Power management?

[JimM68]

Sunday, I put the Knight in my regular outdoor storage facility.
As I hope to use her a lot this year, and I hate to "pack" I kept the big norcold side by side running.
As we've still had some cold weather, particularly at night, I kept the furnaces on (set at 50 degrees) and kept the wet bay heater on (it kicks in at 40 degrees.

I turned off the disconnect switch inside the door. and also made sure the inverter was off.

When I went to get the coach Wednesday after work, the battery voltage was 12.1. I think another day would haved drained em dry. Voltage droped under 10 while I cranked the genny, but she did start. With 100 amps out of the charger, she charged up fast, charger went to float in just a few hours.

Ths is an 08, with 4 original 6 volt batteries. I'd expected it to be able to run the fridge on propane for weeks, and I don't think it got so cold as to run the furnaces much.

Any tips or tricks on monitoring power usage?
I'd love some sorta ampere hour meter that would track what I'm pulling out of, and maybe even putting into, the house battery bank.
What should I expect for this system?
Can auto genny start (it was an option) be retrofit to my magnum charger/inverter?

[Shadowcatche]

One of the best, reportedly, is the Bogart Engineering | manufacturer of the TriMetric battery monitor which measures volts, amps and amp-hours for battery systems and the Pentametric will allow you to retrieve data using a computer.

[Robi.1014]

Well, if you got a lot of money, a "data logger" is an expensive way to monitor current and voltage over time, logging same to a PC's hard drive, for example. See PowerSight - Power Quality Analyzers

There are even apps for your ipad, it seems. Also do a google search on "Fluke logging multimeter"

If you want to talk a lot cheaper, then you give up the "logging" of data over time in favor of instantaneous readings....such as your eyeball reading at at ammeter. If this topic of interest? There are several ways to skin this cat.

[JimM68]

If I had a "lot of money" I'd spend it on bigger / better / more batteries...lol.

You'd think someone would make a gizmo that was an ammeter with a clock?
It could count ampere hours. It could then tell me if my batteries are providing the ampere hours they should, and if my coach is sucking up more than it should?

Forgot yesterday, the water heater was on too. I wouldn't expect that to use much electricity though.

[bluepill]

Jim - Water heater uses a lot of electricity. One simple option is to buy a cheap 12 volt hour meter. Attach it to each load for a few days under various conditions to find the actual run time and multiply by the amp draw. That way you would know actual amp hours and can build a chart to compute usage.

[KIX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimM68 Forgot yesterday, the water heater was on too. I wouldn't expect that to use much electricity though.

If you left the water heater on LP then it will use some 12vdc. 3 days running the reefer and the water heater (lighting the pilot) sounds about right to me for your 4 - 6volt batt bank. Especially if a furnace came on and ran the blower

[JimM68]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KIX If you left the water heater on LP then it will use some 12vdc. 3 days running the reefer and the water heater (lighting the pilot) sounds about right to me for your 4 - 6volt batt bank. Especially if a furnace came on and ran the blower

hmmm, ok. Wish it would last longer.
I'm hoping to leave the fridge on and stocked aqll summer. 'course any day now I won't need to worry about anything freezing, so i'll leave the water heater and furnace off.

Any guess on how long she'll run the fridge?
Judging from the noises it makes, that norcold has more than one fan it it, one inside and one outside I think.

What about upgrading that magnum inverter to have automatic genny start?

[Lukeaa]

Might be cheaper to move to a storage lot where you can plug into 110V.

[bluepill]

Might consider solar as another option since you store outdoors. Not good in an area that gets regular snow unless you want to baby sit the unit.

[JimM68]

I did some searching, it is possible to buy the auto genny start option for the magnum. I'll also have to change the remote panel, as mine seems to be the cheap one and is missing a couple buttons.

Magnum also has a battery monitor addon, I'll look into that too. So far haven't found anyplace that retails these things, nor any pricing.

[wiscjc]

Jim, where do you buy the auto genny start kit? I have the magnum, and a 08 Ambasssador, would like the auto start??

[Coma]

FWIW Onan sells an auto start retrofit that is wireless for their Quiet Diesels. It looks like a simple install.

[Bob (WA0MQE)]

JimM... that 12 Volt Wet Bay heater is a battery killer. It pulls a lot of current, I think it's in the 10 to 12 amp range, maybe even more. It stipulates in the owners manual NOT to use it unless you have the rig plugged in. It will drain the batteries in a very short time.

[JimM68]

Ya... I know on the wet bay heater. But I did not want to winterize the rig, and of course I couldn't let her freeze... And the DW didn't want her in the driveway too long, the old biddies in our HOA would start griping.

The bay heater is supposed to light off at 42 degrees. And I left the main furnace on 50, the water heater on gas, and the fridge on gas. Precautions I had to take to prevent a possible freeze.

From Magnum's website, the modified sine 2000 wattg inverter/chargers in our 08 monaco's are still current. They list the AGS module in accessories on the website. My remote panels doesn't have the AGS button, they list the panel that does also. They also list a part number for a power monitor of some sort, it uses a shunt like the others linked in this thread, but works with and becomes part of the systems in our monaco coaches all ready. Magnum's site lists a bunch of dealers in the "where to buy" We're camping this past week, but when I get back will dso some internet and phone work to track em down.