RV Books
Powerful, Proven & Unbiased Information
♦ travel trailers ♦ motorhomes ♦ camper trailers ♦
Search our catalog of exclusive RV articles
Search our catalog of exclusive RV articles
RV Books provides the most extensive and most reliable information available for anyone wanting to explore their world via travel trailer, motorhome, camper trailer - any sort of RV.
If you find this site useful you will find our books even more so. They are all available in a number of formats designed to make them as useful as possible as reference guides for all your travels. As well as a paperback version there are versions for Kindle, Nook, Kobo and for all Apple devices.
The information on this site is provided without charge, without sponsorship and without advertising. All our activities are funded by the sales of our books.

The Camper Trailer Book. Free!
Not currently available as an eBook or paperback, RV Books is publishing The Camper Trailer Book on this site. Every week new sections will be released until the complete, fully revised, version is available.
Visit Solar Books
At solarbooks.com.au you'll find exclusive articles dealing with the intricacies of setting up and using solar power to run your home, cabin, travel trailer or motorhome. Solar Books is about how to use solar to shrink your power bill to where your energy provider is paying you - and to do it all economically.
Featured article
Interconnecting batteries in series or parallel- here’s how and why
Updated October 2020
Interconnecting Batteries
Interconnecting batteries in series or parallel is feasible but you need to know how it works. And its limitations. Interconnecting your batteries in series increases the voltage. Your current remains as before. Interconnecting your batteries in parallel increases the current. Your voltage remains as before. No matter how connected, your stored energy remains the same.
Batteries consist of cells (each of about two volts when fully charged). A 12-volt battery has six such cells. The cells are connected end-to-end.
Series connection increases battery voltage. Most car and travel trailer batteries are twelve volts. Some big motorhomes, however, have 24-volt systems. These typically have two 12-volt batteries in series. Many large solar systems use 48-volt storage - of banks of four 12-volt batteries in series.
Parallel connection increases battery capacity (i.e. the amount of energy it can store). It is often used to limit individual battery weight. For example, a 12-volt 240 amp-hour lead-acid battery weighs about 65 kg (145 lb). To ease handling, it's common to parallel-connect two 12-volt deep-cycle 120 amp-hour batteries.
Large solar systems typically parallel-connect banks of four 12-volt batteries to store energy at 48 volts.
That shown above is a bank of 16 batteries (each of 12-volt). They are connected in series/parallel. This provides 48 volts at approximately 960 amp-hours. Pic: author's previous all solar house north of Broome.
Interconnecting batteries in series or parallel - the pros and cons
Each way of interconnecting has advantages and disadvantages. These, however, are not the same advantages and disadvantages. Nevertheless, if you need over twelve volts, and/or substantial capacity, you must increase voltage, current or both.

Batteries - series connection
Connecting two batteries end-to-end results in the total voltage being the sum of each battery. The available current and voltage are that of the 'weakest' cell. read more...
Recently updated articles
Articles by Category
Batteries & Battery Charging
Travel Trailer/Tow Vehicle Behaviour & Suspension
Cooling and Heating
Electrical (general)
General
Health & Safety
Legal & Compliance
Solar
Travel
Want to find out more? Our books cover all these topics and a lot more.
Whether you’re buying your first RV or updating to a bigger, more comfortable rig, there are a great many things you need to know and consider. How to Choose and Buy an RV breaks things down so that you can decide what you want and whether or not what you’ve found is right for you.
Solar That Really Works! explains every detail of designing and installing solar in boats, camper trailers, travel trailers and motorhomes.
Caravan & Motorhome Electrics covers every aspect of designing, installing and fault finding of the electrics in fifth wheel and conventional travel trailers, camper trailers and motorhomes.
The Caravan & Motorhome Book covers every conceivable aspect of camper trailer, travel trailer and fifth wheel travel trailer, campervan and motorhome usage.

Caravan & Motorhome Electrics covers every aspect of designing, installing and fault finding of the electrics in fifth wheel and conventional travel trailers, camper trailers and motorhomes.
How to Choose and Buy an RV
Here's how to get it right first and every time.
Whether you're buying your first RV or updating to a bigger, more comfortable rig, there are a great many things you need to know and consider. This book breaks things down so that you can decide what you want and whether or not what you've found is right for you. It's technically sound and comprehensive so that you can proceed with complete confidence. How to Choose and Buy an RV is the ultimate guide for those times when you want to, well, choose and buy an RV.
Travel Trailers and their tow vehicles rarely jack-knife and roll over - but when they do the results are catastrophic. The cause, and how to prevent it, is explained here. Why Caravans Roll Over offers solid advice for keeping yourself safe on the road.

The Caravan & Motorhome Book covers every conceivable aspect of camper trailer, travel trailer and fifth wheel travel trailer, campervan and motorhome usage. Like all of Collyn Rivers' books it is technically sound yet written in plain English.
Solar That Really Works! explains, in clear English, every detail of designing and installing solar in boats, camper trailers, travel trailers and motorhomes. It is up-to-date, valid globally and technically accurate. It is clear, concise and easy to follow without sacrificing important detail.
This is Collyn Rivers' newest book. Building on his years of experience and extensive knowledge of engineering and all things travel trailer and RV, this is the book you need with you when shopping for an RV.
Collyn Rivers has done it again! – if you need to know anything about motorhome electrics, then this book is for you... Collyn must be, without doubt, the foremost authority in Australia on this subject.
Why Caravans Roll Over....and How to Prevent It
Should be compulsory reading for everyone involved with Travel Trailers: Design / Engineering, Marketing, Journalism (print & electronic), Regulations, Inspections, Driver-Training, Travel Trailer Clubs, Towing and Modifications.
Collyn is an accomplished engineer who knows how to design and build successful systems. It is refreshing to see practical advice written in plain language when there is so little solar information around. . . this is an essential text . . . you won’t find a better guide.
Without doubt, this is the best book we have ever read . . . it will be treasured, and read on a regular basis.