Hello
We just got our trailer and took it on a first overnight trip. We were supposed to have power but it was too far for even my extension cord to reach, so it was all off grid.
I was worried that I wouldn't have enough juice for the furnace so we conserved energy like crazy, barely even turned the lights on. The battery lasted /just/ long enough to keep us warm overnight.
This is my third trailer, and I already suspected I'll have to upgrade the battery to be able to camp without a power supply (who thought electric fridges were a good idea?). Now I know for sure. My goal is to be able to power the electric fridge, water pump, and lights for 5 days without shore power or a generator.
I'd like to avoid overcomplicating the upgrade if at all possible. The trailer comes with a 165W solar panel and a solar charge controller with settings for different types of batteries.
I'm thinking to get:
I'd like to just put the batteris on the tongue where the flooded one was (looks like there's enough room) and leave everything else as-is. But I'm not sure if that's realistic. For example:
Thanks in advance.
We just got our trailer and took it on a first overnight trip. We were supposed to have power but it was too far for even my extension cord to reach, so it was all off grid.
I was worried that I wouldn't have enough juice for the furnace so we conserved energy like crazy, barely even turned the lights on. The battery lasted /just/ long enough to keep us warm overnight.
This is my third trailer, and I already suspected I'll have to upgrade the battery to be able to camp without a power supply (who thought electric fridges were a good idea?). Now I know for sure. My goal is to be able to power the electric fridge, water pump, and lights for 5 days without shore power or a generator.
I'd like to avoid overcomplicating the upgrade if at all possible. The trailer comes with a 165W solar panel and a solar charge controller with settings for different types of batteries.
I'm thinking to get:
- 2x 170Ah batteries like this: https://ca.renogy.com/renogy-lithium...12-volt-170ah/
- A batter monitor like this: https://ca.renogy.com/500a-battery-monitor/
- An extra charger for home so that I can charge the batteries warm before we head out in the cold, like this: https://ca.renogy.com/20a-ac-to-dc-l...ttery-charger/
I'd like to just put the batteris on the tongue where the flooded one was (looks like there's enough room) and leave everything else as-is. But I'm not sure if that's realistic. For example:
- Does the charge controller in the 247BH only handle solar or does it also regulate charging from 120V? Or does something else handle charging from 120V?
- Does the original setup have the battery charging from the alternator and if so - will that cause problems since Lithium batteries seem to require a special charging setup?
- Can I just cut off all connections to the tow vehicle and brakes to make the circuitry simpler? To be honest I can't imagine a situation when the break-away brakes would be of any use. The trailer would have to come off the ball, the chains would have to break as well, and by then I'm guessing everything is upside down already so brakes wouldn't help.
Thanks in advance.
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