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Old 10-22-2014, 11:13 AM   #1
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Fridge operation in the 328 and battery charging

Am looking at a Georgetown 328 and understand that the fridge only operates on electric power or through the inverter.
Has anyone had experience with dry camping and battery usage for the fridge?

I have also been told (by the salesman) that the generator only trickle charges the house batteries and does not produce sufficient power to fully charge batteries and operate the fridge when dry camping-it would be necessary to run the engine to fully charge house batteries. Is this correct? Seems very strange!



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Old 10-22-2014, 11:22 AM   #2
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From the specs it has a 5500w generator. That would have more than enough to charge the batteries and run the fridge. I think I would find a different sales person to talk to.
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Old 10-22-2014, 01:22 PM   #3
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We have seen at least 4 hours. Make sure you keep your house battery's watered


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Old 10-22-2014, 06:38 PM   #4
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Your generator should easily power all your 110vac appliances. There shouldn't be any drain on your 12v batteries when running the gen set or plugged into shore power. If neither are running then your batteries will deplete quickly especially if the ambient temps are high or you open the fridge doors. I don't know if your engine altenator can supply enough juice to run your frig and not deplete the house batteries.
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Old 10-22-2014, 07:54 PM   #5
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The bigger question is about the generator configuration and its capability to produce sufficient power to charge the house batteries. The salesman suggests that it only produces a trickle charge to the batteries. My current motorhome (a forest river reflection dp) has a 6000w generator that will produce more than a trickle charge.

What is the experience of others?


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Old 10-22-2014, 09:01 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by msham87 View Post
The bigger question is about the generator configuration and its capability to produce sufficient power to charge the house batteries. The salesman suggests that it only produces a trickle charge to the batteries. My current motorhome (a forest river reflection dp) has a 6000w generator that will produce more than a trickle charge.

What is the experience of others?


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Most res fridges draw about 7 amps AC while operating. It needs a factor of 10 to roughly convert to about 70 amps DC at the battery supply. Most storage batteries store about 100 amp/hrs when full. The good news is you can make the batteries 2-4(?) last quite a while if you keep the doors closed as much as possible. You can run the refrig and have the gen recharge when needed. Don't let the batteries drop too far or you'll damage them.
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Old 10-22-2014, 11:21 PM   #7
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We have the residential fridge. I freeze lots of bottled water in the freezer while driving or plugged into shore power. During dry camping we will open the fridge door on a limited basis. We rotate a half dozen frozen water bottles between the top shelf of the fridge and freezer during none charging times. The fridge stays cold for a long time and the two house batteries will last 10 to 12 hours or so. The more cold beverages you have in the fridge the better too. The multiple frozen bottles in the freezer will keep food frozen for a long time.....I guess 24 hours or better unless the coach gets really hot. It all depends on the climate too.


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Old 10-23-2014, 07:04 AM   #8
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h respect to battery life, discharging even deep cycle batteries to 50% or less of their capacity will drastically shorten their life. Your battery charge level indicator lights on the control consul along with tank capacity lights etc, will give you a rough idea of your charge level. Once you see the charge level approach 50% its time to run your gen set or plug into shore power. Your power center/converter will recharge your batteries relatively quickly. There should be a label on the power center that lists the charge rate min and max. for your coach. Also, if you are having problems with "boiling" your house batteries, I replaced mine with sealed deep cycle batteries. They cost only slightly more and don't boil over.
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