Ran out of 12 DC @ 3 AM 1st night.

[Gundog]

Our first boon dock night in our new to us MH and the 12V DC went dead. When I bought the coach they told me the batteries were fairly new I need to see if they have dates on them. Now for the use maybe I am expecting too much.

The coach was plugged in for several weeks before we left on the trip so the batteries should have been fully charged. We drove around 2 hours to our destination. While driving we had the inverter on to play the stereo system. When we arrived we left the inverter on plus a few lights all LED. We watched a couple movies and it was fairly cold with the heater coming on and off very frequently. I also sleep with a CPAP machine so I need the inverter on for that machine.

At 3 AM I woke up to an alarm beeping. I checked the battery voltage and it was down to around 9 volts. I had to start the coach and let it run for a couple minutes to start the generator. I let the generator run until about 6 AM.

I can run my CPAP machine off 12 volts but I would need to wire a 12 volt receptacle next to my bed. Do the inverters draw a lot of power if they don't have a large load on them?

Had I run the generator before going to bed we would have probably been OK but it seems it should have lasted longer than it did.

I have a large solar panel on top and I know that does nothing at night but I am just giving all the particulars of my system. My battery bank for the house is 4 - 6 volt golf cart type batteries.

This is our first RV with an inverter so I don't know what to expect.

[jyrostng]

I didn't read all the other posts. I once had a jayco with a electric/gas water heater, there was a switch for it, not well marked, with it on, it was running off the inverter, it ran out of power fast. the other thing was the fridge, make sure it's set to gas.

[larry_cad]

2oldman wrote:

MrWizard wrote:
everybody please stop saying check 'water' (one taste you will never call it water again) water does not eat holes in your clothes

Boy.. I thought I was picky. 🙂 Water is just easier to say, and nobody adds "electrolyte" to a battery.

Thank you for this response. Saved me from having to type it! 🙂

[Busskipper]

Gundog wrote:
Our first boon dock night in our new to us MH and the 12V DC went dead. When I bought the coach they told me the batteries were fairly new I need to see if they have dates on them. Now for the use maybe I am expecting too much.

The coach was plugged in for several weeks before we left on the trip so the batteries should have been fully charged. We drove around 2 hours to our destination. While driving we had the inverter on to play the stereo system. When we arrived we left the inverter on plus a few lights all LED. We watched a couple movies and it was fairly cold with the heater coming on and off very frequently. I also sleep with a CPAP machine so I need the inverter on for that machine.

At 3 AM I woke up to an alarm beeping. I checked the battery voltage and it was down to around 9 volts. I had to start the coach and let it run for a couple minutes to start the generator. I let the generator run until about 6 AM.

I can run my CPAP machine off 12 volts but I would need to wire a 12 volt receptacle next to my bed. Do the inverters draw a lot of power if they don't have a large load on them?

Had I run the generator before going to bed we would have probably been OK but it seems it should have lasted longer than it did. YUP - run it late - most coaches are good maybe 8 hours of full use - JMHO

I have a large solar panel on top and I know that does nothing at night but I am just giving all the particulars of my system. My battery bank for the house is 4 - 6 volt golf cart type batteries.

This is our first RV with an inverter so I don't know what to expect.

It's a learning process - You'll figure it out. 🙂

Best of Luck

[Gundog]

I could wire in a 12 volt plug easy enough but if I remember right the heater on the CPAP doesn't work on 12 volt power but I could be mistaken I know my last CPAP was that way.

The wife says she wants to go to the coast for Thanksgiving I gave her that look I just winterized it yesterday but I am always up for a trip so it looks like I will un-winterize it. We found a pretty swanky place Pacific Shores Motorcoach resort spendy but looks like a really nice place.

I have never heard of a pro fill watering system I will look into that.

[Big_Katuna]

Hi. BK here, same coach.

You should be able to easily go 1-2 nights on those batteries.

I think your problem was adding a gallon of umm..H2O.

All you can do now is check those 13 year old cables, charge them, check SG, then go buy 4 new batteries (just joking). Seriously, if they sat discharged and/or that low a long time, you probably need new.

I added a Pro Fil watering system as I leave mine plugged in all the time. Makes life easier.

The inverter doesn’t use hardly any amps at low currents; very linear. Easy to monitor when genset is running as it displays AC amps being used. Turn something on and you can see the draw on your EMS panel.

Your batteries are basically under your bed and there is a conduit from the charger to the bed frame so you can easily run a 12V run for your CPap.

Once you have a set of good batteries, monitor your bat voltage with the built in voltmeter and look up a capacity / discharge chart.

[MrWizard]

made me laugh 🙂

[Executive45]

2oldman wrote:

MrWizard wrote:
everybody please stop saying check 'water' (one taste you will never call it water again) water does not eat holes in your clothes

Boy.. I thought I was picky. 🙂 Water is just easier to say, and nobody adds "electrolyte" to a battery.

I too, was corrected that it was electrolyte in the batteries, so when mine were low, I added Gatorade...Boy! did that mess things up....Dennis

[time2roll]

Yes I also would expect 4x GC2 to run the furnace, a few led lights and the tv for the evening and then furnace/CPAP through the night.

Yes test the batteries... probably with a hydrometer first. Few people know how to load test them so most just fail.

The bigger unknown is what else could have been running off the inverter. Possibly the fridge (absorption or compressor?) and possibly the water heater. Most large inverters will idle at 3 amps... then it is the load you connect.

You need a way to monitor battery voltage as a minimum. Possibly consider a full battery monitor.

The 12 Volt Side of Life

[Gundog]

Yes the plates were all exposed on every cell and it took quite a bit to get the level over the plates. The batteries are Interstate GC2 Deep Cycle Extreme ECL-UTL 115 mins @ 75 amps 225 AH @ 20 Hr. They measured 6.55 - 6.65 volts per battery and I am charging them now. This inverter has a button I can turn off to stop charging I like that.

I like to keep my RV's plugged in with the frig on I will also add a portable heater plugged into a thermostatically controlled outlet that I set on at 40*. I set the heater on the stove top to avoid heating anything that is not supposed to be hot. This is what I have done with my other RV's.

[STBRetired]

Gundog wrote:

Update on the batteries I never found any date on them and the 4 batteries used a little over a gallon of distilled water to fill.

That's quite a bit of water to have added. The battery electrolyte levels must have been pretty low. When I top off my 2 GC batteries it usually takes less than a pint to do both. If the plates were exposed, there might be permanent damage done the your batteries capacity. Battery test will tell.

[Gundog]

The frig was on LP we left home at noon went to the beach and walked the dogs on the beach and parked the coach for the night after dark maybe 5 or 6 PM. That is when everything went to the inverter (without the coach running). I have noticed our heater runs a lot we have 2 zones one was set at 65 and the other 66. I have noticed the bedroom gets much hotter than the front area. I might need to get an actual thermometer to see just what the temp actually is.

In the morning I noticed all the little round vents in the ceiling for the AC were open so I closed them I am thinking possibly the heat was going out the through those vents. I am also wondering if it would be a good idea to cover the air intake of the AC units when running the LP heat??

My clamp on amp meter is AC only I thought it did both but looking at it no.
I don't think my water heater will run on the inverter but in any case it was on LP I don't think the frig will run on the inverter either because I remember hearing the LP burner when I was outside I will double check this.

I would estimate heater on and off every 15 minutes if not more. It seemed like it was almost constantly on.

Update on the batteries I never found any date on them and the 4 batteries used a little over a gallon of distilled water to fill.

I am going to make up some new battery cables that are longer to allow checking fluid level easier.

Thanks for all the ideas of things to check. I winterized it when we got home we won't use it again until January I have a trade show then. I will have to re-winterize it when we get back we will have hookups at the trade show.

[OkieGene]

For about a hundred bucks, go to wallymart and buy a Schumacher battery jumpstarter, I think it's a 6 in 1. It will run your cpap at least all night. A friend who RV's has 2 of these for his cpap. Why 2? He doesn't run the cpap water heater, so each one of those gives him 2 nights, and he gets 4 nights of cpap running with 2 Schumacher units. He recharges them in the coach.

If you really absolutely depend on your cpap, this is peace of mind.

Good luck to you.

Good luck to you.

[imgoin4it]

If you are using a CPAP with a humidifier on it may be pulling more power than you think. Using two different machines over the years the manufacturer said to turn off the heated humidifier when operating on battery or modified sign wave source.

[dave17352]

midnightsadie wrote:
you need your batteries tested, first place I,d start.

I agree have you checked you batteries water and if they will hold a charge.

[MrWizard]

Ok 2Oldman then ..say 'Fluid' 🙂

to the OP
is that a DC amps clamp on meter, you need to measure the inverter load from the battery
also check your fridge and water heater.. set for LP only, NOT in automatic mode
inverter is whole RV, you don't want the fridge switching to 120vac inverter power