JeffZ
Senior Member
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2008
- Messages
- 893
Ok.. let's talk battery!
We just got back from our trip to SoCal & NV.. and did our first non-hookup stay in Morro Bay State Park.. We thought it was time to start the dry camping testing..I must say we're totally confused with the Battery monitor.. We basically stayed 2 nights w/o AC.. The monitor at first showed "Good" when we initially pulled in.. We took showers (yes we take them in the Escape) & ran 2 lights a couple of hours..Went to bed the Monitor fluctuated from "Good" to "Fair".. seemed to read "Fair" when under a load (if the lights were on) and then "Good" when everything was off. Day two we woke up the monitor was "Good" .. that night we came back ran the lights a tad the monitor seem to be back on "Fair" ran the furnace the monitor went flashed "Fair to weak" while furnace running.. . Woke up Day 3 (which is always a good thing) used the furnace for 10 min to heat up the Escape, the monitor was "Fair".. Went about our business and two hours later monitor was back to "Good"..
I know it's not a exact science, but we are just thinking.. Is the monitor reading correctly.. Do we have a magic Battery that recharges itself (which would be absolutely Great!) or do we use the reading at Load time of the true battery state..
Just trying to get a handle on how long we can do the dry camp w/o hook-up/generator/solar.. Should the rule of thumb be 3 nights with moderate use?
Hope this isn't too confusing..
We just got back from our trip to SoCal & NV.. and did our first non-hookup stay in Morro Bay State Park.. We thought it was time to start the dry camping testing..I must say we're totally confused with the Battery monitor.. We basically stayed 2 nights w/o AC.. The monitor at first showed "Good" when we initially pulled in.. We took showers (yes we take them in the Escape) & ran 2 lights a couple of hours..Went to bed the Monitor fluctuated from "Good" to "Fair".. seemed to read "Fair" when under a load (if the lights were on) and then "Good" when everything was off. Day two we woke up the monitor was "Good" .. that night we came back ran the lights a tad the monitor seem to be back on "Fair" ran the furnace the monitor went flashed "Fair to weak" while furnace running.. . Woke up Day 3 (which is always a good thing) used the furnace for 10 min to heat up the Escape, the monitor was "Fair".. Went about our business and two hours later monitor was back to "Good"..
I know it's not a exact science, but we are just thinking.. Is the monitor reading correctly.. Do we have a magic Battery that recharges itself (which would be absolutely Great!) or do we use the reading at Load time of the true battery state..
Just trying to get a handle on how long we can do the dry camp w/o hook-up/generator/solar.. Should the rule of thumb be 3 nights with moderate use?
Hope this isn't too confusing..