out of gas. I have only run out of battery once....once. The night before we watched 2 movies which really killed the single battery and running the heater that night is what finished it. That was the deciding factor for fabing a 2 battery holder to replace the single.

I know it is overkill but we enjoy a good John Wayne (salute :usflag: ) movie inside when it is cold and rainy outside.

DoubleD, where in Colorado did you camp? We're in Aurora. We are planning our first camping trip of the year in mid May. Thinking of peacefull valley out of boulder.

Matt

[DoubleD]

DoubleD, where in Colorado did you camp? We're in Aurora. We are planning our first camping trip of the year in mid May. Thinking of peacefull valley out of boulder.Matt

Matt, we are in the DTC, so we generally head out 470 and 285.  Nothing worse than spending an hour to get out of the metro area on a Friday night.  We went to Cottonwood Lake, above Buena Vista.  This weekend it is going to be Clear Creek Reservoir, about 13 miles north of BV.  We love the Collegiate Peaks area!  Can usually get to BV before dark, even pulling out of town at 5:00 Friday afternoon.  As the snow melts and days get longer, we will continue further west into the Taylor Park area.  We have learned to avoid the I-70 corridor at all costs.