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Old 01-22-2020, 09:31 AM   #21
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I have to manage 12v power in my trailer and in my sailboat. With my modest battery setup (two 6v's) in each, I avoid inverters. Sailboat doesn't have one, and in our trailer, I have a little 75W inverter plugged into the 12v receptacle behind the television, and use it to power a 32 inch television. When the television's not on, I turn the inverter off.

I wonder how much your 1000w inverter draws when it's not powering anything.

Inverters aren't magic. Our mindset is that, when we're not plugged into AC, we use 12v and propane only (except for the television, anyway).
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Old 01-23-2020, 06:18 AM   #22
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I wish there was a list of low wattage items available to everyone. My wife uses a 1000 watt hair dryer on our solar system quite frequently. In regards to coffee, we use this "Keurig" coffee maker, and it's only 800 watts: https://amzn.to/2Rlu5vZ

You do NOT HAVE to percolate coffee in an RV.

I run it off my solar system/ Inverter, with absolutely no issues at all.

If you ever decide to upgrade your system to become more robust, I do offer an outline of what I did here: https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...tml#post825771

Caution, not for the faint of dollars, but I have a family member with a medical condition that requires more electricity than others.
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Old 01-23-2020, 08:54 AM   #23
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Alright so another stupid question... My motorhome is 20 miles away right now so I cant look but should my batteries be deep cycle? Meaning that I should not do extensive damage to the batteries if I run them below 50%?

Then also, how do I figure out how many amp hours I have?
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Old 01-23-2020, 10:43 AM   #24
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So the easiest way to measure what you have is be reasonably certain your battery is at 100% power. That means charged to say 13.8 volts ish. Then put a known load on the battery. Use a volt meter that has an AMP meter built in, or use a 1,000 watt inverter and put a 400 watt load on it or something.

I like to use a 400 Watt heater I have. Then pay close attention to the voltage of the battery. You are looking for how long it can sustain a known load till the voltage reads 12.2

That's 50% of a lead acid battery.

Typically you will get about an hour depending on age and other factors.

The difference between cheap lead acid batteries and some of the better battery chemistries is that a LIFPO4 and Lithium Ion battery will typically go 3 hours on a 400 Watt load down to 10 volts or even less and still withstand being charged back up to over 14 volts.

If you are going to run this test, you would save yourself a lot of grief putting one of these in: https://amzn.to/2Gnpxi5

It will save your battery from over discharging and thereby essentially killing its ability to recharge.
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Old 01-25-2020, 01:14 PM   #25
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CreekLife,,,,where did you put the second battery on your Greyhawk. I have a Greyhawk 31fs and I do not have room for a second battery...
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Old 01-25-2020, 02:19 PM   #26
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190w solar is great for keeping batteries topped off but wont do much of anything else. Run an LED light or two for a bit that's it... 1000w inverter is great for a tv, laptop, small fan, lights that's about it. And really only one or two of the items mentioned at a time. 2 12volt batteries that are more or less stock options on your rv are likely 65 to 85 amp hours each. So if they are 85 amp hours each you get 170 amp hours total. The catch is your inverter needs 12 volts or more to run. Normally about 12.2 to 12.4. If your volts drop below that the inverter will shut off. 12 volt items need close to 12 vots to run. Some will run all the way down to 10 volts where other items wont. So your 170 amp hours will be at about 12.2volts with 50% of the used amps. That means you really only have 85 usable amp hours. Not to mention 12volt deep cycle batteries will loose life cycles if run down below 12 vots (about 50%). The standard 12 volt deep cycle battery only has around 300 cycles of total life. So if you run it down past 50% 1 time it could reduce that to 200 cycles if you are even able to recover it the 1 time. Cycles are just that charge cycles. So the batteries is depleted by more the 25% and then recharged. That's a cycle. Its vital with 12 deep cycle batteries to keep them full as much as possible. This extends the life by a lot. My recommendation is if you intend to boondock more then 1 night at a time, or run any kind of coffee maker, hair dryer, toaster, or electric heater you have some upgrades to do. Generators are great but you wouldn't wanna run it all day. With your current set up I would get at least a 2000w generator and run it in the morning for coffee then in the afternoon or evening to top off your batteries before bed. Doing this you could probably make it a few days. I would look into more battery storage capacity. Like 2 6 vots of at least 120 amp hours. 6 volts hold a deeper charge and are not damaged as bad when dropped below 12 volts. 6 volt AGM (golf cart batteries) they also have closer to 600 cycles or more before needing replaced. I currently run 4 of them and have had them going on 3 years and more the 300 cycles with no visible loss of capacity. I would in time double your solar. As close to 400 watts as possible or more is better. 400 watts is approximately 20 amps of charge per hour that's not bad. Again the solar dose nothing at night and dose nothing if you dont have capacity in your batteries. I've got 500 watts of solar and it seems too keep up pretty well without using high draw items. You inverter also could use a doubling. 2000 watts will run pretty much anything you hook to it as long as you have the battery capacity. My setup currently has a 1200 watt inverter just for my residential fridge, and a 2500 watt inverter for mostly everything else (no AC, or microwave) AC and microwaves pull too much amps to satine use for more then a few mins so no point in having them hooked to the inverter. Also both my inverters are independent so one or the other can be turned off and on at a time. When not using the inverter turn it off. It will drow power even when nothing is being used on it.. just do upgrades in steps and it wont cost that much spread over time. Start with capacity (batteries) this is the key to longer stays. Then look at additional power (solar, more efficient generators). And last look at efficiency and capability in inverters. Many inverters say 2000w surge power but are 1000w sustained power. You want higher sustained power for your use surge power is good for fridges, power equipment, AC's. You want pure sine wave not modified.. hope this helps happy camping.. FYI the wife's hair dryer, and your coffee maker are not going to work at all with your current set up (except with the generator running) both items need 1500 watts to work..
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Old 01-25-2020, 03:45 PM   #27
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Somebodies "enter" key is missing...
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Old 01-25-2020, 07:51 PM   #28
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Right in the battery house the 1st one is in. I will post a pic when I get to it
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Old 01-25-2020, 09:52 PM   #29
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Originally Posted by CreekLife View Post
I know it will be a long answer and there are several variables but please someone help me understand my Jayco grewhawks power.

190watt go power solar with controller
1000 watt inverter - factory
Added second house battery

Do I have to be concerned about boondocking for a few days and still run everything?
What can’t I power while boondocking?
Should I always run the inverter?

Electricity confuses me. We just want to watch some tv and run a coffee maker and maybe cook a meal. I’m guessing I can’t run the A/C?

Thanks from a newbie
We recently bough the a Greyhawk and immediately realized its batteries capacity was not meant to boondock. One 12 volt battery, 1000 watt inverter.

I replaced the battery if came with and installed (2) 12-volt blue top Optima batteries and a 160 watt go power solar panel and controller, and still those 12-volt batteries didn't do it. I replaced those with (4) 225 amp 6-volt deep cycle batteries. I also added another solar panel, 190 watt. Total 350 watts of solar and 450 amps of power. I haven't upgraded the inverter yet, but 1000 watts is nearly worthless.

For 4 6- volt batteries...I put one battery in the factory battery tray, modified to hold this larger battery, one in the storage compartment next to it, and two in a diamond plate truck bed (side mount) box mounted to the rear square bumper. The box also holds "stuff".

If you want good stand by power for boondocking, install 6-volt batteries, it will double your standby power time.

Regards,
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Old 01-25-2020, 10:14 PM   #30
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We off-grid camp (boondock) a lot, and love it!

We have 600 watts of solar on the roof (2x300 watt panels), and an MPPT charge controller. That keeps our two 6 volt Trojan batteries topped off nicely. Usually we are fully recharged by 10am, and by noon if it's overcast. With the sun overhead, we get close to 40 amps into the batteries and inverter. We are not focused on being energy efficient because we know we will have lots-a-watts to burn as soon as the sun comes up.

One thing not mentioned...
Larger inverters draw more idle power. In other words, if you only need 50 watts to run the TV, it's usually more efficient to run a smaller inverter. We have a 400 watt pure sine-wave one that runs just about everything we need...TV, DVD player, CPAP, air filter, etc. If we need more power to run the microwave or vacuum, we switch to our larger one, but that happens rarely.

Running lots of stuff at night...TV, DVD, Lights, CPAP, air filter, Furnace sometimes, we are usually only down to (at the lowest) 12.2 or 12.3 in the morning, depending on how much the furnace had to run. Those Trojans are great batteries! They are 3 years old now. Of course the fridge and water heater are on propane.

If coffee is desired, we put a perc on the gas stove (or out on the fire)...the old fashioned way. You don't need electricity for coffee.

Big inverters are nice, but small sine-wave inverters are usually more efficient.

BTW, unless you have an automatic system, ALWAYS turn your coach converter/charger breaker OFF when you are trying to run on your solar or batteries and inverter!

We do carry a 2kw Honda generator, but have never needed to use it when camping. Even on days when it rained nearly all day.

Dave O.
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Old 01-26-2020, 01:16 PM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CreekLife View Post
I know it will be a long answer and there are several variables but please someone help me understand my Jayco grewhawks power.

190watt go power solar with controller
1000 watt inverter - factory
Added second house battery

Do I have to be concerned about boondocking for a few days and still run everything?
What can’t I power while boondocking?
Should I always run the inverter?

Electricity confuses me. We just want to watch some tv and run a coffee maker and maybe cook a meal. I’m guessing I can’t run the A/C?

Thanks from a newbie
My buddy has a Jayco. No solar, but he has a factory 1000 watt inverter. He only has two plugs that are powered by the inverter. I believe he said they were his TV plugs. Maybe yours is different.
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Old 01-28-2020, 06:17 PM   #32
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As Creeklife mentioned, the inverter only powers a few outlets. I mapped out which outlets were powered by going around with a plug-in night light (non-photocell). My coach was different than what others reported so I think it is important to find out your specific configuration.
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