Taking the battery out of rental truck ...

[SandyWalsh]

Hey! We're coming in from Nova Scotia, Canada and don't really want to buy a deep cycle battery for one week. So, our thought is to remove the battery from the truck and use solar panels to keep it going. We're only planning on running some led lights and perhaps a swamp cooler at night. And recharging small electronics.

Any suggestions or risks I should be aware of with this strategy?

[lucky420]

it cools down in the desert at night, so you probably dont need the swamp cooler unless you have a med condition.

not sure about taking the battery out of the truck, best of luck to you

[AntiM]

Hey! We're coming in from Nova Scotia, Canada and don't really want to buy a deep cycle battery for one week. So, our thought is to remove the battery from the truck and use solar panels to keep it going. We're only planning on running some led lights and perhaps a swamp cooler at night. And recharging small electronics.

Any suggestions or risks I should be aware of with this strategy?

You will kill your car battery this way. It is meant for the big load of starting a vehicle, not the long load of lights and a swamp cooler. You can use a car battery, but using the one out of your vehicle is risky. Get 12v lights and a small rechargeable 12v battery, and run the swamp cooler directly off the panel. You can recharge the lights battery each day.

We recharge our electronics off a small solar panel too. We do have deep cells, but small solar is very affordable.

[FIGJAM]

Don't take the battery out.

Just clip some wires to the posts and run what you have off of those.

Idle the truck for a hour a day and you should be fine.

[LowePro]

The car battery and deep cycle battery are 2 different types of technology, the deep cycle is better to use for long periods and then charge back up, the car battery is meant for short bursts but is not really meant for sustained loads, and can be damaged if it runs too low.

That said, if you don't drain the car battery too much, your method would probably work--as FJ said just run it daily to recharge. Don't leave your electronics running off the car battery for more than an hour or so. Don't leave the dome light or headlights on. Don't run high powered stuff off the car battery. Turn stuff off when you leave camp. And throw some jumper cables in your kit in case you do accidentally drain it too much.

[Captain Goddammit]

Yep, don't take it out just use some alligator clips and hook up to it in the truck.
You can probably even use a cigarette lighter plug and use the dashboard outlet it probably has.
FIGJAM is right, start the truck for a while during the day and the alternator will crank more power into the battery in short order than the solar cell all day.
Bonus, you can sit inside with the A/C on while you do it!

Yes, deep cycle batteries are optimized for low current draw over a long period of time and starting batteries are optimized for large current draw over shorter periods, but it's not THAT dramatic. The starting battery will work fine,It won't be instantly destroyed by running a fan.

[SandyWalsh]

Thanks everyone ... great information. I think we'll go with FigJam's suggestion.

My concern with that approach was running out of gas. We were planning on taking a jerry can or two, but now it's a must have

See ya in the dust!

[AntiM]

You can tell who is the Hushvillian, where we cannot run our vehicles at all once we park them in the village ....

[mudpuppy000]

My first burn I ended up jumping my neighbors SUV three times because they would turn the radio on all night listening to music.

If you're mostly just going to run lights, you can get solar versions of most things. I charge small electronics off my car though without any problem.

[DoctorIknow]

*****Strong clamps
+++++fuse

and from the "power outlet" (cigarette lighter socket in old days) you can find different male plugs, or a connector with lots of USB ports.

battery cig lighter connection.JPG

[Jackass]

You can tell who is the Hushvillian, where we cannot run our vehicles at all once we park them in the village ....

I'll treat myself once or twice during the week, and just veg out in my truck for an hour or so with the A/C on blast, maybe gather my thoughts... I'm crazy that way

[FIGJAM]

Idling a vehicle only uses about a gallon per hour since there is hardly any load.

I fill in Fernley and get back there with almost half a tank.

I idle about an hour a day for 8 days.

[mdmf007]

Idling a vehicle only uses about a gallon per hour since there is hardly any load.

I fill in Fernley and get back there with almost half a tank.

I idle about an hour a day for 8 days.

I doubt it even uses a gallon an hour - we idle trucks here in the Arctic when not in use, and they run weeks at a time.

[nobutlikereally]

another super portable option is to use a power bank, like this one:



can power USB lights and has a two-prong outlet as well...

[Captain Goddammit]

But it won't power them very long.
That's no week's worth of lighting and whateve else at camp. That's a tiny little battery.