Question for knowledgeable solar experts

CA Traveler wrote:
" Is it possible your inverter is truly whole house and was feeding your converter charger?"

Good question - The Magnum is a charger/inverter and it won't charge and invert at the same time. However, is your original rig charger turned off or better yet disabled?

I checked the RV with a DC amp meter. The meter reads only 7 amps DC output while the inverter is running. If the factory converter had still been plugged in, then a load over 40 amps would be on the inverter. SO I do not suspect the factory converter is still plugged in.

The OP bought the recommended DC clamp on amp meter, and will take it camping someday. I showed him how to use it, and he will go to a full hookup campground, charge the battery, and then unplug to run the CPAP on battery power. He can then measure the CPAP battery draw, and see how well his batteries last overnight.

His 500 watt solar system looks to be a top notch install, with huge wires going to 60 amp DC disconnects, a very professional installation. The RV was parked in covered storage, and the solar would not work, so I did not see if it was working.

I will be out of town the next weekend, and could not look at it until after the 15th at the soonest. I will check back with him to see if the coast campout worked well or not. My suggestion if the amp figures are correct, and still the battery goes dead after 7 hours dry camping, that he might need another CPAP connection (such as a DC plug for his DC CPAP (it has 12 VDC input but he is using a 120 volt transformer and step down converter for it).

Anyway I was patient with him, and I think he has the knowledge to figure it out on his own from this point on, but I am willing to give it a go to help out if I can.

Sorry to hear others became frustrated. He is trying in earnest to figure this out. I think that he also became frustrated with people asking 'try this - Try that, you did not answer is the factory converter still in place'.

Fred.

The OP just had a misleading title and 2oldman just asked for clarification.

Another member was actually offended by the original title that was edited.

Maybe the OP should look in the mirror on where the friction originated.

What happened to RV.Net? A whole bunch of over-tightened panties, and hurt feelings? Everyone should take a chill pill. The information freely given on this site is too valuable to let personal issues interfere.

Your loss not ours.

2Oldman is one of the more knowledgeable folks here especially in the area of batteries.

tvfrfireman wrote:
This is my last query on RV.Net. People like 20ldman are rude, insensitive, and should not be tolerated.

tvfrfireman wrote:
To you 2oldman....get a life

Don't come back.

deleted

Sounds like a 250 mile round trip is in order. Camp along the way. With what you have said so far it doesn't sound like you will resolve it no matter what info you get here.

I would have kept the converter as a back up. A back up which you clearly now need.

tvfrfireman wrote:
The system when we went to bed the next night was at 100 percent sate of charge. Turned on the inverter and was awoke at 3 am with dead batteries.

Do you have a full battery monitor that counts amp hours?

If you do, it should show the amps coming out of the battery. This is the information you need to determine why the perfectly good and fully charged batteries are getting drained quickly.

I think it could be something sneaky like the water heater electric element is on or the fridge switched to 120v power. These are thermostatically controlled so the draw may not show up immediately.

Good luck and welcome back if you dare.

To be precise, he said "I was under the understanding that I don't have a converter and that the inverter took care of the charging. "