Our ERA 170M came with two AGM batteries, no inverter, and a fairly low-grade charger. It also has a DC-only fridge.
When it was new, we had to run the engine for at least an hour a day or the fridge would kill the battery overnight. Recently, the batteries would not last the night almost no matter what we did.
Charging the batteries fully by plugging in to shore power or running the generator could take 3 days.
The best source of power for the batteries was the Sprinter alternator, which has a limited capacity for additional loads.
$10k later, and a trip to Reno, we've got two Battleborn batteries, a Victron charger/inverter with one of them fancy control touch-screen interfaces, a Nation's High Output alternator installed as a 2nd alternator on the rig, and some wiring improvements to prepare for future expansion of the battery bank and to keep the Van and House 12v systems separate from each other.
In testing since we've gotten home, we ran the fridge for 3 nights without charging, and likely could have made it a 4th, but just barely. The batteries recharge to 100% with a few hours of driving, or overnight when plugged in. We can run the AC on batteries alone (for about an hour and a half), or turn on the engine and use it as a generator.
The more I learn about how well this system works now, the more pissed off I am at Winnebago for their terrible bottom-basement equipment selections.
If you've been thinking about such an upgrade, it's a fantastic idea...
For the record, our next electrical upgrade will be to yank the generator out completely and replace it with a battery bank of similar size... I figure that will give us 6 or 8 batteries in total in the rig.
When it was new, we had to run the engine for at least an hour a day or the fridge would kill the battery overnight. Recently, the batteries would not last the night almost no matter what we did.
Charging the batteries fully by plugging in to shore power or running the generator could take 3 days.
The best source of power for the batteries was the Sprinter alternator, which has a limited capacity for additional loads.
$10k later, and a trip to Reno, we've got two Battleborn batteries, a Victron charger/inverter with one of them fancy control touch-screen interfaces, a Nation's High Output alternator installed as a 2nd alternator on the rig, and some wiring improvements to prepare for future expansion of the battery bank and to keep the Van and House 12v systems separate from each other.
In testing since we've gotten home, we ran the fridge for 3 nights without charging, and likely could have made it a 4th, but just barely. The batteries recharge to 100% with a few hours of driving, or overnight when plugged in. We can run the AC on batteries alone (for about an hour and a half), or turn on the engine and use it as a generator.
The more I learn about how well this system works now, the more pissed off I am at Winnebago for their terrible bottom-basement equipment selections.
If you've been thinking about such an upgrade, it's a fantastic idea...
For the record, our next electrical upgrade will be to yank the generator out completely and replace it with a battery bank of similar size... I figure that will give us 6 or 8 batteries in total in the rig.
What type of battery does it come with? How many AH?
