Charging large battery bank on the road with a slide in.

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
Currently in the process of nailing down electrical for my custom camper.

Vehicle is a '96 F250 Powerstroke.
Already has a 215AMP high-output alternator and dual battery setup (stock)

Plans are to run a 300AH or so battery bank in the camper. Looking at two 6V deep cycles at the moment.

Ive got a 100AMP Continuous Duty relay under the hood. 3/0 feed from the driver side battery to the relay.


I would like some suggestions as to just how fast I will be able to recharge the camper batteries, what size wire is recommended (roughly 14 feet distance), and how to make the connection itself.
With a slide in I would like some sort of weathertight connection in the bed. So far I have come up short in searches for such a connector. High current and weathertight....


Thanks for any help. :ylsmoke:
 

herm

Adventurer
i dont think weather tight is needed. I use anderson power pole connectors and have great luck with them.
 

chromisdesigns

Adventurer
Fast charging depends on the type of battery you have. Both wet cell and AGM batteries can be "bulk charged" at a substantial fraction of their 20-hour rating, up to about 80% charge, then you have to slow down to finish charging them. So-called maintenance free batteries require slower charging.

A good 3-stage charge controller will do this for you automatically. Once in a while all lead-acid batteries have to be equalized, which is bringing them slowly to a slight over-charge state to make sure all the cells are fully charged. Again, a good controller will monitor this.

As a rough example, on our boat we had 3 banks of batteries, each bank was 2x 6v, 220 AH wet-cell batts. Two were house banks and one dedicated to starting the diesel. We typically ran them in the 20-80% charge range, and our daily use was around 100-110 AH, switching the house banks daily. So we were using about 50% of a given pair's capacity. We could bulk charge a pair back to around 80% in about an hour at 125 amp charging rate. We were running a 160 amp alternator on dual belts and an Ample Power 3-stage alternator controller.

Every couple of weeks, we would top them off with an equalizing charge, which required a much longer diesel run, so we tried to do that when we were planning on motoring anyway.

Battery cables were all 4/0, but that was because any of them could at some point be required to carry starting current for the diesel. Distance from the batteries to the switch panel was around 15 feet.

Battery life on Trojan golf-cart style batteries in this useage was at least 3 years for the house banks, 500-600 cycles before they started showing loss of capacity. We didn't have the battery caps that recombine the gasses into water, so we did have to watch the electrolyte levels pretty closely. Running a wet cell low, or worse with part of the plates exposed, ruins it pretty fast.
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
Thanks for the responses guys.

Using the camper battery banks for starting (last resort) has been a thought of mine. For that, I would need a healthy sized wire. Factory battery cables on this truck were all 2/0, with a 3/0 starter cable. I built the 3/0 cables for it, and so far it seems to REALLY like them. Much of the improvement no doubt was the old cable ends being corroded and marginal Im sure. But I know the truck really like the larger cables. Faster cranks, and the voltage readings are better all around. At rest, glow plugs engaged, cranking, and running.

I have looked at the anderson type plugs. They do seem like the way to go, but we do a LOT of foul weather and winter trips. So I really do want some sort of weathertight connection. While connected and when not. Do the andersons offer some sort of dust covers at least?

Im also a bit confused about the plugs themselves. Most of the listings I see are for just one plug, not pairs?? Dont you need a male and female end to make this work??
 

pods8

Explorer
I have looked at the anderson type plugs. They do seem like the way to go, but we do a LOT of foul weather and winter trips. So I really do want some sort of weathertight connection. While connected and when not. Do the andersons offer some sort of dust covers at least?

Im also a bit confused about the plugs themselves. Most of the listings I see are for just one plug, not pairs?? Dont you need a male and female end to make this work??

They make dust covers for when they are unplugged. When plugged in if you wanted to seal off the connection fully you'd need to make up a cover of your own or wrap it in electrical tape or such. In reality if this is for a slide in camper if you make the connection inside the truck bed near the front its already quite sheltered from the elements. http://www.powerwerx.com/powerpole-accessories/

Powerpoles are unisex, the housings are all the same and plug into themselves when facing each other and one is flipped over. (Not sure if that makes sense in writing).
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
AH hell, I see it now..... I didnt realize the connectors slip together like that. Thanks


I feel like and idiot! :chef:
 

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