Category BATTERIES

AGM and lithium in real use: usable capacity, discharge rate, charge acceptance and what a battery looks like when it’s dying early. Including my own, which didn’t last a year.

ELECTRICAL, BATTERIES

How to Size a DC-DC Charger for Your Camper Van

AGM battery with an orange ANL fuse holder on the positive terminaL

What size DC-DC charger does your camper van need? A simple formula, a real 150 Ah AGM example, and how to pick the fuse and cable.

gustavo Moré Sica
October 22, 2026

ELECTRICAL, BATTERIES

DC-DC Charger vs Shore Power: Best Way to Charge a Camper Battery

Tensite pure sine inverter-charger mounted in a camper van, used to charge a 150 Ah AGM battery

DC-DC charger or shore power? How each one charges a camper battery, how my inverter-charger and power station work as backup, and which to pick.

gustavo Moré Sica
October 22, 2026
1 Comment

BATTERIES, ELECTRICAL

Reverse Polarity in a Camper Van: Risks and How to Fix It

If you just connected a battery, solar panel, inverter, or shore power adapter and something immediately smelled hot, sparked, or stopped working — you may have reversed polarity somewhere in your 12V system. This isn’t always obvious right away. Reverse…

gustavo Moré Sica
September 29, 2026

BATTERIES, ELECTRICAL, solar-climate

Has Your Camper Been Sitting for Months? 12 Checks Before You Hit the Road Again

Most campers sit parked for a large part of the year and only get used again when the holidays roll around. The problem is that during those idle months, the battery can lose charge, damp can creep in, the water…

gustavo Moré Sica
September 4, 2026

BATTERIES, ELECTRICAL, solar-climate

Campervan Electrical Troubleshooting: The Faults I Actually See

I’m an electrician by trade. I converted my own van in 2018, and a work accident later turned that van into my full-time home. Everything below comes from faults I’ve measured myself — not theory copied from a manual. If…

gustavo Moré Sica
September 4, 2026
3 Comments

BATTERIES, ELECTRICAL, solar-climate

How Long Does It Take to Charge a Camper Battery With a Solar Panel?

Charging time depends on panel wattage, battery type, and actual hours of usable sunlight. A 100Ah AGM battery at 50% discharge needs roughly 9–14 hours of useful sun with a 100W panel, 5–7 hours with 200W, and 3–5 hours with…

BATTERIES, ELECTRICAL

Solar Charge Controller Not Showing Charge: How to Diagnose It

When a camper solar setup doesn’t seem to be charging, most people assume the panel is broken or the controller has died. But before you touch anything, it’s worth separating two different problems. One thing is that the controller isn’t…

BATTERIES, ELECTRICAL

How to Tell If Your Camper Battery Is Damaged or Worn Out

I noticed something was wrong with my AGM battery when it seemed to charge normally during the day but lost voltage fast once the sun went down. The voltage dropped much faster than before during nighttime use or under load…

BATTERIES, ELECTRICAL, Sin categoría

How to Wire an Auxiliary Battery in a Camper Van (Without It Draining)

If your auxiliary battery drains even though it’s properly connected, it’s almost always an installation mistake or a hidden load — not the battery itself. Learning how to wire an auxiliary battery in a camper van without it draining is…

BATTERIES, ELECTRICAL

Why Isn’t My Camper’s Leisure Battery Charging From the Alternator?

If you’ve got a camper van or motorhome and you’ve noticed the leisure battery isn’t charging — or charging poorly — while you drive, you’re not alone: it’s one of the most common faults, and also one of the most…