AC power while traveling?

[jetlag]

We drove our new Pinnacle home last week from VA. Total time away from ground power was probably 71/2 hours if not slightly longer. The whirlpool fridge she says was as cold as when we left and the ice was intact, no sign of melting. So i am trying to get this straight in my old head lol. The 2 marine group 27 deep cycle batteries the dealer installed provided juice to the inverter and power to the fridge? Then we have the Jayco solar option, 2 panels topside, and they provided some charging juice to the batteries? she mentioned the slides seemed to be a bit slower opening once home. Of course we had only cycled them once before. If we had waited and hooked up the 50A at the house before opening them, then it would all be good? Not sure if my logic is correct, but if it is, we can travel a typical day and not worry about the fridge staying cold and depleting the batteries.

[kirkelli]

here is link to a Battery amp hour calculator. Total the amps per hour your AC stuff is consuming then calculate your draw. Remember, wet cell batteries should never be drained below 50% of their capacity.. Doing so will drastically shorten their life. Lipo Batteries do not have this concern, they can be brought down to a few percent on charge cycles. For example, if your fridge draws 15 amps you will consume 360 amp hours in a 24 hour period.

https://www.omnicalculator.com/other/battery-capacity

[jetlag]

Originally Posted by kirkelli

here is link to a Battery amp hour calculator. Total the amps per hour your AC stuff is consuming then calculate your draw. Remember, wet cell batteries should never be drained below 50% of their capacity.. Doing so will drastically shorten their life. Lipo Batteries do not have this concern, they can be brought down to a few percent on charge cycles. For example, if your fridge draws 15 amps you will consume 360 amp hours in a 24 hour period.

https://www.omnicalculator.com/other/battery-capacity

Thank You, I will check it out

[jhardin80]

Originally Posted by jetlag

We drove our new Pinnacle home last week from VA. Total time away from ground power was probably 71/2 hours if not slightly longer. The whirlpool fridge she says was as cold as when we left and the ice was intact, no sign of melting. So i am trying to get this straight in my old head lol. The 2 marine group 27 deep cycle batteries the dealer installed provided juice to the inverter and power to the fridge? Then we have the Jayco solar option, 2 panels topside, and they provided some charging juice to the batteries? she mentioned the slides seemed to be a bit slower opening once home. Of course we had only cycled them once before. If we had waited and hooked up the 50A at the house before opening them, then it would all be good? Not sure if my logic is correct, but if it is, we can travel a typical day and not worry about the fridge staying cold and depleting the batteries.

You are correct, your truck plug will also provide power to the batteries to charge while travelling. We have not had any issues so far with our batteries draining yet. Our biggest issue has been the door opening just enough to let the cold air out of the fridge. The lock just doesn't seem to be very good so we went with shoving a stuffed animal in the handles as well and that helps some but still opens sometimes.

[jetlag]

Originally Posted by jhardin80

You are correct, your truck plug will also provide power to the batteries to charge while travelling. We have not had any issues so far with our batteries draining yet. Our biggest issue has been the door opening just enough to let the cold air out of the fridge. The lock just doesn't seem to be very good so we went with shoving a stuffed animal in the handles as well and that helps some but still opens sometimes.

Awesome, thank you. Had totally forgotten about the truck providing a charge. Ours came with a whirlpool 4 door unit, and two straps for just that purpose. My bride likes having it. You can either remove or just move out of the way while still on the refrigerator.