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Old 11-01-2016, 05:01 PM   #1
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Lights off battery only

As a general rule, how long should my lights stay on while dry camping? I just bought my first camper, a 2005 Kodiak, and the previous owner has one Napa 12 volt 24DCM installed.

I turned on a few cabin lights today while doing yard work just to test the battery strength (battery was full) and after an hour the lights were noticeably dimmer, almost off entirely, and when I pushed the battery tested pad it showed the battery at 1/3.

Resting battery voltage was 12.6 (after the hour test) and when plugged back to my house battery voltage is 13.4.

Thanks
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Old 11-01-2016, 07:38 PM   #2
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I'm not sure about incandescent bulbs, which it sounds like this one has. Switch them out to LED and lighting loads will be of virtually no concern. I think your description of the dimming suggests a weak battery though, or poor connections. Since it's used and the battery health is likely unknown, I would replace it. I always try to upgrade when replacing things.
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Old 11-01-2016, 07:43 PM   #3
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Yes, lights are incandescent, not LED. I'm going to swing by local auto parts store and test the battery. From my online research a 24 battery is small but I assumed I would get more than an hour or so.

Thanks
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Old 11-01-2016, 08:43 PM   #4
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Good plan on the load test, that may reveal alot. A single group 24 is pretty small, probably about 70 Ah rating. If fully charged, a single incandescent bulb for an hour shouldn't be a problem though. If there is only room for one battery, see if a group 27 or larger will fit so you can replace it with as much capacity as possible. Try and get a true deep cycle, not a dual purpose or marine battery if you can avoid it. Better yet, get 2 batteries if there is room for them! Wire 2x12V in parallel or 2x6V in series. Costco has good prices on true deep cycle 6V golf cart batteries.
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Old 11-01-2016, 11:33 PM   #5
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Perhaps I should clarify - I left 3 light fixtures on, totaling 6 incandescent bulbs.

After an hour the lights were so dim you could barely tell they were on.

I am just posting up to make sure this is not a normal time to expect a properly functioning group 24 battery to draw down this quickly

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Old 11-02-2016, 12:23 AM   #6
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I'd say not normal. According to this link, they draw about 1.5A each. So 6 for an hour is 9 Ah. Shouldn't be an issue for a battery.
https://www.etrailer.com/question-41917.html
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Old 11-02-2016, 09:35 AM   #7
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I agree sounds like a weak battery. However I would get switched over to LED's ASAP. They draw a whole lot less power, leaving the battery power for important things... like television!

If you have to purchase a new battery I would consider getting two. I found out the hard way that a single battery won't make it through the night it you have to run the furnace. We were camping and the power went out due to a storm, power did not come back on until 12 hours later. Got down into the 40's that night and we ran the furnace, battery gave up around 4 am. IIRC power came back on around 8 am. That was a cold 4 hours! Went and sat in the truck with the heater on and plugged the trailer up to trickle charge the battery.

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Old 11-02-2016, 05:06 PM   #8
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For my aspen trail I switched over all of ours to these they have white light, We have noticed while reading a discoloration of some kind not really bad. Otherwise they are perfect.



https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Old 11-02-2016, 08:51 PM   #9
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Bulb Information

Can't remember who posted this originally, but it's been a great help.
Rusty
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Old 11-02-2016, 08:52 PM   #10
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Lost Attachment

Sorry.
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Old 11-02-2016, 08:55 PM   #11
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Bulb Information

Hope I attached the file!
Rusty
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Old 11-03-2016, 10:05 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chily3 View Post
For my aspen trail I switched over all of ours to these they have white light, We have noticed while reading a discoloration of some kind not really bad. Otherwise they are perfect.



https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Just so you know... these come in different wattages and color ranges, so if you don't like the white you can order warm white which is closer to the incandescent in color. Make sure when you do order that you get the 12v-28v range, the super cheap 12v only ones will burn out rapidly if you use them heavily. These are the ones that I used. Here they are in the 10 pack, the ones for ~$20 for ten are the ones you want to stay away from.

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Old 11-03-2016, 05:58 PM   #13
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Another option to purchase LED lights is: www.superbrightleds.com

I bought mine there and paid 4.95 per bulb. Camping world wanted $74.00 for a pair.

Rick
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Old 11-13-2016, 02:40 AM   #14
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Thanks for the replies. I had the battery load tested and it failed miserably...

I ended up buying a 24 group from Walmart and upgrading my interior lights to LED. Maybe next year I will do the twin 6v battery upgrade
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Old 11-13-2016, 04:15 PM   #15
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Glad you got it figured out. When you get ready to do the battery upgrade, look for the Trojan T-105RE. I have been doing a bunch of research recently and it seems to be the absolute best deep cycle battery on the market. Not going to be easy to find though. They come in flooded cell, Gel and AGM. I am going to stick with flooded cell mainly due to the high cost of the AGM. I am not a huge fan of Gel batteries they take some extra care when charging to not mess them up.

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Old 07-21-2018, 04:23 AM   #16
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Replace with two 6 volt golf cart batteries wired in series, you can run the heater all night and still have a full charge
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