Re: [A/S] Inconsiderate Campers

[Jim Dunmyer <jdunmyer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hunter,
 Charging your batteries from the tow vehicle will work, sorta:

My own measurements show a charge rate of maybe 6 or 7 amps; it would be
a bit higher if the batteries were really 'low', but not much. There's
way too much voltage drop in the typical wiring for this to work well,
but Bill & Jan Moeller report in their books that it's satisfactory if
you use #4 welding cable to connect the vehicle's alternator all the way
to the trailer batteries. Using an electric forklift battery connector
for the plug, of course, not the 7-pin lighting connector. (in case you
don't know what #4 welding cable looks like, picture a wire about as big
as your little finger; you need 2 to make a complete circuit, of
course.)

Of course, running your $30,000 truck to [poorly] do the job of a
$1000.00 genset doesn't make a lot of sense to me, either.

So the short answer is, Yes, it'll work if you have nothing better, but
not well nor efficiently.

Once again, you need to start with USAGE. Even our pretty minimal usage
will amount to 20+ AH/day. Because of the way the charge will taper off
when using the tow vehicle, it'll take at least 5 hours to fully replace
that, and 2 or 3 hours to do a half-way job. It's really very simple,
just like your gas tank: you must replace whatever you use. Except with
batteries, you need to replace 10-20% more than you used because they're
not 100% efficient.

The reason I recommend using a 3-stage charger like a StatPower or the
InteliPower converter/charger is because of the way they control the
charge rate compared to a standard converter. The latter is mostly
designed to provide 12-volt power when you're 'plugged in', with battery
charging being a secondary function. They won't charge the battery in
any hurry, yet will overcharge it if left plugged in for long periods.

                                      <<Jim>>