Pd31 new

[Kbs]

Hi just took delivery of a 2017 pd31. The unit came with two 12v batteries and an extra tray for two more house batteries. Wondering whether to just add two more twelves or replace all with four 6v Thoughts ? Just to provide more info, this unit has a residential refrigerator ( new for us) so I assume draws more power. We are planning on dry camping so powering the refrigerator is important. Thanks for any advice

[The Gritz Carlton]

I would get used to what you have there and see how it fits your needs. You can always upgrade later. Our two batteries runs the fridge for 2+ days so far. Somewhere in that timeframe you will use a portable or the house generator which will cap your batteries off.

[Kbs]

Hi thanks for the quick and positive reply! I just brought the unit home and the batteries aren’t lasting a day.... maybe bad batteries from sitting on dealer lot ??

I am charging them with an external charger to see if they will hold charge. The inverter isn’t working through the batteries either, but I am guessing it is because batteries are so low... showing 10.8on the inverter display. Will give this a shot, then call dealer to see if they will replace batteries.

Thanks again for your help in describing what reality SHOULD be.

Kind Regards
Ken

[Bob Denman]

You asked a really good question.

And Gritz gave an even better answer!

Congratulations on the new rig!

[LBrown]

Not sure if it's acceptable to tag my issue on to Kbs's thread, but it's a similar topic so here goes. I have a 2016 Quontum PD31 with a residential fridge. I have not previously boondocked but plan on it next trip out. To test I observed that the inverter display (Xantrex1800) usually shows 13.6 when on shore power. When I disconnect shore power the display immediately drops to 12.8 and within a few minutes drops to 12.5. At this point the refrigerator happened to kick on and the voltage instantly dropped to 12 and then the display went into alarm mode. I also noted a change in the sound of the refrigerator compressor. At this point I plugged back in because I knew that the auto gen start would not activate for two minutes and I was concerned about low voltage damaging the refrigerator. Am I safe to assume that the batteries should hold their voltage at 12v for a couple of minutes under that kind of load? The two 12v batteries are original. Thanks for listening.