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Old 01-30-2017, 10:51 PM   #21
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Rockfordroo:
Please forgive me. I shall never again add any depth, detail, or texture to any of your replies.
Anybody with your number of posts must surely know all the answers.


2016 Mini-lite 2503S
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Old 01-30-2017, 11:01 PM   #22
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Battery dicharge

We tested everyone of our circuits and then we knew the draw of each one, but then what? Except for that tip on the frig door and turning off all devices when not in use there is not much else to do with that information. It tells you that you are using power. Turning off the batteries when your not using anything can help. I've found the frig stays cold along time without power, put a thermometer inside.
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Old 01-30-2017, 11:25 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wozzy53 View Post
Rockfordroo:
Please forgive me. I shall never again add any depth, detail, or texture to any of your replies.
Anybody with your number of posts must surely know all the answers.


2016 Mini-lite 2503S
Never said I knew all the answers. Now you're putting words in my mouth. I guess with so few posts I figured you "surely" didn't know there were previous pages with prior posts.

I certainly didn't mean to offend you, but did you ever think maybe I was offended that you didn't bother to read the prior posts and at least acknowledge mine? Probably not.

So I was simply pointing out that perhaps you should read more than the single page before you respond. Often someone else has already made the same or similar response. If you did read the previous page (you still haven't said you did, so I'm still assuming you didn't) you could at least ACKNOWLEDGE any previous posts, so we know you DID read them and are providing "additional" info. That's all I was asking for.

I often go back 4 or 5 pages to try to make sure I'm not duplicating something someone else has said.

So again, sorry if you were offended.
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Old 01-31-2017, 06:04 AM   #24
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Great information on this thread!

Freewheeling has a Trimetric on this set up and found our base 12 volt use is 19.2 amp hrs on the MBS units.

Rockfordroo pointed out the most usefull mod to reduce base draw.

Now you just need to evaluate your battery condition and determine how to replace your daily base draw plus your 12 volt needs. If you are planning on boondocking frequently then solar is a great option. You will get 20 amp hrs per day for each 100 watt panel with a good installation. 200 to 300 watts would likely meet your needs
or just run the generator.
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Old 01-31-2017, 05:21 PM   #25
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Interesting on your radio. My radio works off the chassis too but when the house batteries are switched on the radio works when the chassis is not 'on' so I assumed there was a switch somewhere that lets it work both ways. You think my assumption is incorrect? I will go the solar route. Can you advise what you purchased? Thanks
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Old 01-31-2017, 06:11 PM   #26
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Battery dicharge

So when you turn your battery disconnect to "off" you radio still works?
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Old 01-31-2017, 06:41 PM   #27
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When the house batteries are on OFF the radio works when the chassis key is ON. When the house batteries are ON the radio works all of the time. :-)
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Old 01-31-2017, 07:53 PM   #28
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On our 2012 Solera, Forest River installed a circuit to allow the radio to work off either the chassis battery or the house batteries. Basically a pair of diodes, one from each power source, such that the house and chassis batteries can be both connected to the radio power lead without the batteries being effectively connected together. Works as described by oregonct.
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Old 01-31-2017, 08:25 PM   #29
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My solar install evolved a bit after the initial Renogy flexible panels were recalled for fire risk and replaced with Renogy Eclispe panels ( no cost to me). I designed the system on my own wired 6 ga from roof combiner box to controller and batteries. 4-100 watt Eclipse panels ( smaller) fit well avoiding shadows on the roof. I am wired parallel to minimize losses from shade. Much of the details are in this thread,
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...in-105452.html
My system makes more power then we typically use but I never worry about dead batteries.
Renogy makes a "premium package " with these panels for RV if you are looking for a kit. Just make sure you have done your homework regarding the amount of power needed and buy a big enough controller . Decide if you are wiring series ( kit) or parallel (needs heavier wiring, but better partial shade performance). You can private message me if you need more specifics.
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Old 01-31-2017, 10:33 PM   #30
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Battery dicharge

Well I learned something new today. Just checked our Solera and yes ours uses either chassis or coach batteries. I thought the radio only used the coach batteries.
We have two 100 watt panels wired in parallel with 4g wire. Using 4g from the panels to the charge controller was overkill, 8g is usually big enough. Look online for voltage drop calculators to see what you would need. If I remember correctly it was about 20 feet from the junction box on the roof to the charge controller. I bought 50 feet on Ebay and that was enough to do the whole job. But you should use at least 6g and preferably 4g or 2g from the charge controller to the batteries and inverter if you use one. We are not big users of power so 200 watts is enough for us. On consecutive cloudy days we may not fully charge but when the sun comes out, no problem.
We installed the Trimetric monitor along with the charge controller from Bogart Engineering, they are designed to work together and you can custom program most of the different parameters. Almost all pieces were found on Ebay, we bought Newpowa panels and stainless steel hardware from Lightning stainless. If you put together your own system it be cheaper than buying a kit. Prices have probably come down since we put in our system almost a year ago, I see the Newpowa panels are 6$ less than we paid. If you find a great deal on a kit that would be easier.
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Old 02-27-2017, 01:58 PM   #31
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It's the fridge heater fuse it is constantly drawing 5A, pull it out or snip wire in previous post and this will fix the problem!
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Old 03-05-2017, 05:18 PM   #32
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I've been having a drainage problem with my house batteries. As suggested I went through the fuse panel and checked the current drainage at each. All seem fine - zero or minimal on each. Then I went to the fuses in the battery control center. F5 (label electric seat ???) was pulling more than 16amps at which point my meter was maxed out. Some research indicated this went to the step. So why is my step pulling all that current? Anyone have any experience with this.
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Old 03-05-2017, 05:54 PM   #33
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On our 2012, I believe the step is designed to hit a stop, stall the motor (causing it to draw high current), then the high current kicks out a load switch. Sounds to me like yours isn't kicking out...
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