Can you have two converters?

[quicky06]

Originally Posted by SCClockDr

I'm not understanding your reasoning.

1. Boondocking
2. Winter
3. 65 amp draw for all heaters.
4. Seeking advice re 1 or 2 AC/DC converters.

Boondocking & 2 converters seem to be at odds. 65 amp DC draw would require huge battery capacity with a good sized generator to keep them charged.
What power source do you expect to use while boondocking?
How large is your battery capacity & what type?
1/0 over 30 feet is a bit light for 100 amp dual converter charging & supplying the loads. (I'm assuming you are meaning 15' times 2 for pos & neg.)
I'd invest in underbelly insulation & closing it up. Set up fresh hose & fill then take down & stow. And do the same with the waste. I'd run on the tanks between times. Ensure the furnace routes heated air to the tank area.
What am I missing?

One thing everyone keeps for getting is that 1/0 welind cable and standard 1/0 wire are not the same thing. The welding cable is very fine stranded and will have less voltage drop than standard cable. One day I’ll measure voltage at the converter lugs and voltage at the battery lugs.

65 amps is the max rated amperage of everything that will be installed. It will be very rare for everything to be running at once but I want the capability to do so. It is 30 feet from the converter to the batteries ( wire length one way). It is 7-8 feet to the heat control panel where it will be split into 10-15 circuits which will be much lower draw. The batteries can’t take more than 45 amps charging st once.

While boondocking it will all be off a 3500 watt generator. Which is more than enough to runneverything.

Enclosing the underbelly is a losing battle. The slide alone requires to large of holes in the frame to make insulating an heating highly ineffective. It is I closed and has some heat as it sits right now. The issue with relying on the furnace to heat the underbelly is that I would have to leave windows open in the trailer making it cold inside to keep the blower running. This unit is actually pretty well insulated

Just tank heaters will not do much good. The lowest point in the systems is the valves and the dump pipes. These will be the first to freeze and the coldest if I heat just the tank not to mention that it won’t receive any heat until the pipes are full and the tank has liquid in them. I need to be able to heat and insulate all exposed piping on its own thermostat- this alone should prevent any freezing but the tank heater will be good to have.

Also there is no tank area I have 4 tanks spread out over 20 feet of underbelly. So once you try and insulate the screen door of a frame and leave half the windows in the camper open. Your still loosing at keeping everything up to temp.




The way this will be setup is that I can heat all my fresh water tanks and lines while driving. Then I can heat everything else off the generator while boondocking.

[babock]

Originally Posted by quicky06

One thing everyone keeps for getting is that 1/0 welind cable and standard 1/0 wire are not the same thing. The welding cable is very fine stranded and will have less voltage drop than standard cable. One day I’ll measure voltage at the converter lugs and voltage at the battery lugs.

65 amps is the max rated amperage of everything that will be installed. It will be very rare for everything to be running at once but I want the capability to do so. It is 30 feet from the converter to the batteries ( wire length one way). It is 7-8 feet to the heat control panel where it will be split into 10-15 circuits which will be much lower draw. The batteries can’t take more than 45 amps charging st once.

While boondocking it will all be off a 3500 watt generator. Which is more than enough to runneverything.

Enclosing the underbelly is a losing battle. The slide alone requires to large of holes in the frame to make insulating an heating highly ineffective. It is I closed and has some heat as it sits right now. The issue with relying on the furnace to heat the underbelly is that I would have to leave windows open in the trailer making it cold inside to keep the blower running. This unit is actually pretty well insulated

Just tank heaters will not do much good. The lowest point in the systems is the valves and the dump pipes. These will be the first to freeze and the coldest if I heat just the tank not to mention that it won’t receive any heat until the pipes are full and the tank has liquid in them. I need to be able to heat and insulate all exposed piping on its own thermostat- this alone should prevent any freezing but the tank heater will be good to have.

Also there is no tank area I have 4 tanks spread out over 20 feet of underbelly. So once you try and insulate the screen door of a frame and leave half the windows in the camper open. Your still loosing at keeping everything up to temp.




The way this will be setup is that I can heat all my fresh water tanks and lines while driving. Then I can heat everything else off the generator while boondocking.

That is not true. Voltage drop is identical across each type of 1/0 cable. And please don't use the current runs across the surface of each strand argument. At DC there is no surface effect.

[SCClockDr]

My math is such.
65+ amps load added to 40 amps bulk charge rate = 105 amps over 60' of 1/0 which may well require 17-22 amps of 120VAC just for that. Add fridge, propane alarm, water heater (even on propane) & other hotel loads which will push this even higher. Assuming you can wedge all this into a 30 amp window (3500/120=29.6)
I am seeing absolutely NO safety margin & suspect generator efficiency and AC wire losses will limit you to 26-28 amps or less.
If your unit has a 50 amp service and stepping up to a 6K or bigger generator might fulfill your needs.
Regarding needing to open windows to run your furnace, how do you intend to actually heat your trailer for creature comfort? A CO alarm or 2 would be in my plan & I would run the furnace as needed, windows closed.
How often do you intend to move & how far? How do you intend to prevent freezing as you travel?

[quicky06]

Originally Posted by SCClockDr

My math is such.
65+ amps load added to 40 amps bulk charge rate = 105 amps over 60' of 1/0 which may well require 17-22 amps of 120VAC just for that. Add fridge, propane alarm, water heater (even on propane) & other hotel loads which will push this even higher. Assuming you can wedge all this into a 30 amp window (3500/120=29.6)
I am seeing absolutely NO safety margin & suspect generator efficiency and AC wire losses will limit you to 26-28 amps or less.
If your unit has a 50 amp service and stepping up to a 6K or bigger generator might fulfill your needs.
Regarding needing to open windows to run your furnace, how do you intend to actually heat your trailer for creature comfort? A CO alarm or 2 would be in my plan & I would run the furnace as needed, windows closed.
How often do you intend to move & how far? How do you intend to prevent freezing as you travel?

The generator can handle it. I have no issues running everything including a 15k but ac unit off the generator. And it will be unlikely to be charging the battery while everything is running at once. Even then the length of the wire run to the heaters from the converter is much shorter than to the batteries

I have no issue what so ever hearing my trailer and keeping it comfortable. The furnace doesn’t run nearly as much as you would think when it’s 20 degrees outside. This is why underbelly heat ducts wouldn’t do much God’s. There is no way to put the floor ducts on recirculate.

He longest I’ve ever been out is 5 days. And that assa 5 hour drive each way. I do not need to heat my waste tanks while traveling. They get dumped before I move. Just the fresh water stuff. This will all be heated off 12 v so I can heat the fresh water stuff while traveling. If the truck can’t supply enough amperage for a 5 hour trip I’ll run the generator while driving.