New camping rookies

[Missmiddle]

Hello to all - My hubby and i just purchased a 2018 Zinger 32 footer - On the land where we have the trailer there is no electricity therefore we have a generator - Is it normal that if the Generator is running and i want to put the Furnace on the blower will work for approx 5 minutes then shut off and no heat. If i shut off the Generator and put the furnace on then it works fine, is that normal? and then i can restart the Generator and furnace still works fine

Something is draining my battery - We ran the Generator for 20 hrs and when we left on Sunday the battery was almost dead - Therefore this means that when i leave the trailer i cannot leave stuff in the fridge:(

Can someone explain to me how the fridge works, if there is electricity it will override the Gas?
Must the position of fridge be on auto?

If i take it off auto the Check light comes on and a beep is heard?

Is there a way that i can choose to run off of my gas?

Sorry guys for all these stupid questions, but we are rookies and are trying to better understand and make our stays at the camper less stressful

We live in Canada and last Saturday night it was mighty cold and since the Generator was working we were not able to have heat - weather went down to 8 so not a very nice Dodo

We don't really enjoy the noise of the Generator

Jack and Diane

[charliez]

Fridge works on ammonia being heated then cooled and when it cools it gets very cold. There is an electric element or a small gas burner that makes the heat. You need 12 volts to run the fridge controls. That's the basics.


You either have bad batteries or something is draining them. It's not rocket science. First have the batteries tested. If they are good, get a little volt meter and see if they charger part of the converter is working. Then unplug fuses and add one in at a time to see what has a drain going on.

[keymastr]

If your generator is an open frame construction type then it may not work well with the electronics in your appliances such as the furnace or the battery charger. Get an inverter generator if that is the case.

Many things create a drain on the batteries such as smoke and propane detectors and circuit boards for the appliances, furnace and TV. If you are running an inverter to power household type things like hair dryers or other 110 volt things they will drain your battery very quickly. A solar panel or two will help keep them charged while you are away and allow you to keep food in the fridge on gas.

[tuffr2]

I will try to add a tiny bit of insight. I agree with the posts so far.

Here is my tiny bit of info:

RV dealers put the smallest group 24 battery on their trailers. These batteries do not last long...just a few hours if running the furnace because the blower takes a lot of electricity.

The better batteries are group 27 and better yet group 29/31. These batteries simply last longer.

You will need a larger battery box.

Now very best batteries would be 2 golf cart batteries 6v each wired together to produce 12v power. Golf cart battles are much more robust and can take many more discharge / charge cycles.

It is my guess, just a guess that your battery is toast and is not holding a charge.

I know all this so my last trailer came with a group 27 battery. I tried for a group 29/31 but they did not have one. Pricing batteries group 24 $99, group 27 $119 and group 29/31 $139 approx.

Running your generator should power your outlets, and furnace should produce heat. Never heard of that issue until now.

I hope someone else can solve that one.

[kcmusa]

Your furnace should work on generator or battery. Not sure what trailer you have, lots of people add the trailer to their signature.
put a volt meter on your battery, check voltage, should be around 12.x. now start generator, check batter voltage, should be 13.x if not you have an issue with the converter.
if your fridge is gas or 120v (do you have a residential refer?) you should have the option of selecting gas only, on mine its when the indicator is amber, 120v its green.

[CampDaven]

Originally Posted by kcmusa

Not sure what trailer you have, lots of people add the trailer to their signature.

I clicked of his avatar.
Will this help?

[NomadBD]

Originally Posted by CampDaven

I clicked of his avatar.
Will this help?

Attachment 218511

We have had our travel trailer for 8 years now. In this time, we have upgraded or batteries to to 6 volt golf cart batteries. As others have mentioned, these batteries are much more robust and we have no problems with our furnace running all night.

Having said this, we primarily camp off-grid with no connections whatsoever. As such, our daily routine is as follows- during the day, we run our inverter generator for 8 to 10 hours. After which, we shut down the generator and run off battery at night. Again, since we upgraded to the golf cart batteries we have had no problems with the setup.

Hope this helps.

[Missmiddle]

Thank you for your replies - Solar Panels on sale i believe i will invest in one therefore when we get to camper will have juice in battery - Will give the furnace a try with the generator on and see if kicks in this time

Cheers to all
Di