Batteries -- what is reasonable?

[Pete Masterson]

We just returned a few days ago from our last trip. We stayed in a
state park with no hook ups for 4 days. They had a quiet time from
8PM to 10AM. Our house batteries didn't seem to be "up" to the task
of keeping the systems going.

My coach is all-electric. Aside from cooking, the major draw is the
refrigerator (a home-style side-by-side Amana). I have two 2500 watt
inverters.

The house batteries are six class 4D 12 v batteries with
approximately 200 amp hour capacity each. So that's a total of 1200
amp hours. Using 50% as the cut off, that leaves 600 amp hours
available to use.

I don't have the exact specification for the refrigerator, but it's
limited to a 15 amp breaker -- so let's assume that it draws 15amps.
We had no other systems operating (no TV, no heat) except the
'phantom' loads that usually are present. The water pump would only
operate if there was a 'flush' during the night (10 amps maximum at
12v but for only a brief period from time to time).

So, if I calculate correctly, I have *no more than* (and probably a
lot less than) a 30 amp per hour load times 14 hours or a maximum
draw of 420 amp hours -- so I should have had no significant shortage
of power in the morning starting with fully charged batteries in the
evening before. (This, however, was not the case.)

So... 1. I assume that the batteries aren't holding their charge as
they should. This does not surprise me, since I was told they had
been "abused" while in the hands of various dealers and
intermediaries before I purchased the coach. 2. is my approximation
on power correct? Should the batteries have held up better? (We sure
would have liked to turn on the heat in the morning!) Am I missing
something?

We ran the generator 4 to 5 hours ... to bring the batteries up to a
full charge (but I'm not sure they were fully 'up' -- but they should
have been well past 90% charged). How long is typical to run a
generator to recharge a set of house batteries?

I plan to purchase a new set of house batteries, but thought I'd run
this by the list first.

Comments please?

Pete Masterson
aeonix1@...
'95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42'
El Sobrante, CA






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