Battery recommendation

samhain7 wrote:
This is also a conversation if I was having face to face over a beer, would make perfect sense...but there could be some translation lost in trying to convey it in a message...

Boy, you've got me confused! In earlier posts you've insisted on powering an inverter by simply plugging it into a 12 vdc cigarette lighter style of receptacle inside your trailer ... in replying to those posts and in PMs between us I reminded you that although you did go ahead and purchase that same 1000 watt sine wave inverter from Canadian Tire that I have that you'd be limited to a total inverter draw of 8 to perhaps 10 amps at most because of the limits of the circuit feeding the inverter. Now you're talking about powering a MW oven with this inverter?! :h That's just not going to happen ... even IF you were to properly hard wire the inverter to your battery with heavy gauge cable as I have this still wouldn't be sufficient as this inverter just doesn't have enough grunt to power a typical RV microwave oven. Reality is, if you don't have shore power available you'll just have to forget about the MW, even that 1000 watt B&S genset doesn't have anywhere near enough grunt to handle it. As for that G31 battery having sufficient reserve to power a MW oven for 1.25 hrs ... sorry, the math just doesn't support such a ridiculous claim.

I have to ask - if this is a one off, once a year camping trip without shore power, your current 1000 watt genset needs $$ repair and doesn't offer sufficient capacity anyway to run a MW (nor even your wife's hairdryer!) why not just rent a 2K inverter genset such as a Honda EU2000i or Yamaha EF2000iS, simply plug your trailer into it as needed, and forget about this solar business that's only going to cost you even more to implement but won't do anything for you the entire rest of the season when you're camping on electric sites? :h

the nice thing about solar is you can think out the system in a complete project and add pieces along the way.
You need a good charge controller sized for what might be the most amps you will be pushing. the difference between a 30 and 60 amp controller is not a lot but allows for more panels in the future.

Panels in the larger size are better cost basis an one 200 watt panel is a lot of power right off the bat..

either way it all good man..

samhain7 wrote:
Hi Westend. Thanks for taking the time to respond. Looks like I got in trouble again. I am notorious for not being clear enough when typing on my ipad.
OK, so the only thing that needs repair is the B&S Genny (1000W). I really wanted to go solar, but, for the cost I just kept thinking it wasn't worth it when I only do one trip per year off power, and the other 6 trips this year with power. Do you still think I am better off with Solar when I have the Genny available? I didn't discount the advice (sorry if it seems like that), I appreciate all of it. Again, just kept going back to the cost for solar, controller, wire for one trip.

So, I thought everyone knows my battery. My plan was to use the 1000W pure sine inverter to power the TV, Apple TV, charge things and HOPEFULLY the microwave for maybe 5 min a day. Then just use the Genny to charge a few hours a day. Now, correct me if I am wrong, but I read that it is better to charge the battery with a battery charger rather than plug in the trailer.

So what I am looking for advice wise.
1. With one trip does anyone still think I should use Solar?
2. Should I try to find ways to use the Genny for the micro? Or will my 1000W inverter hooked to my group 31 work for 5 min a day?
3. Should I use a batter charger? Or just hook the Genny into the trailer plug.
4. Any other advice or opinions.

I realize some of this is being re-hashed, but this is a lot of money for an investment and I want to be sure I am exploring all options.

Ok, much clearer now.
We have no knowledge about two or three pieces of the puzzle:
1)The amperage draw of the microwave oven.
2) The condition of the generator (how much repair it needs)
3) Budget (is there enough to install a modest solar system)

I think one not discussed thing is how much power you will be using daily and how that will impact the single 140AH battery. If we just put microwave use aside, we could assume you have some parasitic draws (fridge control board, radio, alarms, etc), will use the 1000W inverter for TV viewing, charging some devices, and the other basic 12V draws. I would estimate your daily use to be around 50-70AH per day. That is about the typical 50% level to which a battery should be discharged. So, even without any microwave use, you'll be recharging the battery on a daily basis.

If you have a working onboard converter you don't need a stand alone charger (although they're nice to have). Plug the RV's shore power cord into the generator.

About the microwave: Typical RV microwave's use about 1500-1800W of power. I don't think the new inverter or the generator is going to provide enough power. The good news is that they aren't essential for preparing food.

About solar: If sized correctly, a modest solar system and the required battery storage can eliminate the use of a generator. That, to me, is worth the price alone. Solar is also the best method of keeping your battery charged and there is no need for extra efforts while in storage.

Your decisions will revolve around the budget and the fact that you have a generator so no additional costs would be incurred (other than the fuel) to operate for the 7-10 days of off-gridding. If you do get solar, it may open some doors for you to camp at spots without hook ups that are considerably less in price than conventional RV campgrounds.

Good luck on the decisions and happy travels on your off-grid trip!

Go solar. It will maintain the battery bank between trips. Battery life may be much longer, saving you time and frustration.

If using the noisy smelly generator plug the RV into it for charging.

A 1000 watt genny is unlikely to power a microwave unless the oven is 500 or fewer watts.

This is also a conversation if I was having face to face over a beer, would make perfect sense...but there could be some translation lost in trying to convey it in a message...

Hi Westend. Thanks for taking the time to respond. Looks like I got in trouble again. I am notorious for not being clear enough when typing on my ipad.
OK, so the only thing that needs repair is the B&S Genny (1000W). I really wanted to go solar, but, for the cost I just kept thinking it wasn't worth it when I only do one trip per year off power, and the other 6 trips this year with power. Do you still think I am better off with Solar when I have the Genny available? I didn't discount the advice (sorry if it seems like that), I appreciate all of it. Again, just kept going back to the cost for solar, controller, wire for one trip.

So, I thought everyone knows my battery. My plan was to use the 1000W pure sine inverter to power the TV, Apple TV, charge things and HOPEFULLY the microwave for maybe 5 min a day. Then just use the Genny to charge a few hours a day. Now, correct me if I am wrong, but I read that it is better to charge the battery with a battery charger rather than plug in the trailer.

So what I am looking for advice wise.
1. With one trip does anyone still think I should use Solar?
2. Should I try to find ways to use the Genny for the micro? Or will my 1000W inverter hooked to my group 31 work for 5 min a day?
3. Should I use a batter charger? Or just hook the Genny into the trailer plug.
4. Any other advice or opinions.

I realize some of this is being re-hashed, but this is a lot of money for an investment and I want to be sure I am exploring all options.

Your last post is a brain teaser. Let me see if I understand this: You have a 1000W inverter generator made by B&S. It needs repair (?) but will be able to power a battery charger. Your onboard converter needs repair, hence the need for the battery charger run by the generator.

First, I'd suggest to fix whatever needs repair. If it's your older onboard converter, replace it with a Progressive Dynamics 4 stage converter.

Your generator use is going to be tailored to your power use and we really don't know what that is, especially since you now have a 1000W inverter that may or may not run your microwave.

I'm guessing that you'll be running the generator and the battery charger for a few hours every day. Maybe once in the morning to use the microwave and coffee maker while charging the batteries and once in the evening to charge up the battery before nightfall.

Too bad that you've decided against any of the suggestions for solar as it is the best system for keeping your new battery healthy, both while in use and in storage.

So I decided to just use the 1000w Briggs and Stratton inverter I have instead of solar. (I was avoiding the inverter as it needs repair work
So I assume I am best to just get a good battery charger (Canadian recommendations?) and I also bought a 1000w ps inverter as it was on sale for the same price as most 300w inverters.

I am also looking for the best setup and Genny running recommendations for my trip.

Again usually a 7 day boondocking trip once a year.

Disclaimer. I realize this is going to be a personal decision, but hearing recommendations always helps make that decision.

I told him I wanted a good one, but I didn't write down the model number, I will swing by and get that and post..

We use the micro-wave to heat water for shaving water, coffee and tea. Its fast, does not use propane and we have the battery suite and solar. Rained for 12 hours yesterday and today but sun came out around 9:30 am and we were getting 1305 W to battery suite according to Tristar meter around 10 am so we turned the fridge back onto AC. We dry camped/boondocked for two years except for when it got to be 103 or so in Spokane and we were in the shade and we did hook into line power. We were in heavy shade on Olympic Peninsula for six days and changed power management. We still used microwave and watched Mystery Theater DVDs at night but turned off inverter when not in use since it has a parasitic drain of about 50 W. We still got around 300 to 500 W-hr through the 150' trees but battery suite did drop each day until we were down by about -5500 W/hrs We were back to full the day we pulled out and camped in the open.

Have to change power management procedures depending on insolation/shade etc. We did go to all LEDs when we purchased the Open Range 5th wheel we use. OR comes with interior LEDs on main cabin roof and awning. We have installed 12 V outlets throughout the 5th wheel. There are two above the lounge chairs at rear of main cabin (charge phones/Ipad/camera batteries etc) and 12 V fans. Two below desk in main cabin (LED strip for Elaine's beading), battery charging, two in bed room for 12 V fans/Iphone etc, and two in the "basement" for 12 V lights and water pump (for 81 gallon freshwater tank: but the OR system allows about 2 gal/minute to be sucked in using the water pump set up for the sink/shower etc). Grandson did this work as well as putting a "party strip" below the awning for lighting when we do not choose to open the awning. He also put a 12 V lamp in the front boot where the LFP battery suite/inverter/ battery chargers etc are located. Also put in LED banks into the "scare" lights on left and right side of 5th wheel.

We did leave the lights in the "basement" as incandescent just in case in got really cold we could keep the pipes from freezing. They are 40 or 50 W and we could run these off battery suite for 50 hours without to much problem.

We do have a backup 1 kW Honda which we have only run to make sure it does operate. Probably need to fire it up in the next several days to make sure it still works.
Reed and Elaine