Charging coach battery from truck

[buggyman20]

I have a 2021 Jayco 321rsts. It has the gen prep. I hooked up an inverter to run the gas / elec fridge on electricity while driving. I am getting 13+ volts dc from the plug on the truck but not getting it to the battery. Can someone help with charging the coach battery from the truck?

[ARoamer]

2 way gas / 120AC fridge, run it on gas, save your battery power!
If you are plugged into your TV your RV battery should be seeing around 7 amps when TV is running.
Have you checked amp draw on inverter and amp output in wiring from TV?
Your inverter may be using more than your TV will supply with factory wiring. There are ways to get more amps to your RV battery that involve installing heavier gauge wire and dedicated plugs.

[kirkelli]

Originally Posted by buggyman20

I have a 2021 Jayco 321rsts. It has the gen prep. I hooked up an inverter to run the gas / elec fridge on electricity while driving. I am getting 13+ volts dc from the plug on the truck but not getting it to the battery. Can someone help with charging the coach battery from the truck?

you are only gong to charge 5-8 amps off your tow vehicle while towing. Your fridge should run off DC witch would be better than using your inverter. How did you check if voltage is not getting to your battery? I assume you disconnected battery to check ?? Since you are on factory warranty let your service people deal with that.

[buggyman20]

The fridge pull 3.3amps on 120v ac. I forgot to check the amps being put out from the truck. I will check that tomorrow. It runs on 120v ac or propane. I unplugged everything and checked to see what voltage I was getting back to the battery. Thanks

[Shokyle1]

3.3 amps at 120 is substantial more than 5-8 amps at 12 volts. It would be closer to 36 amps at 12 volts needed to just maintain.

[JimD]

Originally Posted by Shokyle1

3.3 amps at 120 is substantial more than 5-8 amps at 12 volts. It would be closer to 36 amps at 12 volts needed to just maintain.

x2

Inverters simply suck power from batteries. Your tv will probably never be able to keep up with the amp draw from the inverter. The battery will be drained after a short period.

Use the propane. Your tv will then only need to keep the battery topped off. Yes you can increase the wire gauge to increase the amp capability but you may not get the results you desire.

A quick rule of thumb is that the inverter's amp input is 10 times its amp output. Actually it is worse than that but just to get in the rough area, 10 times is a good start. 3 amps out is at least 30 amps in from the 12 volts.

[kirkelli]

[QUOTE=JimD;997739]x2

Inverters simply suck power from batteries. Your tv will probably never be able to keep up with the amp draw from the inverter. The battery will be drained after a short period.

U/QUOTE]

A DC DC Charger will do the trick. They are a job to install but worth it.. I put a 40 Amp in mine but didn't do it to power anything while driving. We do a lot of dry camping and this is the best way to go to get quick reliable charges to the battery bank. It would easily keep up with low current draws such as a fridge.

[kirkelli]

[QUOTE=JimD;997739]x2

Inverters simply suck power from batteries. Your tv will probably never be able to keep up with the amp draw from the inverter. The battery will be drained after a short period.

U/QUOTE]

A DC DC Charger will do the trick. They are a job to install but worth it.. I put a 40 Amp in mine but didn't do it to power anything while driving. We do a lot of dry camping and this is the best way to go to get quick reliable charges to the battery bank. It would easily keep up with low current draws such as a fridge.

[CAG]

Originally Posted by buggyman20

I have a 2021 Jayco 321rsts. It has the gen prep. I hooked up an inverter to run the gas / elec fridge on electricity while driving. I am getting 13+ volts dc from the plug on the truck but not getting it to the battery. Can someone help with charging the coach battery from the truck?

I am wondering why you want to use the electric while traveling? The amount of propane used is minimal. We travel with the gas on and keeping the fridge cold and have never had an issue. Seems like a lot of fuss about nothing.



And just for info, you will not recharge batteries while driving. There is just not enough coming from the alternator to do that.

[Lake Huron]

[QUOTE=JimD;997739]x2

Inverters simply suck power from batteries. Your tv will probably never be able to keep up with the amp draw from the inverter. The battery will be drained after a short period.

Snip...

My Northpoint has a residential fridge that is on it's own seperate battery system from the factory. I had to upgrade my Xantrex inverter to one with a battery charging option in it. Those get charged when connected to shore power. I asked a tech at Xantrex about connecting it to the truck charging system and he highly advised AGAINST doing that.
I got a pair of 6v batteries connected in series that run the fridge and I can easily go 3-4 days.

[buggyman20]

I have never used 6v golf cart batteries. Please give me the high and low points of these batteries. What is the best brand and size to get?