Spring time battery maintenance day

 Well it was battery maintenance day after a winter with our Boondocker charger keeping them charged and from freezing. So what is battery maintenance for me ? First I take a reading of each batteries voltage then I take a reading of each cell to see if that battery alone needs a charge.

 

As you can see this cell was between 13.00 and 12.75 a good reading but on this battery the three cells were 13.00, 12.75 & 12.75 so I gave it a little charging at 30 amps to help even it out after topping off the cells with distilled water.

             I then gave the whole bank a little charge time at 30 amps with the charger but since this charger wont bring the batteries back above the 14 volt mark I finished the charge with two portable 100 watt solar panels.

In the end we started at 13.2 volts and am ending with 14.6 volts.

Added a inside on/off switch for our inverter.

 I added a switch inside the trailer to turn our inverter on and off with out opening the laundry chute hatch to get access to the inverter.

Two new projects combined into one and done.

 Today I installed the Mopeka LP tank gauge sensors to check the level of my propane tanks and combined that with trying to stop access to the area around my tanks for wasps that have shown interest.

I used metal window screening and hardware cloth both that would have been thrown away otherwise.

Then I used a top from a old dell computer to make a base to help keep mud off the Mopeka sensors.

Next I installed labeled the tank and installed the feet and sensors.

And finally I installed the app on my phone for the sensors this will be for when I add extra tanks and one for the BBQ at home. I also installed the monitor inside so I could check them without my phone.

Electric skillet running off batteries in camper

 We have our new 1500 watt inverter installed and have tried running our 1500 watt skillet off it.

Our power voltage before the test 13.1 volts

How full was the battery bank before the test 100%

How much power did it pull A LOT up to 124 amps

The Xantrex Xpower 1500 inverter  is now working correctly we had to bypass or breaker that was to small we will need to upgrade it to 120 - 150 amps. The power drain with a 1500 watt appliance is huge so we will only be able to use them on sunny days for know with at least 4 100 watt panels putting out full charge. We will most likely wait till we have 5 panel on the roof and 4 portables that would be easier on the batteries, this is just a project out of the way before we go fulltime.

New power inverter installed a Xantrex XPower 1500 watt

 Here is my battery system with a new inverter installed.

And a video of the install.

Camper inverter replacement

Up coming posts

 I will be doing posts soon on installations of some Furrion side camera add ones to my rear view camera set up, also on a new upgrade to my inverter for my battery bank I am upgrading to a Xantrex 1500 watt with remote from our 1000 watt we have now. Also we will do a review on our new insta pot 3 qt Dou pressure cooker. Hopefully they will be here soon.

First aid kits

 Whether it if for you camper, auto or atv/utv first aid kits are a must and as the saying goes you get what you pay for. Lets look at a few first aid kits we will start with a basic model that we just removed for our camper.

It has a nice plastic case that is hard to open, cheap adhesive bandages and everything is crammed into it.

A step up in a soft case with a better layout with better access to individual items is this first aid kit that I believe we purchased at Walmart. It still has the cheaper bandages but it has clear easy to see instructions for use by each package.

My personal favorites are the Adventure Medical kits, they also come in a soft case but they are more compact.

I have had a hunter series kit in my jeep for years. It is more compartmentalized , but access is still good and less searching for what you need than the cheapo kit at the top. Plus it comes with a detachable field trauma kit.

It will take care of 1-7 people for 1-7 days.

We replaced our cheapo kit in the camper with the Adventure Medical Sportsman series 400 kit which will take care of 10 people for 14 days. It also is compartmentalized but with good access and has a field trauma kit.

What I like best about the Adventure Medical kits is that when you use up parts of the kit you can go on their web site and get replacement items no needing to replace the whole kit.

They also have separate field trauma kits.