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wponder · 09-27-2017, 09:06 AM

Boondocking is the way to go for us. We have put about 5000 miles on our new to us AS since we got it a month ago. We have already figured out that most the places that work for us are not going to have power. Our power usage does not seem to demanding. I have read tons of threads, blogs but I am still struggling to get a line of site on a program / setup that would work for us.

During the day no lights. We use some of the LED lights at night for 4-5hrs
Fridge Runs all day on LP, 12v for controller
Pump we mostly leave on except when we are gone and asleep
Hot water we mostly leave on except when we are gone and asleep
We do not watch TV but would like to from time to time
We charge phones and laptops and need them to work
We would need a 4G booster most the day
As it's gotten colder we have had to run the Furnace at night
We have standard parasite power and I have learned to check things like the fantastic fans being completely OFF when not in use... the red light at night was a hint

What we "think" we know so far....

- Same story... we wake up and Batteries are at 50%. Over the last month this is happening faster. I know we never were getting back to 100% charge on the road except when plugged in.

- Generator never charges our batteries 100%. We have been using it the last couple weeks to keep limping along and not showing our factory batteries much love. This weekend I tried to charge them using a deep cycle charger off the generator but it does not work reliably. Last night I charged them with that charger at the house and got them to 100%

- We likely need to change out our power converter especially if the generator is going to be part of the plan even sometimes ( Looking at the PD4655V)

- We want to go solar. I would like to start with 200W portable but don't think its going to charge us up. Then add 200W or more.. if needed to the roof when we can. Looking at the Bogart SC2030 as the brains. I would like for the roof panels not to require drilling ( Like the 3M tape ) and use the existing prewire from AS ( I am afraid it could be junk though?). This likely will also require a battery change but lithium is not an option at this stage.

Any help / suggestions on a boondocking setup and or strategy that you think sounds like what we are looking for would be great.

Also... on the stock deep cycle batteries. I did a test last night. I charged to 100% using a charger at home. AS was in store mode at the time and charger hooked direct to the batteries. I did an overnight test... it dropped to about 45 degrees here last night.

10:00pm junk meeter in the AS read 13.3. Charger showed 100%. Switched AS to use mode.

( Furnace 60degrees , Pump, Fridge, parasite )

7:30 AM
junk meter in AS read 12.1. Disconnected the AS and charger showed batteries at ( 60% )

Thanks!

Lily&Me · 09-27-2017, 09:24 AM

I would turn your hot water heater off, but for a half hour or so before showering...unless you must have scalding water for dishes, the tank holds heat pretty well for other uses.

Might try some solar chargers for your electronics, also use your vehicle battery when you are driving to charge these and other small things like a hand held vacuum....I have one with a USB port as well as a 3 pronged plug in, which I use while driving for my laptop and vacuum cleaner.

Invest in an all season down comforter, and/or wear microfleece to bed at night, so that you can turn your furnace way down...like to 50 degrees.

Add some battery operated LED's for evenings...they are remarkably bright, and magnetic or peel and stick ones require no drilling of holes.

Maggie

Adventure.AS · 09-27-2017, 09:27 AM

You can charge your batteries using the seven-pin umbilical cord if connected to the running tow vehicle. Or, for a quicker charge you can use heavy gauge jumper cables and put through a lot of current from a high output alternator from your running TV.

pteck · 09-27-2017, 09:31 AM

Seems like you gave this a lot of good thought already. Sounds like you're on the right path.

I think key to your plans is really that solar. 200W will do a lot to top you off during the day. With consistent daily charging (unless overcast), I think you'll find the batts almost always topped off by afternoon. Though it really depends on your power use, which doesn't sound too far off from typical usage. The OEM wiring is just fine for 200W (up to 300W). There's always better, but 2-3% is not worth the effort. Might as well get more panels with the added cost/effort, than for that measly few percent. I'd recommend 200W on the roof. Then another 100-200W portable kit to tie in when needed depending on shade.

I think you'll find that the converter charger upgrade may not even be necessary with solar. There will be far less cases of needing to rely on that to directly charge the batts. And as much as these forums make the single stage charger seem like an issue, it's not if you know how to manage (long term) charging power through the store/use button. There's some li-lon batt (battle born) discussions where it's actually better to have the single stage charger.

Hittenstiehl · 09-27-2017, 09:51 AM

Looks for posts from Lewster for good information. Also older posts from Bold Adventure as that family boondocked a lot.

Also here look up posts by Explore More as they just did solar and they Boondock and they have a you tube channel with their adventures.

Also could check out (online) Technomadia. They are full time technomads on the road with business's and lots of experience with power management and solar. They are in a bus and boat now but started in small trailers.

wcrockett · 09-28-2017, 12:19 PM

I agree. With enough solar a single stage charger is fine. I have 340 watts solar charging 3 105 Amp-hr AGM batteries. We boondock 90% of the time but when we have shore power I use the store switch to keep the converter from over charging the batteries and I let the solar charging system keep them topped off. When I do use the single stage converter for those times when the trailer is inside with no sun for solar power I monitor battery charge status and put it back into store mode when they are charged.

I have found that my setup does not provide enough power to keep the batteries topped off on cold cloudy days. Using the furnace without adequate solar on consecutive cloudy days will eventually pull the batteries down so I have to plug into shorepower or use my generator fully charge the batteries.

I have a 1000 watt inverter. When I am not using it I keep it turned off. I think it consumes power even when I am not using it to power other devices.

davidz71 · 09-28-2017, 12:58 PM

OP, I see you have mentioned that you have stock batteries. I can only guess that you have two group 24 batteries rather than group 27 or 31. I had one group 27 battery with 105 amp hour capacity but upgraded later to a Trojan group 27 but with 115 amp hour capacity. When it was cooked by a Progressive Dynamics converter about 3 years ago, I bought a larger Progressive Dynamics converter and went with two of the Trojan batteries at 115 amp hr. I leave the 265 watt AM Solar system on all the time at home or the hunting camp and the fans run constantly during the summer. It never gets down below 85 percent battery capacity. I bought one of those auto meters which plug into the cigarette lighter receptacle and wired a coiled three foot cord to plug it into. I would say that if you are using the smaller group 24 batteries that came with your unit then you might think about upgrading your battery bank. Solar would be your next improvement.

Len n Jeanne · 09-29-2017, 11:37 PM

The batteries have been an ongoing issue. They work super for a while then gently and gradually stop functioning so well. We have two 6-volt batteries. Our usual AS mechanic advised against solar panels for a small unit, saying we wouldn't get enough power to make it a smart expenditure. I'd love to hear otherwise, though.

In terms of saving power, we'd add to your list:

Generally when camping we drop the Bambi in one place for a few days, then go out and about in the truck, on foot, or in a canoe. We tend not to camp in super-hot weather, so seldom use the AC.

1. If we're going to be away for any length of time, we turn off things that run off the battery, then shut it off at the main switch.

2. We run the fridge and fan sparingly. Often we run it just at night. Keeping food cold is, of course, a concern, but we've never had anything spoil or get too warm. Our strategy is to bring along some of the blue gel freezer pacs. We freeze them at night or when the fridge is running during the day. When the fridge is turned off, they keep the food cold, just as they would in a picnic cooler.

3. Minimize use of the water pump during dish-washing by washing up with a soapy scrub brush, and one dishpan with hot rinse water.No need to rinse dishes individually under the tap.

4. Minimize use of the stove exhaust fan by using foods that require little or no cooking. Sometimes we've plugged in a small crock pot, which uses comparatively little electricity.

5. Phones, e-reader, Fitbit, and any other small items can be recharged from the vehicle USB port or a beefy battery pac. We also have an older model portable inverter that runs off the truck cigarette lighter for re-charging the laptop while driving. We have a small Power Monkey re-charger for cell phones and other small electronics that can re-charge off either solar or a wall plug-in, but it takes a long time to charge in the sun and doesn't have the right kind of adapter for my current cell phone.

There are some solar laptop chargers on the market https://www.treehugger.com/solar-tec...-chargers.html

5. The furnace can be essential to prevent the water system from freezing, but the fan probably uses a lot of electricity. So ditto on keep the nighttime thermostat at a low setting.

6. We now disconnect the batteries when the Bambi is to be stored for a while, as we do not normally have a source of shore power. The danger, of course, is in letting the numbers get too low when we're not regularly monitoring them.