WilliamKorn
Explorer
Joined 23 years ago
User Profile
User Widgets
All Activity
Re: So much for stealth
"Oh an get caught driving an RV as a daily driver and that's a ticket. RV's are for Recreational use ONLY" I do hope that you are misinformed! Hello U.S.S.R. ? Actually , I'm sure that you were given incorrect information. :) P.S.: Please define "Recreational use" :) :) :) I'm always "recreating" !459Views0likes0CommentsRe: House batteries voltage monitor. Question not answered.
thriftydutch wrote: Last year when we were in New York city my two house batteries were drained. The batteries are used to run our fridge but were drained too much to operate the fridge properly. When the batteries were charged up again the fridge was working properly. I want to install a voltage monitor from Ebay but some have 3 wires while other have 2 wires. What is the difference and do I need a monitor for each battery. I don't want to spend a lot of money on this. I want to buy a cheap monitor as my name suggests. Our fridge is a 12v-120v It appears that your Refrigerator is a compressor type therefore disregard the "put it on propane :) As many 12 volt outlets were installed using undersized wire, I recommend an outlet connected by alligator clips directly to the batteries (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-Cigarette-Lighter-Socket-to-Car-Battery-Alligator-Clip-Charger-Cable-Wire-/390957016123?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5b06daa43b) and then plug a volt meter directly into it. This will give you a far more accurate voltage reading. If your batteries are std. lead acid type then charging them when the voltage drops below 12.3 volts will greatly extend battery life.280Views0likes0CommentsRe: Full timing Internet, entertain, communication on the cheap
For free internet locations and information just search "free internet locations". I just did and got between 150,000 and 296,000,000 hits depending on the search engine! We camp in National Parks, Forests, Grasslands and BLM areas where internet and cell service is rarely available. We will have periods of 6-8 weeks when no service is available so for us paying when not using seems weird. Private campgrounds are not our "cup of tea" so poor management of paid internet systems is a non issue. "Barb" if the Starbuck's offers free internet then I don't understand the problem as I've never had your experience. We have an internet locator / antenna (about $20.00) which I can plug into the computer USB port and just drive through a commercial area and I will normally find a wifi spot within 2 minutes. With so many wifi spots available we find that we use it less and less.368Views0likes0CommentsFull timing Internet, entertain, communication on the cheap
We use cell phones for both voice, messaging and limited internet through the Verizon pay as you go plan. ($1.99 / day for voice / messages, $.02 per text sent or received and $.99 per 24 hour period for web access). Magicjack provides access to our cell phone messages without charge and phone service when internet is available. Magicjack costs $99.75 for five years. With the free internet access available in so many locations we never even think about any other source and when available, we download free programs / movies / music to entertain us when we not connected. A cheap wifi antenna allows us to sit outside in our RV and receive internet (Signal King on Amazon, SK-950WN, $21.89 delivered is a great unit) Cell phone service for both phones was $1284.00 a year with a “plan” and now cost just $200.00 per year for both phones. Verizon service is active for a year with a $100.00 annual payment. We ended our first year with a carry over credit of $42.00 on one phone and $86.00 on the other. We average cell phone use about 35 days a year. Voice mail on the cell phones is retrieved and answered via Magicjack if it is available through free internet otherwise messages from both phones is retrieved and answered on one cell phone. So, to sum up our annual costs incurred when full-timing are either $120.00 for Magicjack and one cell phone or $220.00 with two cell phones.4.8KViews0likes14CommentsRe: 2 chargers connected to one battery bank?
mena661 wrote: You can have multiple chargers connected. No damage will occur at all. I've done this myself a number of times. Hopefully the charging king, BFL13, will chime in. You won't gain much by having the dumb charger connected though. They typically have very low charge rates anyways. Just use the Powermax. Kudos for the positive reinforcement........477Views0likes0CommentsRe: 2 chargers connected to one battery bank?
RoyB wrote: I upgraded my real old single mode converter/charger to a WFCO 45AMP smart mode converter/charger only to find out I could never get my WFCO unit to go into smart mode charging. Then I purchased a PD9260C 60AMP smart mode converter/charger but I mounted it stand alone closer to the battery bank. I decided to leave the WF8945 unit in its location in the bottom compartment of the WF series Power Distribution Panel. I ran a 120VAC connection to the PD9260C from another circuit breaker in my panel. I most of the time use the PD9260C by just flipping the circuit breaker for this unit and have the WF8945 converter turned off by flipping its circuit breaker. I only have the brand new WF8945 converter around for back-up purpose. I only have one converter turned ON at a time however I don't think it would harm anything having both of them on. It just didn't seem like having two converter units ON at the same would be a good idea. You can see where my two converters are installed in this floor plan drawing of my trailer... This is a schematic diagram of my how my two converters are wired in my setup... There is some posts on here where a B&D VEC1093DBD smart mode portable battery charger was being used along with the on-board trailer converter/charger to get to full 100% charge state on the batteries quicker. Roy Ken Super, That's the type of info that I was looking for :) Do I need to pay a royalty or is this "freeware" material ?! :)477Views0likes0CommentsRe: 2 chargers connected to one battery bank?
da.bees wrote: You can connect similar chargers in paralell but it sounds like the new charge is more advanced so it's probibly not a good idea. Your batterys might be in series-paralell , in which case you can charge each pair with each charger. The problem with that is that banks will not reach full charge at same time which is ok if you wait until both pair are at full charge. Otherwise the lesser charged pair will be unduely stressed under load. You should read for yourself what battery and charger manufactures say about quick charging depleted batteries. Throughing a 100 amp charge on a battery for secounds to replinish the power consumed by say starting an engine has a far different effect than throwing 100amps on a heavyly discharged battery. Esp repeatedly doing it. Hi, and thanks for the input. My S.O.P. is to charge the batteries when they are discharged to 60% as that greatly extends the life. (last battery bank replaced at almost nine years) The intended 155 amp charge would be from a 60% base and be for 70 - 75 minutes with the generator. So the dumb charger can stay dumb! I'll only use the smart charger for extended plug-in charging.477Views0likes0Comments2 chargers connected to one battery bank?
Has anyone used two chargers connected to one battery bank? I have four (4) six volt GC batteries with 464 amp hrs. at 12 volts. The onboard "dumb" one stage charger is a 55 amp. unit. I just ordered a POWERMAX PM3-100 12 VOLT DC 100 AMP POWER CONVERTER CHARGER WITH 3 STAGE AUTOMATIC SMART BATTERY CHARGER. When using the generator I would like to charge the batteries as quickly as possible. Is it possible (and safe)to connect both chargers simultaneously to obtain a charge rate of 155 amps per hour?6.1KViews0likes24Comments
Groups
Full Time RVers
Thinking about becoming a full-time RVer? Ask the experts.Dec 28, 20241,587 Posts Motorhome Group
Join in here to discuss all things motorhomes.Jan 14, 202538,705 Posts
