I don't think Walmart sells real deep cycle batteries. They do sell a hybrid sort of battery they for RV and Marine use that they call deep cycle. Regardless, three 12v are not too much, and you should be able to get a couple of days out of them boondocking. In fact, I have battery envy; I only have one and it barely lasts overnight LOL.
2002 Keystone Cougar 286, 8,400lbs loaded, pulled with a 2004 F150 Supercrew, 5.4, 3.73 gears. Retired and enjoying life
Pappy how do I desulfate a batt? I have heard of it but I don't know how Don thanks for the wiring tip I had read seen that a few months back when I got this rig I got my tape out and measured the cables exactly the same length, and the guy did set it up the way described. Roy B. I will look to see what kind of inverter or charger it has. From what you guys are saying i think I will be happy I have three, Don't think I will mess with them.
And Thanks to All for the great input been a member her for a while but had not posted for years, forgot what a great bunch of folks are here!!
Bill, as I'm sure you know by now, the more batteries, the merrier. Also, if you have the WalMart Deep Cycle/Marine batteries, don't sweat it. Though not a true deep cycle battery, that type of battery is what 90% of rv'ers are using IMO. They'll work fine for you so long as they've been maintained and are in good shape. I've got the same batteries in my rig, though a different brand and they're going on 5 years now and are still fine.
VOLTEL - I would always turn off the CONVERTER (i.e. No Shore Power conencted) when charging with an external charger. No sense pushing your luck of zapping out something else with both the converter and portable charger supplying power to your battery bank...
Guess this means you are gong to keep your battery bank as it haha... I was just starting to look for a map to see where you live... Four things you can to do to beef-up the trailer battery system to be successful camping off the power grid. Use smart-mode COnverter/Charger (at least 45AMP model), install more batteries with larger battery cables (You may have this done for you already), Install a small INVERTER to run some of your 120VAC items like the Hoome entertainment Center, maybe an electric blanket, electric fan, etc (I use a 600W PURE SIGN WAVE model here), and replace your interior incandescent automotive bulbs with LEDs (This will save you 80% power savings over using the incandescent bulbs), and finally get a 2KW Honda Generator to connect your shore power cable directly to the 120VAC receptacle of the generator using a RV30A-15A adapter to recharge your battery bank the next morning. I use the RV30A-15 DUAL HONDA Adapter (Amazon) and because of the smart-mode converter/charger can re-charge my battery bank in as little as 2-3 hours to 90% state of charge which will let me do this all over again the next day and night camping off the power grid.
We camp out alot at places that doesnt have electric and really enjoy it. There is anothe side to this setup as well especially when you are in huricane areas and that is having the RV trailer sitting in your CAMP BACKYARD ready to go without power hookups is worth a whole alot when the commercial power goes away.
We survived Hurricane Irene last year just fine not having commercial power for over a week. We watched HDTV everynight using our OTA crank-p BATWING antenna and only ran our generator a few hours each day to keep the batteries charged up and the fridge/freezer and other home things going each day as well haha... Our only big problem was finding a working gas station to fill up my gasoline jeri-can hehe...
My Posts are IMHO based on my experiences - PM me Roy and Carolyn
RETIRED DOAF/DON/DOD/CONTR RADIO TECH (42yrs)
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2010 F150, 5.4,3:73 Gears,SCab
2008 Starcraft 14RT EU2000i GEN
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