Our Skyworth TV uses 1.5 amps playing a DVD. Many of these TVs have built in DVD players which also help reduce power consumption. There are decent TVs built for the trucker market that run off 12 volts and can handle the tremendous voltage range of an automotive system (might be 15 volts from the alternator when driving at freeway speeds). If your TV /entertainment system is a 120 VAC system requiring an inverter, considering replacing it with a 12 VDC TV with a built in DVD. And when you are boondocking, don’t turn on more than you need. And even fluorescent lights use more power than LEDs. If you have a compressor fridge (12 VDC only) you are going to need more batteries to run it.Īnother amazing hog is incandescent lights. Immediately switch your fridge to propane if you are not moving. If you need to run the microwave or coffee pot, fire up your generator (or use the propane stove). Sure it can be done, but the power required is high. Generally this means avoiding running any 120 VAC appliances by using an inverter. Once you know what your appliances use in terms of amps you will know what you can operate and how long you can operate it and not drop your battery below 50%. If you have a camper with an older Magnetek Converter consider upgrading it to get a multi-stage charger ( see article here). ![]() 3) If you have a generator it will supply 120 VAC to the converter/charger or inverter/charger to recharge the batteries. 2) When plugged into shore power the converter/charger or inverter/charger will recharge the batteries. 1) The camper’s alternator will recharge the battery while you are driving (this is typically the fastest way to recharge). Your house battery is recharged several ways. The 12 VDC comes from your house battery. And it will have a 12 VDC (volts direct current) which is like your car. Your camper (ignoring the fancy new technology) has 2 electrical systems, a 120 VAC (volts alternating current) system which is like your sticks and bricks home. Make yourself a list of how many amps each item uses. Then you can figure out how to minimize the power use. Once you have the monitor installed you can figure out how much power your electrical items are using. You want to avoid letting your batteries go below 50% (assuming a lead acid battery – whether a wet cell, gel, or AGM). The battery monitor will tell you the amps going into and out of your battery and will tell you the battery % full. Campskunk did this for his old rig, but it is far easier and more valuable to install a battery monitor. Trying to guess capacity of your battery by voltage readings is difficult and since you can’t remove all loads and let it sit for hours (as required for accurate voltage readings) you will have to calibrate to a fixed small load (using a hydrometer). We wrote an article on how to install one here. We highly recommend the Trimetric battery monitor. Those idiot lights on the control panel are not quite worthless, but very close. The first thing you should do if you plan to sit in one place without hookups for more than one night is to install a battery monitor. If you boondock much, a generator is important, but if you only do it occasionally or after a long day of driving, it is not needed. We have an Onan generator (installed 5 years ago, but the Roadtrek was “generator ready” from the factory) and a single Group 24 battery with a mere 80 amp hours of capacity (20 times less than what Mike has). ![]() Our 20 year old Roadtrek is a perfect example. ![]() Sure Mike and Campskunk have some neat features and can pretty much act like they are plugged into Con Edison, an infinite source of electricity, but chances are your current rig can handle boondocking quite well with some relatively simple mods and paying close attention to the resources you do have. And you may be thinking that boondocking (camping with no hookups) is beyond what you can do with your less sophisticated rig. You may have read about Mike Wendland’s and Campskunk’s field testing fancy new Roadtrek CS Adventurous XL models with a gazillion amps of lithium-ion batteries and ungodly large inverters and acres of solar panels on the roof with envy.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |