There are probably a few things you can do.  A 12volt marine deep cycle battery may be the thing for you.  On the other hand, a small solar panel kit (for computers and such) might be the answer.  Go to the www.realgoods.com online catalog.  There, you should be able to find a kit for you.  Lastly, you can still go with the marine deep cycle battery but buy an inexpensive 200-300 watt inverter and hook it up to that marine battery.  With that setup, you could run your computer or a TV, VCR, DVD stereo or what have you.  You could power regular electric lights, reading lamps (when camping), portable refrigerators...

A marine deep cycle 12 volt battery will have enough juice to last you for several hours of usage as opposed to a car battery.  As for charging, you can hook it up to your car battery (in parallel) while driving.  A battery switch (such as a Guest brand) would also be helpful.

If you really want to get fancy, you could buy a couple of 6 volt golf cart batteries, connect them in series and you have a 12volt, 200amp/hour system.  Build a battery box large enough to contain the 2 batteries, put it on the floor in the center in back of but between the seats and you will have a 'table'.  Hook up a 1000watt inverter and you'll be able to run a small microwave, small electric tools, whatever...

Liz Maher wrote:

Hi,

OK folks, I have read everything in the archives I could find on this
subject (and there is a LOT) and it seems that no one was ever able to
recommend a specific brand/model of deep-cycle battery that will fit
under the driver's seat.  An online demo for installing one that's a bit tall
that is frequently mentioned but no longer exists at the URL (something
with ~coyote in it) posted in the messages I read.

So I am asking the list.

What do you all recommend? We have a weekender so don't need the
battery for any appliances though it might be nice to plug in a small
fridge or electric cooler if we buy one.  Mainly I want to run/recharge my
laptop on this thing, and run the radio/cassette.

We don't have an electric hookup so is wanting something that could
run the radio for a day or two and maybe run my laptop long enough to
play a DVD movie and go online a bit (I have a cell phone) unrealistic?

Thanks all!!

:) Liz

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