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Old 08-01-2018, 05:47 AM   #21
bill-e
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Just using the figures you gave, 2.8x24=67.2 and lets guess at 25 amps for your normal solar that comes out to 42.2ah for a day. now add in other consumption like the water pump and hot water heater and you could be at or above your 50% level per day. We also don't know exactly how much your battery capacity really is, it may not be able to sustain its rated capacity.

Most less knowledgeable campers drain their battery way more than 50% getting the impression that they can go two days on a charge.

You can do the Fridge heater mod and save about .5ah and that would give you a little more margin.

If you went with a good 200w solar system you could replenish your battery on a good day 40-60 ah. and would not have to plug them in at all or at least only every few days.

I have a Zamp portable 200w system, high quality and expensive.
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Old 08-01-2018, 06:11 AM   #22
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Here's a link to a battery meter I installed.

$18 on Amazon

And a forum post showing it in action. This was just a test setup, I used 4 wire telephone cable to run to the meter which I mounted by my TV.

The meter comes with a shunt is seems to be accurate. I can monitor my power consumption and/or turn things on/off to see what's consuming what.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...0.cfm#28956450
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Old 08-01-2018, 07:13 AM   #23
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Thanks everyone - I will report back once I test all the fuses to see what is drawing what? Trailer is getting some minor warranty work done right now. I will also look at the fridge to see about the door heater circuit. Again, thanks everyone.
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Old 08-01-2018, 01:56 PM   #24
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OK - so there just happens to be a battery distributor of my battery 15 min from me. I took both batteries there to have them tested. Both do take a charge and have the correct volts BUT then tested each cell with a Hydrometer and both batteries had multiple cells in the red - meaning they don't hold the charge or the charge gets used up fast, which was exactly my problem. I did ask if something about the trailer electrical system could cause them to go bad and he said no - just unlucky and had two bad batteries. Luckily since new trailer - new batteries so covered by warranty of battery - got 2 new ones free. When I bring my trailer back home, I will probably DRY camp in my driveway for a couple days just to see what happens. Thanks again to everyone that replied, this is the first time I have used a "Forum" - very happy with it.
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Old 08-01-2018, 01:59 PM   #25
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Oh and I did ask 2 people there about how far to let the battery go down in volts as it was suggested to not go below 12.2. Both of them told me that letting them go to the low 11s is OK, if not better, so the battery doesn't "learn" that 12.2 is "empty" - their words not mine. I am not a battery person, so just thought I would include what I was told by the battery distributor folks. Thanks again!
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Old 08-01-2018, 03:08 PM   #26
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Glad to hear the good news about replacing the batteries under warranty.
Best of luck with your new 5er and safe travels!
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Old 08-01-2018, 03:37 PM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cjcoult View Post
OK - so there just happens to be a battery distributor of my battery 15 min from me. I took both batteries there to have them tested. Both do take a charge and have the correct volts BUT then tested each cell with a Hydrometer and both batteries had multiple cells in the red - meaning they don't hold the charge or the charge gets used up fast, which was exactly my problem. I did ask if something about the trailer electrical system could cause them to go bad and he said no - just unlucky and had two bad batteries. Luckily since new trailer - new batteries so covered by warranty of battery - got 2 new ones free. When I bring my trailer back home, I will probably DRY camp in my driveway for a couple days just to see what happens. Thanks again to everyone that replied, this is the first time I have used a "Forum" - very happy with it.
I'm glad you found the issue and they replaced the batteries. Unfortunately, buying a new trailer doesn't necessarily mean you got new, or good, batteries. Mine failed 2nd season. It came with one battery, I had stipulated 2 when buying, took it back in and installed the 2nd one. Did not pull the LP tanks, battery covers etc. to look at them. They failed. I don't know which one was new but I suspect the Camco, covered in oily, greasy gook, with the bulged sides was the one they grabbed off a shelf and threw in. It ruined the other battery as well. My takeaway from buying a trailer, used or new, is, buy it then tear it apart to see what you got.
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Old 08-01-2018, 04:12 PM   #28
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One battery was Jan 18 and other Feb. 18 - should not have been bad so yes glad they were replaced for free.
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Old 08-03-2018, 01:00 AM   #29
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I do a lot of dry camping, so I installed a Xantrex battery monitor and 2 12 v deep cycle batteries in parallel. Monitor tells me charge, amp hours used, amp hours available, % charge, whether bank is charging or discharging, and was easy to use to determine power draw of each electrical item, including ghost draws. If you haven't yet, you should make a chart of each item in your trailer that uses power, 12 v or 110 v, with its current draw. This will help you greatly to keep an eye on how much power you are using. Trying to measure battery usage by using voltage is inaccurate at best, destructive at worst.
Solar power is a whole other subject, but I can tell you what I plan for my Hideout: 2 160 watt solar panels, charge controller, 2 12 v battery banks and a marine 4 place switch (off, left bank, right bank, both banks in parallel). Solar will charge off bank and allow cell equalization while I draw from the other bank. Each bank has 220 ah total, which allows 110 ah draw to 50%, and Xantrex sounds alarm at that point for changeover. I almost never get to alarm point.
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Old 08-05-2018, 07:28 AM   #30
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Make sure you have water in your batteries. Most people don't realize that most RV batteries are not sealed units and require water occasionally. Use distilled water if at all possible, rather than tap or spring water (usual bottled water). This can make a huge difference on how much power the batteries will provide, as well as how well they will charge.
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Old 08-05-2018, 08:41 AM   #31
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Is the TV booster on?
I had a Cougar with 2 12v batteries but I managed to kill them by allowing them to get drained too far, the furnace was the culprit. They wouldn't recover.
Then I bit the bullet and installed 4 6v t105s (Trojan) and followed that with a 400w solar system.
All was happy after that.
Hubby likes his TV so we upgraded to 6 t105s and 650w of panels.

Anyway, I think your battery bank is suffering like others have said. I learned the hard way.
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Old 08-05-2018, 09:01 AM   #32
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Nope - we turned booster off too - but thanks for the thought and info of what you use now. We only dry camp once a year for 10 days - so I don't want to put a ton of money into it. My solution for next year is going to parallel my 2 12v batteries and get at least 100W solar panel if not 200W.
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Old 08-05-2018, 03:12 PM   #33
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I have a 2018 Cougar 366RDS - I had to change the battery every day when dry camping. I had a 12v battery solar panel connected to the battery - 7amp max rate. We did not use the lights at all. The only things drawing power were the fridge, water pump and water heater only when in use and CO2 sensor. With nothing on but the CO2 sensor - .45 amps being pulled, CO2 + Fridge flame 1.7 amps and fridge fan + CO2 sensor + (no flame) 2.8 amps. Fan runs very often. If outside temp matters, days were mid 70s and night 50s. I should get more than one day, right?
I have the norcold 18 cubic foot refrigerator in my Raptor, it sucks the life out of a large 12 volt battery in one night. I put in 2 large 6 volt batteries and that solved the problem. I am also supplemented by 2 160 watt solar panels on my roof. Using regular lights in the evening and some heat in the mornings I still run my generator an hour or more each day to keep the batteries up.
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Old 08-05-2018, 08:16 PM   #34
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I Dry Camp during the winter for 30 days at a time in the SW desert. Honda 2000 watt Gen. is your friend, and...with a 50 ft. cord, you won't even hear it while inside. My ONAN Gen. shakes the trailer and with it under the forward bed, its misery trying to watch a movie playing off the 4000W. Onan.
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Old 08-05-2018, 08:36 PM   #35
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Nope - we turned booster off too - but thanks for the thought and info of what you use now. We only dry camp once a year for 10 days - so I don't want to put a ton of money into it. My solution for next year is going to parallel my 2 12v batteries and get at least 100W solar panel if not 200W.
I think you're on the right track now! Maybe look for a small used genny on Craig's list for a backup.
Safe travels!
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Old 08-06-2018, 04:51 AM   #36
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Yes a genny would be good, but we can't use a genny at this state park and we go to this state park every year with 6 other families.
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Old 08-06-2018, 05:01 AM   #37
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Understood, (from your previous responses) I was hoping that you had other camping opportunities and would enjoy the genny if needed at one of the other campgrounds you will visit. IMHO it just gives you the maximum options for a better camping experience.
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Old 08-06-2018, 07:39 AM   #38
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I feel sorry for you in a way, after reading all these answers, who's contradiction do you go by? I have been involved with batteries for over 30 years and all we do is dry camp.
Solar panels not quite as long. Now retired i install them and sell complete systems. I'm not going to go through this post and tell you who does and does not know what they are talking about, there is a much simpler way. I'm not sure you even have a problem.
My 6volts are 9 years old and still going strong,i also put them on the charger once a month when the unit is sitting. No i don't leave them hooked up to a tender. When in use I use a controller that tells me what my solar panels are putting out, what charge if any is going into the battery and at what amperage. It also tells me how full they are. It will tell me if i have solar or battery issues also, if by chance i connected the up wrong. Each of my 150w panels puts out 7.90 IMP and 8.45 ISC. Over kill for what i need them for. We watch movies and the inverter draws a bit of juice but at night nothing charges anyways. So here's the deal. All of this doesn't really matter.
Here's what does matter and its simple no rocket science. On a cloudy day my i've seen my battery go down to 50% after watching movies at night most days it goes down to 75%. That's reading from the control panel in the unit...you know the one where your black water tank always reads full but its not...lol. Now if in fact that panel was worth anything at all and it was accurate you would be in a world of hurt. YOUR Fridge will shut down if it has less than 9.6V, thats what my Dometic will do. A yellow light comes on which means its off. 75% of 12V is what? 50% of 12v is what? My Light never comes on EVER. So guess what? I'm happy.
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Old 08-06-2018, 08:13 AM   #39
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Going back 40 years RVing, the new folks dry camping used to have fresh water and holding tanks too small for more than a overnight making water management a problem. Now with the RVs having more and more items using/needing 12v. I cannot inmage anyone dry camping with just a battery. To me it does not make any sense to even attempt it. Two yes if you can recharge everyday. Two 6v batterers if that is your main camping place.
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Old 08-06-2018, 08:34 AM   #40
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I have the norcold 18 cubic foot refrigerator in my Raptor, it sucks the life out of a large 12 volt battery in one night. I put in 2 large 6 volt batteries and that solved the problem. I am also supplemented by 2 160 watt solar panels on my roof. Using regular lights in the evening and some heat in the mornings I still run my generator an hour or more each day to keep the batteries up.
If you have the Norcold rv fridge just run it on LP or just set to "auto", it then switches to shore power or generator, if equipped, & switches to LP when disconnected. The big rv absorption fridges won't run on 12 volt alone, the battery operates the control panel & is required, but gas or electric is required to operate the Norcold.
Now if you have a 18 cu ft residential fridge it WILL run on the batteries through an inverter to operate the fridge, WILL NOT run on LP & if opening the fridge regularly the batteries wouldn't last long.
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