Electrical Question

[gator67]

We are hesitant to dry camp because we have had battery problems in the past, and I don't feel confident that the batteries can take us through the night just runnning on the inverter.

We are at the Flexsteel service facility waiting for our chair to be repaired, and we are running on the inverter. The Xantrex display shows we are at somewhere between -9 and -16 amps of usage. Since I have about 360 usable amp-hours, I figure the batteries ought to supply power for quite a while.

Here it is 4 hours later, and the Xantrex display shows the batteries at 12.2 volts, but when I push the button that lights the red lights for the battery status, I'm down to a quarter.

The batteries are only a couple of years old, and we were on 50 amps all night before we unplugged so the batteries should have been fully charged. Maybe I need an education, but what is the Xantrex display telling me, and does the fact that the batteries are down to 1/4 power, does that mean I can only last about 4-6 hours on the inverter? Except for the phantom voltage, the only thing electrical we have on is the refrigerator.

Can I get a "tutorial" or direction, to know when/if I have a problem, and what my instruments are telling me?

[gator67]

We are hesitant to dry camp because we have had battery problems in the past, and I don't feel confident that the batteries can take us through the night just runnning on the inverter.

We are at the Flexsteel service facility waiting for our chair to be repaired, and we are running on the inverter. The Xantrex display shows we are at somewhere between -9 and -16 amps of usage. Since I have about 360 usable amp-hours, I figure the batteries ought to supply power for quite a while.

Here it is 4 hours later, and the Xantrex display shows the batteries at 12.2 volts, but when I push the button that lights the red lights for the battery status, I'm down to a quarter.

The batteries are only a couple of years old, and we were on 50 amps all night before we unplugged so the batteries should have been fully charged. Maybe I need an education, but what is the Xantrex display telling me, and does the fact that the batteries are down to 1/4 power, does that mean I can only last about 4-6 hours on the inverter? Except for the phantom voltage, the only thing electrical we have on is the refrigerator.

Can I get a "tutorial" or direction, to know when/if I have a problem, and what my instruments are telling me?

[chicken legs]

http://www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm check this web site out for tons of info. be sure to go to page 2 for inveter info, i.e. amp draws , amp hrs e.t.c. Refrigerators can use alot of power fast, you might consider going on propane when on inveter thats what I do when Boondocking.

[Rocky Larson]

I am sure others are more qualified for supplying your "tutorial" request. However without knowing your set up and values I can offer one suggestion. If your Xantrex is showing 9 to 16 amps of "AC" usage then you are drawing down 90 to 160 amps of "DC" from the batteries. If your battery bank has a total of 720 amp-hours giving you the 360 "Usable" (don't go below 50%, 12.18V)then you are down to your observable 4 hours. Hope this is right and more so that it helps. I recommend Bill and Jan Moeller's book "RV Electrical Systems".

Good Luck

[gator67]

Well... I'm embarrassed. I'm not sure what happened... either I pressed the wrong button or my red light indicators lied, but... when I checked the status an hour later, I still had 3/4 of my battery power. But, thanks for the recommendations... I'm sure I'll turn out smarter