telecom batteries and boondocking
Hi all, First night boondocking on the new batteries. I ran a computer for 5 hours (100 watts) via my large inverter, and a 7 amp 12 volt heating blanket for 7 hours. Battery voltage started ...
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After I got back, I charged the laptop while using it from the inverter. It started to rain and solar charging ceased at 5:40 p.m. Voltage was 12.7
I decided to top up with the Yamaha Sieb 2800 watt generator, with a one hour run time. I had previously set the Magnum to accept 23 amps of input.
As soon as I started the generator charging rate jumped to 50 amps. I was also running the fridge and two 1/2 size oil filled heaters. The laptop continued to charge as well. Voltage was 14.3.
At 5:50 I decided to use the power hog microwave to heat up my home made meal. I had the Magnum set to load support as the micro calls for a whopping 1591 watts. True to form, the micro caused the Magnum to trigger load support. Heating time was 2:22 and load support was 50 amps. Voltage on battery bank dropped to 12.5.
When the microwave shut off, charging amps jumped up to 88 amps. Over the next 20 minutes that gradually subsided to 60 amps. At about the 40 minute mark, the charge amperage dropped to 32 amps. In 3 or 4 minutes it jumped back to 50. This cycle repeated for the next twenty minutes.
After the microwave run, I noted that charging voltage was 14.3 rather than 14.5 so I "tweaked" the voltage up 0.2 on the Magnum remote. Charging amperage spiked to 75 amps for a minute or so.
When the laptop battery gets low, I'll continue this back yard testing with another hour of generator run time. Voltage under a 1.59 amp load is showing 13.1, which is where I started yesterday.
Ambient temperature is now 9.5 C
I never observed the charging amperage 'bounce' with the Walmart batteries, but I never did a test, either.
I decided to top up with the Yamaha Sieb 2800 watt generator, with a one hour run time. I had previously set the Magnum to accept 23 amps of input.
As soon as I started the generator charging rate jumped to 50 amps. I was also running the fridge and two 1/2 size oil filled heaters. The laptop continued to charge as well. Voltage was 14.3.
At 5:50 I decided to use the power hog microwave to heat up my home made meal. I had the Magnum set to load support as the micro calls for a whopping 1591 watts. True to form, the micro caused the Magnum to trigger load support. Heating time was 2:22 and load support was 50 amps. Voltage on battery bank dropped to 12.5.
When the microwave shut off, charging amps jumped up to 88 amps. Over the next 20 minutes that gradually subsided to 60 amps. At about the 40 minute mark, the charge amperage dropped to 32 amps. In 3 or 4 minutes it jumped back to 50. This cycle repeated for the next twenty minutes.
After the microwave run, I noted that charging voltage was 14.3 rather than 14.5 so I "tweaked" the voltage up 0.2 on the Magnum remote. Charging amperage spiked to 75 amps for a minute or so.
When the laptop battery gets low, I'll continue this back yard testing with another hour of generator run time. Voltage under a 1.59 amp load is showing 13.1, which is where I started yesterday.
Ambient temperature is now 9.5 C
I never observed the charging amperage 'bounce' with the Walmart batteries, but I never did a test, either.
