dry camping
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12-02-2007, 14:59
Post: #13
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dry camping
Pete have you ever considered L16s. Randy has four in his rig and swears by
them. He says with a little modification he could put six in the available space. They sure pack a lot of amps. On 02/12/2007, Pete Masterson > > The primary drain (through the inverters) is the power to the > refrigerator. It will limit your ability to operate off the grid with > an all-electric coach. (My '95 is all electric.) Newer refrigerators > are perhaps a bit more economical to operate than the 22 cu ft 2-door > Amana that I have in my coach -- but you're likely to experience the > similar power drain. > > For example, I have 6 model 4D AGM-type house batteries. These have > about 220 amp hours each. So, 6 x 220 = 1320 amp hours. However, > that's an overstatement of what's available, as you can't deplete the > battery more than 50% for standard wet cell or by more than 60% for > AGM batteries. So that would mean there's between 660 and 792 amp > hours available from the battery to power all the 120 volt systems > that are serviced by the inverters. (I have two, 2500 watt > inverters.) Also, don't forget that the inverters cause a loss (10% > or more) while changing the 12 vdc to 120 vac. Don't forget that amps > X volts = watts. So, a 1000 watt refrigerator is about 8.3 amps at > 120 v per hour. Convert that to 12 vdc, and its about 83 amps. With > the inverter loss, that's about 95 or 100 amps (per hour while the > refrigerator is running)... so that suggests about 6 to 8 hours or > perhaps 10 hours of operation (since it doesn't run 100% of the time) > just for the refrigerator. Add the microwave (high draw, but short > period) plus the various lights and the 12 volt stuff... and then you > can see that the batteries are kind of limiting! > > Here's where you have to do some math. First figure out the > approximate hourly draw in amps of each appliance that runs on 120 > volts. Don't forget that _some_ of the lights run on 120 volts and > are powered by the inverters. Of course, all 12 volt items and > appliances also draw from the batteries. So, you also have to figure > out what 12 volt appliances you have operating. Do not ignore the > draw from the Microphor toilet compressor nor from the air-system > auxiliary compressor, if you have one (I don't) along with various > signal lights, etc. etc. -- well, to be honest, there's a _lot_ of > load on a 'bird and without a source to recharge, the batteries can > be drawn down to a dangerous level in just a few days, even when > everything is "off." > > So, back to the refrigerator -- the practical situation is to make > sure your house batteries are fully charged. If you have an isolation > switch to "turn off" everything, it would help. Anyway, when you > think your batteries are fully charged, isolate them (and unplug > shore power), then check the voltage. (This is the "resting" > voltage.) For AGM batteries, it should be about 12.9 to 13.0 volts > (wet cell batteries are different). Then, turn on the isolation > switch (apply the normal load) -- wait and hour, remove the load, and > check the voltage. 12.4 volts is 50% depletion and 12.25 volts is 60% > depletion -- do not let the volts drop below 12.25 volts!!! ---this > is "resting" voltage measured from the battery terminals. > Measurements drawn from other locations (e.g. a fuse panel) are > likely to be much lower due to line losses.) > > My experience has been that "boondocking" isn't especially practical. > I can shut down the generator in the evening, but I usually need to > restart after about 12 hours or so. So, if I shut down at 8:00 PM, > I'll usually need to start the generator by about 8:00 AM the next > morning to avoid causing any damage to my batteries. This has caused > a fair amount of heart burn when I've stayed in a CA state park that > had a generator operation ban between 8 PM and 10 AM ... those two > hours were nail biting time and I had to shut down any/all items that > made demands on the batteries. > > My plan (the next time I boondock) is to pull the breakers on the > inverters perhaps at 10 PM or so, and see how the batteries are the > next morning. The refrigerator won't warm up much during the night, > if it is not opened and if we're in a reasonably cool location. > > I've compared notes with another all-electric Blue Bird owner (just > this past weekend at the Lone Star Birds rally in Kerrville, TX) and > I'm of the impression that my voltage drain seems to be on the high > side (so I may need to further explore possible reasons). > > The reality is that you can probably turn off the generator in the > evening then turn it back on in the morning without major problems. > You can run the generator for 3 hours or so to bring the batteries > back up to full or near full charge. Then you can shut down the > generator for a few hours, then run it for 3 or 4 hours until the > time you wish complete quiet at night (or until any required shut > down time occurs). > > The coach can be off the grid without the generator for periods of > several hours -- but it will need to have power to recover the > batteries rather more often and/or for longer periods than coaches > that have LP gas appliances. > > See Poop Sheets by Phred at: > <http://www.phrannie.org/phredex.html> > #5 has a thorough discussion of "electrical stuff." > > Pete Masterson > '95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42 > aeonix1@... > On the road at Lubbock Texas following a great weekend with the Lone > Star Birds at Kerrville, TX. > > On Dec 1, 2007, at 2:08 PM, medpro28 wrote: > > > Just purchased a 2005 LXi and need some advice on dry camping. I cook > > in bbq contests and sometimes no power or 110 only. Dealer says I > > will > > have to use the generator all the time. Although the unit is all > > electric, will not use the stove top or microwave while camping. > > It is > > hard to believe I can't dry camp any length of time and then use > > generator to keep batteries up. > > Is the dealers advice right or does anyone have thoughts or > > suggestions? > > > > Jerry Smith > > 2005 450 LXI > > > -- Rob, Sue & Merlin Robinson 94 WLWB [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] |
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Messages In This Thread |
dry camping - medpro28 - 12-01-2007, 08:08
dry camping - bubblerboy64 - 12-01-2007, 09:44
dry camping - martingregg598 - 12-01-2007, 09:46
dry camping - Gary Smith - 12-01-2007, 09:46
dry camping - bumpersbird - 12-01-2007, 09:50
dry camping - bumpersbird - 12-01-2007, 09:50
dry camping - JERRY SMITH - 12-01-2007, 10:22
dry camping - Ross MacKillop - 12-02-2007, 01:49
dry camping - JERRY SMITH - 12-02-2007, 04:03
dry camping - medpro28 - 12-02-2007, 04:14
dry camping - Pete Masterson - 12-02-2007, 13:58
dry camping - Pete Masterson - 12-02-2007, 14:10
dry camping - Rob Robinson - 12-02-2007 14:59
dry camping - Tom McCarthy - 12-02-2007, 17:43
dry camping - Pete Masterson - 12-03-2007, 01:55
dry camping - JERRY SMITH - 12-03-2007, 01:58
dry camping - Travis Martin - 12-03-2007, 04:25
dry camping - bubblerboy64 - 12-03-2007, 07:56
dry camping - Leroy A. Eckert - 12-03-2007, 10:00
dry camping - Rob Robinson - 12-03-2007, 11:12
dry camping - Leroy Eckert - 12-03-2007, 11:26
dry camping - Pete Masterson - 12-03-2007, 11:48
dry camping - Kurt Horvath - 12-03-2007, 12:22
dry camping - Leroy Eckert - 12-03-2007, 12:29
dry camping - Pete Masterson - 12-04-2007, 13:23
dry camping - erniecarpet@... - 12-12-2007, 05:33
dry camping - medpro28 - 12-12-2007, 10:18
dry camping - JERRY SMITH - 12-13-2007, 04:49
dry camping - Ross MacKillop - 12-13-2007, 05:20
dry camping - JERRY SMITH - 12-13-2007, 06:41
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