How long will dual batteries last?

[stryker75]

My 2012 28BHS is equipped with dual batteries. The trailer is new and I've never used it. I'm curious how long I can expect the batteries to last while dry camping? I expect the furnace to kick on a few times at night and I know that draws lots of power.

I had a 2006 Salem with dual batteries prior to this Jayco, but I only tried dry camping on one trip last July Yellowstone and I couldn't seem to get more than one night out of them. I know they were bad and I never replaced them, so I'm wondering about my new rig.

I want to avoid running them all the way down between charges, so I'd like to know approximately how long I can run them before charging them up again.

Thanks in advance for any input!

[edatlanta]

I spent 4 days dry camping last week at Road Atlanta just north of Atlanta. It was in the high 40's at night and I did use my furnace in order to keep me and my grandchildren warm. I have 2 Trojan T-105 six volt batteries. I don't know how often the furnace came on or ran during the night, but we were warm. In the mornings the battery gauge in the 5'er was down one light the first morning only. After that first morning the indicator light stayed on full (we all know how accurate these lights aren't???).

This probably isn't a good example past the first night because I have an on board generator and had to run the generator several hours each day so the grand children could watch Sponge Bob. Obviously the batteries charged back up during the day. If that first night is any gauge, I could have made the entire 4 days including heating at night on one charge, but I'm glad I didn't have to find out. There is always the potential of not having enough charge left to pull in the slides and I have three.

Nothing better than a generator.

[Jagiven]

I have a single battery; that the dealer provided. It is a small one; I think about 85 amp hr. We were out over Memorial Day; we got about two days of usage with a little bit of furnace time. We also were not conservative with our power usage. If you ensure you only have lights on that you need (assuming incandescent bulbs). Warm the TT up with the furnace and manual turn it off when between cycles, so you can control the amount of energy usage.

If you do run low on power you can hook your TV up to the TT power cord (7 pin connection) and run the TV for an hour or so and you will recharge you batteries a bit. Depending on your TV you will use about 1/8th of a gallon an hour sitting idling, to charge your batteries up. We did this on that trip and it gave us about another days worth of power being energy conservative.

Having dual batteries and being energy conservative, I would think you can make 4 days with no issues.

I have gone for a week on a single battery during the summer with no recharging being ultra conservative, so it is should be doable.

[Rustic Eagle]

Originally Posted by stryker75

snip......I want to avoid running them all the way down between charges, so I'd like to know approximately how long I can run them before charging them up again......snip

IMO there are many variables involved to respond even with a good "guess".., type/size of batteries, DOD (depth-of-discharge), etc.. Assuming you are using a generator as a charging source connected to the TT's 30amp/50amp shore line, IMO consider charging every day for at least a couple of hours.., thus minimizing the DOD and increasing battery life.

I can go three days before charging (2-true deep cycle batteries, generator w/40amp charger direct to batteries) with an average DOD of 70%....., but I'm very conservative on amp usage and I have an accurate means of monitoring my battery bank's DOD.

Additional JOF reference links:

http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthrea...amping+battery

http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthrea...amping+battery

http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthrea...amping+battery

http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthrea...ight=TriMetric

http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthrea...ight=TriMetric

Bob