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Old 04-21-2012, 10:18 AM   #1
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Charging batt while boondocking

We will be boondocking this entire season. I have a honda 1k genny that I plan to use to charge the battery.

Question:
If I plan to use an off-board charger, will I need to disconnect the TT terminals from the battery prior to connecting the off-board charger to the battery?
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Old 04-21-2012, 10:40 AM   #2
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Old 04-21-2012, 03:33 PM   #3
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I don't see where there would be a problem unless the battery is totally dead then I would disconnect first.



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Old 04-21-2012, 05:56 PM   #4
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To add to what Terry has said, by disconnecting the load from the TT first, you would have a faster charge rate (depends on how much TT load is there). If you don't care about the rate then don't bother to disconnect.
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Old 04-21-2012, 07:32 PM   #5
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I should have elaborated on my post as to why I recommended disconnecting if the battery was low. Most battery chargers do not put out clean power - they generally have a rectifier or diode bridge which inverts the negative portion of the AC sine wave. When you charge a good battery, it will act like a big capacitor and smooth out the power. If you throw it on a dead battery you risk throwing bad power into the TT and possible damage to the electronics.

Illustration --





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Old 04-21-2012, 08:23 PM   #6
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We used a similar generator , a Honda 650, and just plugged it into the trailer. We ran a tank a day through the generator, about 1 liter, and we always had power. We did that for right at 13 years with no problems.
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Old 04-21-2012, 09:52 PM   #7
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Terry,
There is a difference between a discharged battery, and a failed battery. A discharged battery will still filter any ripple in the DC voltage.
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Old 04-21-2012, 10:26 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by clutch View Post
We used a similar generator , a Honda 650, and just plugged it into the trailer. We ran a tank a day through the generator, about 1 liter, and we always had power. We did that for right at 13 years with no problems.
That was an option I was thinking about, but if I wanted to charge it faster, I would have to use an "off-board" charger, at least that is what I'm thinking. Thank you all for the information, once again, I am able to learn more from this site!
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Old 04-22-2012, 07:45 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David472 View Post
Terry,
There is a difference between a discharged battery, and a failed battery. A discharged battery will still filter any ripple in the DC voltage.
I was thinking of a battery where someone left it hooked up and it ran down to nothing. While it would lessen the dirty power but you would still have some ripple for a short time.



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Old 04-22-2012, 09:15 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chopshop View Post
That was an option I was thinking about, but if I wanted to charge it faster, I would have to use an "off-board" charger, at least that is what I'm thinking. Thank you all for the information, once again, I am able to learn more from this site!
If your trailer has a dual battery system you have another option. When you wire batteries parallel to maintain 12v you wire positive to positive, negative to negative and connect the TT to one of the 2 batteries. You have the option of running a positive cable from both batteries individually to the positive cable of the TT and the same with the negative. You can put an inline switch or fuse on each positive and negative cable from both batteries. This way you can isolate one battery from the TT while charging and still have one battery connected to run things. You will just have to charge your batteries separately. This way any concerns you have will be met and you don't have to shut things down while charging. But you would need a dual battery system.

If you are unsure how to do this yourself involve a professional cause wiring this wrong could damage things.
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Old 04-22-2012, 10:05 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tafische View Post
I was thinking of a battery where someone left it hooked up and it ran down to nothing. While it would lessen the dirty power but you would still have some ripple for a short time.
Well Terry, the filtering ability of a battery is dependent on the internal resistance of the battery, not it's state of charge. Even if it's "flat".
As a lead acid battery ages and deteriorates, it's internal resistance rises. With rising internal resistance, you will gradually have a bit more ripple.
Don't believe me, then take your oscilloscope and measure the ripple with and without a newer but flat battery.
This principle is used in battery capacity testers currently on the market.

The OP will have no trouble leaving the TT connected to the battery while charging that battery with a generator.
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Old 07-15-2012, 08:16 AM   #12
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I too like to camp off the power grid alot here in VA.

What I did was beef up my battery system on my OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer to include getting a good smart-mode converter/charger, added additional batteries and larger battery cables, converted lights over to LEDs, added PSW inverters to run my 120VAC items, added good battery monitor panel inside the trailer, and included good marine quality BLUE SEA battery switches, fuse blocks etc.

All of this was done to be able to survive the one day/night battery run running all the things we wanted to run. Then the next morning during breakfast we would run our 2KW Honda generator with the 30AMP Shore Power cable connected directly to the generator 120VAC using a "dogbone" RV30A-15A adapter (WALMART). We can re-charge our three GP24 Interstate 85AH batteries back to their 90% charge state in as little as 2-3 hours. I will do the same thing during the early evening meal and run the 2KW generator again for a couple of hours and this seals in the 90% charge state real good now.

We are able to run our HDTV using the OTA antenna and get full high deg HTDV, run DVDs, fans, inside/outside lights, momabear will use an electric blanket on her lap when it is a cool evening, I get to play with ham Radio toys, all of the trailer 12VDC items it needs to have all run just fine.

We are very successful doing it this way camping off the power grid. The next morning I am usually down to 11.9-12.0VDC on my battery bank before I start re-charging back up to the 90% charge state.

My 2KW Honda generator sits secured in the tail gate corner of my truck bed and I just pull it out onto the tailgate to connect the 30A trail shore power cable to it. My generator always stays in the back of my truck bed out-of-site. When not is use I have a hard plastic lockable "fold-a-cover" folding bed cover that completely hides my generator when not is use.

Been doing this now for over four years and we are very successful camping off the power grid. Have always made it back home and have never got dark on us back in the woods. What I discovered was it just isn't one thing you can do to make it work - has to be a system wide planning thing. This way also fits in very nice with the camp grounds that has generator restriction run times in place.
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Old 07-15-2012, 01:14 PM   #13
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My recommendation would be to let the generator power the 120V system of the RV. The converters in most late model RV's have a very good 3-stage charger. It will supply more charging current than the Honda battery charging output. That is 8 amp if my memory serves me right. In addition you need not worry about "dirty" power from an off-board charger.
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Old 09-06-2012, 08:10 AM   #14
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Well, our seasonal camping season has come to an end.........what a great year! All of our power needs went "without a hitch." We had (1) marine 27 group battery from Walmart, a EU1000 honda ginny along with a Black and Decker smart charger. The trio together worked awsome; never once did we run out of power. Thanks for all the input on this thread, it was put to good use!
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Old 09-06-2012, 08:29 PM   #15
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I am glad to hear that everything worked out for you.
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Old 10-07-2013, 12:03 PM   #16
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Why are folks using a 3rd party battery charging solution on late model year Jaycos? Isn't the included converter enough to keep the battery maintained when hooked up to a Honda?
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Old 06-05-2014, 01:48 PM   #17
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Oops. Wrong thread
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Old 08-28-2014, 12:04 PM   #18
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This is great information. I have a Jayflight 23MB. The users manual is terrible, devoid of any actually useful information, and no spec sheet to be found.

The family( wife and 11 year old daughter) will be living in the unit while we take a year off and travel the lower 48 states. We will be of grid a lot.

Does anyone know the charging current the 23MB puts out? We will be getting a generator soon. Is it better to use the converter charger? Do the little trailers have the same charging current as the big boys?

We are fine with the AC not running, and don't need the microwave, but I can foresee using the furnace, so I think a small 1KW will do.

Any thoughts. Thanks.

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Old 08-28-2014, 12:44 PM   #19
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From my experience with our Honda 2000, it's better to charge from our trailer converter. Just plug the trailer into the generator as you would your home. And as far as the 1k watt, for the Hondas they are only about $100 price difference and I'd recommend going to the 2k. Only because if the wife is using the hair dryer, coffee, toaster, etc that 1k gets eaten up quickly. Double the power and you will be able to charge the battery, toast and have excess if needed for furnace, etc.
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Old 08-30-2014, 06:47 PM   #20
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When we boondocks we run the generator , 2000i, or sometimes 2 parallel together (4000 total) during the afternoon when the noise does not bother so bad. We can run a single a/c when it hot as well. I have two deep cycle batteries and I use a 400 watt inverter with alligator clips to watch a little tv in the evening. It powers the power booster as well. My new RV has all LED lights that take hardly any power. I changed out the bulbs in my old one to LED.

I have a 6 gallon aux boat type tank that will run both gen sets for 24 hours. When we make a quick stop at Walmart to spend the night we will run them all night for a/c. And sometimes at the lake.
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