Nice job upgrading your camper! Lots of work.
I'm wondering how the Sears 31M hybrid starting/storage battery is holding up
When camping do you know how much the battery discharges overnight before recharging with solar or whatever?
I noted that you have a BlueSky solar controller but I did not see a reference to a battery monitor. Do you have a battery monitor as well so you can keep track of the state of charge of the battery?
Do you camp off the grid and rely mostly on solar or do you routinely use other electrical sources? Craig
Hi Craig:
Thanks, glad you like my Alaskan improvements. The Sears Die Hard Advanced Gold model 50033 Group 31M Marine AGM battery is holding up very well after 3 years. I usually park my 1992 Dodge CTD truck in the sun, so the two 100 watt solar panels recharge the battery nearly every day, keeping it topped off.
As you noticed, I do not have a battery monitor in my 12 volt solar electrical system. I just rely on the Blue Sky Energy Sun Charger 30 Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) solar charge controller, which is set to alternately show charging amperage and battery voltage every other 5 seconds. Even with the refrigerator running (in short intervals) all night long, the only draw, the battery voltage never drops below 12.0 volts overnight. After a few hours of rising morning sun, the battery is quickly back to 12.7 volts.
The only other equipment attached to the battery are two 12 volt cigarette lighter sockets for recharging and the two very low amperage LED flexible lights. Typically only one LED stalk light is on for a few minutes when I'm preparing to go to bed, or occasionally slightly longer when I read in bed. Its electrical draw is insignificant. Charging a family radio handset, cell phone or Surface Pro 3 laptop computer during the daytime is, as a practical matter, handled by the two 100 watt solar panels rather than the battery. My 12 volt electrical needs are so small that a battery monitor is unnecessary. I have a third 100 watt solar panel that I can add to my solar panel roof array but have never felt a need for it.
My Alaskan battery is not attached to my truck's 12 volt electrical system, so it is never charged by my truck. Those two 12 volt electrical systems are wholly separate. The Alaskan battery's only source of charging are the two 100 watt solar panels. Somewhat conversely, my Alaskan Group 31M battery is the same size as my truck's single battery, so if my truck's battery ever dies while boondocking I can swap in the Alaskan battery to start the mighty Cummins engine.
I always camp "off grid", even when parked in a campground, because I have disconnected my 120 volt A.C. electrical system, removed its outside input plug and covered it with a solid plate. I'm wholly 12 volts and self-contained wherever I go. I never need and cannot plug into or use any 120 volt A.C. electricity. I'm blessed to live in Colorado and camp mostly in the Intermountain West, where the sun usually shines and the sky is not cloudy all day.
Edited by Denver Alaskan, 25 October 2018 - 04:26 AM.