Electricity drain-new GeoPro owner

fupops · 05-30-2021, 09:10 PM

Hello--
I'm the new owner of a GeoPro G20bhs, with a rooftop solar panel and two batteries. Our battery levels consistently go down at night, even if we've just charged it to 4 bars with our Honda generator at 5 p.m. By the next morning, with very minimal overnight usage, we're down to 1 bar, and the other night our batteries drained completely. My question is are we expecting too much to get through the night without losing all of our power? It's very frustrating and we can't reliably charge our cellphones, use our heater, or count on lights when we need them. Are we doing something wrong?

rsdata · 05-30-2021, 09:49 PM

bars do not really describe anything realistic... they are idiot lights
you need actual battery voltage reading to make any sense out of what is actually happening...

purchase at any hardware store a $10 volt-meter a VOM meter that will give you a digital reading. Measure at the battery posts. Use the Volts DC 20 volt range

While charging the battery voltage will be above 13.3 volts
after charging, a fully charged battery will read 12.6 volts or more
a fully dis-charged battery ( with everything turned off like lights, 12 VDC fridge and such) will read 12.0 volts, anything like 10 or 11 volts means that your battery is deeply discharged and suffering permanent damage.

Use these actual battery voltage measurements to evaluate the LED light bars you mentioned to see what they really mean.

chriscowles · 05-30-2021, 09:57 PM

What are you using at night? Furnace?

fupops · 05-30-2021, 10:08 PM

Nothing except charging cellphones.

NavyLCDR · 05-30-2021, 10:11 PM

If your refrigerator is on anything other than propane, that would likely be it.

Scrapper · 05-30-2021, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fupops

Nothing except charging cellphones.

That's not quite true. You have to include the CO/LP Detector, the stereo's clock and preset memory, the refrigerator's control board (whether on ac,dc, or LP), A/C-furnace controls and any lights you may use. If you have a 12vdc tv it has parasitic drain for stand-by and channel memory.

Cell phone chargers are power hogs whether they are 12vdc or 120vac as long as they are plugged in. Your cell phones charge at 5 volts, the charging circuitry produces heat while reducing the 12vdc or 120vac to 5vdc. There may be other parasitic drains on your battery depending on other add-on accessories.

fupops · 05-30-2021, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scrapper

That's not quite true. You have to include the CO/LP Detector, the stereo's clock and preset memory, the refrigerator's control board (whether on ac,dc, or LP), A/C-furnace controls and any lights you may use. If you have a 12vdc tv it has parasitic drain for stand-by and channel memory.

Cell phone chargers are power hogs whether they are 12vdc or 120vac as long as they are plugged in. Your cell phones charge at 5 volts, the charging circuitry produces heat while reducing the 12vdc or 120vac to 5vdc. There may be other parasitic drains on your battery depending on other add-on accessories.

So, is it normal to expect the battery to drain overnight if I'm only charging cellphones, along with the CO/LP detector, stereo's clock, preset memory. etc.? The refrigerator is a three-way that defaults to propane if available, which it is. Do other people, you for example, experience this same condition?
Many thanks for your reply.

NavyLCDR · 05-30-2021, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fupops

So, is it normal to expect the battery to drain overnight if I'm only charging cellphones, along with the CO/LP detector, stereo's clock, preset memory. etc.? The refrigerator is a three-way that defaults to propane if available, which it is. Do other people, you for example, experience this same condition?
Many thanks for your reply.

The three-way refrigerator will not default to LP gas if available. You need to make sure the refrigerator is running on LP gas.

NullPtr · 05-30-2021, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fupops

So, is it normal to expect the battery to drain overnight if I'm only charging cellphones, along with the CO/LP detector, stereo's clock, preset memory. etc.? The refrigerator is a three-way that defaults to propane if available, which it is. Do other people, you for example, experience this same condition?
Many thanks for your reply.

Are you using an inverter to charge cell phones using 120V outlets? The inverter in my 20BHS is inefficient at light load. If you are leaving an inverter on all night, this could be draining your battery. What do you have for batteries?

**bikendan** · 05-30-2021, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fupops

The refrigerator is a three-way that defaults to propane if available, which it is.

Not sure who or what told you that your trailer has a 3-way fridge.
The GeoPro website says the standard fridge is a 12v ONLY fridge:

https://forestriverinc.com/rvs/trave...ro/G20BHS/5139
It also doesn't show any optional type of fridge.

This would explain why your battery charge is depleting so fast, especially with a single cheap 12v dual-purpose marine battery.
3-way fridges are usually only found in popups, A-frames and truck campers.

chriscowles · 05-30-2021, 11:40 PM

Delete

NavyLCDR · 05-30-2021, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fupops

Hello--
I'm the new owner of a GeoPro G20bhs, with a rooftop solar panel and two batteries. Our battery levels consistently go down at night, even if we've just charged it to 4 bars with our Honda generator at 5 p.m.

Also to note, 4 bars on the battery indicator on the control panel does NOT indicate the state of charge of the battery. 4 bars on the control panel indicates the battery is charging. 3 bars, after the battery is disconnected from charging current for long enough to read battery voltage and not the surface charge voltage indicates a charged battery.

4 bars = charging 12.7 volts or greater
3 bars = "good" between 12.10 - 12.15 volts and 12.7
2 bars = "fair" between 11.6 - 11.65 volts and 12.1
1 bar = "low" between 6 volts and 11.6
no bars = Less than 6 volts.

rsdata · 05-31-2021, 01:35 AM

Quote:

Also to note, 4 bars on the battery indicator on the control panel does NOT indicate the state of charge of the battery. 4 bars on the control panel indicates the battery is charging. 3 bars, after the battery is disconnected from charging current for long enough to read battery voltage and not the surface charge voltage indicates a charged battery.

4 bars = charging 12.7 volts or greater
3 bars = "good" between 12.10 - 12.15 volts and 12.7
2 bars = "fair" between 11.6 - 11.65 volts and 12.1
1 bar = "low" between 6 volts and 11.6
no bars = Less than 6 volts.

THIS IS THE ANSWER YOU HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR...
you probably have not been re-charging long enough...
OR
your battery is in poor shape from lack of being charged properly.

fupops · 05-31-2021, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NavyLCDR

The three-way refrigerator will not default to LP gas if available. You need to make sure the refrigerator is running on LP gas.

I have not found any kind of switch that will let me decide what type of energy is powering the refrigerator. I'll reach out to Forest River about that.

NJKris · 05-31-2021, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fupops

So, is it normal to expect the battery to drain overnight if I'm only charging cellphones, along with the CO/LP detector, stereo's clock, preset memory. etc.? The refrigerator is a three-way that defaults to propane if available, which it is. Do other people, you for example, experience this same condition?
Many thanks for your reply.

This is not normal and does not happen in my Geo Pro with 2 golf cart batts. I am not using inverter, and assume your phones are plugged into the USB ports. Inverter will suck down batteries if powered up, and under very light load are especially inefficient.

fupops · 05-31-2021, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJKris

This is not normal and does not happen in my Geo Pro with 2 golf cart batts. I am not using inverter, and assume your phones are plugged into the USB ports. Inverter will suck down batteries if powered up, and under very light load are especially inefficient.

Thank you. That is helpful. Stupid question, but can you tell me how to turn the inverter off?

PhilFromMaine · 05-31-2021, 01:14 PM

We need to know the specific batteries and their amp hour capacity.

NJKris · 05-31-2021, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fupops

Thank you. That is helpful. Stupid question, but can you tell me how to turn the inverter off?

There should be a remote switch in your unit. Mine is on the nightstand.

**bikendan** · 05-31-2021, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fupops

I have not found any kind of switch that will let me decide what type of energy is powering the refrigerator. I'll reach out to Forest River about that.

As I said before, you almost certainly don't have a 3-way fridge. As I said in my previous post, the Geo Pro website states it comes with a 12v ONLY fridge.
If you would post make and model number of fridge, it would help clarify what you have.
Based on your questions, it sounds like you received a very poor PDI/walk-through from the dealer.

rsdata · 05-31-2021, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fupops View Post
I have not found any kind of switch that will let me decide what type of energy is powering the refrigerator. I'll reach out to Forest River about that.

This problem in and of itself should tell you that you have the 12V only fridge...

2 and 3 way fridges have the power selector on the front of the fridge with a light that tells you what power is selected.

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