Quote:
Originally Posted by Ran D. St. Clair
AKat777, I have lost track of your design intent. Do you have no 12V house batteries at all? If so, you are coming to an unusual design solution, but if it works for your mission that's all that matters. Most people in your situation would take 12V from the starter battery for occasional and minimal loads. Even one ceiling fan running all night while you are asleep is not a minimal load, so you might be better off not doing that. Not being able to start the truck in the morning would be a bummer. On the other hand, plugging the starter battery into a proper 3 stage charger with say 10A capacity would keep it fully topped off at all times and replace whatever your fans draw. That way you would still have 12V when not plugged into shore power for fans and other things as long as you don't draw too much for too long. Such a charger migh also have anti-sulfation technology and extend the life of your starter battery, especially if it sits for long intervals without running the engine. Having full time 12V might be handy for emergency lights, an entry light on the outside for finding the lock with they keys when it is dark, CO detector, or little accessory things like a cell phone charger, etc.
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No worries Ran D, I often lose sight of my design intent..
But I did break down and spend about 250 at WallyWorld (WalMart) the other day. Couple of marine batteries, a couple connector cables and a tiny (410w) inverter, and I too have DC power now. The two batteries give me about 210 amp hours, which isnt a lot, but enough to run my LED lights for 64 hours non stop, or the lights and a fan overnight before recharging. If it works out I might add a couple more batteries and give myself about 400 amp hours.
The original design was to be on shore power 24/7. I decided to add a small battery bank to keep the fridge running while travelling from A to B. And a small fan to keep cool while I finish the inside. Running on DC power alone isnt feasible for my design. I intend to have an Insolet toilet, which alone is 1800 watts. Add in a top end toaster oven (1500 watts) the AC (unknown) and the hot water heater (1800 watts) and that is way too much draw for anything except high end batteries. Obviously everything isnt running all at once, but still the draw is BIG.
But that brings up a good question. Earlier in the thread we discussed good inverter/charger/transfer units. So everyone is charging their batteries when on shore power. But what does everyone use when no shore power is avail? What type of genny is everyone using? I think Ran D is using a tiny 1000w Honda iirc? What about everyone else? Ran D's little genny wouldnt even power my toaster oven to make dinner... lol. I was thinking a minimum of 3k on a quiet genny. I have a 5500 and a 1500 now, but they are not RV gennys, and you can hear them 1/2 mile away, lol.