newbie question about battery life
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Forum Name: Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
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URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=14525
Printed Date: 28 Apr 2024 at 10:14pm
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Topic: newbie question about battery life
Posted By: MelissaJoy
Subject: newbie question about battery life
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2021 at 7:37am
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We have the RPod 178, and are getting ready for our first long trip with it in a week. We have 30+ hours of traveling ahead of us, and were thinking of spending the night in one of the free parking lots listed. So, if we are camping without electric (boondocking), what can we safely use in our camper for an overnight?
Could we put the slide out? Run the microwave? TV?
We are really new, so we don't have a way to measure the battery life as of yet. Not even sure how to do that.
I can tell you all really love your RPods and I appreciate all of the help you have given so far!
Melissa
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Replies:
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2021 at 7:49am
You can run the slide, lights, water pump, water heater (on propane) and the furnace overnight. You can't run the micro or air conditioner. You would need to have an inverter to run any small 120Vac loads. Some of the TVs in the newer rpods are 12V so if you have one of those you could run that. Be sure your refrigerator is on propane, it uses too much power on 12v.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: Colonel Podder
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2021 at 8:12am
We did our first parking lot stay a couple weeks ago at a Cracker Barrel. We ran the slide, TV, lights, water pump, water heater and had no issues. I think we could go much longer than one night on the battery if needed. Since I was new to this and no idea what to expect, I did disconnect the trailer from the tow vehicle. In case we did use too much 12v power, I didn't want to drain the vehicle battery to the point it wouldn't start.
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2021 R-pod 196
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Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2021 at 8:21am
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+1 to Offgrid Also note that while you travel your tow vehicle will charge your battery due to the online converter on your 178. We normally boondock and expect 6 days out of our two 12v batteries (that are 10 years old) when night temps are in the 40's and the main culprit to depleting the batteries during this time is running the furnace. Nevertheless you can see that by properly maintaining your battery(s) you can go more than 1 day without having to worry about running out of juice.
It would be highly recommended to purchase a multitester (voltmeter) to keep an eye on your battery voltage. They can be purchased at Harbor Freight for $5 or less if you have a coupon. By not draining your battery below 60% S.O.C. or 12.2v before recharging, it will last for quite some time.
Seeing you are from Michigan, you are not too far from attending the Traverse City R-Pod Rally that will happen on June 17-20. You are invited. For details go to the Events and Campout tab.
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God's pod
'11 model 177
'17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost
Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."
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Posted By: MelissaJoy
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2021 at 9:13am
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We just have one, car sized battery. With the multi-tester, do you just hook it up to the battery terminals? Do you keep it on all of the time or just when spot checking the battery?
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Posted By: Colt
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2021 at 10:21am
Touch one lead to each of the battery terminals for a spot check. You can get a rough idea of the State Of Charge (SOC) of the battery from the interior panel that also shows you the water levels.
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John
'16 R-Pod 180
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Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2021 at 10:38am
Originally posted by MelissaJoy
We just have one, car sized battery. With the multi-tester, do you just hook it up to the battery terminals? Do you keep it on all of the time or just when spot checking the battery? |
Just turn the multi-tester on when checking the battery, otherwise leave it off.
I am not an electrician and when getting the multi-tester was a bit intimidated when I saw how many options (20 total!) I could set the dial to. The one to set the dial to for a 12v battery is DVC 20 and will read volts. Hopefully you will always read above 12 volts.
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God's pod
'11 model 177
'17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost
Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."
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Posted By: MelissaJoy
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2021 at 10:58am
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So that brings up another point. The interior panel that shows the tank levels, etc does not light up at all. I was thinking that maybe a wire is loose, but maybe it's a fuse?
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Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2021 at 11:29am
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Do you have power elsewhere? Do your overhead lights work? I would first check connection at battery and double check to make sure they are tight using a wrench to tighten both terminals.
Are you hooked up to 120v shore power? Really need more information to narrow this down.
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God's pod
'11 model 177
'17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost
Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."
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Posted By: MelissaJoy
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2021 at 11:32am
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Yes, everything else in the trailer has power and we are hooked up to shore power, with an extension cord from our garage.
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Posted By: MelissaJoy
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2021 at 11:53am
Originally posted by MelissaJoy
Yes, everything else in the trailer has power and we are hooked up to shore power, with an extension cord from our garage. |
Nevermind! When I just went out to check they all work now. They weren't last winter, but we did go and check all of the fuses so maybe one was loose.
Thanks again for everyone's help! It is so appreciated!
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Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 08 Apr 2021 at 12:21pm
Good for you. Was just going to suggest fuses as one of those circuits powers your panel and if it were either blown (indicated by a glowing red light next to it) or loose, you would have experienced what you described.
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God's pod
'11 model 177
'17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost
Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 09 Apr 2021 at 6:53am
You may already know this but don't leave your battery connected over the winter unless you are plugged in to shore power. There are small parasitic loads that are always on and will discharge your battery in a week or two. Either leave the trailer connected to 120vac or disconnect the battery. If you disconnect it then you will need to recharge it occasionally as batteries self discharge over time.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: MelissaJoy
Date Posted: 09 Apr 2021 at 7:33am
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Thank you, we did remove it and brought it in the garage last winter and used a trickle charger on it over the winter (along with our motorcycle batteries). It is something that I didn't know originally, and we drained it last fall when we didn't have it plugged into shore power.
I like learning new things, and there is so many little details that go into maintaining a TT.
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Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 09 Apr 2021 at 12:15pm
I found that on our LiFePO4 battery, I am using about 20% overnight running lights, a small fan, and the furnace (some). The refrigerator was on propane. I think before we go for extended boondocking, I would want to add another 100 AH LiFePO4 battery or trade the 100AH one for a 200AH one. However, if we are driving every day, it is not as critical as it gets charged. I also have generator and solar alternatives if we are staying somewhere, so I will likely save the money and stick with what I have.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...
http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 10 Apr 2021 at 8:13am
StephenH, as you can safely take your Li battery down to 80% depth of discharge it sounds to me like what you already have is fine. That should give you 4 days autonomy, and either a 100-120 watt solar kit or your generator should be able to extend that indefinitely.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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