Charging the camper battery while driving?

tony lee wrote:

I just do not believe if I burn 5 gallons of propane, it will produce 5 gallons of water. That is a lot of water, and should be running down the walls.

Pretty easy to verify. Just search using Google.

Not many situations would require 5 gallons of propane to be burnt in an unflued heater in one day so the actual amount of water vapour isn't going to be anywhere near that. That isn't the only source of water vapour either. What is breathed out by humans is significant, plus cooking and showering all adds up.

I have verified this by attempting to heat my shop one winter with unvented propane heaters. And yes, water was running down the walls.

I don't like chemistry much, but this is simple high school stuff:

Propane is C3H8. When it burns each carbon atom picks up two oxygen atoms to form CO2. Each pair of hydrogen atoms picks up one oxygen atom to form H2O. From the periodic table the relative weights are:

H = 1
C = 12
O = 16.

So a propane molecule is 3 x 12 + 8 x 1 = 44 units of mass. For burning each of those you get three CO2 molecules at 12 + 2 x 16 = 44 each, or 132 units of mass. You also get four H2O at 2 x 1 + 16 = 18 each, or 72 units of mass.

Burning 44 lbs of propane will yield 132 lbs of CO2 and 72 lbs of water. This is why the global warming people are against the idea. In terms of volume, propane is about 4 lbs/gal while water is about 8, so 1.64 lbs water/1 lb propane converts to 0.82 gal water/ 1 gal propane.

More than you ever wanted to know!

I just do not believe if I burn 5 gallons of propane, it will produce 5 gallons of water. That is a lot of water, and should be running down the walls.

Pretty easy to verify. Just search using Google.

Not many situations would require 5 gallons of propane to be burnt in an unflued heater in one day so the actual amount of water vapour isn't going to be anywhere near that. That isn't the only source of water vapour either. What is breathed out by humans is significant, plus cooking and showering all adds up.

I have both, Wave3 heater and Solar, with a Honda 2000 as a backup. It took a while and a few bucks, but for me it was a progressive thing.

I think we all have to do what is best for us, considering budget, skills, and interest.

Wayne

I am a walking Murphy's law so a Cat heater is out. Solar panels are in for us.

It is not a question of removing a Wave heater. That would be an individual choice for any of us. I just do not believe if I burn 5 gallons of propane, it will produce 5 gallons of water. That is a lot of water, and should be running down the walls.

covered wagon, what helps me to remember to open or crack a vent/ window is that I never close them unless I have a specific reason. For example I might have a draft where I am sitting. I may close a window and open another. I will also add, without fresh air, I get headaches. I have also installed two CO2 detectors.

Maybe I am just a light sleeper, but when the furnace kicks on, it sounds like a jet taking off and wakes me up. I even installed a new ($100) fan motor that helped a little.

I guess there is a balance point in life where we make choices based on theory that we might do differently had we the experience. I had pretty much the same equipped TC as the OP. I had to do something about the warming of the TC. Having experienced the Wave heaters before in other TCs, it was easy for my to accept the negative theory as just that, theory. I believe the nay Sayers might be surprised as to how many RVs have the Wave heaters and do not have the negatives expressed in the theories.

I am not aware of any deaths directly related to the Wave heaters. I have read posts only a couple of times in 10 years of any deaths directly related to the Wave heaters. With a little research, there has always been something else that contributed or caused the death. Usually, if it was a heater involved, it looked similar to the Wave but in fact worked in a different way.

I think maybe we are getting to far of topic. My apologies to Blanco1.

Wayne

I'm growing into the forgetful stage of life so I don't really want the Cat heater in my camper. I know for a fact that I might forget to open or crack a vent/ window and die in there. So that's out for me.

Second, I don't want to charge the camper batteries off of the truck. It can be hard on the Alternator if the camper has very low batteries. Burning up just one diode can make you think everything is still all right since the dash gauge would not pick up on that, but then, you would be sending too much AC voltage noise to the trucks computers. That's bad.

Solar panels with twice the amount required and two batteries is the way to go for us.

Reddog1 wrote:


I do have trouble with the idea of "Burning a gallon fo propane produces about a gallon of water ...". That is to say, if I burn 5 gallons of propane, it will produce 5 gallons of water. I simply do not believe that.

I am certainly not going to tell you to remove your Wave heater, it's working for you and that is all that matters.

The water produced by propane combustion (catalytic or open flame) is a scientific fact, measurable and real. You don't need to take my word for it, the equation of combustion and byproducts produced can be found in any chemistry text, or online. Other hydrocarbon fuels produce similar amounts of water. You are combining the hydrogen in the fuel with oxygen in the air to produce primarily water, CO2, and heat.

My only input (before we get back on topic if weve drifted to far...would be as far as battery savings and the possibility of installing a Wave is the OP (& others) still has furnace. If only using the Wave during the day or awake hours could save some of the battery for night use of furnace. All about options.

But the comments about water, Ive always heard this when Cats are brought into discussion, so some must have this experience. But we've honestly have never encountered ANY condensation issues when using the Wave. Yes, turn the stove or oven on and water is almost immediately running down the windows. But not with the Wave? Except when we've been in & out in the rain and camper, clothes etc just becomes wet, then it doesnt mater what were using for heat, even electric if we have and were making steam. Kinda curious about others cat. usage & water.

Blanco1 wrote:
...Yes I have been holding back this virus for a couple years,,, & it seems the bug has been getting stronger

So many thins I wanna do!

All in good time...some times :) Im in the middle of building a monitor panel..began with just adding a simple watt meter to get real numbers on inverter use. Decided since I was there....however since its taking so long for parts to arrive-I had time to kill & plan has changed. Im redesigning and haven't even started.
Point being no reason to hurry- things that are important sooner or later will get done-other things will make themselves priority one with or without being on the 'list'. Or to coin phrase' Its a slippery slope-dont need to grease it.

It is veryu difficult to argue with theory on most subjects, and the Wave3 is certainly one of those subjects. My post is on my personal experience, with no theory at all. In my opinion, regardless of heat method, seal yourself in a box and you will deplete the oxygen. What works for me is to have ventilation, preferable close to my head. The price I pay is the requirement of more heat.

I do have trouble with the idea of "Burning a gallon fo propane produces about a gallon of water ...". That is to say, if I burn 5 gallons of propane, it will produce 5 gallons of water. I simply do not believe that.

Other than being a totally satisfied customer, I have no connection to the Wave3 heaters. If anyone wants to argue against its use based on theory, I will not argue with them. I will limit my arguments on personal experience based on over thirty years of personal experience using the Wave3 heater. I have no reason to justify my having a Wave3. It is not for sale and it works well in a 25 year old TC with no mildew and my excellent health at 71 years of age. I willingly answer questions on actual use, but refuse to argue theory.

Wayne