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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Do you leave your campsite/trailer while boondocking in CO?
We always pack up everything, hitch up to the truck and take it all with us. We don't want the Indians or bands of outlaws to swoop down on our unprotected things and steal them.
:) Yup...that's why I got a 5'er, so I can make a tighter circle if'n they jump me while on the road!!!
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PrairieGoat
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10/19/07 09:06pm |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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RE: More New Mexico, Gila NF. Pic's.
Almost makes me homesick!!! I'm originally from Cruces and spent a lot of my "formative" years hunting and fishing in the Gila NF.
Looks like fun!!!
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PrairieGoat
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10/19/07 08:44pm |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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RE: Campsite length and RV
Mine is right at 30' nose to bumper....and here is what I've found:
National Parks & National Forests - we are very limited in sites available due to size.
State Parks - fairly limited as well, but as a general rule, slightly better than Nat'l Parks.
Commercial Parks - no problems.
For my needs with a good mixture of the above every other weekend or so (From April through Oct), 30' is an absolute max. I had intended to get something in the 25-28' range, and ended up with one a slight bit bigger and am very glad I didn't go any bigger.
Size does matter! :S
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PrairieGoat
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10/19/07 08:39pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Trojan vs Deka Batteries
Deffently different batteries Sam, Deffently Different. Like the poster above, who kindly provided the link, I went to the East Penn Battery Company site and confirmed they make DEKA and MK I've not tracked the linage of Interstate though.
How can you say they are different? Look at them, they are identical and those speed caps are a US battery patent. I have no doubt that Deka makes some of their batteries but their 6 volts are made by US battery, Interstate does not make batteries... period.
Sam
Remember patents can be licensed! The last time I looked at Trojan T-105s, they had the same speed cap....are you telling me that US Battery makes Trojan batteries as well?!? That would make most of these well pedigreed 6V batteries (Trojan, Interstate, Deka, US Battery (?)) the same.......boy, them's fightin' words around these here parts!!! :B
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PrairieGoat
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10/16/07 08:02pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Honda EU2000i High Elevation set-up...
I live at 6500' and most of my camping occurs betwixt there and 10000' (mostly around 8500'). I have two eu2000's...one with standard jets and one with high elevation jets (not sure which jet, bought lightly used). The one with the standard jets wouldn't even power my charger (ProSine 2.0) at 60A on the DC side (~720W) with the ECO on. It would bog down, then charger would shutoff, then gen would wind back up, charger would kick back on, then gen would bog down.....well, you get the picture. With the gen with high alt jetting, it runs the charger with no problem on ECO.
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PrairieGoat
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10/16/07 05:57pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Trojan vs Deka Batteries
All repeat this one more time, Deka and Interstate 6 volt batteries are the same, they are made by US battery. Buy them from Costco or a golf cart company and save your self some money.
Sam
Not looking to start an argument, but not according to East Penn Manufacturing (East Penn-Deka) or the local Deka dealers.
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PrairieGoat
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10/16/07 05:48pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Does anyone use a Tripod support for pin on fifth wheel?
We use our tri-pod all the time, one night stay weekends,it only takes a few minutes to put up.
I agree....we use ours everytime we setup, regardless of stay length. Only takes a few minutes! It really helps when my DW and I are at opposite ends of the trailer. She generally wakes up a bit earlier than I do, and goes down into the living room. Without the tripod it seems that everytime one of us moves the other feels it....way more than when we are in the same end of the trailer. The tripod gets rid of 95% of this movement.
BTW, I also use the BAL chocks between the wheels...they don't seem to help with movement as much as the tripod.
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PrairieGoat
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10/15/07 09:52pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Inverter selection, Converter/Charger change required?
I believe you should also consider adding the optional battery temperature sensor that adjusts the charge rate. This can prevent damaging the batteries; especially if you camp in hot weather.
Mel
Minor point of correction....the battery temperature sensor is included with the ProSine 2.0, not optional. Other than that.....good advice!
:B
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PrairieGoat
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10/02/07 08:27pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Does the Honda eu2000i have bonded neutral?
I just finished installing a ProSine 2.0 in my 5er a few weeks ago. I left the bonding setting as it came from the factory and had no problems when I hooked up either true shore power or gen power from my two eu2000's.
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PrairieGoat
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10/02/07 08:17pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Synthetic oil in a Honda 2000 Gen.
Sorry, I'm trolling
Good thing you added this.....I was already slobberin' all over my keyboard! ;)
As for the OP....like many above, I use Mobil 1 in my two....so far, so good!
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PrairieGoat
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10/02/07 07:05pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Sears Diehard 6 Volt Golf Cart Batteries
Double your battery, then each will see only half the amps. :R
This is not always the case....the original poster was asking about 6V batteries. With 2 of these wired in series, to get 12V, each battery is seeing the full amperage. If you have two banks of 6V batteries wired correctly for 12V (i.e. 4 batteries), then you will indeed have 1/2 the amperage going to each bank.
This is also why you have to be careful about the charging current in 6V battery setups. Here is an example:
If you have 2 12V batteries for a total of 200Ah, and you are charging at 60A you will have 30A going across each battery (since they are in parallel). Since each battery is made up of 6 cells at ~2V each, you are putting 60 watts to each cell.
If you take the same setup with 6V batteries however (2 6V batteries for a total of 200Ah) and you are charging at 60A, you will have 60A going across each battery (since they are in series). Since each battery is made up of 3 cells at ~2V each, you are putting 120 watts to each cell. Twice the power being applied to each cell in the 6V scenario.
All this being said, I recently contacted the engineers at Johnson Controls (maker of the Sam's Club 6V battery as well as many others) and posed the question to them about what the maximum current I should be charging their batteries at. My inverter/charger had the default charging profile set in it and was applying 60A during the bulk charge phase. After I thought about the above scenarios, I figured I better get a definitive answer. The final answer was sort of non-commital, but they cautioned me that if I was going to charge them in excess of 25A, I needed to ensure that someone was in the immediate vicinity to monitor the charging in case the batteries overheated. They then explained that if they overheated, I was to kill the power to them and not try to unhook or do anything to them until they cooled. I'm sure some of this answer was based on the liability issues, but it still seems sound to me!
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PrairieGoat
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09/30/07 05:31pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Sears Diehard 6 Volt Golf Cart Batteries
Now for a dumb but related question. How do I "slow down" my 55A converter/charger (WFCO model WF-8955AN)?
Certainly not a dumb question!!! Your converter is actually one of the better ones with 3-stage charging. There is really not much you can do to change it. In most situations it will not be pulling nearly that much. It may pull a fairly high amperage for the 1st 1/2 hour or so if you have really run your battery down, and you may want to keep an eye on the battery for overheating during this period. This really shouldn't be too much of a problem as you really shouldn't be running it much below 50% anyway (for increased longevity). If you are consistently running it below 50%, then you should probably be looking at a bigger battery bank anyway.
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PrairieGoat
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09/27/07 09:49pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Sears Diehard 6 Volt Golf Cart Batteries
our rigs are hard on golf cart batteries. it isnt the road, but rather how we charge them. they were never ment to take a fast 100+ amp charge. they do much better with a 10-15% charge per capacity. a 220 amp battery does well with 22-33 amps. to fast of a charge, like we all do, will cause the battery to boil, and this causes the cell levels to drop. expose the cells, and the battery will sulfate fast, then go to a dead short. check them monthly, its easier and cheaper than replacing those heavy dogs..
This is good advice!!! My new inverter defaulted to 60A charging and after I realized every cell was seeing the full 60A (since the 6v batteries were wired in series) , I contacted the folks at Johnson Controls (makers of the Energizer GC batteries). They gave me essentially the same advice you give above....
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PrairieGoat
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09/26/07 11:13pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: full sine wave inverter
A couple of other things to think about....
Most inverters are around 85% efficient. That means if you need 600 watts, approx. 706 watts will be pulled from your batteries.
706 watts will be approximately 58 amps being pulled from your batteries. 2 6v golf cart batteries (225Ah) or 2 12v (200Ah) will only give you about 4 hours of run time at that rate. It is also recommended that you don't run deep cycle battery much below 50% too often, so that would only give you 2 hrs.
I've run these same numbers with the thought of running my O2 concentrator, but the draw is just too much when dry-camping. You might want to look at one of the "portable" concentrators (the name escapes me at the moment). They are a bit pricey (~$5000), but they draw a lot less power. The downside is they only have a maximum of 3 lpm or so.
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PrairieGoat
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09/26/07 11:05pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: 6 volt Battery?
If you swap out your 12 volt for a pair of 6 volts, do you have to fabricate a case/hold down for them...or is there something commercially available to facilitate securing on the camper?
If they are outside your rig (such as on the tongue) you have several options since they do not need to have an external venting system. I even found some nice ones in aluminum on some website.
If they are inside your rig (such as a 5er), your options will be much more limited. I ended up building a battery box setup.
Note that this just applies to flooded cell batteries. You can get away without external venting with AGM and Gel cell batteries, but the cost is significantly more.
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PrairieGoat
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09/26/07 10:52pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: 6 volt Battery?
Low $60 vs mid $80 for T105 batteries - that's not twice :h
Around here the T105's go for around $120...at least the few places I have found them.
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PrairieGoat
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09/26/07 10:48pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Pure sine wave inverters and battery charging
Also, if you do use the charger feature on a so-equipped inverter, it will not hurt other charging sources. Basically, the source with the highest voltage normally wins the charging war. If your battery bank is very low, then it might be possible for ALL charging sources to provide current together.
This may not hurt the charging sources, but it could potentially overheat your battery; depending on the amount of current being applied and the size of the battery bank.
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PrairieGoat
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09/26/07 10:44pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Need advice on an inverter...
I just finished installing a Xantrex ProSine 2.0 in my 5er. It is a bit more power than what you mentioned, but I tend to subscribe to "More's Law".......More's Better!!! It also has one feature that you didn't really mention and you may or may not need....a built-in 100A 3-stage battery charger. It does have a built-in transfer switch (shorepower to DC). The ProSine 2.0 runs about $1250.
You might also look at the Xantrex 1000 & 1800 watt sine wave inverters. They may be more of what you are looking for. As far as I am concerned, given about a year of researching the various inverter options, I don't believe you can go wrong with Xantrex inverters.
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PrairieGoat
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09/26/07 10:36pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Battery, What's What?
I bought a set of the Energizer Golf Cart batteries from Sam's Club and I believe these are also made by Johnson Controls. They are still too new for me to speak to performance.
Also.....one way to tell flooded cell batteries from AGM is look at the price. The AGMs will be 2 to 3 times the prices of flooded cell batteries (with varying opinions on whether they are worth it).
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PrairieGoat
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09/20/07 09:53pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Electrical Cord "Snag" in Fifth Wheel
Another recommendation for the CampingWorld ParkPower conversion kit. I had the same problem one time (after 15 minutes or so I was just about POed enough to kick a hole in the trailer to get it out!!!). After some calming words from a friend of mine, reason took over and we managed to get just enough out that with an extension cord I was able to reach the electric post. As soon as I returned home I immediately changed over using the conversion kit. There was an issue of the kit exactly fitting the old "port", but it worked out well enough for me. Now it is just "plug and play"!!!
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PrairieGoat
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09/20/07 09:44pm |
Tech Issues
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