Demountable camper group

Hi,
Having spent 5 days off grid in Lincolnshire last month the two new AGM leisure batteries ran very low to 20% of the available capacity. The two batteries are rated at 92 A/hr each as fitted to our recently acquired new Tischer 260.
The two solar panels put in about 4 - 6 amps when the sun was out( only one day) and 1-2 amps when cloudy.
We were running a Truma Diesel heater over night , have modern led lighting , compressor fridge set on lowest setting , 12 v TV and used the inverter once to do toast and charge e bike batteries. I have space limitations to fit bigger batteries .
We they drove 50 miles to our next off grid stop.....
The leisure batteries had only acquired a small increase in voltage from 11.2 v to 12v and up to aproximately 30% capacity as showed on the voltronic battery computer.
Compared with our previous Motorhome this was a surprise until I realised the alternator (150 amp ) is trying to charge the leisure batteries through a caravan 16 pin cable arrangement which must limit the amps being transferred compared with large hard wired charging system in a Motorhome.
Has anybody considered using Anderson connectors into the pickup tub as a separate connection to the leisure batteries to allow thicker cables to be wired in to the camper from the vehicle and improving charging rate?
Our idea of a small mobile unit on a 4x4 is to stop in remote places summer and winter and therefore the vehicle to leisure battery charging is a potential issue especially in winter.

Thanks
Tissue Box

Tissue box wrote:Hi,
Having spent 5 days off grid in Lincolnshire last month the two new AGM leisure batteries ran very low to 20% of the available capacity. The two batteries are rated at 92 A/hr each as fitted to our recently acquired new Tischer 260.
The two solar panels put in about 4 - 6 amps when the sun was out( only one day) and 1-2 amps when cloudy.
We were running a Truma Diesel heater over night , have modern led lighting , compressor fridge set on lowest setting , 12 v TV and used the inverter once to do toast and charge e bike batteries. I have space limitations to fit bigger batteries .
We they drove 50 miles to our next off grid stop.....
The leisure batteries had only acquired a small increase in voltage from 11.2 v to 12v and up to aproximately 30% capacity as showed on the voltronic battery computer.
Compared with our previous Motorhome this was a surprise until I realised the alternator (150 amp ) is trying to charge the leisure batteries through a caravan 16 pin cable arrangement which must limit the amps being transferred compared with large hard wired charging system in a Motorhome.
Has anybody considered using Anderson connectors into the pickup tub as a separate connection to the leisure batteries to allow thicker cables to be wired in to the camper from the vehicle and improving charging rate?
Our idea of a small mobile unit on a 4x4 is to stop in remote places summer and winter and therefore the vehicle to leisure battery charging is a potential issue especially in winter.

Thanks
Tissue Box

At best you will only trickle charge a battery through the 13 pin connector, which is why we use Anderson Connectors as standard on all our campers, usually with a battery to battery charger too. If you want to do something similar and need help or parts just get in touch. There is some information here about charging demountable batteries you might find interesting. http://sbsadventurecampers.com/wp/charg ... e-campers/


Best wishes

Gary

Thanks Gary,
Anderson connections seem the way forward. Thanks for your kind offer. I have a company a little closer who can help me.
Your information on weight on your website was very interesting.
I was not informed from Tischer where the C of G was on my Defender 130 mounted Tischer demountable is.
I have noticed the American demountable manufacturers seem to give this information with rest of the specifications of their demountables.
Regards
Tissue Box

A DC to DC charger is the way to go. I have a Ctek 250s dual as it increases the amperage from the alternator and is also an MPPT solar regulator. I'm very power hungry (xbox tv etc) but have never been short of power using 2 x 110ah wet batteries. Oh and I don't do campsites. You can also add in the Smart Pass to charge larger battery banks.