Possible to run heat at night without killing your batteries

OhhWell wrote:

mena661 wrote:

OhhWell wrote:
If it's not, there is either a new onboard genset, solar panels or a standalone genset.

Generators don't charge batteries, battery chargers do (either converters or inverter/charger combo units). Adding auto-start or getting another generator will just leave him with the same problem and that's his batteries are either not getting charged at all or not getting charged to full often enough. It's really simple to figure out whether or not the batteries are getting charged and doesn't require 7 pages of gen auto-start discussion to get this done either.

No one item charges batteries, it is a complete system. A power converter alone does not charge a battery either. Not sure where you are coming from. He never said his batteries weren't getting charged, just that they don't make it through the night.

You also neglected to quote the part where I mentioned a multi-stage charge controller.

It might just take forever to charge by being plugged in and the MH generator just as long. The generator will chaarge the batteries quicker than anything. If they are deep discharged the generator is the only way. I can't site the manual and it's too far away to get. :)

What is a Good Charger/Converter to put on my coach. Brand? Price. And any links would help greatly. Thanks..

We do quite a bit of boondocking in the desert. Our former coach, 04 Southwind 36 had two 6 volt batteries for the house. They worked fine through the night supporting a furnace at 68 deg and a CPAP machine (no humidifier).

Our program began as the sun began to set reducing lighting to only task lighting, reading lights and kitchen work lights. No TV (seldom watch anyhow so this is no sacrifice). Bedtime, the only items operating were the furnace and the CPAP which is powered directly by 12 V no inverter needed. At the point this stopped working satisfactorily I decided that 7 years on well maintained batteries was a good run and I replaced them with identical Trojan 105s. By then I had added solar. In the morning I would start the generator to make coffee and toast and start the battery recharge. Generally two hours. Then two hours during happy hour and dinner prep and maybe an hour leading up to quiet hour.

The current coach, with twice the battery pack requires aome more attention to detail. Had a 12 v outlet set in by the head of the bed for the CPAP once I learned that even 4 batteries would not support the furnace and Inverter and CPAP. Many more phantom draws on this wonderful coach. Need to turn off the inverter when not needed while boondocking, otherwise it is always on. Need to be sure there are no hidden lights left on even though all are LED. Added 340 watts of photovoltaic to the roof and power management with metering so I know the status of the batteries. Generally run the gen in the am for coffee and toast and in the pm for dinner prep. Don't usually bother with a late evening topoff anymore.

Short answer with some rather simple attention to power use and adequate charging there is no reason you can't enjoy boondocking even in the chill on two well maintained deep discharge batteries.

On our Pace, the converter is located on the floor under the bottom kitchen drawer. It's about 4' from the batteries.

Jim

OP Here's a start on battery management: 2 GC's are about 220AH. A 8A furnace motor running 8 hours with no recycling would use 8*8=64AH. Your batteries would be 64/220=30% discharged and the batteries would be fine in the morning.

So suspects are weak batteries, other loads, less that 100% charged in the evening. Use of lights, refer, etc and an inadequate charger should be considered.

lacofdfireman wrote:

OhhWell wrote:

lacofdfireman wrote:
So this is what I have. Like stated I'm a boondocker. With the Trailers and Motorhomes I have owned over maybe a 8 year period I have used full hookups a total of 1 time. We are "Always" camping in the desert or mountains. I have a RV Guardain 6500W Generator in one of the side compartments. I use it when necessary. I think my plan is to look at adding 2-4 more batteries to my bank and may look into solar but not sure I can afford it right now. It won't be to many more months that I won't need heat anyways. I appreciate all the info and good suggestions..

Solar sure is nice and I would love to have some panels myself but it's just not practical for us. You being a desert camper, could get away with a evaporative cooler during the day and get tons of sun. That generator is probably more fuel efficient than running your Coach engine to charge the batteries (I may have misunderstood your OP but that was what it sounded like) but it's probably louder! I would agree new (and maybe even more) batteries would be the best start.

Also, if possible, let us know what your brand and model of power converter is. It may be an inefficient single stage like ours...

Sad to say I'm not even sure where the Converter is on my Motorhome. I've only owned it a week and have been at work for 5 days so haven't even looked at the Motorhome for a few days. I won't even be home to look at it until Monday but will search around for it then. Will it most likely be located by the batteries? Any idea? Motorhome is a 07 Georgetown M-350. I can tell you I have always owned RV's with the Onan 5500 generators. I let the guy talk me into this RV Guardian (Generac) 6500 saying that it was every bit as good as the Onan and just as quiet. I don't know about the just as good part but it sure is louder...

Usually it is mounted in a lower compartment and close to the battery bank. "Close to" doesn't always mean on the same side though. Mine is screwed into the wall on a storage compartment directly across from the batteries. In all of the TTs I had owned, it was behind the 12v fuse panel.

From the tiny bit of research I just did, it is likely that you have a parallax single power converter with only a single stage charging circuit. If so, that is basically what we have with our Progressive dynamics without the cheap little charge wizard add on. You get the worst of both worlds : It neither bulk (Quick) charges a really low battery nor lowers to a trickle charge when the battery is almost full.

Definitely take a look.

OhhWell wrote:

lacofdfireman wrote:
So this is what I have. Like stated I'm a boondocker. With the Trailers and Motorhomes I have owned over maybe a 8 year period I have used full hookups a total of 1 time. We are "Always" camping in the desert or mountains. I have a RV Guardain 6500W Generator in one of the side compartments. I use it when necessary. I think my plan is to look at adding 2-4 more batteries to my bank and may look into solar but not sure I can afford it right now. It won't be to many more months that I won't need heat anyways. I appreciate all the info and good suggestions..

Solar sure is nice and I would love to have some panels myself but it's just not practical for us. You being a desert camper, could get away with a evaporative cooler during the day and get tons of sun. That generator is probably more fuel efficient than running your Coach engine to charge the batteries (I may have misunderstood your OP but that was what it sounded like) but it's probably louder! I would agree new (and maybe even more) batteries would be the best start.

Also, if possible, let us know what your brand and model of power converter is. It may be an inefficient single stage like ours...

Sad to say I'm not even sure where the Converter is on my Motorhome. I've only owned it a week and have been at work for 5 days so haven't even looked at the Motorhome for a few days. I won't even be home to look at it until Monday but will search around for it then. Will it most likely be located by the batteries? Any idea? Motorhome is a 07 Georgetown M-350. I can tell you I have always owned RV's with the Onan 5500 generators. I let the guy talk me into this RV Guardian (Generac) 6500 saying that it was every bit as good as the Onan and just as quiet. I don't know about the just as good part but it sure is louder...

lacofdfireman wrote:
So this is what I have. Like stated I'm a boondocker. With the Trailers and Motorhomes I have owned over maybe a 8 year period I have used full hookups a total of 1 time. We are "Always" camping in the desert or mountains. I have a RV Guardain 6500W Generator in one of the side compartments. I use it when necessary. I think my plan is to look at adding 2-4 more batteries to my bank and may look into solar but not sure I can afford it right now. It won't be to many more months that I won't need heat anyways. I appreciate all the info and good suggestions..

Solar sure is nice and I would love to have some panels myself but it's just not practical for us. You being a desert camper, could get away with a evaporative cooler during the day and get tons of sun. That generator is probably more fuel efficient than running your Coach engine to charge the batteries (I may have misunderstood your OP but that was what it sounded like) but it's probably louder! I would agree new (and maybe even more) batteries would be the best start.

Also, if possible, let us know what your brand and model of power converter is. It may be an inefficient single stage like ours...

mena661 wrote:

OhhWell wrote:
If it's not, there is either a new onboard genset, solar panels or a standalone genset.

Generators don't charge batteries, battery chargers do (either converters or inverter/charger combo units). Adding auto-start or getting another generator will just leave him with the same problem and that's his batteries are either not getting charged at all or not getting charged to full often enough. It's really simple to figure out whether or not the batteries are getting charged and doesn't require 7 pages of gen auto-start discussion to get this done either.

No one item charges batteries, it is a complete system. A power converter alone does not charge a battery either. Not sure where you are coming from. He never said his batteries weren't getting charged, just that they don't make it through the night.

You also neglected to quote the part where I mentioned a multi-stage charge controller.

So this is what I have. Like stated I'm a boondocker. With the Trailers and Motorhomes I have owned over maybe a 8 year period I have used full hookups a total of 1 time. We are "Always" camping in the desert or mountains. I have a RV Guardain 6500W Generator in one of the side compartments. I use it when necessary. I think my plan is to look at adding 2-4 more batteries to my bank and may look into solar but not sure I can afford it right now. It won't be to many more months that I won't need heat anyways. I appreciate all the info and good suggestions..