Battery not lasting

feaselde

Hi everyone! I bought my 2021 T@G XL Boondock new in May of this year. On my first trip out, I arrived at the campground late and because I was tired, I simply climbed in the camper and went to sleep. I turned on the Fantastic fan for about 15 mins to cool it off inside and I had the reading lights on for that same amount of time but nothing else. I used the water pump to clean up lunch and dinner the next day. I have other sourced lighting so I didn't even use the galley lights. Just out of curiosity, when I got up after my second night, I checked my battery and it was down to 20%. I have solar on the T@G but I was in the forest so not a lot of direct sunlight. I plugged it back in and charged it by running my car, to about 85%. But when I got ready to leave that night around 8, it was down to 40% again and I had not used anything. This is my battery label. Am I reading it correctly that it was sold in April 2015? And maybe that is why I'm not getting much use out of it?

WilliamA

Sounds like the battery is bad. A quick test you can do is charge it in the camper, then disconnect it. Take a voltage reading. Let it sit overnight and test it again. If it loses voltage in 12 hours or so it's junk. You can have it tested at a parts store but be SURE they know how to test a deep cycle battery.

WilliamA

packetjunkie

I also had issues with my '21 battery and ended up replacing it with a Duracell Ultra 105Ah.

Gerald98053

The entertainment center is easy to leave on. It draws an annoying amount of power. When the night is warm the refrigerator will draw over 4 amps when it cycles. The light in the kitchen is very easy to leave on. Any of those things will really cut into your battery reserve. I took the battery out of the front storage box and made an enclosure for a larger group 27 battery.

One of the annoyances to me is that the TAG doesn’t charge very well from my car. I’m going to put heavier wire from the battery to the power converter and from the hitch connector to the junction box. Recently, I was at Mount St. Helens and needed every bit of power I could get. I got almost no power from the solar panel due to some smoke in the air. Then the generator wouldn’t start the first night. My next step would’ve been to hook up the jumper cables, but the generator started working again the next evening. I hate dealing with weak batteries.

Sharon_is_SAM

Also, don’t forget the battery draw from leaving the galley hatch open.

rcwoodhams

Oh my, we have exactly the same problem! We have the same trailer and battery (no date scratched out though)… for a long while we just couldn’t work out the battery. Still have a lot of knowledge to gain on batteries (not simple if you ask me).

Following my post on July 30, we purchased an Amazon battery monitor and the results were outstanding. Charges to 100% just fine in the garage and on the car and the factory solar panel is also fantastic even with clouds BUT in our garage the battery will be dead overnight. No intentional draw left on. The lights on the radio stay on and something flashes in one of the cupboard (solar I think) but that’s it. Would love to turn these off but no idea.

Basically I think the solar panel is so good we did not notice how bad the battery was on previous trips. We’re now camping for 14 days and we are not using anything power related other that opening and closing the galley (strange that uses power). It’s cloudy but it seems to get up to 80% each day and then the battery goes down to 20% every night (before we go to bed).

Also I noticed the Victron Solar app will tell you the current voltage of the battery, just not the battery percentage. But our battery monitor seems to base its percentage on the voltage.

Will be calling the dealer for a warranty replacement when we’re back. Long term we plan to get a small and quiet generator or replace the battery.

feaselde

Thanks everyone for the input.

The draw from the galley door being open is the propane solenoid safety switch and I used a tip I found on this forum to shut that off when I want to keep the galley open. At some point I will install a switch to shut off the entertainment system so it doesn't draw power when I'm not using it and so I don't have to hang something over it at night (it is very annoyingly bright). The light you see flashing is the from the solar charge controller in the upper cabinet but I'm not sure how much power that draws. I wasn't happy with the amount of power I was getting and I prefer dry camping because it's less compacted in many of the campgrounds.

I just received my new Renogy 100ah AGM battery and my son is installing it for me. Yay!! I already have a 100 watt suitcase and controller that I use for a portable solar generator to power things outside my T@G so I got an SAE adapter so I can use it for the T@G battery as well. Hoping the suitcase will allow me to grab more sun since I like to camp in forest areas, and have enough to power the fan and lights for 3 or 4 days.

MikeD

Just pulled the trigger on a Battle Born lithium 100 AH, 12V battery. Too many game-changing reviews not to make the move. Hate to spend the money, but the experience of camping is too good to potentially sabotage.

BB system let’s you drop in the battery and go with a few minor setting changes to the VictronConnect app. Seems like the one you got will do the trick!!

NuCamp should make a lithium option available at time of purchase IMHO.

Sharon_is_SAM

@MikeD - the dealer chooses and places the battery - not nuCamp. If you order new, you negotiate the battery with the dealer. Since it is so easy to drop in a lithium b

valmayer

I feel like a dummy... I got my 2018 nucamp TAG in July 2019, I already change the battery it came with, and last weekend the new one (bigger) just died on us. Texas summer, no AC, no lights and no cooler working. It looks like our EDGE was not able to recharge it even though we traveled for 5 hours before arriving to the campground... Do I have a glitch? Any recommendations for a good inspection and service around Houston, TX to see if something is wrong? Also, do you know about any boot camp for dummies to learn how to troubleshoot my little @camperc2 ?
Thank you. Valerie

ras

What kind of tow vehicle. Some modern autos have on-demand alternators and put out very little volrage unless the head lights are on. Also, do you have a battery switch? If so, was it on?

Bob297

Most trucks with a tow package come with a larger output alternator. Don’t know about suv or cars. Having gauges is also a plus to monitor alternator & tranny temp like below