Cheryl_B wrote:
Yeah, I've pretty much been talked out of every idea I've ever had and asked about on this forum. Thanks, though. No sarcasm intended.
It is a shame that others are trying to talk you out of your plans. Let me see if I can answer your questions without adding any negative comments.
You had asked about the number of batteries you would need and mentioned running your A/C unit. A typical RV air conditioner uses about 12 amps at 120 volts which is 120 amps from 12 volt batteries. If you want to run your unit 50 percent of the time for 24 hours that would be 120 x 24 x 0.5 equals 1440 amp hours. The typical car sized battery is about 70 amp hours and you can safely use half that amount. You should be able to get by with about 40 batteries (1440/35). Of course if you get larger capacity batteries, that number would drop.
You also asked about charging the batteries with your RV alternator. That is difficult to estimate since it depends on the alternator, wiring and other several other factors. Alternator output is low if you RV is just idling so you probably want to get out and drive at highway speeds to get the best efficiency. As a rough estimate I would expect that you should be able to charge your batteries with a nice cross country trip of 2000 or 3000 miles. You also mentioned the option of using a generator. You also need to be sure you have an efficient 3 stage charging system. If so you should be able to recharge your battery bank within 2 or 3 of days of continuous generator use.
