Ski RV's, who's sleeping in parking lots?

[altasnob]

Even when my 170W panel doesn’t have any snow on it, parked with it facing south, the clouds give me like 0.3A of charging current. It’s the PNW. .

Just checked what my 175 watt panel is producing at 9 am under overcast skies here in Tacoma and it shows .7 amps at the moment.

Ya, if you are going to run your heater and overhead fan non-stop for three days, burning gas might be the only solution.

[Snow Dog]

The only way to test a lead-acid battery is with a load tester. You measure the voltage while drawing 100A. Any battery shop will test for free or you buy one for $40-60.

If you have a lithium-ion power pack keep it off the snow. The cold will reduce the capacity by a lot.

[SchralphMacchio]

Just checked what my 175 watt panel is producing at 9 am under overcast skies here in Tacoma and it shows .7 amps at the moment.

Ya, if you are going to run your heater and overhead fan non-stop for three days, burning gas might be the only solution.

Oh wait you live here, you would know!
With 2 very young kids, 2 adults, dog, and trying to keep moisture/mold away, I figure aggressive moisture control and a comfy cabin is worth extra propane and battery use! I have two hygrometer thermometers inside the cabin and I monitor cabin RH like a hawk.

[SchralphMacchio]

The only way to test a lead-acid battery is with a load tester. You measure the voltage while drawing 100A. Any battery shop will test for free or you buy one for $40-60.

Aren’t those kinds of testers only true for CCA starting batteries? Just seems like it wouldn’t be the case for a low current deep cycle battery, but I’m not sure. I’m currently running cheap golf carts, will switch to AGM next winter and hopefully Lithium the winter after that.

[toastybroski]

Ill replace the converter first and see if that fixes the numbers. Should be here in a few days. If the converter isn't going up to 14.6 to charge than it might not be a fully battery and why it is showing low. I have only seen 13.6 but I haven't drained it in a while.

[Snow Dog]

Aren’t those kinds of testers only true for CCA starting batteries? Just seems like it wouldn’t be the case for a low current deep cycle battery, but I’m not sure. I’m currently running cheap golf carts, will switch to AGM next winter and hopefully Lithium the winter after that.

They're almost the same. For example, an Interstate group 27 deep cycle battery is 600 CCA. A starter group 27 battery is 700-810 CCA (depending on price). Deep cycle batteries have 5/16" posts. Starter batteries have more thinner lead plates per cell. Deep cycle have fewer thicker lead plates that can handle deep discharges.

[Trackhead]

-8F outside 75F inside. Diesel for the win at half throttle,

Lodge on wheels with white trash lunch cheesy dog lunch.

[heckacali]

Be careful with that stove!

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/cto...583295683.html

[Trackhead]

?????

[jackattack]

how has that not been burning man-ed on the playa?

[hutash]

Speaking of vans, I was looking at specs on the F150 Hybrid PowerBoost yesterday. EV tech isn’t yet where it is to make an all electric Class B RV (Winnebago just unveiled their concept prototype that has like 100mi range?), but plug in hybrid tech totally seems in a place to make an extended range gas van where you can run the DC power center and probably even a healthy sized inverter off the drive battery! I wonder if Ford has looked into this yet for the transit platform. Just seems to me if you can build a hybrid crew cab 4x4 F150 with 1800 lbs payload maybe you can make a hybrid 4x2 Transit van with minimal RV upfitting?

My understanding is the a transit is going to be hybrid next year.

[byates1]

Stopped by my Ford guy the other day. He said they are only building transit trails now. He wanted me to order one. Then sell it back to the dealer for a grand or 2 More. Base spec is like 71k.

I'd do it to help him, but I can't be bothered.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Be careful with that stove!

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/cto...583295683.html

How many Dead shows has that been to?

[toastybroski]

Can any electrical gurus help me out? It’s giving me a headache. I replaced my converter last night (which nicely had a lithium switch!). All went well. No more buzzing. I plugged into shore right after. 120v from a regular outlet. This was at about 8pm. Battery was showing 12.0V under a -.13 amp draw.

New converter did not seem to go into boost mode and continuously charged at 13.6V and 8amps according to the new fancy battery meter. 22 hours later it’s still at 13.6 charging at 4amps. Shouldn’t it be full by now? Dropping down to 13.2 and 0.2 amps? I would think a full battery wouldn’t be taking 4 amps. 100AH / 4 amps is 25 hours at most but it was no where near 0 percent charge. What’s going on?

[snowaddict91]

Can any electrical gurus help me out? It’s giving me a headache. I replaced my converter last night (which nicely had a lithium switch!). All went well. No more buzzing. I plugged into shore right after. 120v from a regular outlet. This was at about 8pm. Battery was showing 12.0V under a -.13 amp draw.

New converter did not seem to go into boost mode and continuously charged at 13.6V and 8amps according to the new fancy battery meter. 22 hours later it’s still at 13.6 charging at 4amps. Shouldn’t it be full by now? Dropping down to 13.2 and 0.2 amps? I would think a full battery wouldn’t be taking 4 amps. 100AH / 4 amps is 25 hours at most but it was no where near 0 percent charge. What’s going on?

You might have just confirmed your theory that you have a bad battery?

[toastybroski]

I would think a bad battery would drop down to small amps at some point.

Do I need to do anything else other than drop in a lifepo4 battery if I have a compatible converter and then the switch?

[Huskydoc]

You might have just confirmed your theory that you have a bad battery?

Lithium gone bad will read about 10.6 and won't take much charge at all. Where did you source your battery? Onboard BMS?

[toastybroski]

One last question before I fuck off for the night. If I need a battery should I go to lifepo4? Are the Amazon brands with good reviews ok even though they are only a third of the price? $300 for 100ah.

Not going to lie camper forums are pretty garbage overall.

[toastybroski]

Lithium gone bad will read about 10.6 and won't take much charge at all. Where did you source your battery? Onboard BMS?

The battery came with the camper although he said it was brand new. It’s an interstate deep cycle agm.

It’s still taking 5 amps. We will see in the morning. Still get a bit of light flicker in the cabin.

[Trackhead]

Random shit: Drive 300 miles with family, pull into mom/pop ski hill lot at 10pm and see Ford Transit all alone, Caterpillar stickers on the side and immediately recognize it from the interwebz. Tell wife I know the guy and skied with him 15 yrs ago. Sure enough it’s OG Yates, the real vanlifer. What are the chances of that?

[SchralphMacchio]

One last question before I fuck off for the night. If I need a battery should I go to lifepo4? Are the Amazon brands with good reviews ok even though they are only a third of the price? $300 for 100ah.

Not going to lie camper forums are pretty garbage overall.

Questions for you regarding new battery.
1) Do you boondock / use the battery a lot? (Number of discharge/charge cycles per year is relevant here)
2) Where is the current battery located? On the tongue of a trailer in a plastic box, in a vented but not heated battery compartment of a Class B or C?
3) What do you plan to use the battery for - would you ideally like to change your use patterns if possible?
4) Do you already have a solar setup?

I actually haven’t made the switch to lithium but will eventually. Main reason I didn’t was because when I first got the trailer, very few manufacturers made lithium batteries with onboard heating elements to preheat the battery and keep cell temp well above freezing before attempting to charge - and there was very little real world feedback on it at the time. However now almost every major manufacturer has lithium with a heating element that takes power from the 12V charging line and heats the battery if needed before starting a charge. Heated lithium batteries cost probably 2.25 to 2.75x what you would pay for a 6V GC2 setup, but they also have something like double the charging speed/current, a quarter of the weight, and something like 10x the cycle life.

So my advice to you, if you plan the use the batteries a lot (lots of discharge and charge cycles), and have the cash, go lithium as it’s less money in the long run. If you want the cheapest bang for the buck in the short term and not tying up too much cash you can’t beat Costco 6V flooded lead acid batteries. Just remember that you have to check water levels with 6V, I do it monthly, I keep a container of distilled water in my rig and use a cheap Amazon hose syringe to dispense the right amount without making a mess.

I asked a lot of the other questions because factory wiring to battery locations is usually woefully skinny and you may not get the benefits of high discharge and high charge currents because your wiring may limit you. Also it’s much easier to change out wiring for some locations than others. FLA and AGM require venting but lithium does not, so it can be located in the cabin for a shorter (and fatter) wiring run to your converter and power center. If you have a battery compartment that is vented and you upgrade to lithium, you can close off the vents and line the thing with cross linked polyethylene foam sheets cut and crammed in there to increase temperature stability in the winter which should cut down your charge times.

[m2711c]

Random shit: Drive 300 miles with family, pull into mom/pop ski hill lot at 10pm and see Ford Transit all alone, Caterpillar stickers on the side and immediately recognize it from the interwebz. Tell wife I know the guy and skied with him 15 yrs ago. Sure enough it’s OG Yates, the real vanlifer. What are the chances of that?

did he have change?

[sander_h]

Random shit: Drive 300 miles with family, pull into mom/pop ski hill lot at 10pm and see Ford Transit all alone, Caterpillar stickers on the side and immediately recognize it from the interwebz. Tell wife I know the guy and skied with him 15 yrs ago. Sure enough it’s OG Yates, the real vanlifer. What are the chances of that?

Saw you guys at Pebble Creek the other day, you nailed it on conditions!

[Trackhead]

Saw you guys at Pebble Creek the other day, you nailed it on conditions!

Super fun day! Great hill.

[altasnob]

Are the Amazon brands with good reviews ok even though they are only a third of the price? $300 for 100ah.

I have no idea about the Amazon LiFePO4 for $300 but at that price, I might be willing to just give it a try and find out. A 100 ah AGM battery is in that $300 range and you only get 50 ah out of a 100 ah AGM where as you will get 100 ah out of the 100 ah LiFePO4.

Your converter has a smart battery charger so it adjusts the voltage and amps of its charging depending on where the battery is in the bulk/absorption/float stage of charging. But it shouldn't take over 24 hours to charge up that AGM. My guess is that the "brand new" battery was not brand new or the previous owner (or you) depleted it down past 50% a few times, which could kill even a brand new AGM battery (I killed my original one in less than two years because I wasn't able to easily connect to shore power when parked at home; have solar now which helps keep my battery happy).

I would use this potentially bunk battery a few more times and if you think it is still not holding a charge, and fulfilling your needs, then it may be time for a new battery. I would say stick with AGM because your system doesn't seem sophisticated enough for LiFePO4. With that said, those LiFePO4 are getting so damn cheap these days I might just go with that. Why not?