I put the golf cart batteries inside my bus, under the rear seat. There is no way they will fit in the engine compartment, at least not in a baywindow. Too tall. Can't speak for splitties. Yes on two days from a pair of golf cart batteries, and yes on the solar panels, although as Justin pointed out you can make your panels removable, park in the shade and move the panels into the sun. I am a lazy SOB though and that's too much work for me plus I worry about theft so I mounted mine permanently to the roof with carriage bolts. If it's hot out and I park in the shade, well that's just too damned bad!
-David On 1/22/2011 5:08 AM, kelly dosch wrote:
And the winner of the Most Helpful and Informative Answer goes to Mr. Schwarze.Your answer brings up a couple more questions though-Where did you fit two more batteries? Is there enough room in the engine compartment? And just to be sure I have this right- Two golf cart batteries @ about $150 can keep you in lights and cold beer on a primitive site for two days? That would befantastic! And you say if I spend another $300 on solar panels and accouterments and park in the broiling sun I might get almost another day? If that is the case I think I'll pass on the solar panels. Maybe just a solar trickle charger for emergencies. Thanks again for a great answer. As soon as I get my side tent I'm going right to Costco for two golf cart batteries. You rock. )< (- (_ (_`(--- On *Sat, 1/22/11, David Schwarze /<dschwarze@xxxxxxxxxx>/* wrote: From: David Schwarze <dschwarze@xxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [tcb] Re: Question About Dual Battery Set-Up And Solar Panels To: tcb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Saturday, January 22, 2011, 12:19 AM I have a pair of 1,050 amp-hour batteries in my garage... do I win? They weigh almost as much as my bus though. :-) Back to the original question. My recommendation for a deep cycle RV battery is a pair of 6V golf cart batteries. They will cost $150 (Sams club or Costco) and give you 220 amp-hours worth of 12V power. Relatively compact and light weight compared to AGM batteries and will last 8-10 years if taken care of and when they die they will still be worth $30 at the recycler. If you only want a single battery then I'd go to West Marine and buy the group27 or 28 RV/Marine battery (usually 95 amp-hours) for about $75. Make sure it doesn't say "starting" anywhere in the description(there are starting batteries, starting-slash-deep-cycle batteries, and just-deep-cycle batteries - you want the latter). Solar panels, I love 'em (have two on top of my bus and a third waiting for the giveashit factor to increase) but they are not simple or cheap and only truly useful if you go whole-hog. With the aforementioned pair of golf cart batteries and my older Norcold fridge (which drew 6.5 amps) I could camp for a weekend with cold beer and lights without plugging in. Adding 75 watts ofsolar panels and parking in the sun gave me *maybe* another day. Now that I have a more efficient fridge (3.5 amp Norcold) and 110watts of panels, I might get a week without driving in ideal conditions. Useful if I lived in my bus, otherwise it's just an expensive novelty. -David On 1/21/2011 3:28 PM, Justin Wilt wrote:I have 4, 120 amp hour batteries in my shed and 120W solar power charging them. From there you can run an inverter that bumps the voltage from 12, 24 or 48 volts to 120volts AC current. I have lights and a small refrigerator full of beer running completely off the sun. I plan on transferring this setup into my camper when it comes out of the body shop. There are amp hour and inverter calculators online that tell you how long you can run a device. No RV service connection needed! Justin On Fri, Jan 21, 2011 at 3:18 PM, kelly dosch <kellydosch@xxxxxxxxx </mc/compose?to=kellydosch@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote: Hello. I need to get a deep cycle RV battery for my Westfalia Campmobile. I'm seeing about a gazillion types with vastly varying prices. ($120-$600!) Is it really all that complicated or can I just get the cheap Sears Marine/RV battery? ($120) Also, I have noticed a lot of Westies with solar panels. Why? If they have a campsite with electrical hook-up the battery can charge itself. If not, the alternator will charge it during a short drive. I don't get it. Why would anybody want to drop $400 for a solar panel? (Tell me it isn'tjust to be "green".) Thanks for your time,... )< (- (_ (_ `(-- Justin WiltTechnician Post Oak Motorcars Rolls Royce Motorcars Houston Bentley Houston 1530 West Loop South Houston TX 77095 USA +1-713-850-1530 +1-713-539-4419
