In our enclosed trailer conversion, we wanted to have the ability to dry camp without the need for standard 120v electrical power. Since most clubs and events don’t have ample camping spots with power we decided to outfit our trailer with 2 Optima batteries for plenty of 12v power to get us through a weekend.
Why Optima
During my time in the military I used an Optima battery in my vehicle to power both the truck and the sound system. After getting home from months out to sea, I never worried if my truck would start. Another key feature these batteries offer are the auxiliary battery posts that make attaching items to the battery simple, clean, and easy.
Our Setup
In this particular trailer conversion we connected 2 Optima Blue Top D27M in parallel for a weekend’s worth of power – lights, charging stations and small appliances (like a coffee maker) ran off of a inverter. The reason for hooking up 2 batteries in parallel was to increase the battery life while maintaining a 12v system. Plus, from prior experience we didn’t want to abuse a single battery by running it completely down each weekend. As of now we plan on removing the batteries to keep them charged and maintained after the trip. In the near future a solar charger will be installed in order to maintain the charge at events as well as while the trailer is sitting idle during the week.
Conclusion
If you need clean, reliable 12v power for your trailer conversion or in your everyday life, an Optima battery is the way to go. Keep in mind these batteries are great but the better you maintain them, the longer they will last. Take a look below for maintenance tips from Optima to increase your batteries life. So do yourself a favor and get a good battery charger/tender and keep them charged. Also, the more items you run off of 12v (versus using the inverter) the longer the battery life will last due to the wasted power an inverter uses to convert the power to 12ov.
Maintenance Tips From Optima
Here are a few tips for keeping your lead acid battery performing at its peak. There are also a couple of things to keep in mind when maintaining your absorbed glass mat (AGM) battery, including OPTIMA® Batteries.
- Newer chargers keeping up with battery technology. Many newer battery chargers, like the OPTIMA® Chargers Digital 1200 12V Performance Charger and Battery Maintainer, have microprocessors that collect information from the battery and adjust the current and voltage accordingly. Some have different settings for charging wet cell (flooded), gel and AGM batteries.
- Battery performance limiter: sulfation. All lead acid batteries can experience sulfation—the formation of lead sulfate crystals upon discharge. Look for a charger with a de-sulfation mode to help condition your battery and keep it performing at its best.
- Low and slow is best. A low amp charger (1 to 10 amps) is always the best choice for charging any lead acid battery. It’s quicker to charge at higher amperage, but it also generates a lot of heat, which reduces the life of a battery, just like the raging heat of summer.
- Alternators are NOT chargers. Don’t rely on your alternator to do the work of a charger. An alternator is meant to maintain a battery, not charge it.
- Batteries eventually die. Batteries are a consumable product. No battery will last forever. The goal is to consistently maintain your battery to get the most life out of it
Also, if you’re interested in sharing that OPTIMA has chargers, LINK HERE to more information on the Digital 400 and Digital 1200.
Helpful Links
- Optima Battery Page- Home Page
- Hooking up 2 batteries in parallel- Video Link
