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Old 04-20-2021, 07:06 AM   #21
B-O-B'03
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Originally Posted by Garbman View Post
... I have only started looking, but the ones I looked at had 219 amp/hr rating on GP 27 and 209 on GP 24. I assume if they are connected in parallel that gives me 418 amp/hr vs 219. Correct?
...
Where are you finding group 24 batteries rated at 209 AH?

When I converted to CG2 6V batteries it was to get 235 AH.

The G24 12V batteries I replaced were only ~75 AH.

-Brian
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Old 04-20-2021, 07:25 AM   #22
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No slide, or power jacks like keeping it simple and bullet proof. Had a power tongue jack on the last TT and it failed. I have a tongue mounted generator stand that would only let me turn the top mounted manual override a quarter turn at a time. It took forever to get the unit level. The power jack came off for the next trip and the front winder manual went back on. I use a cordless drill to assist with the manual leveling jacks.



That said, little use for 12v system.
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Old 04-20-2021, 07:32 AM   #23
Garbman
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Where are you finding group 24 batteries rated at 209 AH?

When I converted to CG2 6V batteries it was to get 235 AH.

The G24 12V batteries I replaced were only ~75 AH.

-Brian

I found them at Walmart. I am not sure I trust the on battery specs to be correct (considering the source). I was just comparing 24s and 27s for reference and planning. I was surprised to see the little difference in the rating between the two. Both were marine deep cycle batteries.
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Old 04-20-2021, 08:03 AM   #24
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I found them at Walmart. I am not sure I trust the on battery specs to be correct (considering the source). I was just comparing 24s and 27s for reference and planning. I was surprised to see the little difference in the rating between the two. Both were marine deep cycle batteries.



Okay, Okay, I just went to Walmart online and see I remembered the numbers wrong. It was 101 and 109 AH for 24s and 27s. Still same thought though, not much difference for the cost, weight and size considerations. Online the 27 cost less than the 24. Not so in the store. In the store they had more choices with slightly higher AH.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart...-MCA/180350522


https://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart...-MCA/164242687
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Old 04-20-2021, 08:14 AM   #25
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Okay, Okay, I just went to Walmart online and see I remembered the numbers wrong. It was 101 and 109 AH for 24s and 27s. Still same thought though, not much difference for the cost, weight and size considerations. Online the 27 cost less than the 24. Not so in the store. In the store they had more choices with slightly higher AH.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart...-MCA/180350522


https://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart...-MCA/164242687
Just so you know those are dual purpose cranking batteries and the APH is at 1 amp...

Most of us use a none cranking deep cycle battery which will not have the cranking amps listed...

Normally a series 24 is rated at 75 to 85 aph and a 27 at 85 to 105

Here is some information https://www.interstatebatteries.com/...ies/deep-cycle
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Old 04-20-2021, 10:48 AM   #26
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Just another thought, to complete the record. I also considered replacing the current refrigerator with a 3-way model of the same size. It would be a plug and play replacement, except for up sizing the 12vdc wiring to accommodate the added load and adding an auto switch.


I have put this on hold while I try getting underway with the LP. I am curious to see How long my 2 - 20# tanks last. Not crazy about needing to find swap outs for one or both of them daily.



Any hint as to how long a 6 cu ft frig will last on a 20# bottle?
We had a small 2.5 cuft 3 way Dometic refrigerator in a pickup cab-over camper. We had a dedicated GP31 battery to power the camper and if we left the camper in the sun to visit a "tourist trap" along our route, with the refrigerator running on 12 volts, it would kill the battery within a couple hours. 3 way absorption refrigerators use a "DC or AC resistive heating element, not a DC compressor to keep the system working. It's about the most "INEFFICIENT use of battery power" that you'll find in an RV. Operating a 6 or 8 cuft "three way" on battery power without the truck running to keep the battery charged will be a "no joy event" at every stop along the route. And, if you tie in your truck battery to augment the trailer battery, best have a set of jumper cables cause you're going to wear them out in one camping season.....

As for how much propane you'll use, we regularly get well over 30 days of trailer use in the summer (refrigerator, water heater, cooking <stove and grill> as well as running the refrigerator on LPG) on a 30 pound LPG tank. We regularly dry camp as a matter of how we use our trailer and the only time it's plugged in is either at home or at an occasional "luxury site" where full hookups are available. Most of our camping is in state forest campgrounds where the only availalbe amenities are a fire ring and a broken down picnic table....

On a 20 pound propane tank, in the summer (no furnace use) you should easily get 3+ weeks of trailer use even with the refrigerator operating on LPG.

Honestly, if you look at the flame under the refrigerator boiler, it's about the size of a pilot light on Grandma's old gas stove.... It uses VERY LITTLE propane.....
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Old 04-20-2021, 10:51 AM   #27
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Just so you know those are dual purpose cranking batteries and the APH is at 1 amp...

Most of us use a none cranking deep cycle battery which will not have the cranking amps listed...

Normally a series 24 is rated at 75 to 85 aph and a 27 at 85 to 105

Here is some information https://www.interstatebatteries.com/...ies/deep-cycle
This and you are only able to draw them down to 1/2 of capacity without damaging them.

I ordered 2 of these @235 AH and a new box that holds them both, end-2-end and the box fits in the original location on the tongue of my trailer.

When I bought them they were under $100 each, with the 10% off coupon they give for order online - pick up in store.

-Brian
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Old 04-20-2021, 11:50 AM   #28
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If your drive is under 3-4 hrs and running on propane is a concern, then just leave it off. your stuff will be fine as long as you start cold and packed properly. It is insulated like a cooler. Running an absorption fridge on an inverter will kill batteries quickly DAMHIKT.
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Old 04-23-2021, 01:47 PM   #29
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Thanks all, makes me feel a lot better about my setup. I will follow the crowd and just fire up the LP for the frig when we hit the road. If I am not using the batteries for running the frig then I do not see the need to up size the batteries. I do not plan on doing a lot of boon docking and will have a gasoline/NP/LP Generator if the need arises. Our next big trip will be Georgia to Alaska and we will want to have options available for when camp sites with hookups are unavailable.

You actually do need the battery if your fridge has an auto-ignite flame (pilot?) and a control board. I do not know how long you would be able to run the fridge if you were not getting some charge from your TV, but that should not be an issue when the trailer is hooked up to the TV or shore power.
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Old 04-25-2021, 07:25 AM   #30
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Fridge.

Just use the LP.
Basically it's a pilot flame.
Should last a long time.
We traveled from east coast to NM., Grand Canyon
And all around .
Only filled the 2 tanks due to running heat while at the Canyon.
Figure around at least 2 weeks on 1 bottle.
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Old 04-25-2021, 07:26 AM   #31
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Just another thought, to complete the record. I also considered replacing the current refrigerator with a 3-way model of the same size. It would be a plug and play replacement, except for up sizing the 12vdc wiring to accommodate the added load and adding an auto switch.


I have put this on hold while I try getting underway with the LP. I am curious to see How long my 2 - 20# tanks last. Not crazy about needing to find swap outs for one or both of them daily.



Any hint as to how long a 6 cu ft frig will last on a 20# bottle?
Before you buy a new fridge, if the box and size of your current fridge fit your needs, you might consider changing out your cooling unit in the back of the fridge with a DC compressor driven unit from JC Refrigeration out of Indiana. You will never need propane for your fridge again. You can run it while traveling and will keep your ice cream rock hard. If boondocking, it pulls around 5 amps when compressor is running. I did mine a year ago and have no issues. Solved all my fridge issues, and is built more robust than a residential fridge. At 98 degrees outside temp my freezer maintained -10 and my fridge 37 degrees on the third setting, out of 5. Check them out at jcrefridgeration.com.
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Old 04-25-2021, 07:41 AM   #32
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Running fridge while towing

Running your fridge while towing on LP is a personal choice. Some people are comfortable with it and have been doing it for years without incident. Then there are some like myself who don’t do it and won’t.
The answer to your question depends on how much money you are willing to spend. You could install a whole RV inverter/charger system or just do something for the fridge alone. Either way you will want to have ‘active’ charging going on while you are towing. This can be in the form of solar on the roof and/or a beefed up charging system from the tow vehicle. Be aware that the battery charging that occurs with the TV 7-way connector is not enough. You would need to install a dedicated DC-DC charger.
Also you need to realize that the fridge is not running 100% of the time. So calculations based on that assumption are flawed. RV fridges are pretty well insulated. In the end it comes down to what you feel comfortable with doing.
Good Luck
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Old 04-25-2021, 08:07 AM   #33
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You could run with the fridge off if it really bothers you. They stay cold quite a while to if cooled down first.
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Old 04-25-2021, 08:53 AM   #34
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We are on our second long trip. On each we travel 5-7 hours on the road until we get to our destination. Each time we run the fridge empty for a day then we the freezer and fridge with food from our house already cold/frozen the night before we leave.

I have one of those small battery powered fans on the same original D battery and a thermometer in the fridge. In the road food goes in a small cooler.

You would be surprised at how little the temp goes up after 7 hours on the road very little!

Jay
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Old 04-25-2021, 10:56 AM   #35
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I too wanted to run off electricity. I have a motorhome so tried to run an inverter off the coach battery which would be constantly re-charged off the chassis alternator. The Dometic never worked correctly. Would warm up to 44F after a day's travel.

Changes to a "pure sine wave" inverter but the Dometic refrigerator still would not work correctly.
I had sized all the wiring to handle 30 Amps from battery to Inverter but apparently the control board in the refrigerator wants real 110V AC to operate correctly.
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Old 04-25-2021, 11:18 AM   #36
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Just another thought, to complete the record. I also considered replacing the current refrigerator with a 3-way model of the same size. It would be a plug and play replacement, except for up sizing the 12vdc wiring to accommodate the added load and adding an auto switch.


I have put this on hold while I try getting underway with the LP. I am curious to see How long my 2 - 20# tanks last. Not crazy about needing to find swap outs for one or both of them daily.



Any hint as to how long a 6 cu ft frig will last on a 20# bottle?
In 6 days on the road we used about 1/4 tank.
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Old 04-25-2021, 11:28 AM   #37
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Smile LP gas.

As stated by many others, most RVers run their fridge on propane between campgrounds. So how does that effect your propane supply?

How long does a propane tank last? The answer is that a gallon of propane will last about 95 hours if burned at a rate of 1000 BTUs per hour. For example, if you have a cooktop with a BTU rating of 30,000 BTU’s, then a gallon of propane will last 3.17 hours.

Propane weighs 4.125 lbs per gallon.

Each gallon of propane is equivalent to approximately 92,000 BTU’s.

A 20 lb propane tank holds 4.5 gallons of propane, and when full it weighs 36 lbs.

A 30 lb tank holds 7 gallons of propane, and when full it weighs 54 lbs.

Each gallon of propane is equivalent to approximately 92,000 BTU’s.

Which means that your fridge should probably run 1-2 months on a tank of propane. Probably more. We gave up cooking with gas a long time ago. We use an induction cooker which can be used both inside and outside the camper. Propane will over time give off a nasty film of oil that the electric does not do.
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Old 04-25-2021, 01:08 PM   #38
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20lb tank should last at least a week if used for fridge only in hot weather, will be considerably longer in moderate temps with fridge closed as much as possible. We don't get very high temps up here in northern BC and I get well over a month on a 30lb
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Old 04-25-2021, 02:00 PM   #39
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Here is the size of the flame in full operating mode. As you can see, it isn’t much. We have never had to switch to a second tank during a camping season and that includes using gas for water heater, furnace, fridge, inside stove, outside stove and the gas grill. If you burn through a tank of gas in a week, something is wrong.
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Old 04-26-2021, 05:42 AM   #40
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My DW sister and husband have a little Rpod that they tow from Colorado to Maryland most every year. The fridge is a 3 way and they would run it off 12v dc. Their first TV was a Hyundai SUV. I tried to tell them it wouldn't last that the alternator and wiring would struggle with that constant electrical load anmd the transmission would struggle with the wind load. Long story short, in 3 years they went thru 2 alternators on the Hyundai, and the camper battery would be shot about every 2 months. After the transmission blew apart around St. Louis one trip they bought a Ford F150.
Everyone's learning curve is different, theirs's is darned near flat.
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