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Old 10-20-2016, 12:34 PM   #1
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16 ft Option for 2nd battery from AS Dealer?

I've not yet bought my 1st every RV (it will be early next year and a 2017 Bambi 16') and I'll definitely be boondocking and have the AS Dealer install the solar panel option.

However, the AS website does not list a 2nd battery as an option (like it does for the even smaller Basecamp and of course all the larger AS'ssss). I've read how many on this forum modify their battery box for a second or larger group battery and for 2-6v batteries (which is what I prefer).

Do you know if AS Dealers will offer 2-6v Deep Cycle batteries or even a 2nd Lead Acid battery as an option THEY install or will I have to use another company to modify the battery box after purchase?
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Old 10-20-2016, 01:51 PM   #2
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Hi and welcome!

I doubt they will offer anything different in way of batteries for the calendar year. Your dealer may work with you, but it would not be a factory option and you end up paying for both the battery it came with and the one(s) you upgrade to.

On our 2015 16' sport I just added another identical camco brand battery box. It was able to sit right beside the other. Simple install, but it was still a group 24 size.

Good luck!
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Old 10-20-2016, 05:22 PM   #3
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Yup, Kinda thought that might be the case, Thanks for the info Matt.

I'll just be sure to make my 1st AS camp trip a short 2-3 day and fairly close to home to get a feel for what I would drain in the battery and what would replenish from daily solar charging.

Then I'll research adding the 2nd identical battery box as you've done,
Cheers, Dino
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Old 10-20-2016, 05:52 PM   #4
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This is what I did to our 16' Bambi when we purchased it.
We do a fair amount of boondocking and the extra capacity is a gift!
Bruce

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f345...ons-89021.html
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Old 10-21-2016, 12:20 PM   #5
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16 ft battery option

Go on any web site for semi truck battery boxes and they have them for group 27s.
Move your propane tanks to where your battery is now and install the new box where tanks was from factory. Also put a shut off switch between battery's and trailer. It worked on my 2014 Bambi and 2 years later they are still holding up without having to keep a charger going all the time and I am running two battery's. Sorry I don't have pictures.
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Old 10-21-2016, 07:12 PM   #6
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Has anybody ever thought of going to one large batter, 4 or 8 to replace to small size batteries and cost less?
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Old 10-21-2016, 07:17 PM   #7
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Has anybody ever thought of going to one large batter, 4 or 8 to replace to small size batteries and cost less?
I'm curious...did you read post number 4 of this thread?
Try the link!
Bruce
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Old 10-22-2016, 05:44 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by NorCal Matt View Post
Hi and welcome!

I doubt they will offer anything different in way of batteries for the calendar year. Your dealer may work with you, but it would not be a factory option and you end up paying for both the battery it came with and the one(s) you upgrade to.

On our 2015 16' sport I just added another identical camco brand battery box. It was able to sit right beside the other. Simple install, but it was still a group 24 size.

Good luck!
We did exactly this with our new 16' Bambi Sport. Second battery/two battery case installed at an RV dealer......ahh....not Airstream as matter of convenience.
We wanted the extra battery "longevity" as we rarely camp with services.
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Old 10-26-2016, 11:13 AM   #9
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So Matt and Bruce (or anyone),
I've been reading tons on this forum but maybe you guys can tell me directly:
How many days can you camp without hook-ups or generator on your 1 or 2 batteries?

If I don't use the microwave (propane and outdoor cooking only) LED lights at night, water pump, maybe 1 fan all night, charge an ipad and 2 phones, and maybe, maybe, maybe watch a 2 hour dvd, how many days do you think we can AS-camp before the battery should be turned off until I charge it?

thanks!
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Old 10-26-2016, 11:43 AM   #10
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I had colonial put in a 80 watt panel and upgraded to a lifeline group 27 battery. I have never been close to running out of power. The tv is never used and we don't run the fantastic fan all day. We have a 2010 16 sport. In fact its almost always fully charged by mid afternoon the next day.
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Old 10-26-2016, 06:48 PM   #11
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So Matt and Bruce (or anyone),
I've been reading tons on this forum but maybe you guys can tell me directly:
How many days can you camp without hook-ups or generator on your 1 or 2 batteries?

If I don't use the microwave (propane and outdoor cooking only) LED lights at night, water pump, maybe 1 fan all night, charge an ipad and 2 phones, and maybe, maybe, maybe watch a 2 hour dvd, how many days do you think we can AS-camp before the battery should be turned off until I charge it?

thanks!
I installed a battery monitor to keep track of amps used, some items might surprise you! My iPad Pro sucks up 1 1/2 amps by itself when plugged into a 12 volt socket! It all adds up...

The group 4D has about 200 amp hours available in total but you should never discharge below 50% if you want the battery to live a long life.

Our Bambi also has a 60 amp solar panel that helps a bit. It isn't enough to really recharge the battery but it helps slow down the discharge...

We just returned from a week of boondocking on the coast of Maine. With our Bambi tucked under some trees, the solar was essentially out of the picture. We used the propane furnace, water pump, inverter (for coffee!), lights and charged phones and multiple iPads. We you about 2 days of this use before the batteries were at about 60%. Then it was about 5 hours of Honda EU 2000 generator time to get back to about 85%.
Without the furnace, we'd get a bunch more but we both like being warm and it was in the high 30's and low 40's.

You can actually do a decent job figuring out amps used by multiplying amp draw by number of hours the device is on.. there are tables online to help you if you poke around. A battery monitor makes it easy.
Bruce
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Old 10-27-2016, 04:27 AM   #12
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Tow Vehicle Alternator For Charging - Dry Camping

Why do so many dry campers carry around a heavy generator, like a Honda 2000, which only puts out 8 amps at 12v DC and the aggravation of needing to carry fuel? You can hook up to your tow vehicle 7-pin with the engine running! I can get 160 amps from my high output alternator at about 2,000 rpm (or 110 amps at idle.) If I need a faster charge I can use jumper cables from the TV directly to the coach house battery. This method is much quieter and more efficient. You can even upgrade to a 240 amp alternator that can put out 140 amps at idle for about $400.
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Old 10-27-2016, 04:38 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by Adventure.AS View Post
Why do so many dry campers carry around a heavy generator, like a Honda 2000, which only puts out 8 amps at 12v DC and the aggravation of needing to carry fuel? You can hook up to your tow vehicle 7-pin with the engine running! I can get 160 amps from my high output alternator at about 2,000 rpm (or 110 amps at idle.) If I need a faster charge I can use jumper cables from the TV directly to the coach house battery. This method is much quieter and more efficient. You can even upgrade to a 240 amp alternator that can put out 140 amps at idle for about $400.
You don't use the generator straight to the battery. Run it through the AC shore power line and let the Airstream converter convert to 12v. Faster charge that way.
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Old 10-27-2016, 04:42 AM   #14
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This should be helpful.

http://www.advodna.com/2015/02/consi...ar-on.html?m=1
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Old 10-27-2016, 04:50 AM   #15
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You don't use the generator straight to the battery. Run it through the AC shore power line and let the Airstream converter convert to 12v. Faster charge that way.
The converter only puts out about 50 amps of charge vs 160 amps + from TV alternator. Also, converting the generator's 12 volt output to 120 volts and then back down to 12 volts with the AS convertor is very inefficient.
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Old 10-27-2016, 04:54 AM   #16
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Why do so many dry campers carry around a heavy generator, like a Honda 2000, which only puts out 8 amps at 12v DC and the aggravation of needing to carry fuel? You can hook up to your tow vehicle 7-pin with the engine running! I can get 160 amps from my high output alternator at about 2,000 rpm (or 110 amps at idle.) If I need a faster charge I can use jumper cables from the TV directly to the coach house battery. This method is much quieter and more efficient. You can even upgrade to a 240 amp alternator that can put out 140 amps at idle for about $400.
I carry a "Heavy" Honda (45 pounds dry...heavy?). I have never used the unregulated 12 volt dc output of the generator. I instead plug into the 120 volt outlet and utilize my nice 3 step, temperature regulated charger that I installed to replace the silly converter Airstream supplied.

As far as seeing all of the output from that big alternator, you won't see anything like those numbers after the 30' or so of 6 gauge wire (Or whatever gauge wire your truck manufacturer used). Our truck has a 220 amp alternator and when we hitched up yesterday morning my batteries were at about 65% charge. I saw about 8 amps going into the Lifeline AGM from the truck. That is about what I have seen on a discharged house battery from two different trucks now. To make matters worse, the truck alternator is not optimized for the Lifeline AGM battery charge requirements.

I'm not sure which is louder the Honda or my truck...I do know that I don't like running the truck at idle or fast idle to charge. No auto engine likes idling under light to no load, especially a diesel.

No, I like our little Honda generators.

Bruce
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Old 10-27-2016, 05:04 AM   #17
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The converter only puts out about 50 amps of charge vs 160 amps + from TV alternator. Also, converting the generator's 12 volt output to 120 volts and then back down to 12 volts with the AS convertor is very inefficient.
You use the generator's 120v output.
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Old 10-27-2016, 05:15 AM   #18
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... I instead plug into the 120 volt outlet and utilize my nice 3 step, temperature regulated charger ...

... I saw about 8 amps going into the Lifeline AGM from the truck.
How many amps are you getting from your battery charger - perhaps 15 amps maximum if your house battery is very low. This is after converting your Honda's output from 12 volt to 120 volt and then back down to 12 volt - not very efficient.

It still doesn't make sense to me to spend over $1,000 for a noisy, inefficient generator, or the same dollars for solar panels, when you can get, according to Bruce, 8 amps from your TV alternator through your 7-pin connector. If you need to rapid charge your house battery then you can connect directly with jumper cables and supply all of the amps your battery can take. BTW, gasoline engines have no problem idling for hours with minimum load, perhaps a diesel is different.
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Old 10-27-2016, 05:39 AM   #19
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Quote:
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How many amps are you getting from your battery charger - perhaps 15 amps maximum if your house battery is very low. This is after converting your Honda's output from 12 volt to 120 volt and then back down to 12 volt - not very efficient.

It still doesn't make sense to me to spend over $1,000 for a noisy, inefficient generator, or the same dollars for solar panels, when you can get, according to Bruce, 8 amps from your TV alternator through your 7-pin connector. If you need to rapid charge your house battery then you can connect directly with jumper cables and supply all of the amps your battery can take. BTW, gasoline engines have no problem idling for hours with minimum load, perhaps a diesel is different.
The other issue you will quickly run into is acceptance rate for the battery bank on the Airstream. In the case of the 16' Bambi with a single group 27 lead acid battery, an acceptance rate of 25% (best case) of the total 90 amp gives you about 22 amps. That is all the battery will take from your 220 amp alternator and then only for a short time.

If you are interested in battery charging I know of a very, very bright guy who makes his living repairing boats. He has made a real study of batteries and charging has a simple website where you can learn a bunch if you are so inclined. I will include a link to his charge acceptance rates for AGM batteries. It is actually pretty enlightening! By the way, AGM batteries have much higher charge acceptance rates than lead acid batteries...

Bruce

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/e...on_agm_battery
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Old 10-27-2016, 05:55 AM   #20
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Besides charging batteries the generator is for nice to have things like TV or coffee makers hairdryers ect.
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