Battery Bed....

[oscarvan]

Hope this gets traction in this corner of the house.....

This is, as far as I know, outside the box. I've had those ideas before. Some worked, very well. Some, eh.....you know.

So the battery is too small in the camper to power lights/furnace/fridge (residential) through the night. Also, the inverter ONLY powers the fridge. I need whole house AC. (Yes I know..... and I know how to do the math and install ammeters). So, shove in a bank of batteries, chemistry du jour, an inverter, charger, condition monitor and all that. Been there, done that.

But.... Sometimes we go somewhere for one night, like a friend's driveway, and then the Castle won't fit. So, we've used a truck camper for that in the past and plan to do so again. This would need inverter/batt power even more as it will probably not have a genny, and not all my friends have an outlet in their yard....

Then it struck me. PUT THE WHOLE SHOW IN THE TRUCK BED. Up front, LiFePO4 to keep the weight down, nice inverter and then a 120VAC cable to the fiver or TC. Or whatever appliance I am operating in the middle of a field. It happens.

So...... some questions swirling in my convoluted brain:

Charging while driving..... B2B
Charging in freezing temperatures. (We do the north south thing several times per winter....) Need to heat the box.
Charging with shore power

And more to come.....

[HopsBrewster]

So the batteries will become the bed of the pickup? Or would they be placed in the baggage areas next to the bed walls? Structural supports that can carry the truck camper, change of center of gravity for the truck, weight considerations... not to mention the heating pads, cabling, charging and other electrical chores.
Hmmmm, interesting and quite challenging concept.

[CyrusL]

Could you fit the batteries in the cab of the truck behind the seat? That might help with the cold issues.

[oscarvan]

Thanks for excellent responses. The truck is a long bed, it is possible and within limits to put a not too long truck camper, one built for short OR long beds) in there as if it were sitting in a short bed. It leaves a little over a foot in the front. The box for my rollup tonneau sits up top, and batteries would go under.

I like the idea of fitting them in the cab but doubt I have the room.... I will look at it with another eye though.