Battery power

[Gregson]

I have a 21 foot cougar 2014 with two brand new 6 volt deep cell batteries 232 AH and changed the lights to Led's and only use one our two at a time, so the only things that draws power are led lights , water pump , propane detector and the light on the built in stereo that is on even when you do not use it. The spark for the fridge and the hot water tank as needed and my batteries are down to 12.2 volts every 12 hours . Is this normal for dry camping to charge every 12 hours with generator. If anyone can help me please let me know your thoughts on this.
Roger

[diugo]

At 12.2V you've used 40% of your 232Ah capacity, or 93Ah in 12 hours. That would suggest an average current of nearly 8A, which would be excessive.

My educated guess is that you're not fully charging the battery with the generator. You can't do it by plugging the RV into the genny, because the RV's converter-charger is intended for 24-hour shore power.

If you're going to use a generator, you also need a dedicated charger to go along with it, one that puts out 30-50 amps or more, connected directly to the battery terminals.

[unyalli]

The sad thing is the modern RV is meant for the masses. This means it's plugged in all the time. Plugged into your house, charged by your truck while in transit, plugged into the mobile apartment complex power pole.

Is your converter charger a WFCO by any chance? Best thing you could do for a boondocker is the Trimetric (http://www.solar-electric.com/trtmbamosy1.html) battery monitor.

Want to understand deep cycle batteries and how to properly charge them? http://www.solar-electric.com/deep-cycle-battery-faq.html Maybe you already know this, if so it's info for others.

In the interim if you have a volt meter what is the voltage at the battery terminals when you go on the generator? You might also want to get a clamp on DC amp meter like the one in the attachment and see what current is actually getting to the batteries. In short with a battery at 60% SOC (state of charge) you should see a voltage under charge start out in the low 13's and steadily climb to the low 14's over an hour or so. During this time you should see amp flow close to what your converter charger is capable of. If your converter charger is a WFCO this will not happen.

I mounted a PD9245C (http://www.progressivedyn.com/rv_converter_pd9245c_2.html) 6 foot from my batteries and connected it with custom 6 gauge cables from Genuinedealz (http://www.genuinedealz.com/Custom-Cable-Assembly/b/7154146011?ie=UTF8&title=Custom+Cable+Assembly). I turn off the built in converter's circuit breaker and plug this bad boy straight into the generator. Progressive Dynamics has some good info on how long it takes to charge a battery at different voltages.

Jeff

[Bluewater]

I pulled out my radio/dvd player and put a switch to turn that constant light off. It still works fine even with the light in the off position.

[macattack]

Actually, the light isn't all that is drawing current. In order for the remote control to work to turn the unit on when it's off, there is a small infrared sensing circuit that must be constantly on to watch for the remote control signal. If you truly want it off, pull the plug.

[ctpd814]

If you have the Sony stereo in your units, all you have to do to turn the light off is press and hold down the source button until the light goes out.