How long should a single 12 volt battery last if you are just using a couple of lights at a time? I keep the camper plugged in when we are not using it so it stays charged all the time. This is a 2007 model camper and the the battery has never been changed. I have checked all the cells and cleaned all the cable ends.
My wife and her mother have been dry camping for three nights now and the battery has not been lasting very long at all. They have been using only 2 lights in the evening and the battery goes down very fast. It goes down so much that it will not start the generator so she has to plug it to the truck to charge it enough to start the generator. I just told her to run the generator when they are in using the lights so they do not have to worry about it. I told her not to run it down so much that she cannot put the slide in!! LOL
2009 4X4 Chevrolet Duramax/Allison 3500HD Crew Cab DRW
2007 Sportsman Sportster KZ 33P Toy Hauler
"It's not the destination, it's the journey."
But they are using the furnace aren't they? A furnace will pull down a battery in a night or less. Plus you have your fridge using some, and all the sensors too.
But if you are plugged in, your converter should keep the battery at full charge all the time unless somehow the battery charger isn't working.
Mike and Carole
2006 Triple E Regency 27 foot SXL
2005 16.6 Double Eagle
With only a couple of lights on part time, a "good" battery should last more than a couple or three days. Must be getting weak, or either not being fully charged. Is it a "deep cycle" battery or a "crank" type battery. Charging times and time of use will vary between the two types. Lucky you have a generator.
What size (Group) 24 , 27 , or 31. It it a Deep Cycle . Did you test it with Volt Meter. What was reading??? Go to www.rvtechlibrary.com READ and LEARN. Happy RVing.
RET ARMY , DW Donna , Summer (Furkid) . Class A, 2000 Gulf Stream, 4 SAMS 6VOLTS, DIRECTV, YAMAHA 2400 GEN , TOW 97 Wrangler/Honda CR V. Garmin GPS 7200 . "Living Our Dream". NASCAR FAN (14,18,,20,11) Love CO & NM
Let's look a very approximate estimation.
Let's say your deep cycle battery is fully charged and has a capacity of 75 amp hours, and, you are powering 2 bulbs rated at 6 watts each.
The bulbs therefore are drawing 12 watts / 12 volts = 1 amp.
Therefore your battery should last 75 hours.
So you need a new battery or you are powering something more than 2 lights.
Geaux LSU
Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints? 11-0, this is unbelievable!!
My Sunnybrook owners manual tells me that with all of the standby systems, Co2 detector, fire detectors, propane detector and whatever else is drawing that my single house battery wil only last 2 days.
Now I am sure that a dozen experts will come on to your post and challenge me, but this is what is written in the manual, and I'm sure that it applys to many other trailers.
Tell them to run the generator at least two hours a day to recharge the battery. An hour in the morning before running the furnace is best. Start the generator before the furnace, so perhaps the generator will have enough power to start.
The furnace will draw about 7 amps, so run it while the generator is running, so you will not need to run it as much while the generator is off.
Your battery charger is probably 30 -40 amps capacity. A group 27 battery is about 100 amp hours, but you can only use about 60 amps before discharging the battery to far, and this is used by the RV - 35 amp hours a day to run the propane leak detector and refrigerator, and 8 amp hours to run the couple of lights, and 15 amp hours to run the furnace 2 hours each night.
If they are running the furnace more than 2 hours a night, then they need to run the generator more. I would recommend at least one hour in the morning, one hour in the daytime, and another hour around sunset. Depending on the generator restrictions at that campground, some only allow generator use until 5 pm, and that needs to be followed. Some do not allow generators before 8 am, so people can sleep in.
What would really help is 2-3 more batteries. You might really want to upgrade to 2-4 golf cart batteries. This will allow a full weekend of camping without the need to recharge, as I have 440 amp hours and can go 4 days without recharging. Then I installed a couple of solar panels to recharge during the day.
With the larger battery capacity, then the charger can work much more effectivly. This is because the 220 amp hour battery bank will accept a charge at more than a single battery, say 40 amps per hour of generator run time. A 440 amp hour battery bank can accept 60 - 70 amps - IF your charger is that large.
I also installed a 8 watt and 26 watt florescent light in my living area, those are the lights that I use most of the time to save energy and save replacing light bulbs.
WOW!! Thanks for all the info!
I know the battery is a deep cycle Marine/RV battery but I do not know what group or size.
They are running the furnace but for just a little while before they go to sleep and then again in the morning only with the generator running.
I haven't tested the battery for voltage. I may take it to the autoparts store and have them put a load test on it.
And, the refrigerator uses amperage to operate even on gas.
hershey - albuquerque, nm Someday Finally Got Here
My wife does all the driving - I just get to hold the steering wheel.
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, DW Donna 
. Class A, 2000 Gulf Stream, 4 SAMS 6VOLTS, DIRECTV, YAMAHA 2400 GEN 
. "Living Our Dream". NASCAR FAN (14,18,,20,11) Love CO & NM 
