Need advice on battery setups for teardrop.

[Bosss429]

Hey guys,

Just put in a down payment on a Valiant Trailer Works XTD and I wanted to get some advice on battery setups for the rig. Ive been pouring through different videos and documents these last few days trying to figure out the best tool for the job but I cant really figure it out. Ive got most of the basics down by now as to how the setup should work, there are just so many options on the market that I dont know what kind of quality Im looking at.

The things that the setup will need to run is a 12v fridge (havent bought one yet, but I will in the future) probably something in the realm of an Iceco 45L or Iceco 60L which according to amazon, consume .715 and .751kw/24 hr respectively.
The interior lights and exterior ones. Not sure this will pull that much as there arent many lights and I plan on supplementing with solar powered lanterns as well.
The Maxx Fan in the ceiling. I dont rightly know how much power this will pull or how much I will use it, but everyone seems to rave about them so I wanted to get the upgrade.
Most everything else (phone, drone, laptop) I have a Jackery 500 with a 100w panel for that I have been using for my tent camping already.

Ive done some looking at the Kickass Battery Boxes and they seem to be very well setup for the cost. I would like to put the battery setup in the trailer as I dont have much space in my truck... but I am not sure if charging the battery with the alternator while Im traveling will be necessary or if just one or two 100w solar panels on the trailer will do the trick.

Ive also looked into building my own battery box but there are so many options on the market that Im not really sure if this is cost effective vs the $1000 all inclusive one from Kickass.

In your experience, is the price increase to go from an AGM to a Lithium worth the cost? If I dont need to use the alternator to charge, I feel like it would be more cost effective to just build my own battery box with a charge controller, but again, I just have no experience and cant nail down exactly what people like as far as quality.

Im sure I missed out some things in this whole list but any advice would be appreciated. There is no rush as I dont believe Ill even be able to pick the trailer up until this November, but Im so excited for it Im trying to get prepared haha.

Thanks!

 

[Wallygator]

So I have a completely separate system on my truck that is self sustainable. Runs a fridge full time, lights, a fan occasionally, a heated 12v blanket that shuts off automatically, sometimes a cpap, etc,... Of course not all at the same time. Has a 160 watt panel and a Battle Born 100 lithium battery. IMO the lithium battery was worth it for me. Ten year warranty on the battle born battery and can use more of the available power than an AGM style battery.

Your power requirements may be more than mine but a separate system is completely doable and you can mount more solar power than I can. There are a lot of options. Good luck with your decisions.

 

[billiebob]

I'm watching since I'm at the same point. I think my needs are less. I NEED to power my fridge. A few LED lights should not have much effect. But all the rest, Phone, i-pad, can be charged off the vehicle. I added 2, 160 watt panels last year, looking at batteries and getting it running this spring. I have no plans to charge off the vehicle alternator and no need for an inverter. My only NEED is refrigeration.

 

[Wallygator]

I'm watching since I'm at the same point. I think my needs are less. I NEED to power my fridge. A few LED lights should not have much effect. But all the rest, Phone, i-pad, can be charged off the vehicle. I added 2, 160 watt panels last year, looking at batteries and getting it running this spring. I have no plans to charge off the vehicle alternator and no need for an inverter. My only NEED is refrigeration.

View attachment 714065

You will only need a 100amp battery at the most. I only have 160w panel flat on the roof and a 100amp batt with a Renogy MPPT solar charger and it will run the fridge indefinitely.

 

[jim65wagon]

The Maxx fan will only draw more than the fridge if it's on its higher settings. On its lowest 2 settings it uses very little energy. In our teardrop we almost never have the fan on more than a 2 setting.

We switched to lithium batteries and it was a life saver to us. We are lead acid battery killers. When we started we had two 100 amp hour deep cycles. We hated running the generator every 4 days so we'd constantly push not running it and when we did it took "forever " to charge them. We killed 3 pairs of FLAs in 8 years ( that's over 600 dollars in batteries)

We added two 100 watt panels to the roof, added a Victron 712 battery monitor and switched to a pair of 100 amp hour Battle Borns. In the summer sun the solar is more than enough to recharge the batteries from the overnight discharge. In the winter I put out our pair of 100 amp portable solar panels due to sun angle to help.

If we're camped in the forest I still need to run the generator but the batteries charge faster. I run a Progressive Dynamics 9260 charger and they'll take all 60 amps into full. It's not a lithium charger but I put the charge wizard on boost mode and it mimics that cycle pretty well by increasing the voltage to 14.4

3 years into the Battle Borns and in still happy with them.

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Oscar Mike Gulf Yankee]

Might consider a solar generator, out of the box type. Since my goal is to run a small A/C and a Ham radio @ 15 amps I had to go bigger than what you need, regardless, after costing everything out with a homebrew DIY rig the "ready to go" generators weren't much more.

If you're a novice electrical guru, using a SG makes life easier. It's also portable, one can go in the vehicle, to your boat, then to a trailer or to a tent. I keep mine in the house next to a freezer in case we lose power. I'd hate to lose a thousand bucks of beef.

I have a cheap Harbor Freight 2.5 Kw gas generator that works fine but it doesn't put out a pure (or even a clean) sine wave. The SG has a very nice pure sine wave, and the HF Gen can charge the SG. I have 4, 100 watt panels (need to pick up 4 more). You don't want to pump dirty sines into your electronic gadgets! LOL

The issue with solar, IMO, goes to the placement of the panels. While I can move my solid panels it's a hassle. If I got 800+ watts in folding or soft panels that would be more $ than my SG!

But, I'll be mounting my panels on my cargo trailer. I can take my SG to the panels to charge. Depending on the trip, say with the boat, I can move the panels.

I got the Bluetti 200P, actually puts out up to 2400+ watts surge but for your needs the 500 watt generator would probably serve you well.

Not only do you need to add up your power requirements but realize the amp hours are for one hour, so you also need to determine how long, as in days, you'll need power.

With a fixed battery bank or a SG, when you have the panels hooked up you can utilize the power generated by the panels as well as sucking juice from your storage source. Draw back is that the panels will only put out what the sun gives them, so if you figure 50/60% efficiency (50/60 watts out of a 100 watt panel) as an average over the period of time you need power you'll probably be good to go.

The most economical way to go that I know of is sourcing individual cells and building your own battery. There is a trade off with research, shopping, shipping, collecting and fabricating the controller/switches and management components and then building it.

If you go with a SG go bigger than what you estimate your needs to be. Chances are you'll end up with more gadgets to charge. You'll need it longer than you thought and don't forget having a SG for power outages at home.