HELP new to dry Camping

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onthehunt49

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Joined
May 15, 2018
Posts
7
Hello,

we just bought a used 1997 Southwind Fleetwood 32v earlier this year.  been resort (full hookup)camping few times .  We tried dry camping for a week for first time last week.  No idea what we are doing.  LOL

How long do We need to run generator to charge batteries daily(Onan 5000) ?

Is selecting INVERT button only way to use electrical plugs?
Xantrex 458 3 stage inverter/charger

Seems like if I hit INVERT button to run coffee pot or microwave or portable heater.  The panel shows my charge goes down quickly.  Am I doing something wrong?  Earlier this year I went to Interstate Battery Distributor in Lake Havasu, they sold me black label trojan batteries.  They said were just as good. 
215 ah 6 volt I believe.  I have 6 batteries.

Any help about all this is appreciated.  Including proper operation of Xantrex 458 3 stage inverter/charger

Also the toilet smells horrible.  Is there seal/gaskets to replace or should we just replace it.  Appears yellow stains on lino floor like leaking.

Thanks
 

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onthehunt49 said:
We tried dry camping for a week for first time last week.  No idea what we are doing.  LOL

Did you die?  No? Then you are doing fine!

How long do We need to run generator to charge batteries daily(Onan 5000) ?

Uhm. That sort of depends on how many amp hours you've used from your battery bank, and how many amps your charger is rated for.

Is selecting INVERT button only way to use electrical plugs?

Your plugs should all work fine when you are running your generator.

Seems like if I hit INVERT button to run coffee pot or microwave or portable heater.  The panel shows my charge goes down quickly.  Am I doing something wrong?

Nope.  That's perfectly normal.  People who don't realize how much power they are actually using in a sticks n bricks, and how little power is actually stored in batteries, are always surprised by this.  With 6 batteries, you should be able to make a pot of coffee (but not keep it hot all day) or use the microwave BRIEFLY, but trying to run a heater or cook a full meal off the batteries is out of the question.  For that, you need to run your generator.
Click to expand...
 
When a microwave, electric heater or other high-consumption appliance is run off an inverter, it's pulling a lot of power from the batteries. The voltage drop you're seeing while the appliance is running is not a true indication of the battery's state of charge. It's normal for lead/acid batteries to indicate less voltage while a high-draw appliance is running. When the appliance turned off, you should see the voltage increase again. How much so depends on a variety of factors.

It's not adviseable to run an electric space-heater off an inverter - not for very long anyway. Heaters are usually operated for longer periods of time than for just a few minutes. If you need to warm up the RV, propane furnaces are more effective at heating large areas. They're still high-draw appliances, but you don't have to run them as long. Your six batteries and inverter should power the microwave just fine for a few minutes, but I wouldn't long-cook a turkey in it unless you can power the RV with a generator.

Power is always an issue when boondocking, and I think you'll find that people who boondock a lot have invested in a battery monitor, like the Trimetric RV 2030. They not only indicate a battery bank's voltage (which is a relatively inaccurate way to determine state of charge) they also measure the amps going in or out of your battery bank at any given time. More importantly, they display, in percentage, how much battery capacity is remaining. That's a VERY useful feature when boondocking.

Kev
 
onthehunt49 said:
Hello,

we just bought a used 1997 Southwind Fleetwood 32v earlier this year.  been resort (full hookup)camping few times .  We tried dry camping for a week for first time last week.  No idea what we are doing.  LOL

How long do We need to run generator to charge batteries daily(Onan 5000) ?

Is selecting INVERT button only way to use electrical plugs?
Xantrex 458 3 stage inverter/charger

Seems like if I hit INVERT button to run coffee pot or microwave or portable heater.  The panel shows my charge goes down quickly.  Am I doing something wrong?  Earlier this year I went to Interstate Battery Distributor in Lake Havasu, they sold me black label trojan batteries.  They said were just as good. 
215 ah 6 volt I believe.  I have 6 batteries.

Any help about all this is appreciated.  Including proper operation of Xantrex 458 3 stage inverter/charger

Also the toilet smells horrible.  Is there seal/gaskets to replace or should we just replace it.  Appears yellow stains on lino floor like leaking.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Diddo on Kevin's suggestion about the Trimetric.  A good battery monitor will show you the total AH's (Amp Hours) going out of your batteries and the total going back in when you charge your batteries.  It also give an accurate SOC percentage (State Of Charge).  For best life you shouldn't discharge lower than 75% SOC (only use 25% of your battery).  However you do get reasonably long life of your batteries if you don't go below 50% SOC. 

Yes, when dry camping you do need to turn on the inverter to use the 120V outlets.  BTW, it is very good practice to always turn off the inverter when not needed.  Large inverter (1000-2000 watts) pull 1-2 amps or more from the battery even if no 120V devices are being used.  1-2 amps for 24 hours in a day means the inverter will waste 24-48AH a day.

With 6 Trojan 6V batteries, you probably have about a total 600AH of power available.  At 25% usage that is 150AH, and 50% usage you have 300AH available. That is an excellent amount of battery power.  The secret is to manage the batteries to keep them charged.  That is where the Trimetric is needed.

Here are two links with good basic info about RV electrical systems, batteries and solar:
http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm
http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volta.htm

Not sure what "black label" Trojan batteries are.  If they are generic "golf cart" batteries then they work very well. However they are not Trojan batteries. (I believe Trojan batteries are over priced for 95% of RV'ers) If you ever need new golf cart batteries, go to Sam's Club, or Costco.  They sell them for under $100 each, usually about $90.
 
To farther answer your questions, when we boondock in the desert (we also have 6 Trojans) we usually run the generator about an hour in the morning while making coffee and making breakfast, until the indicator is in "float".. Then about two hours in the evening while watching TV and doing dinner..  We also have 300 watts of solar on the roof that holds the batteries at full charge all day long.>>>Dan
 
onthehunt49 said:
Hello,

we just bought a used 1997 Southwind Fleetwood 32v earlier this year.  been resort (full hookup)camping few times .  We tried dry camping for a week for first time last week.  No idea what we are doing.  LOL

How long do We need to run generator to charge batteries daily(Onan 5000) ?

Is selecting INVERT button only way to use electrical plugs?
Xantrex 458 3 stage inverter/charger


No. Running the generator should power all of your 120 volt electrical outlets. In fact, that is probably the best thing to do when you are using high current devices like a microwave, toaster, coffee pot, and so on.

Seems like if I hit INVERT button to run coffee pot or microwave or portable heater.  The panel shows my charge goes down quickly.  Am I doing something wrong?  Earlier this year I went to Interstate Battery Distributor in Lake Havasu, they sold me black label trojan batteries.  They said were just as good. 
215 ah 6 volt I believe.  I have 6 batteries.

Any help about all this is appreciated.  Including proper operation of Xantrex 458 3 stage inverter/charger

If your motorhome is wired correctly with an auto transfer switch, then your Xantrex charger should run automatically when either the generator is running, or you are plugged into Shore power.

Also the toilet smells horrible.  Is there seal/gaskets to replace or should we just replace it.  Appears yellow stains on lino floor like leaking.


That could be. If water does not stay in the bowl, but leaks out over a period of minutes to a couple hours, then the seal in the toilet is bad. We tried to have a seal replaced, and it was cheaper to just replace the whole toilet. Nobody wants to work on a used and therefore a dirty toilet. They charge big bucks, so it is better to buy new and have it replaced.

Thanks
Click to expand...


Sorry, but the editing on this tablet is pretty rudimentary. Please look inside the quote for my answers to your questions.
 
It is easy to ESTIMATE the 12V Amp draw when using the Inverter to power a 120V AC load from a 12V DC source. This goes back to the old basic rule of: Volts X Amps= Watts and going from DC Volts to AC volts is a factor of 10 down. From 120 Volts AC to 12 Volts is a factor of 10 (works both ways) Easy peasy!

Look at the name plate data for the 120V AC device you are going to power with the Inverter.

My 4 cup 120V AC coffee maker is rated at 650 Watts. Dividing 650 by 120 gives 5.4 Amps AC. Load. Multiplying that by 10 would be 54 Amps DC. So that would present a 54 A load on the Batteries.

It?s not quire that easy, that is assuming 100% Inverter efficiency. Nothing is 100% efficient! Assume that the Inverter/converter is 90% efficient (in reality probably closer to 95-98% efficient but we should be on the conservative side) that would add approximately another 5 Amp load for a total of ABOUT 60 Amp to power my coffee maker from my batteries.

Where does that loss of efficiency go? HEAT! That is why the Inverter or Converter will have a finned heat sink and maybe a small cooling fan the help to dissipate the heat.
 
I guess that I should of added to my above posting that if my coffee maker has a 50% duty cycle (heat element ON). In one hour of operation I will of consumed about 30 Amp Hour of Battery capacity.
 
I get Trojan T-105 from a golf cart battery guy in town for $105 for the last 3 years.  I upgraded the old RV 3 years ago, (should have taken them out) 2 years ago I upgraded my new to me RV with two Trojans then this spring I added two more.
 
coxid said:
I guess that I should of added to my above posting that if my coffee maker has a 50% duty cycle (heat element ON). In one hour of operation I will of consumed about 30 Amp Hour of Battery capacity.
Click to expand...
OR you could just reheat the coffee on the gas cooktop instead of leaving the electric coffee maker on.  Just take the glass coffee container and put it on the gas stove and heat up the coffee for 1-3 minutes. 

While the instructions for the coffee maker probably says not to use the glass container on the stove, you won't have a problem unless you let it go dry or set the hot bottom on a wet or very cool surface.  This will save you lots of AH's of battery which are not that easy to replace.
 
Our electric coffee makes has an insulated carafe, and it keeps the coffee hot for about an hour, which is plenty long enough.
 
coxid said:
It is easy to ESTIMATE the 12V Amp draw when using the Inverter to power a 120V AC load from a 12V DC source. This goes back to the old basic rule of: Volts X Amps= Watts and going from DC Volts to AC volts is a factor of 10 down. From 120 Volts AC to 12 Volts is a factor of 10 (works both ways) Easy peasy!

Look at the name plate data for the 120V AC device you are going to power with the Inverter.

My 4 cup 120V AC coffee maker is rated at 650 Watts. Dividing 650 by 120 gives 5.4 Amps AC. Load. Multiplying that by 10 would be 54 Amps DC. So that would present a 54 A load on the Batteries.

It’s not quire that easy, that is assuming 100% Inverter efficiency. Nothing is 100% efficient! Assume that the Inverter/converter is 90% efficient (in reality probably closer to 95-98% efficient but we should be on the conservative side) that would add approximately another 5 Amp load for a total of ABOUT 60 Amp to power my coffee maker from my batteries.

Where does that loss of efficiency go? HEAT! That is why the Inverter or Converter will have a finned heat sink and maybe a small cooling fan the help to dissipate the heat.
Click to expand...

you will find the math easier if you use Watts and not amps, therefore :- 650 W * (100/90 ) / 12 V  = 60.1 Amps

also FYI, inverters are generally 90% at BEST, an "El cheapo"  from china might only be 80 %

and as AStravelers suggests, a propane powered coffee maker is a better solution, I have the Coleman unit, works just fine.
my wife and I boondock almost exclusively and the coleman is a real energy saver..
 
We have an old-fashioned metal coffee pot that goes over an open flame. They have paper filters so you can perc coffee ground for drip machines.
 
Maybe you could switch to Iced Coffee? Thats all my wife drinks and she swears by it ;D
 
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