RV How-Tos

10 Things to know about RV Power & Batteries

December 10, 2018

Power is probably not something that you think about everyday but when you are camping suddenly it becomes very important.  Here are 10 things you need to know about powering your RV and RV batteries!

1.  Types of Batteries

Deep-Cycle Battery

A deep cycle battery is a lead-acid battery designed to be regularly deeply discharged using most of its capacity down to 80 percent (deep cycled) time after time without causing damage.  A deep cycle battery could be used and will start a car or boat.  It is designed to be drained lower than a normal starting battery.  It will not supply as much cold cranking amps as a starting battery and usually costs way more.

Marine Battery

A marine battery typically falls between a starting and deep cycle battery, although some marine batteries are true deep cycle batteries.  Often, the labels “marine” and “deep cycle” are used interchangeably or together, which causes some confusion.  Marine batteries are just fine to use in an RV camper.

Starting Battery

Starter batteries is usually used for starting, lighting, and ignition of a vehicle or boat engine (e.g. most automotive batteries) are designed to deliver short, high-current bursts for cranking the engine, thus frequently discharging only a small part of their capacity.
Some common battery size codes used are: (ratings are approximate).
U1 34 to 40 Amp hours 12 volts
Group 24 70-85 Amp hours 12 volts
Group 27 85-105 Amp hours 12 volts
Group 31 95-125 Amp hours 12 volts
4-D 180-215 Amp hours 12 volts
8-D 225-255 Amp hours 12 volts
Golf Cart & T-105 180 to 225 Amp hours 6 volts
L-16, L16HC etc. 340 to 415 Amp hours 6 volts
Group 24 batteries are what most campers have on them. If you want a bigger battery I would put in a group 27.
Group 27 vs group 24 battery
“fun fact” about 12 volt batteries is that you do not get shocked by them. If you touch the wires together it will spark a lot and could eventually be dangerous (it could blow up the battery). But you will not get shocked like with AC power (household).

2.  Battery Life

Battery life span varies depending on a number of factors:  how often the battery is maintained, temperature, how often the battery is drained to dead, how the battery is charged and how often, age of the battery, etc.

Typical battery lifespans are as follows:

Starting battery = 3-12 years
Marine battery = 1-6 years
Golf Cart battery = 2-7 years
Deep Cycle battery = 4-8 years.

3.  Battery Disconnect

Some campers have a battery disconnect on them.  This keeps the battery from draining while the camper is not in use.  The battery disconnect also takes the battery out of the loop of the charging system.  This means that the battery is not charging even when the camper is plugged in.

Important note: If your camper is sitting in your driveway or in storage and its not plugged in, YOUR PROPANE DETECTOR WILL DRAIN YOUR BATTERY IN ABOUT 2 WEEKS.  To keep that from happening, install a battery disconnect, or disconnect your battery’s negative cable.  Or simply plug it in to 110 power and your battery will stay charged.

4.  2nd battery?

Do I need a second battery?  This is a question we frequently get.  The short answer is no, most campers do not need a second battery.  If you go dry camping or boon-docking (not plugged in), then you might want to consider a second battery.  Your air conditioner, microwave, TV, toaster, coffee maker, etc. all work on 110 AC power.  Also, if you camp where it is cold and you will be running your furnace a lot while dry camping I suggest two 27 group batteries.  

5.  Drained Batteries FREEZE

Remember to disconnect and bring batteries in someplace warm in the winter.  Do not set them on concrete for concrete will drain the battery.

6. Converter

Almost all campers have a converter on board.  This means that while a camper is plugged in to an AC 110 outlet the converter will charge the battery.  In addition, while driving, the charge line on the tow vehicle will also charge the battery.

Battery converter

7.  Inverter

Inverters change 12 volt battery power into 110 AC household type power.  Remember converters do the opposite, changing 110 power to 12 volt power.  If you purchase an inverter you will be able to run your TV, c-pap machine, etc. drawing power from your battery.

8.  Solar Power

Solar panels are the latest in RV camper power.  Solar panels will keep your battery charged.  Allowing you to use everything on the 12 volt DC circuit to operate and keep your battery charged. 
I have installed large solar panels on the roof of RV’s but don’t recommend it.  First, people usually like to camp in the shade.  Solar panels do provide power while in the shade or facing away from the sun but not near as much.  Second, it puts extra holes in your roof.  This means more potential for water leaks.
Instead, I like the small suitcase style solar panels.  You can park in the shade and set the solar panels in the sun.  They make many different sizes.

9. Charge Controller

It is wise to have a charge controller on you solar panels.  A charge control is a regulator that goes between the battery and the solar panel.  These charge controllers are designed to keep the batteries charged but not over charged.

10.  Special note on slide rooms and stabilizers.

Plug in when you are putting your slide room out, stabilizer jacks down, or using your leveling system.  When an RV is plugged into a tow vehicle, or 110 power, the converter sends about 13 volts to put your slide rooms out or stabilizers down.  If the RV is not plugged in and is just relying on the battery it is only getting about 11 volts.  This may not sound like a lot but it really makes a difference when you are drawing a lot of juice like the above mentioned functions.

There you have it!  10 things to know about RV power and batteries.
Happy Camping!

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