upgrade on board batteries or add solar

[dizzyspots]

Ive read a few threads but thought I would ask the question here. 2004 Eagle Cap 1150 with a pair of group 27 wet cell batteries. On board Onan 2500 LP generator.
Would you upgrade the batteries to say a pair of AGM group 31's or invest in a solar panel? Rumor has it that the camper is pre wired for solar...still looking.
Would appreciate your thoughts on this??

Mike

 

[IdaSHO]

It really depends on your style of camping and demands for 12V

How far are you depleting the batteries currently?

Are you using the generator at all?

 

[Scott Brady]

Solar gives you advantages the other systems in your camper do not have. If you run out of fuel for the generator (or it fails for some reason), you still have a means of charging the camper and starting batteries. It also allows for battery tending while you are out hiking or otherwise away from the vehicle. Two group 27 batteries is a lot of power, so having a way to tend those batteries makes a lot of sense from my perspective.

Best of luck

 

[dizzyspots]

Typical trip?
A 5-7 trip to Gonzaga Bay in Baja...drop the camper, launch the boat, tie up to a friends mooring and use the camper as base camp...BUT that was in the Northstar TC 650 on the Tundra.

We are now in a full size truck camper, so I cant give you a battery life number.

Generator? used it only once at the test flight at the Cochise Stronghold...about 1900...watching a really good moving on Netflix on the laptop...its battery was at 3%!!! ran the generator long enough to get the battery up to a point that we knew we could finish the show..only one neighboring camper about 50 + yds away, but still hated running the generator with ANY neighbors nearby.
Dont know about a/c use (never had the option...same with a microwave)... so I guess propane and lights? If we are hunkered down cause of wind...maybe watch a movie?


Mike

 

[goodtimes]

I know some people push batteries before solar - but my experience was the opposite.

I had a 100ah battery that would get me through a day and a half, maybe two, before needing a charge. When I installed the 100w solar panel (flexible CIGS panel from Global Solar), I unplugged the camper from the truck to see how long I could go in an effort to gauge that "sitting on the beach in Mexico without running the engine" time, relying strictly on solar & that single battery.

I never reconnected them.

Granted, all I ran was an ARB fridge, a couple hours of LED lights at night, random battery charging (phones, cameras), and the water pump. No microwave or A/C or other big loads, I always parked where I had good exposure, and I made a modest effort to keep the solar panel clean (basically, I washed the dirt off before every trip).

 

[dizzyspots]

Goodtimes...seems like we are in a parallel universe. Thanks for the info...

May I ask? Where in Tucson...we are way East in Mescal
What beaches in Mexico?
What kind of camper?

Cheers

Mike & Sharon

 

[dizzyspots]

Sooo..replace the group 24 (NOT 27 as suspected) with a pair of 27 or 31's....OR switch to a pair of Trojan T105 6v?Then back it all up with 100w solar?

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

Yeah, Baja cries out for Solar. Forget about using an AC. It's just not worth the effort. We carried a 2K Honda generator around for years and used it once, just to top off our e-devices! But, we have no AC. Also, a generator has an altitude range with different jets available for different altitudes. On our San Juan High truck camper trip we were between 10K and 13.8K feet, so without the high altitude jets the gen. was useless. As were the propane appliances which tripped the CO2 alarm any time you lit the stove or ran the fridge on gas. Too rich.
Now we have 200W of solar (the Renogy) using LED's and the batts stay up without fail. Of course we are still watt misers left over from the days when we used battery D cell lanterns during the evening in the TC.
No matter what, you'll need lots of battery storage. But with 200 to 400 Watts of solar panels they should be enough. For the ultimate in 12v. electronic advice go to RV.net, truck camper forum. There ARE gurus on there that are happy to assist you.
See our two solar panels on the roof: They were surprisingly light. They are in this position to have the least contact with passing tree limbs.

I was in Gonzaga Bay in 1973. Pretty wild and woolly then. We camped at a secluded beach to the south for a week and had an Avon rubber boat, skin diving gear and spear guns. What a time. The water temp was 88 deg. in September.
Here is a link to pix of that trip:The secluded beach we were camped on was only available at low tide.
http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jefe4x4/library/Baja?sort=3&page=7
jefe

 

[dizzyspots]

Love those early Gonzaga pics...we are noobies to Baja...our 1st trip was in 2007 with newly found on line friends over at 4wdtrips.net . We did that Puertecitos to GB road in a FJ Cruiser with a kayak on top and a 4wd camper trailer out back....tooks 5 + hours just for that leg,. Now you can go from the border at San Luis to GB in 5 hours TOTAL.
That area down south at Punta Final is really nice...and has great scallops

Thanks for the advice

Cheers

Mike

PS Just finished the rest of the gallery....might I suggest posting over on www.bajanomad.com...if you havent already great memories I belive the gentleman you show at Gonzaga is the patriarch for the Papa Fernandez camping area...Papa himself!!

 

[pappawheely]

I have an even better reason to run solar. I was in remote northern Nevada when my alternator quit. With a single 120 watt panel and Ctek D250s controller, I drove over 500 miles with no alternator. The system was charging my starting battery enough to run the engine and maintain 13.5 volts. I drove from Tonopah, Nevada to Laughlin and then from Laughlin to Southern California.

 

[dlh62c]

Would you upgrade the batteries to say a pair of AGM group 31's or invest in a solar panel?

Would appreciate your thoughts on this??

If the batteries are in good shape and you don't mind maintaining them, keep them for the time being.

Regarding solar panels, there are advantages to mounting them on the roof. But it's nice to park up in the shade and having the ability to place the panels out in the sun away from the vehicle.

On generator usage, the only issue I have of others using them is if they don't idle smoothly. There's something about a generator that's surging that just drives me nuts.

 

[Lance990]

I have two Group 27 Interstate Deep Cycle batteries and a 140W solar panel with a Blue Sky SC-30 solar controller. It keeps my batteries topped off and I monitor usage with a Trimetric 2030 battery monitor. This system provides all the power I need and I can keep track of amp hours with the Trimetric. My batteries rarely get down below 70% discharged. I also have a 3.4KW built in propane generator that I only use when I need air conditioning, which is rare. The total combined amp-hours for my 2 batteries is 192 AH which is plenty for lights, fan, laptop and a little TV sometimes. My batteries are usually recharged by noon the next day with adequate sunlight. Solar is a great way to go with your setup.

 

[goodtimes]

Goodtimes...seems like we are in a parallel universe. Thanks for the info...

May I ask? Where in Tucson...we are way East in Mescal
What beaches in Mexico?
What kind of camper?

Cheers

Mike & Sharon

I'm a few miles west of the city limits - on the western flank of the Tucson mountains.

I used to spend new years on the deserted beaches between Kino & San Carlos, the usual haunts in Baja, etc.

The camper was an older (but overhauled) FWC Grandby. I'm flying solo again, so I downsized to a 4runner & the camper went to a new home.

we are noobies to Baja...our 1st trip was in 2007 with newly found on line friends over at 4wdtrips.net .

Hmmm - we may have met before . . .

 

[dizzyspots]

Our 1st trip was with Jack Silbe (San Diego), Doron Strassman (Tucson) and Jose (euroman/El Paso)...firends now...didnt know any of them until they showed us the wonders of Baja and the Whales

 

[goodtimes]

Our 1st trip was with Jack Silbe (San Diego), Doron Strassman (Tucson) and Jose (euroman/El Paso)...firends now...didnt know any of them until they showed us the wonders of Baja and the Whales

I used to run in the same circle as Jack back in the early 2000's when I lived out in the Los Angeles area. He built 4wdtrips because the group ended up with so many e-mails going back and forth that it was hard to keep up with everything. We still get together (along with a bunch of the other old timers) every fall. I've crossed paths with Doron a few times too, but it's been a couple years since I've seen him.