Re: [A/S] More Battery... meters

[Jim Dunmyer <jdunmyer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Frank,
 One correction: a modern converter/charger like the Inteli-Power does
not hum at all. It does have a very quiet fan that doesn't come on at
all unless the unit is loaded to more than 20% of its rating, but is
otherwise stone silent.

You're 100% correct about analog voltmeters or those notorious lights
('full', 3/4, 1/2, 'low') that some RVs have. They're not good for much
more than telling if there's a battery actually installed, and you can
figure that out by simply turning on a light. <<grin>>

Joy had another good point: if you're planning on much boondocking, you
should attempt to lighten the load on the battery(s). In our Avion, I
installed flourescent fixtures where we need a lot of light and the
usage factor is fairly high: the main living area and over the sink and
stove. Then, I went to all of the incandescent fixtures that had 2 bulbs
and replaced the 'first' one with a 1/2-amp bulb instead of the original
1.5 amp job. That way, when we don't need a lot of light (as in getting
dressed in the bedroom area), we can switch the fixture to "low" and use
much less power than before, yet have the 'high' setting still
available. Our TV is a 5" Radio Shack color set that I've had for years.
It draws only 1 amp instead of the 3 amps that a 9" would use. Although
I've thought about replacing it with a larger set, it's actually usable
enough for the little bit we watch TV while on the road. If we watch TV
for even 2 hours, the little set saves 4 AH/day of usage.

With the above moves, we have a calculated usage of about 20 amp-hours
per day. The best part is that the e-Meter agrees; during our recent
travels (all of August on the road), our normal usage was 18-20 AH
during the evening and early morning. The 2 solar panels easily made
that up during the day, most of it by noon. If we had a good controller
on the solar system, the e-Meter would think that the batteries are
'full' by 2:00 PM. As it is, the controller starts cycling the solar
array "on" and "off" because of the rising voltage, so it takes several
more hours to top off the charge.

Note that during the entire month, we NEVER plugged in to shore power
and we never lacked for electricity. We even experienced some rainy,
cloudy weather, but never discharged the batteries more than 40 AH. I
figure that the pair of Group 24 batteries that fit the OEM battery tray
are good for at least 70 AH without harm, and we could probably run them
down 100 AH or thereabouts on occassion without damage. Of course,
knowing the usage, we could conserve a bit more if we needed to stretch
the charge.

I check my batteries only a couple of times per year. They seem to need
water about every other time, and then not a lot. Using a regular load
tester, they show that they're about the same as new. They're just plain
ol' "RV/Marine Deep Cycle" batteries, nothing to brag about at all, but
I am hoping for at least 5 years of usage before replacement becomes
necessary. Maybe more if we don't screw up and leave a light on for
several days or something stupid like that. The e-Meter will help
protect against such a move, as it's mounted where we can see it very
easily and I look at it often.

You can see my control panel and e-Meter installation at
http://www.oldengine.org/members/jdunmyer/avion

                                      <<Jim>>