Battery help

[ashly1319]

Have a 2007 Jayfeather 17c. Currently have a 12v 24m battery that came with the camper.
I have zero knowledge on batteries, so excuse my lack of understanding.

We dry camp. Looking to power water pump,lights, small fan or small mini heater at the very least. Would love to be able to power coffee maker and microwave.

Our longest trips are usually 5 nights.

What size battery should I be looking for?
Is it possible to get a battery too big for the camper to support?

Thanks for the help!

[Marcm157]

First, how are you planning on keeping the battery charged while dry camping? Second, to power the coffee pot and microwave you would need an inverter but that one singe battery alone will not last very long under either of the conditions you listed. So start by letting us know how you will keep the battery charged - Solar / generator etc.

[ashly1319]

I don't plan on charging. Maybe in the future.
Right now I bring the charged battery and it lasts maybe 2-3 nights with frugal light use and running water pump for a couple quick showers.

I didn't realize I needed an inverter when running off battery as opposed to plugging in. ��

My new thought is a larger battery. Maybe 29DC to run lights and such. Then keep smaller battery inside with an inverter to charge cell phones and maybe run the small 120watt heater for a few minutes on chilly nights.
Coffee maker and microwave are completely unnecessary, just nice when tired ��

[Marcm157]

The inverter is only needed to run anything that is powered by AC - microwave / coffee pot /TV etc. So if you don't need those you don't need an inverter. It takes DC battery power and outputs AC power... But it can draw heavy on batteries.

[Screwby]

You’d be better off ditching the pitiful stock battery they give you and buy a pair of 6v golf cart/deep cycle batteries. They will outperform and outlast the ones your contemplating by leaps and bounds.

A pair of Duracell 6V batteries will give you around 107 aH of usable energy. The battery you have now most likely has around 30-40 aH of usable energy if your lucky and isn’t half as robust.

Running a 120v coffee maker or a small heater off of an inverter is going to draw a good amount of amps out of your batteries. I’d stick to using 12v and propane items when at all possible. Something like a small Buddy Heater will run for 8 hours on low using a tiny propane bottle and can run for days off of a standard 20 lb grill tank. As far as coffee goes get a French press or Moka pot and use your propane stove to heat the water. You’ll conserve battery power and step up your coffee game significantly.

The idea that you want to go boondock for up to 5 days and not have a way to recharge your batteries is quite ambitious for someone who self admittedly knows nothing about batteries. You cannot drain whatever battery you decide to get (unless it’s lithium, which costs a fortune) past 50% of its capacity or you’ll damage it. So if you aren’t monitoring your batteries voltage like a hawk, and your not running a generator or some solar to recharge what your using daily, how do you know what condition your batteries are in? If you have no backup way to recharge the batteries what do you do if someone accidentally leaves something on and drains most of your battery?

Upgrade your batteries first and foremost. At least get a cheap little inverter generator so you can throw some energy back into the batteries when it’s needed. Solar is cheap these days, you can pick up a simple 100W solar energy kit from Renogy for right at $170 with everything you need to hook it up. If you don’t want to permanently mount something to your camper look into a solar suitcase that you can throw out when you wake up in the morning and grab some free sunshine.

I love boondocking and will choose it over a campground any day. Good Luck and fire away with questions if needed!

[ashly1319]

Ok, I've read some about using 2 6v batteries.

We have done 5 days believe it or not! We actually did 5 days on an island last summer. I can rough it without a problem. When the battery drains we just use our lanterns and brush or teeth with lake water. We have a Coleman coffee pot that goes on the propane stove. I guess I'm just trying to take advantage of the camper more and make things easier so I can be a little lazier! Or last summer we ran I to ran so we spent an evening at the table playing games which meant we used the lights a lot more.

I appreciate the advice!

[Screwby]

Anytime! Another thing we’ve done is use a Berkey water filter so we can always have filtered fresh water even if it’s “from the lake”. We fill up an extra pitcher and keep it in the propane fridge so we have fresh cold filtered water.

From one coffee person to another, please try a Moka pot. I can’t even stand coffee maker or percolator coffee anymore and I was raised on both. My friends were all super skeptical and then I made them a cup, now they all have gone to a press or Moka lol.

Enough hijack and back to your thread