Share your RV mods...

[joecool911]

I own an 8d battery. Wondering about a battery switch and charge/discharge independently. That would give me a lot of amp hours.

[AH64ID]

It would, 8D's can have a lot of amp hours. That's not a bad idea actually.

 

Is it a starting or deep cycle? What brand?

 

A deep cycle 8D is 200-255 AH battery (depending on brand), I think the best Group 24's are about 85 or 170 combined.

 

It would take a switch like this to have 1 charger and 2 separate banks. The charger hooks into the distro board, so only 1 switch is needed.

 

http://www.bluesea.com/products/11001

[MnTom]

Yes it will freeze, but much colder than water. Anti-Freeze, not Never-Freeze.

 

How does it not expand?

 

I know that coolant (anti-freeze) will expand when it freezes and will pop blocks and radiators, how is the RV stuff not any different?

 

The p-trap probably didn't need replacing because it has room to expand back towards the sink and down the drain.

This may help explain it. I got it from another RV site:

Q. I had some -50 RV Antifreeze stored in my garage and I noticed it was frozen. Is your product defective?

A. No. Propylene glycol antifreezes are designed to provide burst protection to temperatures of -50° F or below. Ice crystals will start to form in -50 RV Antifreeze at temperatures around +10° F and will appear to be solid ice at around -10° F to -15° F. Propylene glycol based antifreezes continue to contract and will not expand until temperatures of -50° F are reached, thus providing burst protection for pipes. If you need a product that flows at the lower temperatures, a higher concentrated product such as Winter Ban -100 or our Ban Frost Marine Engine Antifreeze should be used.

[AH64ID]

Interesting!

I threw some in the freezer :-)

[AH64ID]

I made some more progress today. I got the battery box built, and stuffed in its cubby. I had to build most if it I place as it is much larger than the opening to the cubby.

I then got all the wiring hooked up, and wired the inverter in. I then did a load test on the inverter with 1500w, which is the max continuous rating of the inverter. The batteries were at 12.95V at the beginning of the check.

I let it run for a few minutes so I could check the converter to see if it would put 55A out and it does.

Here are some random pics of the install. The wiring may look like a rats nest, but it's actually very neat. There just happens to be a lot there as that photo is taken thru the distribution panal opening.

I still have to make the vent, and do the 110V wiring for the inline transfer relays. Once that is done I will do some load testing with the tv and such.

[AH64ID]

I got the inverter and inline transfer relay's all hooked up last night!! I also added a 120V oultet right next to the converter, the top plug is shore power only and the bottom plug is inverter power. This gives me a place to plug in things like a aux heater and not worry about inverter draw, but I also have a central 120V plug on the inverter if needed.

 

I might have to lengthen one or two of the wires to get it to tuck away cleaner, but it's ready to be hard mounted. Directly above the converter is the fridge, and the floor to the fridge area is very thin. My plan is to remove the fridge and screw/liquid nail a piece of plywood on the bottom (screw thru the top) to attach the relay's and junction boxes to.

 

I didn't have much time to play with the setup but with it appears the TV/DVD player draws about 8A of power (around 100w for both, DVD player is 12V). I tested the inline transfer relays and the TV blanks but does not turn off when going from shore to inverter, and you cannot even tell when going from inverter to shore (other than the amps fall off). 

 

The no load draw is about 0.2A DC from the inverter, pretty low.

 

So far so good.

 

I also cleaned up the area around the stereo. Both the TV power cord and coax had pigtails come out of the wall and then plug in 6" later, ugly and lazy IMHO. I added a 120V plug behind the stereo and that's where the TV is now plugged in. I also noticed that the antenna amp had a TV2 output on the back, so I plugged TV1 into TV2 and the coax is hidden.

 

I also replaced the exposed 120V plug with one that has a single 120V receptacle and 2 5V USB ports.

[AH64ID]

This may help explain it. I got it from another RV site:

 

Alright, so I stuck some in the freezer at about -5°F. It turned solid (learned something new). It did expand, but not very much.

[Mopar1973Man]

Alright, so I stuck some in the freezer at about -5°F. It turned solid (learned something new). It did expand, but not very much.

 

As for the anti-freeze there is some much out there and different brands and claims. I'm not too willing to risk re-plumbing a RV to a frozen pipe like what happen to 1976 Dodge Motorhome it froze to and blew a CPVC line and was a absolute PITA to replumb. So I tend to avoid anything that might become solid or expand and break fragile plastic fittings and plumbing. Like I said if air freezes you got bigger problems at -300*F or so.

[Mopar1973Man]

I was checking out your gauges and Wow! They are expensive.

 

[AH64ID]

I was checking out your gauges and Wow! They are expensive.

 

 

 

They can be, I get them at dealer cost/wholesale... and one of them was a gift. There is a lot of markup on the MSRP.

[Mopar1973Man]

I gotta admit you mini panel area work out awesome and looks good too.

[AH64ID]

I took the new battery setup for a trial this weekend and I have to say I am impressed!!

 

We camped 2 nights, and both nights where in the high 20's. Thermostat was set to 55° (normally 50°, but I packed the wrong comforter for the wife and I).

 

When we went to bed Friday night voltage was 12.95, the residual amp draw is about 0.7 for the fridge/stereo. I also had the inverter on all night power in a LED night light (because I can). Amp draw was 1.1 going to bed. The heater draws about 7A.

 

At 8 Saturday morning the voltage was 12.75, and there was no shortage of heater operation throughout the night. We got the camper up to temp and kept the heater on until the sun hit it around 10-11. When the water pump and heater are running the amp draw is around 15-16, and I only get ~0.2V drop at that load.

 

I did have the solar panel turned on for about 6 hours of good sun on Sat, but I only ever saw a 0.3A shift in usage. Not enough to add anything, just slow the use. With the stereo/XM turned on the amp draw is 2.2.

 

Going to bed Sat night the voltage was 12.55. Sunday morning the wife was cold so the heater ran until around 10:30 again, plenty of water pump operation for cleaning and the stereo was also on. When I hooked up the truck the voltage was 12.45. I also ran the inverter all night for the kids' night light.

 

The lowest I ever saw the voltage with a load was 12.35, and the water pump and heater sounded much better than the old 11.6-11.8V under load. The heater also seemed more efficient at the higher voltage (as in more airflow).

 

I would have been at 55-60% max after just one night on the old setup, and this time I was at 60-65% after 2 nights of decent use.

 

I am quite happy with the operation of the batteries.

 

We did the ~2 hour drive home and then plugged the camper in a few hours later, after 2 hours the converter was still pushing 30 amps into the batteries, I guess it takes a while to recharge them :-)

[thefox311]

Just curious is that meter reading DC AMPs or AC amps.  So if my calculations are correct at max draw AC amps at 8.3 amps it should read 83.3 amps DC.  Im just double checking my math here. 

[AH64ID]

Just curious is that meter reading DC AMPs or AC amps.  So if my calculations are correct at max draw AC amps at 8.3 amps it should read 83.3 amps DC.  Im just double checking my math here. 

 

The amps are DC amps, and it's not a 10:1, closer to 11:1.

 

What is 8.3 amps? Are you talking inverter output?

 

The inverter is rated for 1500w continuous and is 90% efficient. Meaning to output 1500w of AC it needs 1666w of DC power. At 12.5V that is 133A of DC power, drop that to 11.6 (more realistic with a draw that size on a 300AH bank) and it's 144A draw. So using 120V and 12.5V it's a 10.65:1, at the actual 118V and 11.6V it's 11.33:1.

[AH64ID]

I did a little playing with the inverter today.

 

Small crockpot on low

 

 

Small crockpot on high

 

 

Fridge on inverter power, I added a plug so I can use inverter or shore power for the fridge.

 

 

[AH64ID]

I ordered a complete set of Timken bearings for the trailer. When I was installing the EZ-Flex system I pulled one hub off and looked at the OEM bearings. They are loose/cheap Chinese bearings, so I will pull them and replace them with good bearings before my first long trip of the summer.

[joecool911]

Is the lower digital readout amp draw?

[AH64ID]

Is the lower digital readout amp draw?

 

Yes it is.

[Mopar1973Man]

Hey AH64ID how much DC Amps draw is the fridge taking to run? Curious...

[joecool911]

Why not just run the refrigerator on propane? You more than likely have a much deeper bucket to draw from then your batteries.

Edited April 30, 2014 by joecool911