Greetings;I am trying to get my little Rialta up to speed for full-timing. And need advice/help on charging my batteries and adding solar. I have 2 27 group walmart marine/deep batteries - about 1 year old - both in good condition. I just added a Trimetric 2030rv battery monitor.I have a PD9245 charger/converter which I installed several years ago. Am not fully convinced it's operating properly. Q: How long should it take to fully charge my batteries? My trimetric indicated my batteries were at 12.3 volts. So I fired up the gen (onan) to recharge. I've been running it for nearly 4 hours now and have not yet hit "full"; the PD is on 'boost' - according to the monitor charging at 14.1 at now +1.15 amps (started at about 5 amps) - no current draw. Seems to be taking toooo long!I use very little power and would like to add solar to minimize gen use. Have spent several hours reading now. Could probably spend Days reading and still have Qs. I would like enough solar power to: recharge my laptop battery (not necessarily run the computer); run small portable dometic fridge/freezer (pulls about 3 amps when already at set temp - so only runs periodically); . . gee . . my internet access thingy (pulls 1 amp w/ small inverter; a light or two at night (pulls 1 amp each) . . don't need much else. (amps from battery monitor which each item on individually (no other draw)). Oh - and the furnace - at night - looks like the fan pulls about 3.5 amps but only kicks on 5-6 times a night for 2-3 min. How much solar power would I need? Any recs for 'portable' panels - not mounted. thanks so much!!KellyRialta 01FD twinscurrently in Quartzsite, AZ

PD should seek and hold 14.4v. If trimetric is reading only 14.1c, well that 0.3v unaccounted for, somewhere, or indicating some inaccuracy somewhere.Many people wire their trimetric's Shunt incorrectly. No wire can go directly to battery(-) terminal that does not go to the shunt. The only wires on the battery(-) should be the one from the battery side of the Shunt.If the house battery is directly grounded to engine battery, nothing can be directly grounded to engine battery either as current can than also bypass the shunt.Pretty much impossible to reach full charge in less than 5 hours with Lead acid, and 5 to 7 is more likely when the charging source maintains a 14v+ absorption voltage for the last 4 hours

landyacht318 wrote:PD should seek and hold 14.4v. If trimetric is reading only 14.1c, well that 0.3v unaccounted for, somewhere, or indicating some inaccuracy somewhere.Yea, I always thought the PD should seek 14.4 or 14.6 while charging - which is why I wonder if it's working properly. But then, it may be that the monitor is reading the actual charge on the battery (?) not what's going in? As I'm new to this Trimetric - I'm not sure which it is. Will have to call them on Monday. I'm sure the shunt is wired correctly, as I have no other cables on the house batteries except the ground - which is now on one side of the shunt, with the other side 'grounded' back to the batttery. In other words - there's no other way to wire it!As for the engine ground? I have no idea. Appreciate your time!Kelly

I run 200 watts of solar (MPPT controller) feeding a 225 ah battery bank and the battery bank never goes below 75 percent SOC by morning. The batterys are back to 100 percent SOC by early afternoon.Forgot to mention the panels are flat mounted on roof.

Buy a $10 digital voltmeter (or borrow one) and check the voltages. You may find a substantial voltage drop in the PD wiring.A gen is mostly good for about 90 percent SOC charge. Beyond that takes many additional hours of running. A 50-90 gen charge is common. With the Trimetric you are far ahead of the game to determine your solar needs. If your SOC is 30 percent*160AH battery capacity for example =48Ah you need to return from solar *12V=576W for the day /5 hours of sun =120W of solar. Double it for contingency so about 200W of solar. Plug in your numbers.

I had a 1998 Rialta FD Twin bed. If you are planning to full time in one, then my only comments are: Via Con Dios or Bon Chance.

Batt charging Q - PD9245; and adding solar | Good Sam Community

22 Replies

pianotuna
Nomad III
Feb 09, 2016
How many amp-hours is the battery bank?
Salvo
Explorer
Feb 09, 2016
The Onan and PD are not a very good mix. It's been documented here (with scope plots) that the Onan ac voltage severely deforms from the PD load. The result is slow charging.
hondochica
Explorer
Feb 09, 2016
If you see 14.4 almost immediately on the TM all is probably fine. I almost never see 14.4 - it is rare

If voltage steadily rises over maybe an hour you should initially see 40+ amps. Could be the wire is a bit long and thin. Voltage can rise over a few minutes from say 14 to 14.2. Best amps I've seen were 18 in - but that is rare also. Wire from the PD looks to be 8g out of the PD; where or what it does from there - I have no idea. I'd have to tear half the RV apart (slight exaggeration) to tell.

Thanks!

Kelly
time2roll
Nomad
Feb 08, 2016
hondochica wrote:
Let's try a different browser:

To smkettner I have seen 14.4 on the trimetric when charging. I have never seen 40 amps, but then I don't generally run the batteries below about 12.3 (70% +-); most amps in I've seen was about 16. I ran gen >6 hours till amps in dropped below 1.

Kelly
If you see 14.4 almost immediately on the TM all is probably fine.

If voltage steadily rises over maybe an hour you should initially see 40+ amps. Could be the wire is a bit long and thin.

Browser is not the issue on posting. It is RV.net server. More specifically the RV.net portal. Use the woodalls portal if trouble with RV.net and you will post every time.
(this post made through woodalls)
Boon_Docker
Explorer III
Feb 07, 2016
hondochica wrote:
Tried to post these replies yesterday, but kept getting 'connection reset' - so hopefully, this will go through today:

No go! Why can't I post a reply that's more than 30 words!!?? Arrrgghhhh

Kelly

When I try using the percentage symbol in a post the server will disconect every time. Were you using the percentage symbol in your post?
hondochica
Explorer
Feb 07, 2016
YESSSSS!!! We have lift off! Firefox wouldn't let me post more than 1 message a day. How strange . .

@Bend - yes, I have the wizard dongle. Thing is . . I can run the gen for 6 hours and the wizard will still be in 'boost" mode; but Trimetric reads <14.4 v; sometimes only 13.6. I assumed it's reading 'volts in' - but maybe it's reading battery voltage?

I swear this RVing is harder than owning a house!

Kelly
smilin' in Quartzsite
hondochica
Explorer
Feb 07, 2016
Woweezowwww! 2 posts in a row! I'm on a roll . .

@wildtoad No doubt full-timing in a Rialta is a challenge. Fortunately it is only me, my dog and my cat - still a full load! I'll manage!

@NinerBikes - will do that search. I'm not sure I can take these batteries to 16v - have never seen that anywhere. Seems like 160w to 200 is the way to go for solar. Thanks for your time

Kelly
hondochica
Explorer
Feb 07, 2016
OK - let's see if I can do 2 in a row from google

To rjfishin - I assumed it started out at low amps cuz the batteries were still at 70% or better. Is there a way to determine (a service center I can take it to) if the PD is working properly?? Still my Trimetric does not think the batteries are "full" - but then not sure the default P1 value of 14.3 is what I should use. It (in part) determines "full" status. Still, I'll watch the volts to decide when to recharge. Thanks

Kelly
hondochica
Explorer
Feb 07, 2016
Let's try a different browser:

To smkettner I have seen 14.4 on the trimetric when charging. I have never seen 40 amps, but then I don't generally run the batteries below about 12.3 (70% +-); most amps in I've seen was about 16. I ran gen >6 hours till amps in dropped below 1.

Kelly
hondochica
Explorer
Feb 07, 2016
Tried to post these replies yesterday, but kept getting 'connection reset' - so hopefully, this will go through today:

No go! Why can't I post a reply that's more than 30 words!!?? Arrrgghhhh

Kelly

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Batt charging Q - PD9245; and adding solar

22 Replies

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