Quick Learner, Need advice (Old school '86 Dolphin)
So I'm weighing a couple options waiting for my '86 sunrader I just acquired (Built on a dolphin body) to get back from the shop for diagnostics of all the systems, 12 volt, 120 volt, water, etc. As of right now, I have three major issues that I know of, minus the water system, which i'm going to wait until i get the diagnostics to even worry about.
My 1st Question: My refrigerator is possibly broken beyond repair, and I'm looking into just replacing it anyways to get something consistent. After reading all the reviews on the domestic 2 and 3 way fridges, they seem to have the same problems they used to that caused the current one to be the way it is. I'd like to say "f*ck this" and get a cheap low wattage mini fridge, jerry rig it in place, and do a 200 watt solar setup to get it to run, along with 2 155 amp hour batteries, which allows the sytem to be easily expandable to about 400 watts with another battery. Most of the fridges I've looked at (after calculating their amp hours per day at about 60) would be able to run 4 days with no sunlight and no generator usage. If i add an extra battery and 200 watts of panels, i could run all the lights inside, which i'm replacing with LED bulbs, and my laptop i figure on good days. This is just what I've calculated and not exact, but i'm wondering, has anybody else done this? What were your results? Any luck with good 2 or 3 way models?
My 2nd question: When I got it, the A/C would run fine on the generator, but there was an issue. If I turned on the A/C, and then one light, it would run okay, but when I turned off the A/C, the light would flicker for 4-5 seconds, then a loud click in the vehicle (some sort of switch) and then the lights would no longer flicker, but they were suddenly running on battery. Recently, the A/C must have blown a fuse(?) because it cut out, and will only run on shore power now. It's an old generator (as far as i can tell hasn't been replaced in the last 15 years at least), and i think it might be the exact wattage needed by the A/C at peak. I'll be replacing it for sure, but what else could be causing this? Should i look at the inverter? (They may just diagnose this where i'm getting it fixed but I kind of want to find the solution myself)
And my 3rd problem: I don't understand how the general power works. I understand there's a generator, and it makes power at 120v, 30amp for RV setups normally. Does this system allow a Battery to be charged? Most of the generator's i've looked (Unless inverter generators) didn't have a 12v plug on them too, does a seperate inverter work the other way (to allow battery charging?) . Where does all the switching occur for the systems to switch from generator to battery(at the circuit breaker?)Is the front battery in the same loop or is it independant to stop you from overusing your starting battery?
Sorry i know it's a lot of questions i'm just a little lost. :)
My 1st Question: My refrigerator is possibly broken beyond repair, and I'm looking into just replacing it anyways to get something consistent. After reading all the reviews on the domestic 2 and 3 way fridges, they seem to have the same problems they used to that caused the current one to be the way it is. I'd like to say "f*ck this" and get a cheap low wattage mini fridge, jerry rig it in place, and do a 200 watt solar setup to get it to run, along with 2 155 amp hour batteries, which allows the sytem to be easily expandable to about 400 watts with another battery. Most of the fridges I've looked at (after calculating their amp hours per day at about 60) would be able to run 4 days with no sunlight and no generator usage. If i add an extra battery and 200 watts of panels, i could run all the lights inside, which i'm replacing with LED bulbs, and my laptop i figure on good days. This is just what I've calculated and not exact, but i'm wondering, has anybody else done this? What were your results? Any luck with good 2 or 3 way models?
My 2nd question: When I got it, the A/C would run fine on the generator, but there was an issue. If I turned on the A/C, and then one light, it would run okay, but when I turned off the A/C, the light would flicker for 4-5 seconds, then a loud click in the vehicle (some sort of switch) and then the lights would no longer flicker, but they were suddenly running on battery. Recently, the A/C must have blown a fuse(?) because it cut out, and will only run on shore power now. It's an old generator (as far as i can tell hasn't been replaced in the last 15 years at least), and i think it might be the exact wattage needed by the A/C at peak. I'll be replacing it for sure, but what else could be causing this? Should i look at the inverter? (They may just diagnose this where i'm getting it fixed but I kind of want to find the solution myself)
And my 3rd problem: I don't understand how the general power works. I understand there's a generator, and it makes power at 120v, 30amp for RV setups normally. Does this system allow a Battery to be charged? Most of the generator's i've looked (Unless inverter generators) didn't have a 12v plug on them too, does a seperate inverter work the other way (to allow battery charging?) . Where does all the switching occur for the systems to switch from generator to battery(at the circuit breaker?)Is the front battery in the same loop or is it independant to stop you from overusing your starting battery?
Sorry i know it's a lot of questions i'm just a little lost. :)
