Winter's coming -- add more battery power to your RV

Just because the sun is sinking lower in the south doesn't mean that boondocking season is over. Many RVers just travel a bit farther south to take advantage of warmer winter weather. Of them, plenty boondock away from hookups. Solar panels are a big thing, but even if you were to cover every square inch of roof space with panels, you still need somewhere to put the power they generate. What if space is short in your battery compartment?

Adding batteries for more storage capacity is a "do-able" thing, and one you ought to consider. Of course, when you add in more batteries, it's good to keep them close to the originals. If you can't then the next best thing is to move all of your batteries to a location in the rig where they can keep each other company. The reason behind this is simple: the longer the wire run from your power source (panels) to the battery, the greater the power loss. The theory says, the batteries closer to the panel get the best charge. Keeping those batteries charged is critical – "runts" tend to sulfite and die early deaths.

Regardless of placement, when "adding" new batteries, it's really best to replace everyone if you can. And when you do, make sure they're all the same make and manufacture. Put a few new batteries in, and leave the "old boys" in place is asking for trouble. The older batteries have less life in them, and are more likely to chew up the charge from the newer batteries. This is particularly true in the case of parallel wired batteries: Everybody likes to have the same new clothes in school, right? Well, paralleled batteries like to "see" the same voltage between them, so the weaker ones will steal from the stronger, running everybody down in the process.

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When scouting out a new location for batteries, take into account good ventilation. The less-expensive, most used deep cycle batteries – called flooded acid batteries – produce prodigious amounts of hydrogen gas. Yeah, remember that picture of the Zeppelin going up in smoke of New Jersey? Hydrogen gas is fantastically flammable – don't turn your RV into a modern day "Hindenburg." If there isn't direct outside ventilation to the area where you'll plant those batteries, your alternative is a specially ventilated battery box with a hose that ducts the hydrogen gas through a bulkhead fitting and leads it outside. And, don't keep sensitive electrical equipment – like a battery inverter – in the same compartment. You could damage the equipment, or worse, set off stray gas.

Where are possible locations for extra batteries? In basement storage areas. Under dinette seats. Tucked up in front on a fifth-wheel trailer. In the wheel well when using a truck camper. Yes, Grasshopper, let your imagination loose, and you too, can haul more power this winter.