RE: 12V Battery Choices
My answer would be that it depends. If you are looking for the cheapest solution, then go with the Wally World batts (SAMS has them also). If you are looking for a really good quality batt, then get some Lifeline Batteries. You can get them at Copperstate battery on Thomas Road here is Phx. That is where I went. Check out www.lifelinebatteries.com to see all the different types/sizes before you go to Copperstate so you know what you want. As bigfootford stated, make sure to measure your batt copartment to make sure they will fit.
-Steve
RE: solar panel
Greetings,
The area that you live in and the amount of sun you get will definately play a role in determining your needs. I also have a "Sun Hours Per Day" chart on my site with Low (winter), High (summer) and Average sun amounts for many cities with instructions on how to use it to determine how many solar panel you will need. You can find the info on many sites that sell solar panels also.
Thanks,
Steve
RE: Removing the battery caps when plugged into AC?
Greetings,
I don't think that you have to remove the caps. If the batteries do start gassing they usually have a built in vent to handle that.
-Steve
RE: HELP, Rubber roof seperating from roof.
I am not sure how large of a section it is that you are referring to, but if it is small enough, have you thought about tacking it back down and then covering the section with a roof sealant such as those made by Dicor?
The suggestion made by Camping World seems a little harsh to me also.
-Steve
RE: No 12 volt power
My converter has it's own AC breaker. If yours does also, you might want to try turning it off and replacing the fuse to test your theory about wheter there is a short in the converter.
Steve
RE: Replace Generator with solar and batteries?
Pnichols,
Thanks for the advice. You are absolutely correct and I have already corrected the diagrams on my site.
Thanks again,
Steve
RE: battery charging help
Greetings,
Are you looking at the voltage while they are being charged (meaning the trailer is still plugged in and charging the batts) or is the Voltage that high once they are off the charger and have sat for an hour or more?
I have six volt Lifelines and the Bulk and Accptance charge levels are between 14.2 and 14.4 Volts, so if they are being actively charged at the time you are taking the Voltage reading, that is probably what you will see.
Try taking them off the charger and letting them sit for a couple of hours and then see what the Voltage reading is.
-Steve
RE: solar panel
Greetings,
Make sure to take some time and plan carefully before making your purchase and doing the install. In order to answer the question about what size and how many solar panels you will need, you should sit down and fill out a Power Consumption Estimation Worksheet so that you have a good idea of how much power you are really going to need. Once you have that info in hand you can deteremine if your battery bank is currently sized properly and how many solar panels you will need to recharge them based on how much power you plan to use each day.
I have a Power Consumption Estimation Worksheet on my site along with some examples and articles on how to calculate your estimated power needs. Feel free to use it. www.bigboytoysonline.com. You can also check out any of the varius sites that sell solar panels as many of them also have similar worksheets and information.
I know you are probably just looking for a simple answer, but the reality of the situation is that it is better to do a little planning and to think ahead to assure that you are installing a system that will meet your needs then it would be to just install a panel and find out the hard way that it was not good enough. :)
-Steve
RE: 6 volt batteries
Greetings,
Generally, when installing batteries you want to use all of the same kind, size, brand battery, etc and make sure that they are purchased at the same time. You do not want to mix older batteries with newer ones.
Also, chances are good that the battery that came with the 5er is going to be a standard flooded acid battery (since it is the cheapest). If you were going to purchase new 6 volt batteries I would highly suggest AGM batteries (such as Lifeline brand) in which case you cannot mix AGM and Flooded Acid batteries as they will have different bulk, acceptance and float voltage requirements for proper charging.
I would highly suggest that you read some articles on the sites that were quoted above. They contain very valuable information. I also have a bunch of info on my site about batteries where I documented all of my installs. Feel free to check it out at www.bigboytoysonline.com.
If you do add a second 12V battery, try to get the same brand, size, model, etc so they match (for best results).
Thanks,
Steve
RE: Replace Generator with solar and batteries?
Greetings,
I spent all of last spring modifing my RV so that we could take a year off an travel. I installed 3 solar panels, inverter, batteries, MotoSat, etc. For the most part the solar panels power everything that I need (except AC). I agree that not having to run the smelly generator is a HUGE plus. The only time I crank it up is if I need to run the AC or Microwave.
If you need help with the calculations, I have posted a Power Consumption Estimation worksheet on my website with instructions. All my modifications are also documented and I would be happy to help you in any way. Feel free to check it out at www.bigboytoysonline.com. The reason I created the website was so that I could aggregate all the info in one location. I had a lot of the same quesitons last year when I was doing my upgrades and I could not find one website that was devoted to RV upgrades so I figured I would share the info that I learned with the rest of the RV community.
Thanks,
Steve
RE: Inverter causing noise in audio system
Greetings,
I would have to agree with some of the posts above. This is most likely caused by your modified sine wave inverter. They are notorious for that. You can try some of the other suggestions and they MAY help, but if you really want to solve the problem it is probably going to take a True Sine Wave inverter.
Steve
RE: Inverter Installation
Greetings,
I know that you are not planning on running a large amount of equipment off of the inverter, however the one thing that I did not see an answer to (I did read quickly) is how far the inverter is located from the batteries. The distance between the batteries and the inverter will play a role in how large of a cable you will need to connect them due to the resistance preseted by the wire. Safety first.
I have spent a fair amount of time documenting my inverter install. You can read about it at www.bigboytoysonline.com if you are interested.
Thanks,
Steve
RE: how long till your battery goes dead?
Greetings,
There has to be something else drawing power from the batteries. I know that you stated that everything else was off but by any chance do you have the refrig running off propane? The refrig electronic brain will also take power. The gas detector and fire detectors will also. But that still seems like it is draining awfully quick.
In relation to the battery disconnect, I have a Raptor also and there is a battery disconnect switch (actually it is more like a plunger) right inside the door near the floor. Chances are that yours has one also.
If you are absolutely sure that nothing else is running off the batteries and you have used a digital multimeter as suggested in some of the other posts then my guess would be that your batteries have been drained below 50% a couple or many times and they are no longer properly holding a charge.
I have spent a fair amount of time documenting the moodifications to my RV and I have a section called "All About Batteries". If you are unfamiliar with batteries and how they work and how to treat them properly I would suggest reading the articles. They can be found at www.bigboytoysonline.com.
Thanks,
Steve
