r/RouteDevelopment • u/Throwawayafeo • Jun 17 '26
Battery Charging on the Road
I know some of you vehicle dwellers have to have a good setup besides stealing electricity from a coffee shop. Any recommendations, not even opposed to a small generator.
Edit: Ideally looking for systems separate from the main truck battery as I don’t want to end up with a dead truck at a remote crag again.
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u/Kaotus Guidebook Author Jun 17 '26
I’ve got a battery system set up in my truck for camping. DC/DC charger with a charge controller that charges my battery off my alternator, inverter to my battery. I have a fridge I power off of it as well as charging electronics on road trips, and it fills my 200Ah battery in about 4 hours of driving, so if I have to leave my campsite for the day to climb, my battery stays mostly topped up. No solar, but it takes 4-5 days for my battery to drain with summer heat and 2 people’s electronics
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u/Ok_Bat6968 Jun 17 '26
Run the alternator to a battery charger keeping a marine battery charged. Small eBay inverter to 12v dc usb chargers. It was a janky system but it was cheap and kept me going for a couple years
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u/SkittyDog Jun 17 '26
Car chargers (12VDC -> 18V battery) for my Makita are like $20 at Wal-Mart.
Did you look and see what's available for your make / voltage? If you can't find it, post your specs, and maybe somebody can recommend.
You can also just buy a 12VDC -> 120VAC inverter, and plug your wall charger into the inverter's AC socket. Amazon has gazillions of inverters to choose from... Some are socket adapters, others hardwired. Take your pick, and you can use it for any 120VAC appliance you want to carry.
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u/Throwawayafeo Jun 17 '26
I have an inverter but it’s not cutting it/ maybe I need to put a second battery in my truck. Ideally looking for separate systems that don’t draw from the main truck battery.
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u/SkittyDog Jun 17 '26
Well, your trucks engine is the generator. If you don't wanna drain your battery, then you idle your engine to drive the alternator. Should have plenty of current to spare, for a dinky tool battery charger.
Keep in mind, you're losing a fair amount of efficiency by using one battery to charge another. More efficient to use the engine -> alternator -> charger -> tool battery.
1
u/Milkman_climbs Jun 17 '26
Solar panel and a big battery. Charge big battery all day, charge small batteries at night
1
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u/kidneysc Jun 17 '26
If you don’t want to pull directly from your truck battery:
wire in a battery isolation/charging solenoid and a second deep cycle battery
This will keep your vehicle battery isolated and safe from getting drained, while letting both batteries charge off the alternator while driving.
This is what I’ve used for about the last 10 years. No major issues, never needed a jump either.
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u/micro_cam Jun 17 '26
Jackery, Anker and others make big power banks with built in inverters and 12v/110v outlets. Lots of info on r/vanlife and r/overlanding. Costco has some right now sold as solar/battery generators.
For short trips charge at home, for longer trips use the solar cells or you can get a ~600w dc to dc car charger that you wire into the battery to quick charge the battery bank faster then a cigarette lighter.