I have an 2002 295. Unless I have missed something in the brief time I have owned the coach, and please correct me if I'm wrong, there is no way to determine the level of charge of the coach batteries correct? On an upcoming trip I will be boondocking a good bit so I will be on the batteries more than I have ever used them before. My plan is to run a couple of "test" days here at the house to see how the coach performs. Plan is to turn on the lights, the tv, etc., make a cup of coffee in the morning, make dinner..you get the idea. The goal is to see the level of the coach batteries after a night of normal battery usage, turn on the generator and see how long it takes for the generator to charge the batteries back to 100%. It would be nice to know where I am before I start the test, before I start the generator, and knowing when to shut off the generator. ( if on auto generator will turn itself off correct?) I y'all could let me know what I am missing, or how you have addressed this issue I would appreciate it.
Thanks,
Finally cold in Texas! YEA!
dave
Xantrex Link Pro works pretty well. Keeps track of amp hours left and % of charge.
Smartgauge Battery Monitor | Balmar (http://www.balmar.net/?page_id=15245)
I put one of these in our 1991 U300, worked great. No shunts to install. I just ordered another one for our new Roadtrek. It learns your battery condition and usage patterns. 5% accurate after a few cycles.
We use:
TriMetric Battery System | Bogart Engineering (http://dev.bogartengineering.com/products/trimetric)
Seems to do a good job. :D
The Auto Gen start will start at 12.2+/- vdc and should shut it's self down when the batteries charged. Lots of threads on that topic. Many believe that recharging to 80% from 50% is the most efficient use of resources - diesel as your batteries over 80% gits you to the point of diminishing returns. The batteries should be recharged to 100% but not every time you fire up the gen set to recharge. Lots of threads here about auto gen start. The Search function is your friend. :-D
And, when dry camping, you should not plan on trying to bring the batteries back 100%, except once a week.
Most efficient use of generator run time is discharge to 50%, recharge to 85%, repeat.
Yes, there are quite a few sophisticated monitoring systems out there. And, if not familiar with "living off the grid" and you are planning to do a lot of dry camping, likely a good idea. But, by paying attention to battery voltage, you can do a reasonable job of estimating SOC (State Of Charge). With batteries at rest (no charging and no discharging for at least 1 hour) 50% SOC is 12.2 VDC.
If you are camping with others who are also dry camping, consider "buddy charging". Alternate running the generator. For the guy not running his generator that time, turn off all loads except the inverter/charger. Use a HD extension cord and just plug into one of the exterior outlets on the other coach. This reduces generator run times by 50% and is better for the generator, as it gives a better load to the generator that is running-- important if just running the generator under light loads.
I would add to Brett's 12.2 volt info, that batteries are more resistive to charging as they get 'fuller', so it takes longer to get the last amps back into the battery. And it could take over 24 hours to get the last 10% or 20% back into the batteries. So in the end, with all of our 'big' batteries, we only get to use about 30% of their capacity between 50 & 80%. BTW, this is similar to the way Toyota Prius manages their huge battery pack, before starting their gas engine.
Our way of surviving our two weeks of Quartzsite boondocking is to NOT run high amp appliances on the inverter, because this only brings the batteries down, which then we must just put back with generator. We start our generator to run our microwave, coffee-pot, hairdryer, toaster, any appliance that creates heat, etc. And leave the inverter for all the other comfort draws, like DVR, TV, computers, router, and electric refrigerator.
We also run our generator every evening, shut all off except for fridge overnight, and run gen again in morning.
I LOVE this forum....wow!!! THANK YOU for the replies.
The manual that came with the old heart freedom 25 says the basically the same thing as Wolfe posted. 50-90%.
The batteries condition becomes the main thing in dry camping.
Oem on all of our coaches were 8g8'd's for a reason. Double the cycle life at the same depth of discharge as AGM's.
Which means at a certain point in use the gels will have more capacity left than the AGM's.
Learned long ago in the Rv biz to replace the batteries in every used coach I was going rv'ing in.
And cherry out the cabling.
I let the medium solar we have on the roof do the last changing from 90 to 100%
I learned a whole lot about charging and capacities and trons and such when I researched my solar install. HIGHLY recommend the Bogart Trimetric, it tells you everything you need to know. In the amps setting, it will tell you what the usage is for your currently energized appliances, and helps you to do an "audit" to figure what uses the most.
Through an audit, found my table lamps are just using .1 amps while overheads use 1.1 amps. My coffee maker sucks 60amps while making coffee (15 minutes), so it uses 15 amp hours (60 amps/ quarter hour).
Your batteries have a set amount of amp hours of charge. Knowing what you use, and what level the batteries are at helps you feel better and can help make informed decisions on use/charging.