Batteries -- what is reasonable?

[Gregory OConnor]

Pete, Are you maintaining hotwater with the inverter? I schedule
daily gen/run/battery charge time for periods of high use and prior
to a need for hotwater. My chargers ( Yellow?? not OEM) have
an "Equalizer" routine that is manualy prompted. The first time I
completed the routine my batteries went to 14Volts and all the cells
were truly even.
Gregory O'Connor
94PTRomolandCa --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, Pete
Masterson wrote:
>
> 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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