Power in topper when truck is off

[kevinbmx77]

Not 100% sure this goes here but i think it does.

(not my vehicle) my question is, what is the cheapest way to have power for a small light, charge a phone, and some type of 12v fan to cool down the inside when its hot while the truck is off. Im trying to make a little space to live in for a trip ill be making across the country. So far i picked up a topper for $50. Its aluminum. Probably not the best for what im doing but it was what i could afford atm. I plastidipped the windows black so no one can see in and it will be removable if i ever need to remove it

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[RonD]

Looks like a nice setup

Best bet would be a smaller size 12volt deep cycle battery and an isolator

Some can be seen here: http://www.ebay.com/bhp/agm-battery-deep-cycle

The battery would be placed in engine bay and recharged via alternator thru an isolator
Isolator separates vehicles battery from smaller battery so running lights, radio, fan, ect.....won't drain starter motor battery so no worries about falling asleep with lights on, lol.

Deep Cycle batteries have thicker plates and are made to be drained down to 0 and then recharged, car batteries don't like that.

Just do a calculation on how many AMP Hours(AH) each device in the back might use
25watt light running on 12volts will use 2amps each hour
2amps x 5 hours = 10amp hours, so if you ran the light 5 hours you would use 10AH
If a battery was rated as 20AH then it would run that light for 10 hours without recharging
LED light use less amps so should be considered

If you only have the wattage of a device then divide watts by voltage to get amps
25watt/12volt = 2 amps

Cell phone charging is usually 1 amp steady but it drops to .1amps when phone is fully charged

12volt fans need to be looked at closely
Endless breeze fan draws about 3amps/hour
Schumacher 121 12V Oscillating Fan under 2amps/hour


And you can start with 20AH battery and then add another 20AH for 40AH, they can be used side by side.

The larger the wire you use from engine bay to bed the better, smaller wires heat up with AMPs and heat is a loss of AMPs, so the larger the wire the better.
And EVERYTHING gets a fuse
Fuse at the battery
Then fuse on and for each plug in or device in the bed

 

[Doofy]

Yep, what RonD said! Also, great idea using plasti-dip on those windows. I never would have thought of that but I think I would have used white to help beat the heat absorption.

 

[kevinbmx77]

Thank you for always having great advice and help RonD. I was thinking I'd need a cheap solar panel but tge isolator seems like a much more effective way of doing it. How long do you estimate id have to run the truck to recharge the small battery?
Also topper is now on. Bedlinered it. Maybe a mistake because of how hot it will get. Hopefully not too bad, i really shouldnt be in there till night.

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[kevinbmx77]

Just found tge section where i should have posted this ?? its not too far off here i hope.

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[kevinbmx77]

Yep, what RonD said! Also, great idea using plasti-dip on those windows. I never would have thought of that but I think I would have used white to help beat the heat absorption.

Black may have been a mistake especially since i bedlinered the whole topper ? not too smart on my part but i went for looks. I left to top untouched though instead of black

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[kevinbmx77]

Also how many amps does the isolator need to be? Im not too sure how it works because i was lookijg into it a long time ago and couldn't figure it out and didnt have the motivation at the time but now i need to ?

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[Doofy]

They make some really nice solar roof vent fans for RVs that may be a nice addition if heat is a problem.

 

[ratdude747]

I don't have much to add in regards to power sources, but I do have something to add in terms of power routing:

I ran some 16 gauge extension cord along my frame rail and by the tailight to power my LED light system in my camper shell. It was powered off a secondary fuse box under the hood which went directly to battery positive and chassis ground. That said, if you have the factory (or other crimped) battery connectors still, I'd tie in to the power feed at the starter relay instead.

Yes, a little bit redneck, but at the end of the day it's just 16 gauge three conductor cable with a protective jacket. chop the plugs and be done. Need more power? Go for 14 or 12 gauge...

I'd have pics but right now the setup is coiled up while I'm in the slow process of moving stuff from one ranger (wrecked) to another (replaecment).