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07-04-2020, 05:27 PM
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#21
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Junior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Freedom Elite FE22
State: Oregon
Posts: 26
THOR #19474
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1. It's easy to check for parasitic draw by disconnecting a cable and placing ammeter between terminal and cable. I suppose the question would be whether disconnecting the power source would cause loss of important memory in any of the boards.
2. I'm new to RV ownership, but have been a motorcycle owner for over fifty years. A great battery aid is a conditioning trickle charger. BMW makes a good one, and there are others. When I bought our RV the house battery was low, apparently from sitting on the dealer's lot. I charged on a 30 amp charger until it was fairly well up but did not register as fully charged, then attached my old motorcycle trickle charger which brought it up to full charge in about 12 hours.
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07-06-2020, 04:11 AM
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#22
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Junior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Hurricane 32N
State: California
Posts: 15
THOR #17539
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I need a question answered, my house batteries are on one light, my generator wont start, Will my refrigerator still run on propane|?
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07-06-2020, 10:40 AM
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#23
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: Georgia
Posts: 2,585
THOR #4735
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When we have no shore power, I let my AGS(auto gen start) control when the batteries get charged, usually at about 12.0/11.9 volts. I have it set to run for a 30 minute 'run time', which seems to do just fine, in 'Bulk Charge' during that whole time.
If you let the generator run past a certain 'time', the charger is then likely to be in 'Absorb Charge' mode, and the charging is then much less, as compared to 'Bulk' mode, and somewhat a more 'waste' of fuel during that time, unless, of course, you have the generator running for other reasons, such as air conditioning.
I also make sure that the 'Shore Max' setting on my Magnum panel is at a very high number, such as 40 or 50amps, so that the Charger can use ALL of it's capacity during that 'Run Time', for the most fuel economical Charging.
While some will say that you 'must' fully charge your batteries 'every time' you run the generator, and they might run it for up to two hours, I find that somewhat wasteful. I would rather it run for 30 minutes over several times, versus one long 2 hour run.
When the generator has cut off, and after a few minutes, the Voltage reading is typically between 12.6 and 12.9, depending on the circumstances and whether anything else was being used during the charge time, etc., which works out just fine.
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the Turners...
two Campers, two Electric cars
former diesel pusher traveler
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07-06-2020, 12:19 PM
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#24
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I Think We're Lost!
Brand: Still Looking
Model: Tiffin Wayfarer 24 BW
State: New York
Posts: 22,195
THOR #8860
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hooligan2
Checking a battery State of Charge, the battery should rest for 1 to 2 hours at no load,to let voltage stabilize and ideally for 6-24 hours. If you are reading above 12.7 shortly after charging you are probably still reading surface charge.
More information here: https://modernsurvivalblog.com/alter...-charge-chart/
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I'm going to print a copy of this, and hang it in the battery box!
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"What: me worry?"
Good Sam Member 843599689
Current coach: Tiffin Wayfarer 24 BW
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07-06-2020, 12:30 PM
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#25
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Site Team
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 27.1
State: Florida
Posts: 14,122
THOR #7035
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Quote:
Originally Posted by philj
I need a question answered, my house batteries are on one light, my generator wont start, Will my refrigerator still run on propane|?
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The fridge still needs 12 VDC control power to run on propane. so no, when the house voltage gets too low, the fridge will stop running.
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Ted & Melinda
2016 ACE 27.1
2016 Chevy Sonic Toad - Selling
2020 Chevy Colorado Z71 Trail Runner Toad
2024 Chevrolet Trax 2RS - Soon 2B TOAD
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08-09-2020, 04:03 AM
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#26
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 31L
State: Florida
Posts: 2,063
THOR #12189
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I wanted to resurrect this thread to coalesce the information. It's a two part post/question.
1) Does the flowright system work well? I have 4 batteries under the steps. Only two are accessible. The two in the back are left for dead at this point but the batteries were an experiment.
2) Old school, if you did nothing but day driving you burned your headlights to put a drain on the chassis battery so not to overcharge. If you're hooked to SP more than you might have planned, can you burn things to keep those batteries from overcharging or does that job belong to the charge controller?
I listen for the fan as often as I can and it doesn't run much but should I siphon off some charge once in a while and how best to accomplish that?
Thanks.
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08-09-2020, 12:04 PM
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#27
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Windsport 27K
State: Florida
Posts: 265
THOR #2154
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It's been kind of implied here but maybe not said exactly, but if you are serious about monitoring battery condition and the exact current (draw, in amps) on your battery bank, a power monitor using a shunt in series with your batteries is the best feature you can add. When the batteries are charging or discharging you can see the current due to whatever devices are currently connected. It's a great way to spot that some component of the RV is drawing current when you didn't expect it also.
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08-09-2020, 12:11 PM
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#28
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Windsport 27K
State: Florida
Posts: 265
THOR #2154
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Breeze
I wanted to resurrect this thread to coalesce the information. It's a two part post/question.
1) Does the flowright system work well? I have 4 batteries under the steps. Only two are accessible. The two in the back are left for dead at this point but the batteries were an experiment.
Thanks.
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I've used that system for filling the battery fluid with distilled water for many years and it works great. Much easier that decapping and filling each cell manually.
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08-09-2020, 12:52 PM
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#29
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Hurricane 31S
State: Texas
Posts: 4,157
THOR #6411
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Breeze
I wanted to resurrect this thread to coalesce the information. It's a two part post/question.
1) Does the flowright system work well? I have 4 batteries under the steps. Only two are accessible. The two in the back are left for dead at this point but the batteries were an experiment.
Yes the Flo-Rite works well. Each cell has a float and watering pipe which works the same as in the residential toilet.
2) Old school, if you did nothing but day driving you burned your headlights to put a drain on the chassis battery so not to overcharge. If you're hooked to SP more than you might have planned, can you burn things to keep those batteries from overcharging or does that job belong to the charge controller?
The engine's internal alternator voltage regulator manages voltage for the house and chassis batteries just as it does in your cars . Most RV chargers are three stage which allows for fast recovery (bulk charge) and gradual top-off of the batteries (absorption charge). The last stage is a floating charge much like a battery tender. The more expensive chargers have a fourth stage (equalization) which is not need unless the coach sits for an extended period of time. This sequence three stage sequence avoids over heating and overcharging the batteries which will result in boiling he water out of the batteries.
I listen for the fan as often as I can and it doesn't run much but should I siphon off some charge once in a while and how best to accomplish that?
Thanks.
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Hope this helps.
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Jim & Roy Davis
2016 Hurricane 31S
1961 Rampside in tow
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09-11-2020, 04:42 AM
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#30
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 31L
State: Florida
Posts: 2,063
THOR #12189
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Beau388
Hope this helps.
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Back on grid. It does - very much. Thank you.
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09-11-2020, 12:56 PM
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#31
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Miramar 37.1
State: California
Posts: 2,460
THOR #12698
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I just installed the Flow-Rite battery fill system and am looking forward to many years of battery life. No more removing the caps to check the water level in each cell.
Paul
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09-11-2020, 02:04 PM
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#32
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Forest River Forester 235
State: Indiana
Posts: 4,883
THOR #6826
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Quote:
Originally Posted by paulwadley
I just installed the Flow-Rite battery fill system and am looking forward to many years of battery life. No more removing the caps to check the water level in each cell.
Paul
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I use the same system and it works great. Especially useful if your batteries are under the step or otherwise inconveniently located. You’ll like it.
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09-12-2020, 03:12 AM
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#33
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 31L
State: Florida
Posts: 2,063
THOR #12189
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Don't Dismiss Capacitive Charge
I've conducted 5 experiments and capacitive charge is usable energy. You can siphon it off to do things like run a coffee make, charge a laptop and phone, etc, etc. It's consumable. Monitor your battery(ies) during the process.
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09-12-2020, 07:31 PM
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#34
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: Missouri
Posts: 2,324
THOR #6903
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Curious as to where your temperature sensor is attached and if it has a good solid connection
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Breeze
I bought 4 Everstart 12v 109ah wet cells 3 days ago. Twice, I was able to dump 13v+ in them on a 30min and 50min gen run. Today I ran the gen 3 times for 3.5h with a 10min rest in between runs and taking readings and could only get it to 12.91.
In the last row, the readings went from 12.43v to 12.89v to 12.91v. So the last 30m only got me .2v I checked it 10min after the last gen run to let it expel surface capacity later and it read 12.91. 30min later they read 12.84. That's a change of .07. Where is going in that short period of time?
These batteries shouldn't be failing me already, right?
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09-12-2020, 11:11 PM
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#35
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 31L
State: Florida
Posts: 2,063
THOR #12189
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lwmcguire
Curious as to where your temperature sensor is attached and if it has a good solid connection
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Using a multi-meter and good question. Need to keep that in mind when installing the fixed battery monitor.
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