Jeep Camping

ac_ said:
Sorry, late to the party, but I have two Optima yellow topsin my TJ. I also have two yellow tops in my Ram. I have always ran dual batteries in all of my adventure rigs.

I have a write up in the How-tos'
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/how-to-install-dual-batteries-in-your-jeep-wrangler-tj.7166/

Feel free to ask any questions.
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Nice clean install, was there ever a point in your adventures where you were like "I am so glad I have dual batteries"

I found a really nice dual battery system, but I'm on the fence about it. I carry one of those little Litho battery jump packs. Here's what I run at camp sometimes:
1000 watt inverter
4 LED cube lights for perimeter lighting (when setting up or sporadically throughout the night for bathroom breaks, or when cooking)
LED strips for RTT lighting
The inverter is used to run a laptop, tablet for navigation, tent heater (for the kids), various photographic gadgets my son brings. I say this one begrudgingly, Keurig machine, happy wife happy life. And a few other small charging devices here and there.

On the other hand, I've got a distribution block and ground bus for all my accessories ran from the positive on a fused link to get all those connections off the battery.( similar to sPod at a fraction of the cost) Maybe it'll last longer and it looks neater who knows.
 
Shwane said:
Nice clean install, was there ever a point in your adventures where you were like "I am so glad I have dual batteries"

I found a really nice dual battery system, but I'm on the fence about it. I carry one of those little Litho battery jump packs. Here's what I run at camp sometimes:
1000 watt inverter
4 LED cube lights for perimeter lighting (when setting up or sporadically throughout the night for bathroom breaks, or when cooking)
LED strips for RTT lighting
The inverter is used to run a laptop, tablet for navigation, tent heater (for the kids), various photographic gadgets my son brings. I say this one begrudgingly, Keurig machine, happy wife happy life. And a few other small charging devices here and there.

On the other hand, I've got a distribution block and ground bus for all my accessories ran from the positive on a fused link to get all those connections off the battery.( similar to sPod at a fraction of the cost) Maybe it'll last longer and it looks neater who knows.
Click to expand...

Well, it is subjective.
I grew up in the Northwest and I have been stuck or with friends that were stuck axle deep in ooey gooey mud all day. There has been times when we have run out of battery trying to winch each other out. I am have only had the dual batteries now in my TJ since the summer, and have not had an issue yet, but I have taken my quad out all day and I have a big Coleman cooler that uses power and I run it off a power outlet in the bed of the Jeep run strictly off of the spare battery. It is nice to know that if my cooler drains my battery I can start my car and go home on a fully charged battery. Some goes the other way, if I leave my lights on and kill my main battery I can jump it with my spare just by flipping a switch on the dash.

Just the other day before I actually put my new Optima in my Ram, the main battery died with no warning. I flipped the switch because it is dual batteried too and got it home. (I originally dual batteried my Ram but didn't replace the main battery because it was still good till now)

BTW I also dual battery my toy hauler hehe. I need more power ah ah ah ah

I have been following your posts and you are a Jeep camper, and I am too. I like to use my spare battery for camping. I have inverters as you, I run a generator during the day, but I run inverters off of my Jeep at night, and it nice to know I don't need to stress about power the next day.

Plus I have a winch and lights

It is very subjective, and it would depend on how you use your Jeep. If you drive to work and occasionally go off-road to your fishing hole you are probably OK without it, but if you listen to music all night and bring a fridge while you are camping, I would definitely dual battery. I do that with all of my rigs, so they all have dual batteries.

I bring a fridge since I live in the desert, I cannot keep a cooler full of ice overnight here.

by fridge, I mean in my trailer I have an actual fridge in my Jeep I used and electric cooler.
just about the same amount of power.

That is my two cents worth.
 
I'm leaning towards duals. I use it WAY more than a weekend here and there on the trails with an occasional winch. When we go out, its for extended periods and in remote locations. I like the insurance 2 batteries give. Not so much the expense. I've also looked into the goal zero setups, but unless you have sponsorship or loads of disposable income, they are just to expensive. It'll serve as my primary DC power for base cap until I complete my trailer build. Once I get home I'll post some pics of it rigged for camping. It's quite the sight lol.

Thanks for the insight.
 
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Shwane said:
I appreciate you guys patience with me and my camping Jeep questions. lol I'd ask on the overlanding / camping forums, but get tired of the Jeep bashing.
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Well I love to quad and/or fish. I have a toy hauler/camper but sometimes I like to take my Jeep so I am either buying a overland trailer I can pull with my jeep or making one, so I won't bash you in either case, and truth be told, I like the questions because I am always looking for more efficient ways to camp. I am really busy, and I don't like wasting time setting up and tearing down, So I like things to work efficiently, and as light as possible, while making it comfortable for me and my lady.

Feel free to ask away.
 
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Through all of this dual or single battery set up is there a recommendation on a solid brand? I just added a winch and will be adding LED lights very soon. As some of you mentioned my wife and I go camping for a few days at a time and the ability to re-charge to toys from phone to camera and speakers is a must. She gets on me every time I start the jeep to keep the battery up.
 
I changed the title to the thread. So I can stray from the topic lol

I am working on another remote camp setup item so the wife wants to come more often. Here's my plan...

Hot water on demand. I know there's systems out there that would fit my needs ready made, but with limited space and my trailer build moving along slowly I've been working on an alternate set up.

I plan on pulling hot water off the inlet side of my heater core and route it through the heat exchanger which will be fed by my jeeps cooling system. Basically a small radiator in the heater core line.

Heat exchanger

The "open" side of the heat exchanger will be supplied with this 12v pump.

12 volt pump

To control the temp I plan on using a thermostatic mixing valve like this one...

thermostatic mixing valve


When it's all said and done. I'm hoping to get about 1-2 gpm of 120 F water. And with this set up, I could potentially pull up to a source of water, throw the suction hose in and have hot water depending on if my engine is up to operating temp. I would also look into a prefilter for the water I grab from the lake, or river or whatever.

What's your thoughts on this
 
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PirateTJ said:
Through all of this dual or single battery set up is there a recommendation on a solid brand? I just added a winch and will be adding LED lights very soon. As some of you mentioned my wife and I go camping for a few days at a time and the ability to re-charge to toys from phone to camera and speakers is a must. She gets on me every time I start the jeep to keep the battery up.
Click to expand...

I like the Odyssey batteries myself. But they're pricey.
 
Shwane said:
I changed the title to the thread. So I can stray from the topic lol

I am working on another remote camp setup item so the wife wants to come more often. Here's my plan...

Hot water on demand. I know there's systems out there that would fit my needs ready made, but with limited space and my trailer build moving along slowly I've been working on an alternate set up.

I plan on pulling hot water off the inlet side of my heater core and route it through the heat exchanger which will be fed by my jeeps cooling system. Basically a small radiator in the heater core line.

Heat exchanger

The "open" side of the heat exchanger will be supplied with this 12v pump.

12 volt pump

To control the temp I plan on using a thermostatic mixing valve like this one...

thermostatic mixing valve


When it's all said and done. I'm hoping to get about 1-2 gpm of 120 F water. And with this set up, I could potentially pull up to a source of water, throw the suction hose in and have hot water depending on if my engine is up to operating temp. I would also look into a prefilter for the water I grab from the lake, or river or whatever.

What's your thoughts on this
Click to expand...
Look into a small marine water to water heat exchanger. They are used to cool sailboat engines in salt water. If you can find a good used one, it'll be pretty cheap and more than fill the bill.
 
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PirateTJ said:
Through all of this dual or single battery set up is there a recommendation on a solid brand? I just added a winch and will be adding LED lights very soon. As some of you mentioned my wife and I go camping for a few days at a time and the ability to re-charge to toys from phone to camera and speakers is a must. She gets on me every time I start the jeep to keep the battery up.
Click to expand...

I prefer the Optima, but I have never used the Odyssey brand, so I wont bash it, but I would imagine any AGM will probably be good. It used to be optima was a lot cheaper than Odyssey but early this year they had a price hike and now they are competitive with Odyssey so maybe next time if it is the same price anyway I will try and Odyssey, but I have never had any issues with an Optima.
 
Shwane said:
I changed the title to the thread. So I can stray from the topic lol

I am working on another remote camp setup item so the wife wants to come more often. Here's my plan...

Hot water on demand. I know there's systems out there that would fit my needs ready made, but with limited space and my trailer build moving along slowly I've been working on an alternate set up.

I plan on pulling hot water off the inlet side of my heater core and route it through the heat exchanger which will be fed by my jeeps cooling system. Basically a small radiator in the heater core line.

Heat exchanger

The "open" side of the heat exchanger will be supplied with this 12v pump.

12 volt pump

To control the temp I plan on using a thermostatic mixing valve like this one...

thermostatic mixing valve


When it's all said and done. I'm hoping to get about 1-2 gpm of 120 F water. And with this set up, I could potentially pull up to a source of water, throw the suction hose in and have hot water depending on if my engine is up to operating temp. I would also look into a prefilter for the water I grab from the lake, or river or whatever.

What's your thoughts on this
Click to expand...


That is interesting, I use one of these. doesnt' take much room works great, but you do have to wait for the water to heat up if you use it in the morning: (I did buy it on sale for $117 though. I am not sure I would pay much more for it, but you could probably make something like this yourself for under 100 bucks

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RYWQP6/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
ac_ said:
That is interesting, I use one of these. doesnt' take much room works great, but you do have to wait for the water to heat up if you use it in the morning:
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That's cool, we always have propane with us.

StG58 said:
Look into a small marine water to water heat exchanger
Click to expand...
Interesting. I have no less than 5 shipyards within 100 miles of me. Maybe they have one gathering dust.


We currently use a small hanging on demand system ran off of propane. But my camping partner is moving to Dallas and I'll need one for myself. Plus I enjoy the transformation from Jeep TJ, to Jeep swiss army knife.

The only thing I have a hang up with is adding another point of failure in my cooling system. But I guess if I use quality parts it would be no more vulnerable to leaks that any other part of the system.
 
Shwane said:
That's what I'm talking about!!! Nice. I'm going for similar.
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Let me know what you like, I can take better shots, and take measurements if you like. I wired up some LED lights last night under the tent to light up the trailer for loading and unloading in the dark. I am looking for a good out of the way spot to put my battery.
 
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