Need to buy a battery soon. Help!

[ShaunSquid]

I need a leisure battery but am having a heck of a time picking one.&nbsp; I have some store credit for amazon so I would like to buy it from there but I will do what I have to do.<br><br>I was looking at AGM batteries.&nbsp; I know they are expensive, but to me it seems worth it to not have to deal with fumes and maintainance.&nbsp; The battery will be going behind my driver seat.<br><br>Anybody have suggestions?&nbsp; Batteries, inverters?&nbsp; Should I just go with a generator?&nbsp; Wont that make stealth impossible?&nbsp; All I will be running is a small crock pot, small light bulb, my laptop, and charging camera batteries occasionally.&nbsp; Any help would be greatly appreciated, I need to get everything set up soon.<br>

 

[Les H]

Shaun, my experience has been that if you limit yourself to one source of power ( wood, propane, charcoal, solar, gasoline, battery, generator etc.) and something happens to that one source, you are s.o.l. until you fix or replace it. In the instance of a battery, even a cheap harbor freight solar setup will charge it better than non at all. If you have a small portable generator , ( not an 11 HP 200 lb monster like I have), it might work for you if you get a week of rain and you are not stealth parked. A 110 volt plug in charger ( better yet a charger/ converter) makes sense when you have access to an outlet. Don't write off a 25'
12 gauge extension cord with a power strip. Some people don't have 12 volt power in their dwell or camping vehicles at all other than the engine starting battery and cigarette lighter socket. Add a 400 watt inverter and you can power most everything you listed for about $50. I looked at a few low end campers( under $8k) that were brand new (2010) and 12 volt and propane powered accessories were optional. Vandwelling is an exercise In adapting if nothing else.

 

[akrvbob]

No matter what your power source, you are going to want a house battery. AGM is the perfect solution, but they cost a lot more than lead-acid batteries. I have lived in a van or camper for over 8 years, and in that whole time I have had an unvented lead-acid battery&nbsp; under my bed, without any problems. I know that goes against all the rules, and there is a very real risk from unvented lead-acid batteries, but in my opinion the risk is overblown and I am willing to take it. You will have to decide for yourself if you are willing to risk it. If so then you can't beat a walmart marine battery for around&nbsp; $60-$80. If you want an AGM, I would guess the price will be double that. Go to the How to Have Electricity page and you can see there how to connect and charge it off&nbsp; the starting battery. If something isn't clear, ask about it here. That should meet your most basic needs, but I doubt you can run a crock pot off it. That is going to require a couple of batteries and a good source of power like a generator or solar panels. The Honda generator is very quiet, but it is not stealthy, anybody walking by will know you are runing a generator. If you can afford it, and are in a location with enough sun, solar is the way to go.&nbsp; I have it and love it, it works fantastically well, but it is expensive. Bob<br>

 

[Vern M]

From my rig's setup (See Stealth Solar link to the left), you can see I elected to vent my battery since it was inside. The solution was sealing the battery box and running a half-inch vinyl tube from the top of the battery box to the side of the van and a fitting that has a kitchen faucet screen in it to keep other things out. Remember that hydrogen is lighter than air so you need to vent upward as well as outside to clear it, which moving will enhance since it lowers the pressure at the port. And then, with a good&nbsp; charge regulator that doesn't over-stress the battery in charge, you should be as lucky as I have been and never even have to add water. <BR><BR>My parts for the venting setup, fixtures and hose, came from a farm supply store, incidentally. And, for batteries, I use Walmart deep cycle Group 27 or 29. Mostly since Walmart is everywhere and hassle-free on exchanges.<BR>

 

[deafrv]

<P>hello all u&nbsp; and bob too and i want to know how what we need to get electric for&nbsp;&nbsp; tv and computer and lights and microwave. i heard there was something for tv so we could have high speed internet with it too. how can we do that? </P>

 

[deafrv]

<P>all day !!!<IMG border=0 align=absMiddle src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/wink.gif">&nbsp;on electric in van too </P>

 

[akrvbob]

There are two basic ways to get power, the first is to hook up to "shower" power which is 110 volt from a wall outlet somewhere. The second way is to set up a battery bank and run everything off it. There are three basic ways to charge your batteries:<br><br>1) Charge them off your alternator<br>2) Solar panels<br>3) Generator<br><br>The best solution is to have all three. Check out the page on the site about "How to Have Electricity" Bob<br><br>

 

[tc112969]

I realize this is a very old&nbsp;topic but I think I'm missing something. In reply #4 Vern says " See Stealth Solar link to the left", I really want to check out his set up but can't find the link. Maybe it was removed?

 

[Unchained]

Here ya go:<br><br>http://cheaprvliving.com/Stealth_Solar.html

 

[tc112969]

Thanks!