What accessory Battery?

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OutdoorTxs

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Ive got an accessory battery in the bed of my truck, under a camper shell, that I use to power my fridge, cell phone booster, camp lights, and usb charging. Its a Vmax Tank 125ah AGM battery. I charge the battery with a 100w solar panel on top of my truck.
I was going to purchase another for my teardrop trailer, and noticed that the charging specs for the battery call for 8-10amps and 200-400watts of solar. My single 100w panel puts out 3-5amps.
I know I add a DC to DC charger, but thats not in the cards right now. Im curious, what others use as accessory batteries, charged only on solar. I might need to change mine.
 

OutdoorTxs

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I considered that, but don't have much room. I guess I could swap to a single 200w panel. I'm curious how much of a difference this actually makes on charging the battery. I'm going to try and contact Vmax and getore info.
 
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smritte

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How much power do you draw in your teardrop? Once you figure out that part, you just need a bit over it to run things and charge battery.

I ran a 120 watt panel on my trailer for several years. 50 qt fridge was the big draw. The panel would charge the battery back within an hour or so in the morning then power everything all day. My battery was around 100ah.
I run a 50 watt panel on my Cruiser to keep everything topped off when its parked. That's not enough to power my 30qt fridge and keep the truck up. I need a 100 watt for that.
 

OutdoorTxs

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The teardrop is will probably draw around 10 amps. The vmax 125ah AGM would be plenty, I'm just concerned that Vmax website warns that I need 200w of solar to charge at 8amps, when I've only got 100w of solar with the teardrop. I really like Vmax but if they need more power to charge, maybe I need to look at other batteries. Unless the 200w is suggested as best case scenario type thing.
 
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grubworm

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i have a 50w panel on my camper shell and use a duracell agm battery for storage...works fine for what i need since i dont run a fridge.
my square drop (5x8) has 200w and a 100ah agm battery that runs everything including a 65qt dometic fridge. space is an issue on a small camper, so i mounted the panels under the yakima rack using aluminium angle...this way my panels are not touching the roof nor are they sticking above my rack so i can use the rack with no problem. loading the rack will block some of the sun, but once on location, i can remove items in the rack and get full sun. best solution i have found, including using the flexible panels.
we move around a lot, so portable panels wont work since we drive during the day and stop when its dark....even with some of the panels being blocked by items on the rack, i always get a full charge during the day and have plenty of power at night. i just ordered whatever agm battery had high reviews on amazon. this is the one i've been using for 2 yrs now with no problems


1643895608280.jpeg
 

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i have a 50w panel on my camper shell and use a duracell agm battery for storage...works fine for what i need since i dont run a fridge.
my square drop (5x8) has 200w and a 100ah agm battery that runs everything including a 65qt dometic fridge. space is an issue on a small camper, so i mounted the panels under the yakima rack using aluminium angle...this way my panels are not touching the roof nor are they sticking above my rack so i can use the rack with no problem. loading the rack will block some of the sun, but once on location, i can remove items in the rack and get full sun. best solution i have found, including using the flexible panels.
we move around a lot, so portable panels wont work since we drive during the day and stop when its dark....even with some of the panels being blocked by items on the rack, i always get a full charge during the day and have plenty of power at night. i just ordered whatever agm battery had high reviews on amazon. this is the one i've been using for 2 yrs now with no problems


View attachment 222194
Good info, I am starting my camper build soon and this really helps!
 

OutdoorTxs

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Called and talked to a rep with Vmax, to ask about charging the SLR125 with 100w of solar, vs the 200w their website suggest.
Its a matter of fully recharging the battery to 100% between uses. They calculate 200w of solar is what is needed to top back off to 100%.
He said there isnt a safety concern with using 100w of solar, but more a matter of battery life. Not fully recharging between uses, could shorten the battery life, and 100w of solar may not be enough to fully recharge in daylight hours.
Ive order a SLR100 battery (which will be better for 100w of solar) to replace the one on bed of my truck, and I'll move the SLR125 to the teardrop trailer, which will eventually have 200w of solar added.
 
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smritte

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I'm just concerned that Vmax website warns that I need 200w of solar to charge at 8amps,
Just saw this.
Are they saying, their 200 watt panel only puts out 8 amps?

My 120 puts out 7 in full sun. Remember, your only replacing what was used over night. When everything heats up in the day, your fridge will cycle on more drawing power. Battery size is not really relevant to panel size unless your planning to run it way down.

If you only draw 50 amps over night and your panel puts out 10, you calculate how long to charge. As long as your battery has enough to power everything without sun, your good. Bigger battery wont change how much you draw and replace, only how long you can stay out of the sun.

Not sure if this will change your set up but, I added an additional input plug for my solar controller. Most of my camping has been desert, I started doing more mountain camping and my panel keeps getting shaded. I bought a 180 watt folding panel with 30 ft of cord. I parallel that into my controller to keep it in the sun.
 

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Not to throw dirt on your AGM game, but it sounds like you are needing more power and charging than you are getting from your current set up. It also sounds like you may have multiple areas you want power for. (Rig and trailer).

You are already using solar, have you looked at/considered LiFePO4 batteries? Yes they are more expensive but they are also so much more power. They discharge over 90% of the stored power vs the less than 50% of other chemistries. They cycle so many more times, reportedly lasting upto 10 years and beyond. I’ve never had automotive batts last longer than 5 years and since I run two in my diesel truck, at $200 a battery that adds up ($800+over 10 years- if I get 5 years out of a pair). So price is relative when looked at over time. I just built a 12V 200AH LiFePO4 pack for about $350 buying the cells and bms separately. I put them into one of the battery boxes with the lids that give me a 2x12v receptacles as well as a battery power indicator (granted not very useful for LiFePO4 as they give you a full 12V+ all the way through their discharge- other chemistries don’t do that either)

Commercial LiFePO4 offerings are pricey, but they package and market their offerings nicely and the average consumer doesn’t have to do much beyond minimal battery maintenance.

Consider this- You are building YOUR rig to suit Your needs. You are outfitting your gear based on YOUR budget and perception of what you need/want. In the process you are “going to school” on the gear, your vehicle, etc.It’s really just a matter of time before you conclude you want to buy or build a solar power station/generator type piece of kit.

You can spend the hard earned cash to have an awesome commercial product, or you can build it yourself and probably have twice or three times the capability for 1/3 to 1/2 the cost. You can plan and scale your solar generator to be modular and build it over time. That is what I’m doing. I started with the one LiFePO4 bank in a simple battery box, with 12v and USB outlets to allow me to use it. Then I added a second box that contains an inverter, solar charge controller and associated fuse panel and other input/outputs like 12v, USB, XT60, battery Bluetooth monitor, etc.

Now I can more easily move/store the boxes separately or plug them into each other for a more robust generator. I can add more batteries later to run in series or parallel to my initial bank and adjust my solar input accordingly.

In the process I am learning about Solar panels, battery chemistries, generator components and abilities, etc. I have even learned I can deploy my solar panels on my rig at home and back feed my house through a standard wall outlet and slow my house meter and save money on my monthly power bill by using a grid tie inverter. (Perfectly safe and legal as it does NOT require any kind of permit or special wiring installation, just plug it into any house outlet and let your solar panels work for you when you are not camping).

From here it’s a skip and a jump to augmenting my grid usage or setting up my house to be off grid or less dependent on the grid. So my interest in the Solar power and associated components goes beyond just running some lights, a portable fridge/cooler or charging phones and laptops while camping.

Rant Over, I hope the “Solar Bug” bites you too! Happy trails...
 
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