System can't keep up after upgrades and reconfiguration

[dixonge]

I suggest that you add a charger that can be powered by the generator. Run it for an hour in the the morning when making coffee and hot water. This will give the batteries a much needed boost, you also get coffee and hot water. The generator will get the exercise that it needs too.

I guess I could run a charger off of an existing outlet, maybe the one on the opposite side of the RV? Would have to find a charger first...

 

[dixonge]

you are under paneled if you can’t get the trailer to a outlet with cheep 12v car charger .

This is a Class C motor home.

You need to hook up 2 battery’s to your solar and let them charge for a day then run a eq on just 2 batterys
Then do the second set .
You have enough solar to charge and EQ 2 battery’s by themselves if every thing is off.

So when I was fully charged every day w/ the previous setup (using 4 panels in parallel and a PWM controller) that was just getting lucky?

I guess I could rewire everything for a few days until EQ was complete...

June to September is just enough time to slowly kill the battery’s .
Every day you don’t get to full charge or part of the way thru absorb you are loseing capacity .

90% of the days since the beginning of June my monitor reported 100% at some point each day. I'm thinking the main issue was lack of maintenance.

You should not buy battery’s at diffrent times or from diffrent lots .

And yet, I started with two to see if it was enough. It wasn't. I also wasn't about to throw them away and buy four brand new batteries at once. I guess we'll see if I regret that decision...

The good news is since they are only a year old they should bounce back .
These battery are tough , for your next set Get the 215 ah battery’s they will last longer .
You don’t really want to jam extra lead in the case .

Wait - lower amp-hour ratings means longer life cycles???

 

[Wellbuilt]

No you where not getting lucky before
The battery Monitor loses tract of your charge and gives a false reading .
( My out back resets the % of charge every time I get a full charge ) so it could stay at full charge but the battery’s will lose a little every day .

no the battery bank can be added to w
ith in the first year but there are consequences
2 battery’s may not be enough over all power .
But as is 4 battery will die from under charging

( Just a small helpfull thing )
Your battery are different they where made at different times and one set was in service longer Then the other
I would make sure the batters are in series
With one newer battery and one older battery then parallel them together older battery’s need more charging .
The bank will be more equal .

The lower ah battery has thicker plats or maybe just more room for liquid ?
But generally they will last longer it’s a trade off between more power and longer life .?

Do you have a on board genarator ?

In a pinch tractor supply has a heavy duty farm and ranch battery charger I think I payed 120 bucks 4 years ago .
You can charge 6 volt or 12 volt with it
You can charge one bank of 2 series’s connected battery’s with them wired into the the system .
This is close to what i have but is a smart charger mine just puts out constant power .

 

[Wellbuilt]

What inverter do you have ?

 

[syclonedriver]

Maybe you should give the PWM controller another try. It shouldn't be that much trouble. You can at least prove that the new setup is or is not faulty.

I've never owned a Class C but did have a 5th wheel. It's a little hard to understand why the onboard generator isn't wired to the onboard charger.

 

[Wellbuilt]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
this is what I was think .
Really having 4 panels hooked to a mppt controller may not make to much difference
My 2 battery trailer set up had a cheep mppt controler and it lasted less then a year
I think it cost me 299 for a 40 amp unit .
It died 13 days out of warranty .
No replacement no return .
Plus it killed my battery’s .

It is a pain to wire 2 system in one with the power converters on the rv s but I just hook one up for my buddy .

Dix must have a inverter with no charger . Or maybe no generator ?

Really the bottom line is 400 watts charging a 460 ah battery is not enough power to power loads and charge battery’s
And it’s going to get worse .
I’ve use that battery for 12 years atleast
And have been thru this before

 

[dixonge]

With one newer battery and one older battery then parallel them together older battery’s need more charging .
The bank will be more equal .

Actually not a bad idea. Thanks.

Do you have a on board genarator ?

Yes

 

[dixonge]

What inverter do you have ?

VertaMax 1500w pure sine

 

[dixonge]

Maybe you should give the PWM controller another try. It shouldn't be that much trouble. You can at least prove that the new setup is or is not faulty.

Thinking about it pretty seriously.

I've never owned a Class C but did have a 5th wheel. It's a little hard to understand why the onboard generator isn't wired to the onboard charger.

It is a pain to wire 2 system in one with the power converters on the rv s but I just hook one up for my buddy .

Dix must have a inverter with no charger . Or maybe no generator ?

The onboard generator and shore power connect at the auto-transfer switch which is under the bed. It charges the 2 house batteries under the steps. The solar system and battery bank are not connected to this system.

Really the bottom line is 400 watts charging a 460 ah battery is not enough power to power loads and charge battery’s

Is there a standard ratio for panel watts to battery amp hours?

 

[syclonedriver]

Thinking about it pretty seriously.


The onboard generator and shore power connect at the auto-transfer switch which is under the bed. It charges the 2 house batteries under the steps. The solar system and battery bank are not connected to this system.

Is there a standard ratio for panel watts to battery amp hours?

I got it now. My next question is why two separate systems?

 

[dixonge]

My next question is why two separate systems?

1. I'm not an electrician
2. The electrical panel/fuse panel/converter is under the bed. The access is about one foot by three feet and 1.5 feet deep.
3. The inverter I purchased has no hard-wire options.

So I just plug the shore power cable into the inverter.

Pros:

* Existing house batteries still available for emergency start (have used it a couple of times)
* MUCH easier to install

Cons:

* Can't charge battery bank from shore or generator

 

[Wellbuilt]

Thinking about it pretty seriously.


The onboard generator and shore power connect at the auto-transfer switch which is under the bed. It charges the 2 house batteries under the steps. The solar system and battery bank are not connected to this system.

Is there a standard ratio for panel watts to battery amp hours?

Well your panels give off about 6 amps each so 4 of them will give you 24 amps
Your battery is 460 ah so 10% of capacity is 46 amps so 800 watts.
This would be with your panels facing the sun .
Winter time You get half .
All this depends on how much power you draw when charging and how much you use over night ..
I think if you have room on the coach
I would add 2 solar panels this would max out your charge controlers
But only for a short time if that Dosent work you will need a new inverter / charger
You would run your genarator in the morning for 1/2 an hour or a little more
Then the solar power could give you a good charge this is a decent inverter charger it comes in a 1500 watt model.
I added one to my buddy’s trailer .
This has a AC in put for the charger

 

[dixonge]

I need to make sure the batteries recover this week (forecast is full sun this week, 50-80 temp range) then maybe add 200w of panels. Generator usage is highly unlikely as we're with a group of friends, all of whom (incuding us) value peace and quiet. None of us run our generators. Ever. (except for maintenance)

 

[Wellbuilt]

Hmmmm , it sure seams like you are not running much , I allways used 2 battery’s in my trailer
Hmmm how dose your frig lite the igniter mite have a big draw ?
The pc could draw a lot of juice
The inverter could be drawing to much power when on .
If your panels are flat on the roof you will get only about half the power.
You should get a watt meter and test every thing .
Check your tv , I use Samsung 50” it draws 35 watts the Brightness of the TVs could double the power usage
Just turn it down a little but keep a good picture .
Your inverter could be a big draw 800 watts a day or more
The inverter below would work for your needs ,and it dose burn a lot of power .great unit
If you can’t run the genarator with a good inverter charger every 2/3 days
You are better off with 2 battery’s you can use 50% +-1300 watts from them
400 watts of panels can only supply 1500 watts of power in good sun in June now would be less
Your power would need to be off for 2/3 days to charge to battery’s

 

[dixonge]

Hmmmm , it sure seams like you are not running much , I allways used 2 battery’s in my trailer
Hmmm how dose your frig lite the igniter mite have a big draw ?

Fridge is on propane always, needs some power for the control board

The pc could draw a lot of juice

I charge it up a couple of times a day usually, then run it on battery power (laptop)

The inverter could be drawing to much power when on .

I think my nighttime minimum draw is around 5amps, which includes the inverter.

If your panels are flat on the roof you will get only about half the power.

Like 90% of all RV installs, yes, they are flat.

 

[syclonedriver]

If you won't run the generator your only real option is to add more solar or possibly a windmill.

If your rig has slide-outs you could mount panels over them. Of course you would have to remove them before hitting the road. They also provide a little shade. My slide-outs were uninsulated.

How are the others in your group keeping their batteries charged?

 

[dixonge]

If your rig has slide-outs you could mount panels over them. Of course you would have to remove them before hitting the road. They also provide a little shade. My slide-outs were uninsulated.

Slide-outs have built-in awnings. Plenty of room on the roof or another couple of solar panels, at least.

How are the others in your group keeping their batteries charged?

Solar. We have our 32-foot Class C, a similar sized Lazy Daze, a medium fiver, two Airstreams, one smaller trailer, three Class B vans and one truck camper.

 

[syclonedriver]

Slide-outs have built-in awnings. Plenty of room on the roof or another couple of solar panels, at least.

Solar. We have our 32-foot Class C, a similar sized Lazy Daze, a medium fiver, two Airstreams, one smaller trailer, three Class B vans and one truck camper.

I really like those built-in awnings. Wish my rig had them, I sold it last November. I only had 200 watts on the roof, mppt, inverter/charger and a portable generator

 

[dixonge]

Assuming that SOC is inaccurate, I'm left with amp-hours. At least this is being measured at the shunt, so should be relatively accurate. Almost replaced all 'used' amp-hours yesterday, in spite of the partly cloudy sky. Today looks completely clear, so hopefully batteries can get full and I can do some equalization. Maybe then the SG will rise back to normal levels...

 

[dixonge]

Refilled everything.

Full disclosure - I refilled until I ran out of distilled water.

Yesterday I drove into town and picked up some more water. I filled all cells. For four 6v batteries it took almost six cups of water....