Battery in the bed

Hey all,

I know you can hook up a 2nd battery and place it in your bed but that's not what I am asking. I was wondering if I can just keep a car battery in my bed to use for my camper shell lights and other things then take it out and charge it after a weekend of camping.

Can car batteries be drained all the way then recharged? I think I need a deep cycle battery since car batteries are not meant to be drained. If so, what is a good/ not expensive deep cycle battery? Also, how long would one last between charges?

Thanks!

 

I know that car batteries are not meant to be drained but I have a buddy who is using one to run his minn kota electric boat motor and it runs well for a couple trip. Of course after recharging it very often it doesn't keep its power as long as the first time. If you do a lot of camping trip and want to run a few electric accessories, maybe you can invest in a good and reputed deep cycle and maybe moint a solar panel on top of your shell to keep it full charge during your trip and don't miss power when needed.

I have seen a study in a hunting magazine that was comparing a couple deep cycles batteries and saw that the most expesive one is not always the best of all. I am sorry I don't remember brands and where I put the magazine either :/ . i do have a Marine Master around 3-4 years old for my fishing boat and it's doing well.

Of course, camping expert here on TW will give you a lot of options

Edit: MarineMaster, made by Deka.

 

Thanks man! I use a car battery for a trolling motor but it has lost charge over time. I go camping every so often using my truck so I think I can get away with a cheapish car battery for a weekend out.

A solar panel would be ideal with a nice deep charge battery but college budget gets in the way of that

Being able to have an outlet to charge a phone every now and then would be nice. Think a car battery could run some low power LED bed lights and give a phone a complete charge without dying? Not sure how strong a car battery really is.

 

Yes of course. Just think about when you are parking somewhere and leave the keynon acc to listen to the radio haha can last a whole night If you do runs LED then it will save a lot of power. And a phone do not need a lot of power to get fully charged. The best is to try and when your car batterie don't last enough then you go to the local scrap yard and buy another one for super cheap and repeat haha

 

That is true! Thanks for the realization haha

 

How about a jump starter with a courtesy outlet? Like this:
http://www.cloreautomotive.com/sku.php?id=244

 

That's actually a good idea. I would like to have one of those too just in case I need a jump. I may have to look into that. If it has an outlet that would be awesome

 

I don't actually use it for powering other items, but it does have a cig lighter 12v output. I bring it along for peace of mind when off the beaten path.

 

I am thinking about doing something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O95TSa2nBLU

~or~
http://imgur.com/a/RkTw7

 

There are some jump starter mounted with a deep cycle batterie and 120 V outlet

 

That's really cool! I like seeing all these options

Damn that is badass! That would be awesome. Outlet, jumper, portable. That would be perfect

 

I Have one of these and it rocks. I took it camping and used it for three nights to power my 120v camping x-mas light string, power air pump for air mattress, charge my phone, light my way, jump start some dude ......still had power left in it when I got home! I also used it for POE power for a multiple camera install job my pc got low so I plugged that in too after a whole day still had power.

http://www.amazon.com/NPower-Dominator-1000-Powerpack-System/dp/B00KS6CBI0

 

I bet you could rig up a connector so you could plug LED lights into a Microstart XP10 or equivalent. Can also charge your phones and GPS, power a laptop, and jump start your truck. Recharge it in the house when you get home.
http://themicrostart.com/products/micro-starts/

 

I'm gonna chime in, and say to just use a lithium ion battery pack from another device..... Like a drill or something to that effect.... Or make a pack using 18650 cells..... It will be a lot more practical and efficient, but you will need to remove it to recharge it .... Lots of things you can do with the 18650 cells as that's what Tesla uses for thier cars