Battery Questions

rvoregon wrote:
Right, 50 Amp-hours. I just missed typing in the zero.

LED lights all around.

Heat is generally set at 50 or 55 at night. Need to work on getting the kids to jump out of bed early and turn up the heat (and make coffee).

We have a thick polyester blanket to block the cab.

Reflectix on all windows.

We have a Catalytic heater that we use before we go to bed (Mr Heater).

Always leave home with fully charge batteries.

For the most part, I am only looking to camp for up to 4 days, not for long periods of time. So based on what I am hearing from everyone, my system is probably not ideal, but will probably work. Upgrading the converter was key, since the old converter was only charging at 5 Amps.

Worst case, we all huddle around the dog for heat.

Just remember to charge fully which may be your biggest issue. Last dry camping trip it took me about about 4 hours of generator time to get to ~90% charge after a night of furnace running.

I guess the bottom line is, IF you can get them fairly well charged up, the three batteries will get you through the night and then some.

Right, 50 Amp-hours. I just missed typing in the zero.

LED lights all around.

Heat is generally set at 50 or 55 at night. Need to work on getting the kids to jump out of bed early and turn up the heat (and make coffee).

We have a thick polyester blanket to block the cab.

Reflectix on all windows.

We have a Catalytic heater that we use before we go to bed (Mr Heater).

Always leave home with fully charge batteries.

For the most part, I am only looking to camp for up to 4 days, not for long periods of time. So based on what I am hearing from everyone, my system is probably not ideal, but will probably work. Upgrading the converter was key, since the old converter was only charging at 5 Amps.

Worst case, we all huddle around the dog for heat.

With those upgrades you will be a rock star compared to before.
No real need to test in the driveway... go camping.

Stay plugged in and charging while at home.

Hi

5 x 10 = 50 amp-hours not 5

rvoregon wrote:
Blower on fan for heater draws about 5 Amps. So even if that is running 100% for 10 hours at night, that would be 5 Amp-hours.

Looks like you should have enough capacity to last overnight, and good call getting the new converter for faster charging. I will add a couple of things from my and others' experience while dry camping in the cold.

Add insulation. If you can find spots in the RV to add insulation, do it. Those bins on the outside often have nothing more than a layer of plywood between the bin cavity and the coach interior. Reflectix it easy to install. any other insulation as long as it is contained will work too (airplane insulation is great if you can get it).

Drape a blanket down from the overhead to block of the cab. The truck cab has lousy insulation and lots of heat escapes out there. You will find with a good blanket or quilt the cab side will be subfreezing while the house is comfy. We have a fairly exotic snap up cab curtain as we have swivel seats.

Insulate the windows. Lots of folks make Reflectix window covers and put them on the inside. We actually have snap on window covers made of Warm Windows fabric.

You will need to charge for a long time to bring the batteries back....like 4 hours or more. Lots of folks I know (and me) with on board generators still use a little Honda for battery charging. During the day they are constantly running. They are much quieter and more fuel efficient than on board units. There are various solutions for keeping them out of the weather. Some folks make a doghouse from a tub. I have one of those silly umbrella hats that I mount to the top. Be sure to set the generator on a) pavement, or b) a platform. They will thaw the ground (or snow) and sink in it filling the inside with yuck. A Honda EU1000 works fine for me even when my AGM batteries are in bulk charge mode. If I need more current (like for the oven) I just fire up the main generator.

Catalytic heaters work. We use a portable one during waking hours.

As others have said, convert to LEDs. They use about 20% of the power of incandescent.

When you ultimately end up buying new batteries, I highly recommend going to true deep cycle batteries which if you buy flooded means going to 6 volt batteries. Golf cart batteries are a great bargain and are meant for this kind of abuse.

Bobbo wrote:
When you get up in the AM, turn the heat up and jump back into bed for 10 or 15 minutes while it warms up.

Or get a remote controlled thermostat.

The MOST important thing is turn down the heat while you sleep. No higher than about 50. The heater fan will kill a battery's charge faster than anything.

When we boondocked in Yellowstone in September 2011 with 2 group 27 batteries, running the furnace at 65, we ran the batteries down by 3am. It was in the mid 20's outside. When we turned the furnace down to 50, we could get 2 nights out of them. Keeping it at 50 will keep pipes from freezing. When you get up in the AM, turn the heat up and jump back into bed for 10 or 15 minutes while it warms up.

As others have mentioned, if you haven't already done so, replace your incandescent lights with LEDs. It is one of the least expensive ways to reduce the current drain. I would look for lights with 18 to 24 type 5050 LEDs. There are newer LEDs but I replaced mine 2-3 years ago and don't know much about the newer types. I bought mine on eBay. At the time that was the least expensive place to buy them. As far as I know, it still is.

rvoregon wrote:

We replaced all of the lights with LED's (draw dropped from 1.5 Amps to 0.1 Amps per bulb). Blower on fan for heater draws about 5 Amps. So even if that is running 100% for 10 hours at night, that would be 5 Amp-hours. So 1 1/2 hours of running the generator in the AM should fix that.

And since the noise in the parking lot is loud when they are plowing snow, I can actually run the generator at night without anyone even noticing....

Running a 5A load for 10 hours consumes 50 Amp-hours, not 5 Amp-hours. It's current multiplied by time, measuring charge, not a rate of some sort. It would take perhaps three hours to recharge that 50 AH worth using the converter you have, I think, though there are a number of variables that enter in.

That said, the battery capacity you have should easily be sufficient to get through a cold night even without too much effort at conservation, provided the batteries are in decent condition and are starting out pretty well charged.