Any of you ever plug into a 15/20A at a walmart/cracker barrel

[twogypsies]

One night ... run the furnace, bring a heavy blanket & long johns if worried about your batteries. This is so simple. You're overthinking it.

[TT_Vert]

Originally Posted by twogypsies

One night ... run the furnace, bring a heavy blanket & long johns if worried about your batteries. This is so simple. You're overthinking it.

could be, that's what I do best..

Dave

[Bobertgoes]

Whos side is the light pole on, Walmart or the power company?
Light poles in peoples yards are on the power company's side and power company just charges a flat rate (maybe $75 per year) for that light to work at night. Your electric meter is what counts the power you use, so all the electricity before the meter is not being paid for by the property owner.
I do not know if Walmart light poles are a flat rate and on the power company side, or if they are post-meter and Walmart pays the actual electric usage of the electricity. If they pay the flat rate then will not care how much power you use from a pole, but if they pay actual use (post-meter) then they might care, but nothing an RV uses will be a drop in the bucket compared to Walmart's electricity consumption so they may just not care...
It might only be a few dollars worth of electricity you use, but it is not yours. Crank the generator, nobody cares except the guy camping next to you, so park alone and if he parks next to a loud running generator then that is fine. Park on the edge of the parking lot, pointing the gen exhaust side to nothing.

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by TT_Vert

A lead acid battery has about a 50% depth of discharge (DoD). Meaning below 50% capacity you're nearing <12Vdc. You typically start to damage your lead acid batteries when you drop below that voltage so going below 50% capacity isn't good and the voltage at that DoD is nearly unusable also. Good and quick read here if you care to learn more about this.
Dave

Actually that is not quite correct. Standard LA batteries may safely discharged to 10-20° capacity, the only downside is it shortens the lifespan a little unless you do it continually. Your link affirms this when read it its entirety.
FWIW, more than a few times my house battery bank has completely drained. I too was concerned about shortening the lifespan, but that was 4 years ago, and they still functioned normally until this year when I had to put it in a body shop, where it's been since April.


You may find this informative reading; The 12V side of Life
As you alluded to, perhaps you should overnight at Camping World where free electricity is offered.

[TT_Vert]

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

Actually that is not quite correct. Standard LA batteries may safely discharged to 10-20° capacity, the only downside is it shortens the lifespan a little unless you do it continually. Your link affirms this when read it its entirety.
FWIW, more than a few times my house battery bank has completely drained. I too was concerned about shortening the lifespan, but that was 4 years ago, and they still functioned normally until this year when I had to put it in a body shop, where it's been since April.


You may find this informative reading; The 12V side of Life
As you alluded to, perhaps you should overnight at Camping World where free electricity is offered.

Correct. IMO to me if you reduce lifespan by 1/2 by discharging below 50% that is damage. It can lead to irreversible sulfation.

Dave

[Ray,IN]

TTVern, my point is, just one deep-cycle isn't going to do that much harm to a deep-cycle battery, as both of those links, yours and mine, pointed out. It's the repeatedly discharging them to 20% that does the damage.
Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to survive.

[TT_Vert]

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

TTVern, my point is, just one deep-cycle isn't going to do that much harm to a deep-cycle battery, as both of those links, yours and mine, pointed out. It's the repeatedly discharging them to 20% that does the damage.
Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to survive.

100% agree.

[House Husband]

Just over night at the Walmart in Fairbanks, AK. They have a bunch of 15 amp hook ups in the parking area.

Richard

[Bobby F]

Originally Posted by House Husband

Just over night at the Walmart in Fairbanks, AK. They have a bunch of 15 amp hook ups in the parking area.

Engine block heater power for when it gets cold.

[153stars]

40 yrs ago cruising up and down the local drag as teens, there was one parking lot where my best friend and I used to plug in my portable TV and watch football games.

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by Bobby F

Engine block heater power for when it gets cold.

Correct. In Alaska folks rarely turn off their engines while shopping.

[LETMGROW]

I have run my furnace all evening, all night and well into the morning with no problem and still had plenty of battery power left. I'm running two GC2 6 Volt Golf cart batteries for house batteries. My first pair ran for five years before I had a cell go bad in one battery. I replaced both batteries at that time.
I don't let the batteries run down when my coach is sitting between outings. I plug it in at least weekly for a few hours to keep the batteries charged up. I have never shut the battery disconnect switches off.
When I store my coach for the winter months both house batteries and the chassis batteries come out and come home with me where i can babysit them all winter long. In fact the chassis battery goes into my GMC Suburban for the winter so I have dual batteries under the hood. The batteries run lights in my 28' enclosed snowmobile trailer when we are racing.

[greeneville1]

We are electrical contractors who service facilities like Walmart or large shopping centers. The normal voltage that is frequently used for large parking lots is 277 volts to ground or 480 volts phase to phase. These circuits are usually fed underground thru J-boxes at the base of each light pole. A camper who would take it upon himself to splice into these circuits for a source to power his RV would be greatly disappointed and possibly severely injured or worse. Stay Safe.

[LETMGROW]

Originally Posted by greeneville1

We are electrical contractors who service facilities like Walmart or large shopping centers. The normal voltage that is frequently used for large parking lots is 277 volts to ground or 480 volts phase to phase. These circuits are usually fed underground thru J-boxes at the base of each light pole. A camper who would take it upon himself to splice into these circuits for a source to power his RV would be greatly disappointed and possibly severely injured or worse. Stay Safe.

Good information. Good of you for pointing that out.