house batterys and winter time

[samcrimm]

Well my house batterys ran out last night,because of (i believe) the furnace fan running a lot. Now the po only had 2 batteries i have room for 3. so what the best way to handle this? Add a battery to last all night? Run the gen? Figure out why the auto starter is notworking?

i dont plan on winterizing, florida in january. And more traveling to do locality so I also have a water line to a faucet exposed to the cold. If i drain the water i would not have a problem, but thats not going to happen. Heat tape is one thing. Insulate is only so good. My black & gray tanks have pad heaters.... faucet is 3' away.

Thanks
Sam

[bushpilot]

last house batteries i bought i got from auto zone - just 12vdc deep cycles (biggest they had and i could fit).

if you're making your own cables i highly recommend this hydraulic crimp tool - its inexpensive and works VERY well - I've made at least 2 dozen crimps w/ it on large 0 gauge cables (car stereos etc), catch it on sale and you can buy it for about 39 bucks -

Hydraulic Wire Crimping Tool

how do you mean you have exposed water line? i have an "out door" shower - and we've been down to 20 degrees (low 40s during day) and never had an issue. I don't winterize but were in texas too.

our holding tanks are not insulated or heated - always thought about it, but we never see cold enough temps....luckily our storage is enclosed and rarely dips below 40 (even when its in the 20s and 30s outside.

i would suggest, installing some electric radiant heaters (i use some that are oil filled)....two of them can keep the coach 70* when its in the low 40s.

Its a good practice to open cabinet doors / bathroom doors, doors that expose under sink so the heat can circulate into those areas (where plumbing is)....and old trick is to stick an incandescent light bulb in the area & turn the light on....the bulbs throw off a fair amount of heat and can keep the area warm enough to prevent a burst pipe.

Can you install a shut off valve (inside) on that exposed water line (just the water off to the exposed line) and drain it....otherwise all you can do is insulate and maybe heat tape. If you don't use it or need it - id drain it.

i would also investigate the type of crimp (PEX) fittings that are used on your coach and buy some crimps and the tool used to crimp the rings/clamps etc....also might be good to have some shark bite splice fittings (so you can just out the leak and repair w/ new water line & shark bite fittings.

[samcrimm]

Here is a picture of the valve outside, I also looked inside the bathroom cabinet and no cut off. So today I drained the line to the valve I think..... Will check it later and see if water is back.
I have some heat in the rv and plan on more, forgot about the light bulb hanging, did that in the well house.


So Don does your house batteries last all night with the heat on?

Sam

[bushpilot]

Originally Posted by samcrimm

So Don does your house batteries last all night with the heat on?

Sam

never tried that...but i bet my 3 batteries wouldn't be able to run the heater all night.

[38Chevy454]

I have 2 deep cycle coach batteries and they are able to keep the heater up and still have enough to start generator in the morning. Only one morning did the frig say low DC, but that was just while heater was running, and voltage came back up once heater went off.

I just got back from Albuquerque to Cincinnati and back trip for Thanksgiving, it was mid-high 20's many nights. Burned through propane on many evenings, as several overnight stops without any electric.

[bushpilot]

NICE ! maybe my 3 deep cycle coach batteries will run the heater longer than i thought! good to know.

how are you measuring your battery voltage? I added a small 12v panel meter like this $8 dollar one

I have one of those 12vdc panel meters outside too....next to the outside TV / Entertainment system.

[38Chevy454]

I don't have a voltage gage, I would have to measure with my meter at the batteries. Putting one like you have is probably a good idea. My monitor panel just has LED scale, and I have no real idea what the levels for battery charge represent. I guess as long as I can keep heater running, and then fire generator in morning it means it has enough.

[bushpilot]

the little dc volt meter is pretty basic but it'll give you some indication of where you are.
initially i was using a plug in meter (simple crap, but very effective)...and it can be removed if the display or LEDs are too bright at night. Amazon plugin DC Volt Meter LINK

A while ago i installed some AC (volt / amp) panel meters....one per 50a leg...works well and even my wife knows to watch them when she's gonna flat iron her hair and make coffee at the same time "don't exceed 30a combined (between both meters) honey"....or go for it you go 50a PER meter (leg)

simple stuff (AC meters were about 10 bucks each and use an inductive pickup).

as you can see in the picture below....top portion of the LCD (back lit in blue) is AC Volts & the BOTTOM portion of each meter is AC Amps.

left most meter (leg #1) is showing 118 volts ac / 10.3a
middle meter (leg #2) is showing 121vac and no amp load

the right most (plug-in) DC volt meter is showing 13.29 volts (converter charger is on, since i was on shore power).

[samcrimm]

Well i put the third battery in and I found the second battery connection dirty and so cleaned the termials up and battery greese and it made a big difference,so far only one night the fan slowed down and the gen would not start without the emergency help.
So i am happy about the third battery. now i have to get the auto start working and i think thats fixes the electrics.

[hot rod]

Our camper only has a single deep cycle battery, and it will run the furnace through the night. BUT. I'm usually up late and run the generator for tv and such until I go to bed. I make sure all lights are off, and keep the thermostat about 60 on a cold night (we like a pile of blankets anyway). That has worked fine with nights down just below freezing and still start the generator in the morning. But I also have a Honda 1000 in the compartment for emergencies in case the generator doesn't start in the morning.

You could also connect the coach batteries to the engine batteries with a manual disconnect switch so you can start the generator in a pinch.

[samcrimm]

The generator has the emergency switch for starting when the house batteries are too low. Jumps from the truck batteries. Glad it does!

Sam