Newbie - Camper Trailer Power

Wiz,

It would probably help for you to do a bit of research to understand you actual power needs while out in the bush(ie; what gadgets, what fridge, how many lights and their type). This will allow you to make an informed, and the right choice in respect to both the battery (size and type) and of course the charging system. It can be quite confusing yet we have some very good resources here on the site. I’d check out these two blogs first.

Electricity for camping



Building the dream off roader (about half way trhough - DC pwer section)

A little more information as to your type of vehicle, whether you currently have a dual (aux) battery system fitted and the type of system it is. There are a few oprtions and these will depend on just what your needs are and the $ you have to spend.

My personal choice would be a good quality AGM and a reputable DC-DC charger mounted down in the trailer near the battery.

Good luck with it all. Mick

We'll need a few details - like just what "gadgets" do you want to run, how you plan on charging the battery, how long you want to be independent of mains power, .....

You might find Electricity for Camping a useful read.

A 5W solar panel is far to small to do any useful charging, but might be handy to provide a trickle to the battery between trips.

Cheers

John

Currently i'm using an old truck battery, only because I got five for free.
One of these will run my Waeco CF40 for a week. If I feel the need, I might swap it with my second battery under the bonnet, and charge it while doing a sight seeing trip.
Not the ideal situation, but has worked for me the last two years.

As for lighting I use a light kit from solarland. It has it's own solar rechargable battery. It powers four led lights. If only using one light the battery will keep it going for 96hrs continous use. Less the more lights used. Also able to charge phones, ds's etc off it.

As a backup I also have a jump start pack. I only use this as a power supply for the kids dvd player, bulky I know, but will play more than one movie if needed and portable.

I have a very simple setup. I generally don't take electronics. Dvd is it and used for rainy days. No computer. No phones. No ipods/pads etc.

Hi Ukwizard,

Your 5 watt panel would only charge something like a mobile phone or a blue tooth device.
Not big enough for most camp site uses.

As the others have said, more precise info on your actual needs would be needed for us to be more helpfull.

Cheers, bruce.