Charging while towing

[Mloves2camp]

Yes, I'd run the engine, wouldn't get much accomplished otherwise! It has a long cord, so I'm sure it'd reach, I have outlets in the rear of my car & the 12 volt outlets in the galley. I know it won't handle tons of voltage, but enough to charge up the battery for lights & the vent fan. I'm not using 12v for anything but those. If I unhitch, there'd be no concern at all about the cord reaching. I thought this would be good as it would be controlled more by the car's system & would protect all the computer stuff in there. If it will start a car after 10 minutes of use, I figure that would get enough juice for my needs.

Would I need to unhook the battery tender first? It wouldn't be connected to ac at the time, of course. Could I damage it in any way?

I'm just looking for a quick & easy way to get some juice to the trailer. Don't have a lot of $ to spend on getting things wired up just yet. We want a good mattress, so that's the next payout, before any wiring can be done. Besides, my hubby being an engineer would be messing with it & he'd over-engineer it till I'm crazy! He's the one who's worried about the battery tender, btw.

[iplay10us2]

MLoves:

Can you currently charge your camper battery while towing? If so, why wouldn't you just charge your battery that way when you need to? If you are already going to have to start your car to use the other thing, wouldn't it just be easier to charge through the already existing hook up?

[Mloves2camp]

No, it's not wired for charging when driving.

[bdosborn]

No, it's not wired for charging when driving.

You'd have to run the engine for several hours to get a meaningful charge using the 12V outlet. I would wire the TV so you can charge while driving.

Bruce

[Mloves2camp]

Thanks, I guess we'll have to bite the bullet & do that. Oh well, thought I found a temporary work around, but it's never that easy, is it?

[Reddiver]

I did it La Tortuga will now charge while on the road.. I ended up buying the kit from the first post. By the time I checked the price of wire and other components seemed like it was worth the money .I know all I needed was a couple of wires from my truck , but I dont have to unplug its all good. Anyway I changed out the navagation lights in my galley to bayonet lcds along with the galley over head lights. Have an Optima Battery figure I can listen to my tunes for along time ... I am happy Camper. :

[AceMan]

Would it be possible to use a setup as "Mloves2camp" has while you are traveling. It seems like the outlet would put out at least 2Amps. Don't know if you could over charge trailer battery.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170746939542?ss ... 1497.l2649

[AceMan]

This weekend I experimented with running a 300 watt inverter thru my power outlet from the TV. (regulated with the ignition switch) I ran a extension cord to the charger in the Tear. It seemed to work OK. I know it's 12v to 110v back to 12v but it is a simple setup that woks with no modification to the TV. I haven't located the fuse to the cars power outlet yet to check the size but I had the car running for over 1/2 hour with no evidence of problems with socket heat.
I saw no great fluctuations from my voltage readout on the dash panel
Oh, it was charging the battery.

[eamarquardt]

This weekend I experimented with running a 300 watt inverter thru my power outlet from the TV. (regulated with the ignition switch) I ran a extension cord to the charger in the Tear. It seemed to work OK. I know it's 12v to 110v back to 12v but it is a simple setup that woks with no modification to the TV. I haven't located the fuse to the cars power outlet yet to check the size but I had the car running for over 1/2 hour with no evidence of problems with socket heat.
I saw no great fluctuations from my voltage readout on the dash panel
Oh, it was charging the battery.

I'm confused. Why would you want to go from 12 volts, to 110 volts, and then back to 12 volts?

Seems like all you're doing is using your battery power inefficiently.

Gus

[Tumbleweed_Tex]

Ok all you free-thinkers and friendly engineer-types …chew this up so I’ll stop thinking about it.

A small, windmill-type fan connected to a light-duty, slow speed (tiny diesel tractor?) alternator with built-in voltage regulator, rescued from a salvage yard. Alternator output is connected to the battery you wish to charge.
With the right fan design, seems like a gentle 10 mph breeze thru the campground would be enough to rotate the thing.

[eamarquardt]

You knew I couldn't resist!

Here are sites that have a lot of good dope (information, not drugs, and I'm willing to share my info but not my drugs as my doctor made me promise not to share, otherwise I'm a sharing kind of guy. I digress), It mentions sources for blades and the stuff needed. EBay also has stuff

http://www.windbluepower.com/articles.asp?ID=123

http://www.windynation.com/

The sites tell you about how much juice (power, not orange or passion fruit) you can expect at different wind speeds.

A big issue is that a std alternator won't put out the voltage you need at low RPMs as it wasn't designed for that. So you gotta modify it or buy one that has been modified. Even if the engine driving a typical alternator is not spinning that fast, the pulley on the engine is much bigger than the alternator pulley so the alternator is spinning pretty fast. Kinda like when you put bigger wheels on your car, it goes slower because the speedometer says you are going slower when you are traveling the same speed as you were with your original tires. Don't ask, it's an inside joke.

For best performance and to ensure you don't cut off a pinkie or nose (or two or three) it should be mounted high enough so that you won't wander into it if your sense of caution is inhibited due to lack of sleep, drugs, alcohol, or one's just dumb enough to walk into a propeller.

If you can get it high enough to be safe, regularly camp where there are good breezes, and are willing to do a fair amount of fabrication it could be practical.

You'd wanna compare the cost and output to solar cells before you leap.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Gus

[AceMan]

I'm confused. Why would you want to go from 12 volts, to 110 volts, and then back to 12 volts?

Seems like all you're doing is using your battery power inefficiently.

Gus

My thought was for simplicity Gus. I figure you would probably only need to run the inverter an hour or so each day while traveling and the setup is easy. As a novice concerning electricity I don't know the total repercussions of the inefficiencies of the voltage switching.

[eamarquardt]

First when I read TV I wasn't thinking clearly, drugs, and mistook it for Television set and couldn't figure that part out. I'm bad.

It sounds like your running twelve volts from your tow vehicle to an inverter that makes 110 volts. Then the 110 volts goes to a battery charger that charges your battery. If that is correct, I now understand.

Depending upon your inverter's and charger's efficiency you're losing maybe 20 percent. Not a big deal if you're running your engine. Depending upon how much you need to charge your battery an hour a day may or may not be sufficient to replace what you've used. Chargers are rated at high amperages but those amperages, in my experience are not achieved as the battery limits the charging current at the voltages the chargers put out.

Your right that it works and as you only connect your battery charger to the battery and your charger to the inverter or extension cord it makes it a bit simpler.

I'd be leery of using a cigarette lighter socket and plug. As you say it worked when you tested it but a little corrosion deep in the socket or on the plug and it could build up some resistance and then heat up an potentially melt something. I believe those plugs and sockets are rated for about 10 amps.

Cheers, Gus

[Reddiver]

You guys are making me very happy I got off the bucks and bought kit.. My have cost a few bucks but it was easy hook up with good instructions.. What is it they say a Teardrop is a wood box you throw money into...

[Tumbleweed_Tex]

So…it might actually be practical to turn an automobile alternator with a windmill?

What if…

You procure, at a reasonable price, one of those 300 amp alternators from a dual battery diesel ambulance.
Mount it in the back of your truck, and connect it to an efficient blade drive system that will fold out into the 65 mph slipstream as you cruise down the interstate headed for the campground.

(I know…the wind is not free…but hey…it’s already THERE. And then there’s the added drag…just a little drag…)

Now THAT setup would charge the battery in the teardrop! It would also charge a reasonable bank of spares in the back of the truck.

Interesting…now I‘ve got something even better to think about.

Geez, Gus…next time, just say it won’t work.