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Old 04-20-2019, 12:18 PM   #41
Steveo57
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Originally Posted by Sandals 123 View Post
Thanks to everyone for the help! My TV is a 2010 F350 with dual batteries. I hooked it up to the trail batteries via a pair of 10 guage jumper cables, because, as someone pointed out, there is nobody near me with a generator.

I ran the truck for a couple of hours which, according to the control panel, got us up to 14v. We have been very careful overnight by shutting off the furnace and not using the lights much. Up early this morning, power was down to 11.1v but enough to start the furnace and allow me to run a couple of lights.

So far, I have learned 3 lessons:

1. Full service sites allow for better peace of mind.
2. A small portable generator is a beautiful thing.
3. Turn off the Master power switch when storing.

Thanks

Running the truck for a few hours probably only got you to 30-charge at best. At 11.1 volts the batteries are essentially dead. 12.8 volts would be fully charged and you should try to keep them above about 12.1 volts ideally. You want to measure the voltage after charging by letting it settle for 10-20 minutes.

Charging with the truck you have a good battery in parallel with the bad one. The good battery will partially mask the low state of charge of the dead battery which will lower the charging rate. One other option would be to get an inverter and hook it up to the truck. Then you could run a regular charger or plug the trailer into it and use the onboard charger. These chargers would do a better job of charging.
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Old 04-20-2019, 12:43 PM   #42
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Sandals, I suggest taking the batteries for a load test at an auto parts store. It's usually no charge here in the states, if the batteries are damaged they will need replacement.

A discharged lead cell freezes about 20 degrees F, -7 C, and that's not good. Don't know if your storage was heated or not.
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Old 04-20-2019, 02:04 PM   #43
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"Generally speaking, what are some of the ways to save power when dry camping? I assume that the AC unit and the furnace are the two biggest users.
Also, what size generator is required for a reasonable level of power? I don't use the Microwave at all."

When dry camping, it's almost impossible to run the A/C off the batteries. It would require too many batteries and provide too little run time to be worthwhile. The furnace should be no problem since just the 12v fan is using the battery. Any 110v appliance that uses battery energy via an inverter to produce heat i.e coffee pot, toaster, M/W or hair dryer etc. would be a huge battery drain.
We use an old fashioned percolator coffee pot on the stove as about our only concession to saving battery power. With your set up judicious use of lights, water pump and other 12v accessories, there should be no problem.
We used to run our generator for a couple hours each day to keep our much smaller batteries topped off. We now have a 200w solar unit that we use for that function. Still using the 4 year old group 24 batteries that came with the Cougar, but when they die we'll change to a 6v set up.
Once you get your batteries up to full charge (hard to do using the truck as a generator) you should have no problem using your 12v system and accessories overnight and likely more.
I would suggest getting a generator to keep your batteries charged. As you have seen, folks here are suggesting an "inverter" type generator. They are much quieter and provide cleaner power than the open frame construction types. We use a single 3000w inverter type that allows us to power our A/C if needed. A 2000w unit will provide all the power you'll need to run 110v appliances (not all at the same time) as well as charge the batteries but probably won't start the A/C. Check the internet for brand options and of course this forum for suggestions and opinions. What ever you choose, Keep on Camping!!
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Old 04-20-2019, 04:49 PM   #44
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I would stay close to powered sites until you finish doing your homework on what best suits your camping style. I haven't heard a generator run in an Ontario provincial park, I wouldn't run one.
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Old 04-20-2019, 05:18 PM   #45
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Dan, I've not stayed in a Canadian Provincial park. Are the rules or standards much different than State Parks in the U.S.?
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Old 04-21-2019, 02:11 AM   #46
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We've not stayed in a State park yet, only private parks. (Although we do have trips coming this summer in COE and State parks) In Canada, we've stayed at several Provincial parks and National parks. All had power. Not really a need to run a generator. I can tell you the parks I have stayed in are well manned and park personnel drive by's were fairly frequent when on site.
I have had my fair share of dry camping experience in tents as a younger man with friends on fishing trips, Serena is not into that style of camping, neither am I anymore.
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Old 04-21-2019, 06:21 AM   #47
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We've not stayed in a State park yet, only private parks. (Although we do have trips coming this summer in COE and State parks) In Canada, we've stayed at several Provincial parks and National parks. All had power. Not really a need to run a generator. I can tell you the parks I have stayed in are well manned and park personnel drive by's were fairly frequent when on site.
I have had my fair share of dry camping experience in tents as a younger man with friends on fishing trips, Serena is not into that style of camping, neither am I anymore.
The provincal parks on Vancouver Island are well run and very clean. Apparently there is a window of time in which you can run a generator but nobody around our site has done so. I suspect that some of the new inverter type generators would certainly be quite compared to leaving my 6.4 running!

Next month we are going to Pacific Rim National park

(https://tourismtofino.com/things-to-do/special-places/pacific-rim-national-park-reserve/)

for 2 weeks so I need to get educated on how to manage my rig.
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Old 04-21-2019, 08:17 AM   #48
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Sandals, sent you a PM regarding help.
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Old 04-21-2019, 01:52 PM   #49
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Generally, your battery disconnect switch should be left on, and if there is confusion, the red plastic key should not be able to be removed when the switch is on or connected to the batteries When jumping dead batteries, the ground connection to the source vehicle should be done last and should be connected at a solid point away from the source battery. You also should check your tow vehicle to make sure it is sending power to your trailer. Many times there is a fuse that must be installed in the tow vehicle so it can send power to the trailer. If you are doing much dry camping, without a power source, you really need at least a small generator to keep your batteries charged. If you run your batteries to a dead state, you will damage them to a point where they will not take much charge.
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Old 04-25-2019, 08:33 AM   #50
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Exclamation How to jump 2 6v batteries

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Originally Posted by Sandals 123 View Post
Ok. I got my truck turned around, found my jumper cables... Now, how do I connect to the 2 6v batteries?
I don't think anyone answered correctly. but I didn't read all of the posts.

When you have 2 6V batteries, think of them as [+ -][+ -] similar to putting two AA batteries end to end inside a TV remote.

You'll want to connect the positive end of a jumper cable to the positive terminal on ONE battery. The negative end of the jumper cable to the negative termainl on the OTHER battery. Do not connect both ends to the same battery or you'll be giving a 6V battery all 12 volts and it'll fry.
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Old 04-25-2019, 08:52 AM   #51
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I don't think anyone answered correctly. but I didn't read all of the posts.

When you have 2 6V batteries, think of them as [+ -][+ -] similar to putting two AA batteries end to end inside a TV remote.

You'll want to connect the positive end of a jumper cable to the positive terminal on ONE battery. The negative end of the jumper cable to the negative termainl on the OTHER battery. Do not connect both ends to the same battery or you'll be giving a 6V battery all 12 volts and it'll fry.
Just found this thread now. I thought the same thing myself.
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Old 04-25-2019, 09:53 AM   #52
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As to #3 on your list, you're better off disconnecting the cables from the batteries for storage, there's still enough parasitic draw even with the switch off to drain your batteries in a about a week.
I concur. I've always removed the batteries when storing my rig, especially since that allows me to bring them in the garage and hook them up to a trickle charger to keep them in top condition until I need them again. (Don't forget to ride herd on the water level.)
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Old 04-25-2019, 09:58 AM   #53
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I agree with Texan, the battery disconnect still allows power to go to many items, trailer brakes, smoke and CO2 detector, slides, levelers and maybe others. Your batteries will still go dead in a couple weeks or less. I think they are really designed for while traveling or something.
Add a disconnect switch on the negative side of the battery to use when storing. Better yet, take the batteries out and put them on a battery tender in your garage over the winter.
I added a 100 watt solar panel on the roof to keep my batteries charged, we don’t get much snow here that would block the panel.
Also, to avoid damaging them, consider your batteries dead below 12.2 volts, get a charge on them immediately if they are below 12.2. Using them at 11.1 is not a good plan.
Ghen - I too have a couple of Solar panels on my roof (not certain of the wattage, but I plan to find out).. Question - while my TT is in storage I have the battery disconnect off (no power to the TT). Are my solar panels still charging my two 6V batteries? I've only had the TT for 1.5 months and used it twice (with shore hook-up). It seems that the digital solar control panel always reads 14+ volts even after sitting in storage a couple of weeks.
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Old 04-25-2019, 11:07 AM   #54
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Yes the panels should charge the batteries when the battery disconnect is off
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Old 04-25-2019, 04:00 PM   #55
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Thank you for clarifying that my solar system will keep my batteries charged even if the disconnect is off. Therefore, if I understand this correctly as long as the sun is shinning on the panels my batteries should continue to be charged and there's no need to remove them or disconnect the cables from them even in extended storage. Thanks again.
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Old 04-26-2019, 05:33 PM   #56
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#1. If your battery disconnect is at the battery and nothing else is connected to the terminals, nothing will charge your batteries.

#2. Voltage drop on 25 feet of #10 wire at 35 Amps is 1 volt. TV wiring is probably smaller and routing may be longer than 25 feet. You will never get near the charge from the TV as you will from shore power without modification. I put a booster next to the batteries on my trailer, it pulled the voltage at the TV plug to 11.5 volts and the booster triped out. Working on the #10 wire solution to keep the plug over 12 volts so the booster will supply the 14.8 volts to bulk charge the trailer batteries. TVs generally put out only 13.6 to "keep" the TV battery charged. Alternators generally have enough amperage capacity, but voltage is the issue.
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Old 05-14-2019, 06:19 PM   #57
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I have a 2016 fuzion chrome and can find no generator shut off on the interface panel inside the camper. Do i have to use a sequence on the prime and start buttons. I cannot see any stop or shutoff button. Thank you
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Old 05-14-2019, 06:22 PM   #58
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Hi John,

As you can see from my signature, I also have a Fuzion Chrome. On the In-Command, there is a generator start soft button. When the generator is running, it changes to a soft stop button.
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Old 05-15-2019, 03:06 AM   #59
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I have a 2016 fuzion chrome and can find no generator shut off on the interface panel inside the camper. Do i have to use a sequence on the prime and start buttons. I cannot see any stop or shutoff button. Thank you


My generator fired up automatically when I was was hooking up, maybe because the battery was getting low. But the button never changed. I will have to try it by starting inside, Thanks Matt.
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