# Wild camping - battery?



## BillyR (Dec 1, 2009)

I have an auto trail Miami. If I overnight my battery lasts 1 night. If I want to do another couple - am I better buying an additional battery - a generator or a solar panel?


----------



## trevorf (May 16, 2005)

By far the cheapest option is a second battery. Next thing to do is replace all your halogen lights with LED's to reduce power consumptions. After that consider a solar panel of at least 80W.



Trevor


----------



## 747 (Oct 2, 2009)

Firstly, your existing battery should last more than one night. It may be on its way out.

The cheapest option is to fit a second battery. If you are going to do a lot of wildcamping then a solar panel is a must.

You can buy a genny but you will not be liked by any unfortunate wildcamper who has the misfortune to hear it (and smell it) while trying to have a peaceful night. A silent (but still smelly) one is a lot of money and that money can buy a lot of solar power.

Basically, you need plenty of battery storage to soak up any solar power generated.

Welcome to the forum.


----------



## ActiveCampers (Jun 17, 2005)

The cheapest option is to find WHY it only lasts one day!

A single battery can last ages - so what are you using it for?

If you have halogen lights - change to LED.
If you have a 21" large CRT TV then consider a smaller camper friendly one. If you have a microwave/hair-dryer/inverter with heating/elec kettle - then you need re-educating!

Our TV takes 2A @ 12v. So with TV, fridge (gas), lights, music etc we could have everying on solid for 2 full days before a single battery goes flat.

I'd suggest you may have some high power sapping thing killing your battery, or your original battery is on the way out. Fix this first, else you risk spending money on wasted toys.


----------



## BillyR (Dec 1, 2009)

*More than one battery!*

Yes. My problem is that I do use a fair bit of the old battery power. Satellite and large TV but love it! Thank you for the advice. I will definitely change the lights and get a 2nd battery and see how it goes. Do I need to have the same make of battery?


----------



## pieterv (Feb 3, 2009)

Best practice is to have two batteries of the same Ah and age/condition, which probably means getting two new ones.


----------



## BillyR (Dec 1, 2009)

Hopefully - I'm OK, battery is only 3 months old?


----------



## Ken38 (Mar 24, 2009)

The age of a battery is not necessarily related to its condition. How you treat it can have a major impact and cause very early demise!

Once it is duff then that appears to be it! You can recover it a bit but not enough to make it like new.

You will get lots of advice here. Enjoy! It's all from people's personal experience not sales talk.


----------



## pieterv (Feb 3, 2009)

Ken38 said:


> The age of a battery is not necessarily related to its condition. How you treat it can have a major impact and cause very early demise!
> 
> Once it is duff then that appears to be it! You can recover it a bit but not enough to make it like new.
> 
> You will get lots of advice here. Enjoy! It's all from people's personal experience not sales talk.


Indeed, a few very deep discharges will do serious damage to the battery. Best to have some extra capacity and don't discharge too deep. Below 50% is to be avoided (apart from with some expensive traction batteries), less discharge is better.


----------



## kandsservices (Sep 5, 2010)

The batteries need to be the same ampheres as well as the same age if yours is only three months old i would go back to where you bought it from and see if they have anymore as its quiet this time of year for leisure retailers stands a chance they are from the same batch.Iwould also look at having a solar panel fitted would recomend 80watt panel with two batteries or as big as you can afford or as big as will fit on the roof.
Kev


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I have one 110AH battery and it will last 4-6 days without charge or moving. We have a small low power colour telly and satellite dome, LED lighting but Gas only heating. No solar or genny so I reckon your battery is duff.


----------

