Grannyridge
Seattle
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I have a 2003 Jayco Granite Ridge, relatively new to our family (us and our two young boys), and have a question about power consumption of our 2 deep cycle Grp 24 Die Hards (2007). We occasionally dry camp and prior to such trips plug the rv in for a few days to top off batteries. When boondocking, we are careful to switch off all lights, fans, pump and other electrical accessories (other than fridge and water heater, which are propane fueled but use 12v to power their boards). We use a 400w inverter to watch about one movie per day, and keep that turned off when not in use. Within 24 hours the battery indicator has gone from "Good" to "Fair" and I run the generator for about an hour each following morning to get it back up off of "Low" to "Fair." Never reads "good" again until after I plug it in. My question: Does this consumption and discharge sound reasonable? Something parasitic at play? Should the genset recharge and top off battery? should I run the generator longer? One alternative is to disconnect the battery at night, though I won't do that because we want alarms working. I'm interested in your thoughts. Perhaps even more frugal power conservation is the answer, but I'm interested in your experiences, GR
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skipnchar
Topeka Kansas USA
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Joined: 12/17/2003
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Not enough information to say if it's reasonable or not. You really need to get a means of assessing your batteries state of charge. Those Good/Fair/Bad idiot lights is as close to worthless as anything you can use. I'll include a link to a very good low cost means of checking your battery condition. As long as you don't discharge more than 50% you should be just fine. Good luck / Skip
Product is available at the link below, some Walmart stores or PPL Motor homes or other parts stores.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Produ........tk-AllTextSearchGroup?Ntt=battery+tester
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Cool Mike
Mendocino. Calif.
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Two Group 24s should give you about 80Amps of usable power, that's about half there total storage capacity.
We installed some LED lights in the coach to use when we dont need lots of light, I even have a 3 D call 5 LED flash light that hangs on a hook over the table at night when were just talking, playing cards or watching TV, and an LED on the wall in the bath.
If you have an analog inverter vs an all electronic unit you may not get a lot of 12V charging the two batteries off the generator, or shore power, it might be as low as 10 amps total. The all electronic type can have a charge rate of 30 amps+. And of course the trucks alternator is rated up to 130 amps when driving.
Also keep the water up in those battery's.
I switched over to an all electronic inverter with 30A of batt charge, and two 27 AGM deep cycle battery's, and that seamed to end my problems. Plus the LED lights help keep the consumption down, we like to Boondock.
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smkettner
Southern California
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You might need to upgrade the converter to charge faster.
Post the make and model of the charge converter for better info.
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MNtundraRet
Bloomington, MN
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Along with some of the preveous advice, the basic answer is that you need to run your generator 2 to 3 hours to replace what you used on your batteries. You also need a voltage meter to read the voltage at the batteries. Full charge would be 12.6 + volts. Turn off generator to get the reading. If you are not at least 12.5 volts, restart the generator and run another hour. Turn off and recheck the batteries. The "LOW" reading may only be 30% capacity for the batteries.
Mark
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Grannyridge
Seattle
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Sorry for the delay ...I've been out of town but appreciate the responses.
Based on my paperwork, it appears that I have an Iota DLS30 converter (30 amp output), but can't see it in its installed position (behind batteries, I assume). Will investigate further when I'm back at Moho.
Thanks for the link to the voltmeter, I've used your link and will do some testing.
You mention that I shouldn't go below 50% ...is the "low" light a designated percentage empty, or does it vary by battery.
Thanks.
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smkettner
Southern California
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Do you have an IQ Smart Controller for the DLS30? If not check that it has a phone jack to plug one in. You really need this to get a fast charge on the battery. IQ Smart Charger
DLS30 is good for 30 amps. With two group 24 batteries you should have about 160 amp hours. If you run them down to 40% then recharge to 90% you need 80 amp hours or at least three hours of generator time. Without the boost of the IQ controller it will take twice as long or more.
On mine the when the top light is out I am down 25%, two lights off is 40/50% area, and three lights out is pushing 60/70% discharged. I try not to let three lights go out for very long. Best to get a voltmeter and use a chart until you get a feel for it.
12 volt side of life All the battery stuff is in here. Print it out and carry it with you on the next trip in case you have trouble sleeping. 
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TreeSeeker
San Diego
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Joined: 10/10/2007
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Here is more than you ever wanted to know about batteries and charging.
http://www.phrannie.org/battery.html
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pauldub
North of Seattle
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Joined: 11/01/2005
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If you run the engine, it will charge the batteries at a much higher rate (100 amps or so) than your inverter/charger. You also need a decent meter to assess the state of charge. Also, here's another vote for you to read phrannies poop sheets.
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Grannyridge
Seattle
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Thank you all for taking the time to respond to my question. I have the "poop" sheets and the voltage reader (and much other information to digest), but you have me underway. Thanks. Granny
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