Epoch RV Battery 12V 300Ah Heated & Bluetooth & Victron Comms
Epoch RV Battery 12V 300Ah 1080 – Heated & Bluetooth & Victron Communications
We evaluated the Epoch RV Battery 12V 300Ah with Bluetooth, self-heating, and Victron communications as our primary off-road power source. This the perfect 12 DC power solution for those who have large RVs with residential appliances and the need to operate when no campground power is available. The Epoch RV Battery 12V 300Ah is a strong contender for those who camp off-grid and need the extra amperage to extend these stays for those days when solar production is a challenge.
Epoch RV Battery 12V 300Ah Evaluation
We put the Epoch RV Battery 12V 300Ah to the test using our Montana 5th wheel as a real-world environment powering a large GE residential refrigerator, lights, TV, and slides over an extended period of time without any means to charge the battery. Our efforts were to simulate a long tow lasting 10 hours, an over night stay, and then continuing to the next destination for another 7 hours. We relied on the Epoch RV Battery 12V 300Ah only, with no provisions for solar, campground, or the 7-pin connection to our truck for charging power.
Over the evaluation period, we used both the iOS Epoch LI-Ion Bluetooth app for iPhones and our Victron Smart Shunt monitor the performance of the battery. As a check and balance between both monitoring platforms, we found the reporting to be within a percentage point of remaining capacity and available voltage.
Epoch RV Battery 12V 300Ah Results
With the battery at full charge, the evaluation for the Epoch RV Battery 12V 300Ah exceeded our expectations. We ran our test over 31 hours and at the end of two days, we still had 26 percent, one quarter of the battery capacity remaining.
Recharging the battery with our Progressive Dynamics 75 amp charger took around 3 hours. The shortest time when have experience with any of the batteries we’ve tested to date.
With the batteries heavy duty construction, metal case, low temperature disconnect, internal heating, 11 year warranty, and much more, this is a perfect solution for our 12V power needs.
Epoch RV Battery 12V 300Ah Specifications
- LiFePO4 Chemistry – Deep Cycle Battery
- Epoch RV Battery 12V 300Ah HEATED – Internal heating allows for charging in sub-zero conditions
- BLUETOOTH – iOS and Android Apps
- Built-in Smart Battery Management System (BMS)
- Over charge and over discharge protection
- Over current and short circuit protection
- High & low temperature disconnects
- Max (4) in Series up to 48V @ 300Ah
- Max (4) in Parallel up to 12V @ 1,200Ah
- 4,000+ Cycle life & Maintenance-free
- UL1973, UL1642, IEC 62133, UN38.3
- 11 Year Manufacturer Warranty
- Weight: 72 (LBS)
- Dimensions: 8.1 x 11.1 x 15.4 (inches)
- Ah Capacity: 300Ah
- Max Continuous Discharge Amps: 300A
- Max Charge Current Amps: 300A
- Max Discharge Peak Current Amps: 900A (3 Seconds)
- Max (4) in Series, Max (4) in Parallel – 4S4P
VOLTAGE
- Voltage: 12.8V
- Max Charge Voltage: 14.6V
- Operating Voltage Range: 10.0 – 14.6V
Check out our RV Accessories page where we have listed a wide range of products from essential items to those “nice to have” RV products to make RV life more enjoyable. Every item listed is being used or has been used by Joan and I as we’ve traveled across the country in our RV.
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If you look closely at this full-room extension on the back of this Cyclone toy hauler, you’ll notice there are no metal corner or roof poles. Rather than metal framework, these additions are supported by inflatable tubes which make the whole unit lighter and easier to set up and take down. Where and how they add this extra sleeping space, I guess, is up to the imagination of the designer, the no more is this evident than on these next two examples.
First is the Forest River NoBo with its added “nest” as they call it. It’s a complete, enclosed tent that sits on top of the roof of the NoBo and adds an extra sleeping area beyond the normal interior space, and you can bet the kids will love this. On the same note, we found the same type, stand-alone tent enclosure, even mounted on the roof of a jeep. So, as we were saying, canvas additions are only limited to the creative minds of. designers and engineers. Some ways of adding additional space can be as simple as a pop-up roof that gives you a few more inches of tent room. Two, a pop-up roof that can not only increase head room but also add additional sleeping space like we see on this Hymer Class B motorhome. So how creative an extreme can canvas additions go? 
Jeff Johnston: For a somewhat different camping experience, if you’d wanna go off-road, get into some really rugged places and take it all with you in comfort, there’s an expedition trailer. This is some CRUX Expedition Trailer. This is the Model 1610, and what you see here is the way it goes down the road. Everything is all. packaged together. All the cabinets and so forth contain all of the goodies for the trailer, and when you get to the site, it unfolds in a number of different ways. If you’re gonna be spending a whole bunch of time, like several days, you can unfold the entire unit that folds out to 211 square feet approximately. If you’re just gonna be overnighting, you do stage one, which is more or less the top sleeping tent that opens up on top and a little annex on the back. And then, if you’re gonna be spending a little more time where you wanna expand a little bit more, you can add the side awning on the side and maybe one of the little rooms, and if you’re gonna be spending several days, you do the entire suite of rooms. That gives you the trailer with the sleeping space up on top, a large tent space on the side, a little annex on the end that lets you have a place to put, say, a portable shower or, you know, toilet or something like that, and there’s a space on the back that has room for, say, a couple of cots if you’re gonna have guests. coming, sleeping with you. And this unit is designed strictly for heavy-duty use: dual independent suspension axles, super-heavy-duty hitch assembly; the frame and all, it’s all galvanized or otherwise treated for rust-resistance. This is really a unit that is unlike most of the tent trailers that you’ll see out there. Takes a few more minutes to set up, but like anything else, once you’ve done it a couple of times, a unit like this CRUX Expedition Trailer can provide a type of comfort and convenience and livability out on the most rugged trails you can imagine. It’s a little different, and it’s meant to be. 
In this video below, we start at Crane Creek Vineyards located in Young Harris, GA. We missed this vineyard last year and on this trip went to the Farm House tasting room located at the base of the vineyard. This was a first usually going to the top of the vineyard to the newer Stone House. The Farm House was built in 1901 and still retrains much of the old charm. Located at the bottom section of the vineyard, covered sitting areas have been added along with seating along the edge near the vines.
Located a few miles south of Clayton, GA on US 441, is Blue Ridge Honey Company. This is one of those places we pass often when I suggest to Joan that we need to check out. Embarrassed to say how many times we have said that over the years of our North Georgia travels. Finally, we stopped and were not disappointed.
A few minutes from the campground is Jumpin Goat Coffee Roasters located at 2404 Helen Highway in Cleveland GA. Pulling off the highway and continuing up the hillside driveway, we were greeted with one of the most stunning views in Cleveland. The cafe and roaster is located on a ridge overlooking gentle rolling hills with an amazing presentation of Mt Yonah in the background.
The leg clamps are sized to fit your average jack post, but it’s a little bit larger size, and ours has a somewhat smaller-size jack, so the company includes these traction strips which you cut to shape or size and then glue them inside. We glue ’em inside here so we don’t have to wrangle with it while we’re trying to mount this, but by putting these little strips in there, it takes up a little bit more space and makes it fit a somewhat smaller jack. That’s a situation we ran into. But to secure these, we’re using a traditional contact cement. This is Walthers Goo. It’s a hobby-type product. Doesn’t have to be extremely tight. And we take the base side. We take the base side of the traction material, spread the glue around a little bit. It’s a contact cement. You let it dry and then put it back together. We do that on both pieces, and you wind up with just enough extra liner in there that’ll fit tight on our jack posts. Start the first clamp right about here, to begin with, using these really great heavy-duty fine-thread Allen head bolts to secure it. And when you’re lining this up, the table does not pivot once it’s installed, so the tab with the flat traction surface on top should be kind of aimed in the direction where you want the table to come out from. We are lining this up so that it more or less lines up with the back side of the camper so it sticks straight out from the back. The top one can be snugly secured, and the bottom will be left adjustable for the moment. And that 17-inch mark is approximately where the second clamp fits. This gets installed but remains somewhat finger-tight for the moment. So it’s roughly 17 inches down, and you line up the tab on the lower mount with the hole on the upper one. That’s good for the moment. 
Now that we know dogs can get sunburn, one of the main questions you may have is “Can dogs wear sunscreen?” The short answer is “Yes.” The long answer is “It depends.” There are canine products available on the market that are generally safe for use. There are sprays you can rub into their coat or balms that you can apply to their nose and face. There are some products available for cats as well, but check with your vet about the specific product as not all dogs-safe products are safe for cats. You should be careful which products you use. Dogs will lick and groom themselves, so the sunscreen needs to be safe to ingest in small quantities. Avoid products that contain zinc oxide as this can be toxic for your dog if they ingest it. A lot of human sunscreens actually contain this ingredient. Try to stick with canine-specific products if you can or if you can find a baby-safe sunscreen without the zinc oxide. Although it can be super-difficult, try to stop your dog from licking off the sunscreen while they’re outside. So what do you do if you think your pet may have been sunburned? Well, you should keep your pet out of the sun as much as possible once you notice the burn. This is where a nice A/C unit in the pet-friendly RVs can come in handy. Your pet can stay comfortable indoors and out of the sun. If you have a cone, put this on as it will prevent your dog from licking the area. If you notice anything more than mild redness to the skin such as blistering, moderate-to-severe redness, or pain when you touch the site, you should seek veterinary care. Ultimately, prevention is the best medicine with sunburn as I’m sure many of you have experienced yourselves. Keeping your pet safe and comfortable while traveling is the goal. For more information about traveling safely with your pets, visit RVingToday.tv.
This version of the R-Pod is called the Hood River Edition, built in Dallas, Oregon. Has a couple of features that are different than the standard R-Pod. First, it’s got about 3 inches more suspension or chassis lift. That’s provided by the design of the rubber torsion axle, which is a really great way to provide a soft, smooth suspension for a trailer like this. That extra 3 inches of lift means that you have extra clearance. So, if you wanna get off the pavement and go to a campground in a remote spot on a dirt road, you have less likelihood that you’re gonna be scraping or bottoming out on anything. And the Hood River Edition also includes these really cool heavy-duty-looking kind of off-road mud-and-snow tires. Gives it the little bit of that rugged Northwest look along with the custom wheels. It’s a fun package.
This version of the R-Pod, the 179, has what amounts to being, like we mentioned on the outside, pretty much, a full-wall slide that includes the refrigerator, the microwave, and this dinette. And this U-shaped dinette is, for a little bitty trailer, it’s pretty darn big. I mean, you can accommodate four people sitting around here very easily for a card game or something like that, and it’s pretty comfortable. The seats are–you know, you can adjust the cushions and such as needed, and this table is portable. So, in addition to positioning it inside where you find the best use for it, you could also take it outside, for example, and use it in your campsite. And it also adjusts for level. And this isn’t quite so smooth operating–at least, I don’t do it right– but you release it, and this folds down far enough that you can turn this into a bed area as well. Lock it back up there. So this turns into an additional sleeping space which would be kind of snug unless it just happens to be a couple of little kids. So, if cooking is important to you, when you’re looking at a floor plan, you know, you kind of look at what you wanna emphasize or what you really need or want out of an RV. If you got a cook in the family who really likes that, then this would be a good choice because of that big kitchen across the back end. And this also would be a good one for entertaining because you have this good-sized dinette. This floor plan includes a wet bath. It’s got a toilet, kind of a built-in shower, and a really small sink in the corner. Another one of the R-Pod floor plans, on the other hand, has a bath that goes across the back of the vehicle with a separate shower, so it kind of depends on what’s important to you. If you like–if you really want a good quality– a good-sized shower, you’d probably pick that other floor plan. This one also has a full-sized bed up front, and we’ll take a quick look at that. Jeff: What you might describe–it’s full-sized bed. Maybe you can call it an RV queen or an RV full size, but it’s plenty wide because of the small overall size of the trailer. It’s like the trailer is about 6-foot-6, wall to wall on the outside. The bed space is about 6-foot 3-inches approximately from wall to wall, so for the average sized person, they’re gonna fit it just fine. I can’t say that I fit, but, then, that’s because that’s my problem because I’m too tall for this sort of thing, but it was a very comfortable mattress, and we slept okay on it, and that’s kind of, when you’re looking at RVs and you have your priorities, one of my personal priorities is having a comfortable place to sleep more so than having a giant bathroom, for example. So this would be kind of a floor plan that I would be interested in, and my wife likes to cook, so the big kitchen would be cool for her. This would be a great floor plan for us. But the bed area, you got good-sized windows on both ends for plenty of cross ventilation. Nice illumination up here. We’d kind of like to see a couple of lights up by the head of the bed, but, you know, that’s one of those small details. Everybody has different opinions about those things. The television is on a mount, so you can swing it around. You can watch it from the dinette area or move it back and be able to keep watching it from the bed area. And this, of course, is also adjacent to the stereo which is really close to everything. Next to the bed, you got a nice hanging wardrobe for shirts and things, and that’s top– tops another set of three storage drawers. There’s a surprising amount of storage in here, and there’s also storage overhead, up above the dinette, which is very handy. The R-Pod was a good matchup for our Nissan Frontier pickup and would likewise tow well with other small vehicles.
