The Best Batteries for Camping

Harness the Sun with Fullriver Batteries: A Guide to Solar Camping

It’s that time of year, the world has thawed out and the temperatures seem to get warmer every day in the Northern Hemisphere, the call of the outdoors is beckoning. For the last few decades, camping has been growing in popularity, but in 2020 that growth seemed to rocket upwards, propelled by the coupling of a love of the outdoors and the creature comforts offered by vans, trailers, and RVs. Many people with even a moderately adventurous spirit, still prefer to experience the outdoors with a bit of creature comfort.

In the past, home away from home required a generator or a campsite with hookups to keep all the gadgets working. However, with the rise in popularity of deep cycle batteries and solar technology, camp has gotten a whole lot quieter as gas powered generators have been supplanted. Further, “dry camping” or “boondocking” as it’s sometimes known, opens a whole world of campsite options. It’s true freedom, untethered from busy campgrounds, concrete pads, and electrical outlets. Today, let’s take a moment and look at the interplay of batteries and solar charging. We’ll delve into energy consumption and realistic capabilities of recharging via photovoltaic sources (I.E., solar panels.)

Watts Going on?

Typically, batteries are rated for capacity in amp hours, while solar panels are given a rating in watts. Wattage is actually a great way to understand overall energy capability because it takes the volts and multiplies them by the amps. We can convert watts to volts and amps and amp hour to watts very easily. Let’s look at a 12V 100-watt panel for example:

100W/12V = 8.33 amps

Before we go on, it’s important to understand that solar panel ratings are given from ideal lab conditions, with the light source at the perfect angle and brightness. In other words, in the real world the output is usually much lower than the rating.

Now let’s convert a battery to watts. Our example will be a Fullriver DC105-12 (12V, 105Ah, Group 27):

12V * 105Ah = 1260 watts

We can now use our newfound math to understand how energy transfer from our appliances and devices will draw from our batteries and then how the solar will recharge the batteries back up. Every electric appliance or device will have a data tag on it that tells how much wattage it consumes on average. For our example we will using 100 watts of device/appliance consumption over an 8-hour period:

8hrs * 100W = 800

1260W (DC105-12) – 800W = 460W (~36% remaining capacity)

The DC105-12 has had 63.5% of it’s energy removed. That means our little 100W solar panel must return over 800 watts to the battery. Because all batteries need a good balancing phase to get the cells all back to the same voltage it isn’t a 1:1 conversion when charging. To account for this, we add 20-25% additional time to the charging process. Here’s how to calculate it:

800W/100W * 1.25 = 10 hours

You can see by the calculation; it would take more time than ideal sunlight conditions are prevalent most places on earth! That’s the nature of harnessing energy from the sun, it’s often in teaspoon quantities. However, if we were to add one more panel, we hit a sweet spot:

800W/200W * 1.25 = 5 hours

And adding a third brings our recharge time down even faster:

800W/300W *1.25 = 3 hours 20 minutes

Making it Work

There are several assumptions in this logic though. First, that we won’t be consuming more power during recharge than the panels can put back in during ideal sun conditions. Second, that we recharge the battery fully each day. Finally, that we’re getting ideal lab-like sun conditions all day. Of these assumptions, the second seems to be the only reasonable one we can deal with. The battery does not need to be fully recharged every day, if we have ample reserve capacity to cover daily consumption without discharging more than the battery is safely able to supply (over-discharge). The batteries can be used in a PSoC (Partial State of Charge) but should be fully recharged at least once every 1-2 weeks

At this point, some may be thinking, “I’ll just add more batteries to increase my autonomy (time without recharging).” This will actually be a workable solution for the average camper (E.G., weekend or weeklong trips). As long as the method of charging is capable of producing a minimum of 10% of the battery’s rated capacity. Using the DC105-12 as an example, a minimum of 10.5A (126W), but ideally 25% (26A/315W). For shorter trips (2-4 days), solar may not even be necessary, but you’ll want to estimate your energy consumption before sizing your battery set.

Of course, for those taking longer trips both the battery and solar banks will need to be larger. Usually, accommodating a larger battery bank isn’t the problem, it’s the limited rooftop real estate for solar that proves to be the biggest challenge. The rule of thumb here is at least 10%, but optimally 25% of the battery bank’s capacity when we consider recharge times, of solar power to keep the batteries charged. One of our most popular setups for camping is a set of DC224-6 in a series configuration for 12V, 224Ah (2668W). To fully maintain this bank requires 267 watts of solar on the low-end, but 667 watts for the most efficient charging.

Dispelling a Myth

Since we’ve been discussing energy consumption we need to pause and clarify something. There’s an old myth about AGM and other lead-acid batteries that occasionally still surfaces. It usually goes like this, “You can’t discharge an AGM battery past 50% depth of discharge.” While there may be some batteries out there that this applies to, this adage has never been true about Fullriver AGM, and for that matter, many other quality lead-acid batteries. Fullriver AGM has always been built and tested to thrive in true deep-cycle applications. This means for a 6-volt 5.25 volts, 12-volt 10.5 volts, 24-volt to 21 volts, and so on. While this reduces the total amount of cycles, it still equates to the same energy throughput for the battery.

Adventure Awaits

^{Image by wirestock on Freepik}

We hope this short overview has been helpful and inspiring. It’s a big world out there with so much to be explored. If you need help getting started, the majority of the Fullriver team uses the products we make to keep them going in their own adventures. For more guidance click the support link on our website, or to find Fullriver batteries near you visit the dealer locator page on our website to Start Your Adventure!

Top 3 Reasons AGM Batteries Excel: Tolerant, Resilient, Versatile

In today’s short article we’re going to look at the top 3 reasons why AGM battery technology, and more specifically Fullriver AGM batteries, excel. But the reader may be asking, “Are there only three reasons?” Well, this list could easily be one hundred reasons why AGM batteries excel, it could literally be 1,000 reasons. AGM batteries have so much to offer, but sometimes the most important things aren’t always obvious. So, let’s get after it and have a look.

As Elvis famously said, there’s “A whole lotta shakin’ going on!” And, whether you realize it or not, it could be causing a shorter life for your batteries. Material handling, RV, AWP, UTV, golf, floor care, trucking, heavy equipment, all these applications involve movement over less than smooth surfaces. Flooded batteries have plates that are unsupported sort of dangling internally, while other battery types may have sensitive electronic components. From a design POV, these formats are much less tolerant of vibration. And, in the end internal components break. Thankfully, the entire line of Fullriver AGM batteries account for these downsides in multiple ways. Beginning with cast grids, thick plates, cells packed under compression, and cell connections that allow the cell group to float without compromise. This isn’t just marketing, our batteries are tested and certified to comply with the needs of vibration rich environments, (I.E., most of the real world).

“Oh shoot!” That feeling when you turn the key and the car won’t start, or step aboard your trailer and discover the lights won’t turn on. While we wouldn’t recommend intentionally abusing batteries, sometimes it happens. If you’ve worked around batteries long enough, you’ve been there. We frequently hear from customers who have inadvertently overcharged, undercharged, short-circuited, left a light on, etc. and yet were able to recover their battery investment. Much of our resilience is due to the quality of materials used to build our batteries, and the very special blend that is used to make our plate paste. Newer technologies like lithium can rarely handle these catastrophic scenarios due to their built-in fail-safes simply shutting the battery down, often for good. Flooded batteries, too can give up the ghost after a catastrophic event. Our friends at Merlin Power put our batteries through their paces with some very intentional abuse testing. Check out their video here and see for yourself, but don’t try this at home.

Versatile: able to adapt or be adapted to many different functions or activities. The literal definition of great AGM batteries like Fullriver/Full Throttle is their versatility, and adaptability to different functions or activities. Need a battery that can start a twin-diesel engine and run the all of the house amenities? That’s AGM. The same battery that can keep up with the motor controller of your golf cart, can also run your fish finder, or power your off-grid home. And versatility is part of the reason AGM batteries are available almost everywhere when you need them.

Tolerant, resilient, and versatile, qualities that are rare these days, but always sought after. These are the marks of a true AGM battery. Tolerant of vibration, resilient in the face of abuse, and true versatility that allows for use in pretty much any application. These are the reasons that Fullriver AGM batteries excel!

Drop us a comment and tell us what you love about Fullriver AGM!

A Surprisingly Simple Winterizing Protocol

Ahh, the change of the seasons, leaves turn pretty colors and drop, temperatures begin their gradual slide toward winter, life slows down, and all the relics of fair weather are put away. Engines are stabilized with additives, water lines are filled with anti-freeze, and then there are the batteries. It is this time of year that our support emails and phones usually get an uptick in activity as concerned citizens write/call to make sure they’re doing everything right to protect their investments until spring returns. The usual caveat we add at the beginning of almost every article applies here as well: This advice only applies to Fullriver AGM and Gel batteries.

Spoiler Alert!

While we will talk about some of the factors to consider and delve into the “why” of our winterizing solution, there’s really no need to drag out the answer like some googled recipe that forces you to swipe past 50 ads before the big reveal of the ingredient list is unveiled. Here it is:

To properly store your battery for the winter, after fully charging the battery or set of batteries, remove the main negative cable from the pack, and set aside so that it cannot inadvertently come back into contact with the terminal during storage.

It is really that simple. Go have a pumpkin latte or something.

But, why?

The reason we can unhesitatingly recommend this approach is related to three factors, time, temperature, and internal resistance. Obviously, winter doesn’t last forever, even though it can seem that way in some places. Even if it was 6-9 months of storage, if it’s cool weather the whole time, no problem. The second reason is related to this, several months spent in temps at or below 25°C/77°F will only have a nominal impact on the battery’s resting voltage. This is all true because of the low internal resistance of Fullriver batteries. Internal resistance is also referred to as self-discharge. Because of the purity of lead in our batteries, the rate of self-discharge at or below 25°C/77°F is very low.

This handy graph should offer more statistical assurance:

Parasites

Just for the sake of thoroughness, some may be wondering if the battery can be stored for so long without charging, why disconnect the negative cable from the battery. This is due to parasitic draw. It would be very rare to find a vehicle in any form that doesn’t have some device, in RV’s it may be a carbon monoxide detector, in other vehicles it may be the vehicle computer, but they all have something that creates the tiniest draw on the battery, even when everything seems like it’s powered down. A long duration of parasitic draw over several months does more than just slowly bring the voltage down. The effect of a parasitic draw over long periods without recharging can permanently damage the plates of the battery, causing a permanent loss of capacity.

Battery Tender

Oh, yes, we get calls and emails about using battery tenders all the time. Unfortunately, we have seen many overcharge scenarios because of using such devices. They are a dime a dozen, and for one reason or other, they can be problematic. Since there is really no need to use them during winter storage, it is better to just forego their use and avoid any potential problems they may create.

What if it’s too cold?

For storing Fullriver batteries, there are very few places on earth, inhabited by people, that actually get cold enough to be a problem. Yes, -70 in Siberia is too cold, but anything above -40C/F should be fine. Fullriver batteries contain very little water, and if they are charged then actually freezing the batteries is a very low probability.

So, bring on the cold, and don’t worry about your batteries for a few months. Once the temps improve, give the batteries a full charge and resume use as normal. If you have questions, please leave us a comment below.