Back up batteries for boon docking

Mik68 wrote:

tenbear wrote:
There may be more than the converter to replace to run on 220vac. The microwave, TV, refrigerator and maybe the water heater come to mind.

In addition, I believe Australians drive on the left side of the road, so the door and hookups will be on the wrong side. I haven't read all the posts but I didn't see this mentioned.

We have looked into this & there are a few FW that we are interested in that already have a 2nd door on the 'wrong side' and as for the electrics, as RobRyan has indicated a total rewire is required and same goes for the LPG piping.

Don't forget the water and sewer hookups too.

WoodGlue wrote:
Get two AGM 12v Deep Cycle Marine batteries (probably group 34) and you should be good to go for 3 days. Just be judicious on the use of lights, etc.

WoodGlue

+2 on your suggestion. With AGMs you needn't worry about battery boxes - you can mount them inside under the dinettes, inside cabinets, upside down, wherever. They'll outlast flooded batteries and while more expensive, will payoff long term!

http://www.pureenergysystems.com/PESWiki/Directory/Bedini_SG/files/Vonwentzel-battery.pdf

tenbear wrote:
There may be more than the converter to replace to run on 220vac. The microwave, TV, refrigerator and maybe the water heater come to mind.

In addition, I believe Australians drive on the left side of the road, so the door and hookups will be on the wrong side. I haven't read all the posts but I didn't see this mentioned.

We have looked into this & there are a few FW that we are interested in that already have a 2nd door on the 'wrong side' and as for the electrics, as RobRyan has indicated a total rewire is required and same goes for the LPG piping.

Sounds like an awesome trip plan, Mik.

I'm not sure if you are aware that the roads are smaller on the eastern side of the US than out west, and that driving a big rig there can be a bit of a white knuckle ride.

You might be happiest, if you are focusing on the eastern states, to get a class C or smaller trailer. Or, keep with your big fiver plan but spend some time in Utah, Idaho, Colorado and western Wyoming, which have some of the most beautiful landscapes in this country, and save the eastern states for a road trip by car or smaller RV...

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

If you take the rv to Oz, simply replace the converter with one that accepts 240 volts.

btw mostly there are Americans on the forum--so they have no idea what 30C means. They will understand 86 F.

Do you have a planned route? Are you coming in the North American summer?

RV's have a lot of glass, which is nice, except it means there is a lot of solar gain. I live in the prairie part of Canada. We do get up to 41 C here most years. Mesa Arizona gets to 45 C pretty much every year and sometimes to 50 C

Again temperatures really do depend on where you want to go.

Hello again Pianotuna, I knew you guys use Fahrenheit but couldn't think what 30c converted to at the time. :h
Yes we have a route planned, starting in Dallas, April 1st over 6 months, heading South East to Florida & continuing on anti clockwise up the East coast into parts of Canada, down West coast & back to LA with a loop out to Grand Canyon etc.
My wife & I cycled across the prairies in Canada in your summer against strong head winds. Now that was an experience! Also through Death Valley, it was around 50c at the time, a Coyote looked at us a little strange.:W
We are going to have 3 summers in a row, 2 here in Oz and yours.

Hi Mike yes I was referring to inverter generator . It is a little more complicated than joust replacing converter as American appliances don't nesserely comply with Australian compliance and only one appliance is a loved to run off step down converter, normally microwave television, stereo, fridge,converter, inverters, air conditioner som lights run off 120v . In Australia som choose too run only on 12v and solar so they don't have to comply with 240v regulations. Honda and Yamaha inverter generators are the quietest and use les fuel than the contractor type generators and the quietest and fastest way to go.
Frank

MrWizard wrote:
if Oz is uses a 220v standard
then you have problems to be solved
some water heaters have 120v electric elements
all RV absorbtion fridge have a 120v electric element

It is 240V. Problems is other appliances that only accept NA specific voltage.

tenbear wrote:
There may be more than the converter to replace to run on 220vac. The microwave, TV, refrigerator and maybe the water heater come to mind

That is why many US imports are totally rewired if imported here, easier than getting new appliances.

if Oz is uses a 220v standard
then you have problems to be solved
some water heaters have 120v electric elements
all RV absorbtion fridge have a 120v electric element

any built iin TV or MW is 120v

instead of disconnecting, replacing, appliances and wiring receptacles etc..

you might want to buy a 220 to 120 isolation transformer and install that in the RV

There may be more than the converter to replace to run on 220vac. The microwave, TV, refrigerator and maybe the water heater come to mind.

In addition, I believe Australians drive on the left side of the road, so the door and hookups will be on the wrong side. I haven't read all the posts but I didn't see this mentioned.

Mik68 wrote:

Slownsy wrote:
Hi mike, hear a Honda 2000w inverter is around $1000 but no good to take to OZ. But u will get most of the money back when selling it.
Frank.

Hi again Frank, was wondering why an inverter ( is this the same as generator?) purchased in the US would be no good in Oz? I thought as it would be run on gas or diesel & charging batteries, it would be quite a universal piece of equipment?
Mik

Mik - I believe Slownsy just abbreviated the term "inverter/generator" to "inverter". Just to clarify:

An inverter converts DC power to AC, and you can plug small ones into a cigarette lighter in your car or RV or you can wire big ones directly to the batteries. Some RVs have them built-in and many don't.

A converter converts AC power to DC when you plug your RV into shore power and there is one permanently installed inside most RV's. This unit charges the batteries and converts the AC power to the DC signal required by most of the appliances that are inside the RV.

Some fancier RVs use a more expensive "inverter/charger" for this purpose, instead of a simple converter. This is a device that charges the batteries AND converts DC power to AC. Generally,

5th wheels generally have a converter installed at the factory but no inverter or inverter/charger, although higher end units make them available as factory installed options.

Generators use fuel (gas, diesel or propane) to create AC power and you can plug your RV's shore power cord into one to supply power to your RV as if it were connected to hookups and to charge the batteries too.

Yamaha and Honda both make small generators which they call "inverter/generators" and these are powered by fuel and sized by the watts they produce in the same way a regular inverter is sized by wattage. They generate 120v AC power, and that's what was being referred to as a problem because these generators will work with N American made RVs that are designed to plug into 120v AC but won't work with Aussie made RVs that are designed to plug into 220v AC.

So the idea was to buy an inverter/geenrator in the US to use here and then sell it before you get to OZ since presumably no one in OZ would want a generator like that.

Also, if, when you get back to OZ, you replace the 120v AC->12vDC converter that is in your RV with one made for Australian RVs (one that converts 220v AC to 12v DC instead), then you'll be fine plugging into shore power in OZ.

The only other question would be -- are Aussie-built RVs designed to run on 12v DC or 24v DC? It might be worth checking with some RV service guys there to see what the DC appliances run on and how hard it would be to get parts/repair service for the 12v stuff in the rig...

I've got photos of inverters and converters and a general discussion of these things at the bottom of the page here:

RV solar power installation