"... Wonder why everyone
else has such issues with their battery running down over night with a
heater..."
I can think of a number of reasons:
1. Wrong kind of battery. When I purchased my
LQ the previous owner had a small, LSI (lighting, starting and ignition or in
other words an ordinary car battery) installed. Just not the right
kind.
2. Ignoring or trickle charging when not on the
road. Either one will trash a battery in short order. It then stores
much less electricity. (the Brits call what we call a storage battery an
"accumulator" either way it means that it just is a reservoir for
electricity)
3. Not enough batteries for the intended use.
I use 3 deep cycle (otherwise called trolling motor) batteries.
4. The camper or trailer is not hooked up properly
so the truck can charge the battery. Electricity is a deep mystery to many
car mechanics and even RV shops.
5. Not carefully limiting the use of electricity
for other things. Some folk accidentally leave the fridge on 12 V and
wonder why the battery goes dead. Most folk do not spend the money to
replace the incandescent interior lights with fluorescent and/or LED.
I have had this problem with my
youngest son. He would go into the camper and turn on all the lights, draw
for an hour, and then leave to play or ride. The lights would be left
on. By the way, he did not reform until his second year away from
home. He rented a house with 4 other artists from the Joe Kubert School,
since watching pennies was now important, he became the light policeman.
Payback is sweet!
6. Being penny wise and pound foolish. I
can't afford to change the lights and buy the right batteries and battery
maintainer so I will spend $500 to $1000 for a noisy generator.
As I said in previous posts, my LQ can run for 3
nights, and 4 days using the furnace to warm in the evening and morning without
recharging the batteries. Since I religiously use a "battery minder (tm)"
battery maintainer when trailer is stored, my batteries are lasting much
longer. I used to get 3 years on a set (about what literature predicts)
now I am on year 5 or 6. It will be interesting to see when they
die. By the way, the fans drive me crazy when I sleep, so I normally turn
the furnace off after we crawl into the sleeping bags which are under a down
comforter. I can count on Wendy kicking me to turn the furnace on when it
is time to get up.
Ed
Ed & Wendy Hauser 2994 Mittower
Road Victor, MT 59875
