Hi Steve
I do not have your total answer, but do have a few things that might help and maybe others can fill in the rest. What I am describing here fits for lead/acid “wet cell” batteries.
I’m partly on way there to the Bondock setup. As time progresses I will get more parts of the system filled in. And yes I was going to start with the gen-set approach first like you are mentioning and then possibly add solar at a later date.
Here is the part I have done. The battery charging/maintenance and battery monitoring part. Your 2003, T2499 most likely might have an American enterprises Model CS6000. Check the number and the last 2 digits. They make an XL version that is a newer in early 2004 and a step up. It would look like this when you open the breaker door on the CS6000.
And it will look like this when you pull the cover.
Point I bring up is the converter, that older model does well at supplying 60 amps of nominal 12 VDC to the TT off of shore power, but as far as battery charging it not the latest technology and it could take a real long time to re-charge the battery pending the battery discharge. Like 8 hours or more on a battery that is deeply discharged. It does not boost the voltage high enough.
Point is how many hours do you want to run the gen-set to recharge? The one hour running you said may not cut it with that older converter. That older charger also will not take the battery to 100% charge, it might take it to ~90 - 95% which ins’t too bad but not to full charge. It also does not have a desulfation mode with it.
There are a few ways to over the problem.
One option is buy a separate stand alone good battery charger with 3 stage charging and the ability to have desulfation. This will supply good maintenance for your batteries and bring them to 100% and recharge them faster. It will still take time pending how far down the battery is.
2nd option is to can call American Enterprizes and talk to them about the age of your existing convertor and a new 2008 model and confirm the charging time or both. The also have a new 2008 CX6000XL, make sure it is the 2008 model prior to these year it was not 3 stage, and they have 3 stage charging. They claim you can drop that charger into the same foot print as the CX6000.
Here is there web site with phone #’s
http://americandirect.ibuilder.com/a...ault.asp?C=12&
However the new 2008 model does not desulfate the battery. Something that should be done if you plan on bondocking to get the best you can from your batteries. You can buy a stand alone battery minder that will desulfate the battery.
Here is one such brand that is temp compensated.
http://www.vdcelectronics.com/batteryminder_12248.htm I have there battery minder that I use over the winter to keep them toped off and desulfate them.
3rd option: I went the upgrade route on mine to a convertor to a 3 stage charger plus the desulfation mode. See this post.
http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/ph...a1708b281c5d7c
I upgraded to a Progressive Dynamics PD9260C
http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_d...pd9260c_2.html
Bought it here.
http://www.bestconverter.com/index.html
Another heads up is the wattage it takes to run there higher rate chargers. The PD9260C will draw 1000 watts at full charging rate. Which means your 1000 watt gen-set will be at capacity.
Someting else to add is a battery voltage monitor so you do not drain the battery down to deeply before recharging. I added one of these. It has an alarm on it to on that you can set when the voltage gets low and when to recharge. It is best if you do not let the battery go a lot below 50% discharge before recharging for longevity of the battery, Knowing the voltage will tell you when to do this.
Here is there web site:
http://www.voltminder.com/
And where I bought it:
http://www.bestconverter.com/Volt-Minder_c_107-1-0.html
See this site. The 12 volt side of life. It has a lot of use full RV battery and battery charging explanations on it.
http://www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm
As far as batteries, there are a lot of options out there now. For me, I would start at investigating using 2, 6 volt golf cart deep cycle batteries connected in series get the amp/hour ratings up. Or get a few Group 31 batteries. Cost, size and weight all come into play now. I have not made it to the ultra long bondocking battery stage yet so I do not yet have that much to report on it.
Most likely which ever battery setup you end up with will require a rework on the battery holder. The T2499 and most other Sunlines of the new style where set up on Group 24 batteries. Which work well for short trips.
Probably the best 2 cents I can give you is to research into battery charging and what type battery technology you are going to use first. Then get the right charging system for that battery.
And try to sort out the amp/hour capacity of the needs you have. Battery selections starts from there. I happen to have a few group 27 batteries that I will be doing some experimenting with. I’ll see how long I can running lean on just battery and camp, and only draw down to 50% discharge. Again the way we camp. Then switch out to a fresh one. Key is the Volt minder can tell you where you are at.
Hope this helps and good luck
John