Community Forums

NewToRVinNJ · 10-02-2017, 10:09 AM

Hi there. We are new to rving. We have a 2017 Thor hurricane. We stayed at a state park this weekend and they have limited hours that you can run the generator. 2 hours in the am and 4 hours in the evening.

We had the inverter on when we went to bed but it started beeping around 4 hours or so after we went to bed. So we had to turn it off which meant no electric for the fridge. When we woke up the fridge was over 40. We ran the generator in the morning and rode around. When we came back around 1pm we had the inverter on. Around 6ish we turned the generator on until 8:30ish. During that time we were watching tv.

When we went to bed the inverter didn't show a full charge. My husband shut it off around 4 hours later. Again in the morning the fridge was over 40ish.

We are going again this weekend but for 3 days instead of 2. Should I use a cooler as a fridge overnight? Are we doing something wrong?

Any input would be much appreciated. Thanks!

C.Martin · 10-02-2017, 10:14 AM

More batteries...

Most RVs designed around the residential fridge have 6 to 8 deep cycle GC2 golf cart batteries.

twinboat · 10-02-2017, 10:15 AM

If you have the ice maker on, turn it off. If there is a energy saver mode, turn it on.

Did the MH sit for months on the lot ? Often they sit with dead batteries and that ruins them. It may pay to have them tested.

NewToRVinNJ · 10-02-2017, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinboat

If you have the ice maker on, turn it off. If there is a energy saver mode, turn it on.

Did the MH sit for months on the lot ? Often they sit with dead batteries and that ruins them. It may pay to have them tested.

Thanks. The ice maker was off. It was too noisy to keep on overnight. We ordered the rv new so no it didn't sit on the lot.

I guess this may be just how much time it lasts on the batteries I have.

mrgrayaz · 10-02-2017, 11:25 AM

Each time you let the batteries get down to that low (most inverters hit the low battery warning @10.5v) you are hurting them.

Do that over and over and you will eventually lose much of the capacity, and will need to replace them.

While it is possible to boondock with a residential fridge, its considerably harder, and will require more investment then a typical RV style absorption fridge. This is something most RV manufacturers wont tell you.

Plenty of posts on here, so do some searching, but expect to double, triple, or more your current battery count, invest in a battery monitoring setup (Trimetric or similar) and preferably some solar.

powerboatr · 10-02-2017, 11:34 AM

battery size and capacity.
our fridge pulls 3 amps of ac power, which is iirc is about 25-30 amps of dc load from the batteries to run the inverter.
this could be wrong on the dc amps, but last time i looked it remember the load shown on the display.
but your timeframe seems very odd, and i would suspect batteries are not holding charge, 2017 unit, are you still in the 12 month warranty? i would go see the dealer and get them to replace the batteries.
Our coach did the same thing when it was new, batteries would go dead in a few minutes with almost no load.
so dealer replaced all four

Dan McMartin · 10-02-2017, 12:22 PM

Chances are your rig has two 12v "deep cycle" batteries that aren't really deep cycle. They likely have 70-80 usable amp hours. The residential fridge, depending on size, probably uses 80-160 amp hours per day. You need more battery storage as a start. Secondly, you'll need a way to recharge those batteries. The generator will work assuming Thor installed a quality charger/converter in the coach.

Unfortunately, most RV manufacturers, even the better ones, don't do a good job of setting up coaches for more than weekend camping if they can even handle that. Start by reading the info in the link below so you understand the electrical systems in your coach and their limitations.

Boondocking with a residential fridge is totally doable with enough battery storage and the ability to recharge them effectively.

The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)

MisterT · 10-02-2017, 12:30 PM

I don't think you have a problem, allowing the fridge to stay off some of the overnight is not a deal breaker, it will get back down to temp when you have the generator and inverter powering it again. No food should come close to 'spoiling' during such a short time. Many folks turn their fridges off intentionally for the same reason, even sometimes us with 4 6v deep cycle batteries.

we went to a nice park in the Yukon, the Liard Hot Springs campground. no hookups whatsoever, and VERY severe 'generator' hours: between 8am and 9am, and between 6pm and 8pm only! Really?? I need my morning coffee WAY before 8am!

NewToRVinNJ · 10-02-2017, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by powerboatr

battery size and capacity.
our fridge pulls 3 amps of ac power, which is iirc is about 25-30 amps of dc load from the batteries to run the inverter.
this could be wrong on the dc amps, but last time i looked it remember the load shown on the display.
but your timeframe seems very odd, and i would suspect batteries are not holding charge, 2017 unit, are you still in the 12 month warranty? i would go see the dealer and get them to replace the batteries.
Our coach did the same thing when it was new, batteries would go dead in a few minutes with almost no load.
so dealer replaced all four

Yes we are still in the 12 month period so I'll bring it up with the dealer. Thanks!

brucev · 10-02-2017, 01:42 PM

Check the batteries, Thor ships with junk batteries and when we bought our 2015 Hurricane the batteries were not covered under warranty. When we first got the Hurricane we kept getting low voltage on the leveler panel. Replaced stock batteries with Interstates and the problem went away.

winniman · 10-02-2017, 04:47 PM

More, bigger batteries. You can also add some solar to help keep the batteries charged. If you want to boondock a lot, a propane fridge would have probably been a wiser choice.

twinboat · 10-02-2017, 05:26 PM

I winter on our boat in a anchorage.

Most of the 300 boats use residental fridges. The rest still use ice.

With proper batteries, care and charging it can be done.

We surely don't use dealer supplied 12 volt " hybrid " dual purpose batteries. Most use 2 to 4, GC2, 6 volt deep cycle batteries. The boats average about 400 watts of solar.

Before I installed my solar, I needed 4 to 5 hours a day of generator time. I also installed a 55 amp IOTA charger, next to my 20 amp one. The 2 chargers strained the Honda eu2000 but got the batteries charged quicker.

That covered the fridge, lights and nightime sat TV. Now, that's covered by 675 watts of series wired solar.

Someone mentioned his fridge using 3 amps, which converts to 30 amps @ 12 volt DC. That is normal usage but he didn't factor in the down time when it wasn't running. If you pay attention, you will see that it runs about 1/3 the time.

So now your 30 amps, 1/3 the time, works out to 10 AH. 10 AH from a 225 AH series pair of batteries is 11 hours of cooling before your batteries need re-charging. That's one pair of GC2s. If you can fit 4 batteries, you can watch TV, run some lights and water pump and still make it thru the night.

89sandman · 10-02-2017, 05:43 PM

If you have a onboard propane tank for your furnace I'd dump the residential and add a gas/electric. Problem solved.

PJStough · 10-02-2017, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 89sandman

If you have a onboard propane tank for your furnace I'd dump the residential and add a gas/electric. Problem solved.

That sounds expensive and unnecessary. For the cost of a absorption refer, you could buy more batteries, and battery monitor, and upgraded converter, if needed, and and a few hundred watts of solar.