Please post your results Chester. We may have a slight delay going to the icefields and boon docking. I'm anxious to see how 3 batteries keep up the fridge. This winter I plan to replace all the house batteries. AGM's are the usual suspect but I've been researching Lithium's. Balqon has 1000 amp/hour cells (each cell is 3 volt nominal so would take 4) for ~$740 each. I would need 4 cells, a Battery Management System, Remote Display, either a new inverter or a separate charger, and various wires. I figure the total would be about $4000, not much more than AGM's. This would give me the same 800 usable amp/hours as AGM's. The advantages are Lithiums are much smaller, lighter, and recharge 2-3 times faster.
So I need stats to determine how large a bank I want.
Forrest if you have the Amana w. ice maker it will average about 90 watts depending how many times you open the door (bulb) so with your 3 batteries fully charged to the float level u should see about 33 hrs time.... but you will also use lights and water pump..No? TV? what else?? Microwave uses about 1100+ watts....It will all mean less time.. I was reading that the refer takes about 1000w on startup (surge) so door open time has effect...
Makes sure when you dry camp swith your pumps to auxiliary pumps , compressor 120-12V we have same coach 2001 and our battery are shot! we can go for about 12 hrs max,
We run additionally big freezer in the bay area.
Switching to reserve pump and small compressor will drain slower your battery, and yeah! we run gen as much as we can!!!
Checked all batteries with a load tester, and all are OK, but I did find a loose connection at the final negative cable going to the coach. I am trying to equalize, but have not been able to accomplish this yet. Could a loose negative connection be the problem? Out for the weekend, but will try again next week.
2001 Newell #579
tow a Honda Odyssey
fun car: 1935 Mercedes 500K replica
Bad grounds are always an area to examine. Grounds are just as key as positives in a 12v system. You can disable the ice maker by raising the arm tricking it into thinking the bucket is full. The ice maker uses a ton of power because there is a circuit that heats the ice mold to get them to release.
You said you tried to use the coffee maker on the inverter. That is a HUGE power draw.
Richard and Rhonda Entrekin
95 Newell, 390 Ex caretaker
99 Newell, 512 Ex caretaker
07 Prevost Marathon, 1025
Maverick Hybrid Toad
Inverness, FL (when we're home )
Good to know about the "Ice Maker" drawing so much current. Thanks Richard
Larry, Hedy & Benny Brachfeld
2003 Coach # 646
2 Slide, DD
MINI Cooper Clubman S
MINI Clubman , John Cooper Works Rally Edition # 3 of 70
Monster 1000 Watt, Electric Skateboard
Yamaha Golf Cart painted Kawasaki Green
A Coach driveway with a shade structure and swimming pool
A Pueblo Home on the Border
Ha! After repeatedly pulling and pushing Tom's new fridge I don't think I'm ready to pull mine out.
BTW Tom's new fridge looks great! He has it cooling down now. I'm sure he'll put up a detailed post soon.
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