Should battery stay charged?

[Human Yuman]

We have a 2022 GEO PRO. It has solar. We aren't sure exactly how it is supposed to work. Is there a maximum time frame in which the system should be able to keep the batteries charged if the only thing on is the refrigerator? Should the solar be able to keep the battery charged in a sunny location?

Also, we have an inverter remote control switch next to the bed. It has one button for on and off. When should it be on and when should it be off? I read that the inverter can drain the battery, so I would love to know what it is good for then!

[kenandterry]

Originally Posted by Human Yuman

We have a 2022 GEO PRO. It has solar. We aren't sure exactly how it is supposed to work. Is there a maximum time frame in which the system should be able to keep the batteries charged if the only thing on is the refrigerator? Should the solar be able to keep the battery charged in a sunny location?

Also, we have an inverter remote control switch next to the bed. It has one button for on and off. When should it be on and when should it be off? I read that the inverter can drain the battery, so I would love to know what it is good for then!

If we assume your solar panel is 100 watt, then it SHOULD keep the battery charged in a sunny location. We’re also assuming you’re camping at this time, or why leave the fridge running?

An inverter switch is PROBABLY for those that need CPAP machines, and in most cases, should provide nighttime power to do the job by powering the outlet by the bed.

[Human Yuman]

No, we are not camping. There are 2 reasons why we keep the fridge on. Even if you shut the cooling switch off and leave the doors open, the light stays on. If we turn it off and then shut the doors, the fridge stinks even though it has been cleaned.
As for the inverter, I'm hoping for a more detailed explanation as I don't believe it only controls one outlet.

[kenandterry]

Originally Posted by Human Yuman

No, we are not camping. There are 2 reasons why we keep the fridge on. Even if you shut the cooling switch off and leave the doors open, the light stays on. If we turn it off and then shut the doors, the fridge stinks even though it has been cleaned.
As for the inverter, I'm hoping for a more detailed explanation as I don't believe it only controls one outlet.

If you’re finished with the RV, turn OFF the battery switch. It essentially is a big OFF switch for just about everything wired off the battery…..that’s why the fridge light stays ON.

An inverter is for providing 120 volts to outlets from the power within your 12 volt battery(s).

Just unplug from shore power, and check to see what outlets still have power controlled by the switch you mention.

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by Human Yuman

No, we are not camping. There are 2 reasons why we keep the fridge on. Even if you shut the cooling switch off and leave the doors open, the light stays on. If we turn it off and then shut the doors, the fridge stinks even though it has been cleaned.
As for the inverter, I'm hoping for a more detailed explanation as I don't believe it only controls one outlet.

The inverter probably powers the refrigerator.
For storage, turn the inverter off to shut off the refrigerator and then open the refrigerator door so that it doesn't 'stink'. Putting a moisturing product like DampRid in the rig will help keep it dry.

With the refrigerator 'off' and parked in a sunny location, the solar should keep the battery charged.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Reverse_snowbird

The inverter probably powers the refrigerator.
For storage, turn the inverter off to shut off the refrigerator and then open the refrigerator door so that it doesn't 'stink'. Putting a moisturing product like DampRid in the rig will help keep it dry.

With the refrigerator 'off' and parked in a sunny location, the solar should keep the battery charged.

I believe in a Geo Pro, the refrigerator is 12v and the inverter simply powers a few outlets.

[Capacitor]

Is your refer a 12volt dc or a 120 volt ac?

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Human Yuman

the system should be able to keep the batteries charged if the only thing on is the refrigerator?

There are numerous parasitic battery drains, not just the 12v only fridge.

[tomkatb]

My guess.

The rv you have likely has a standard little car battery. You need to check it’s size and decide what to do with it.

That battery typically is a legal item to drive a trailer with brakes. Not to power anything else. It is likely a 40 amp hour available battery. Actually 80 ah except that you should never use over 50% of the available ah. It greatly shortens the battery life if discharged over 50%.

Your rv likely has a small compressor, 12 volt fridge. It Will likely consume the battery before daybreak unless you turn the furnace on. Then it will die sooner.

An inverter is the opposite of a converter. An inverter changes dc from the battery to ac for small appliances. However your battery is likely good for a 4 amp ac circuit for 30-40 minutes. Good to charge phones. The reason for the on off button is for the inverters, or power hogs, consume 1-2 amp hours of battery on standby. Typically the inverter alone will drain the battery in a day.

The converter is the battery charger.

The solar cell is a marketing thing to fool you into thinking it can recharge the battery. Sort of not! On its best day installed on the roof it will supply 25 amp hours of power. Your daily consumption is likely triple that.

The fridge should be cleaned and the doors should be open or the fridge stinks. You should have a 12 volt disconnect when you are not camping. Usually the fridge manufacturer includes a stopper that keeps the doors cracked. Look for it.

Your first camping trip should be in your driveway and experiment.

Wherever you camp for now you need electricity. The camper likely was not designed to get thru the night.

Figure out what type of camper you are. Today batteries are the weak link. Lithium works well.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Reverse_snowbird

The inverter probably powers the refrigerator.

No. These new, small, single-axle trailers all have 12-volt compressor refrigerators.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by 5picker

I believe in a Geo Pro, the refrigerator is 12v and the inverter simply powers a few outlets.

IIRC, in these new, small, single-axle trailers, all the outlets are on the inverter.

[kipkohl]

On our 2023 Geo Pro, all the outlets are powered by the inverter. Plus there is a rocker switch on the wall to cut power to the fridge; may be different on the 2022's.

[jimmoore13]

You asked what seemed like such a simple question...but, like everything, the answer is seldom simple.

Your 12 volt compressor fridge will consume about 30 to 35 amp hours per day. The typical, dealer-supplied "Group 24" 12 volt flooded cell lead acid "marine" battery (FCLA) is only capable of supplying 35 USABLE amp hours per charge. (A FCLA can typically deliver 50% of its rated capacity. So the 70 to 75 amp hour - AH - marine battery on your tongue can supply about 35 AH.)

Your fridge will consume all of that.

How much can the solar replace? If you have a 100 watt panel, on its best day, at Noon, it might put out 7.5 amps per hour under perfect conditions. Realistically, with dust on the panel, haze in the air, and so on, let's assume it puts out 6 charging amps per hour at peak. On June 21, the longest day of the year, it might put out 6 amps/hour for maybe 3 hours. (18 AH) Add in the rest of the day, and on a good day, your panel might supply 35 AH of recharging...maybe. In sunny Colorado at altitude? Yes. In wherever you are? Hard to know. Upstate NY? Definitely not.

But what of all the other 12 volt loads? Lights, water pump, furnace, awning, tongue jack, stereo, parasitic loads (3 AH/day for things like the CO/Propane detector, all the control circuitry for things like the hot water heater controls, and, and, and) and so on. You see where this is going. Your fridge eats the whole battery leaving nothing for the rest. The battery cannot keep up, and the solar can't keep up. More solar? Things get better...a lot better. But that fridge is a huge power hog, and you'd do well to have more battery AND more solar.

As for the inverter. If what others say is true...that ALL 120 volt power goes through the inverter, the only time that works is when you're plugged into shore power! Why? If you pull 120 volt loads through an inverter supplied only by a 12 volt battery, you'll eat the battery alive. Example: a typical electric blanket consumes a measly 450 watts at 120 volts. That's just 3.7 amps. But demand the same 450 watts from your 12 volt battery, and that electric blanket is pulling 37 amps from your battery. Run it for an hour, and you've consumed 37 AH!! That's your whole battery and then some.
Here's your easy calculator to do this math: https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/ele...alculator.html
Reduce the voltage by a factor of 10 (120 volts to a 12 volt power source...your battery thru the inverter), and increase the current by a factor of 10. There's NO FREE LUNCH.

A typical drip coffee maker draws 550 to 1200 watts. A pod coffee maker is more like 1500 watts. 1500 watts at 12 volts = 125 AMPS!!! Your battery would be toast in minutes.

So, while on generator or shore power, you could safely run 120 volt loads through your circuits, but with that fridge and without more battery and solar to support that fridge, YOU MUST BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT RUNNING ANY 120 VOLT LOADS OVERNIGHT when you can't run the generator (or be on shore power). If you run a CPAP (60 watts without heater), it will draw 5 amps/hour x 8 hours = 40 AH! That leaves nothing for the fridge unless you're on shore power.

As for when you're parked at home between trips, plug into shore power. If you don't have a 30 amp RV outlet, all you need is a 12/3 lead cord, up to 100 feet long, and the 30 amp to 15 amp adapter to allow you to plug the rig into the extension cord, and your battery will stay fully charged from a combination of shore power and the solar...and all the basic loads in the rig will be happy (that won't run the AC in many cases).

Bottom line: If you plan to boondock, you need:

• More battery - a discussion in itself;
• More solar - your charge controller can probably handle up to 3 more panels - another separate discussion;
• At least a 2000 watt inverter (quiet) generator.

If you plan to only go to RV parks with electric hookups, you'll be fine as you are.

There's a LOT packed into this answer and the answers of many of the other respondents. You'll need to understand almost all of this to boondock (dry camp without hookups) successfully. If you drain your battery dead more than a few times, it won't hold a charge, and you'll be buying a new one...or several.

Best of luck. Like anything, it's a lot of fun if you know what you're doing.

[doanshop]

There should be a fuse for fridge pull it and light should go out then you can leave door open.

[Semperfi24]

As was mentioned in post #4, the easy answer is to use the battery disconnect switch. Problem solved.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Semperfi24

As was mentioned in post #4, the easy answer is to use the battery disconnect switch. Problem solved.

A 2022 GeoPro should have a factory battery disconnect switch.

[cfrudolphy]

First, I never turn the battery disconnect switch off. It is always on. We do turn the 12V fridge off when not camping, otherwise it is always running. We close the fridge door when it is off. Ours never stinks (21 months of ownership). Solar keeps my batteries charged no issue.

Regarding the inverter. As we always have camped with shore power we never turn the inverter on. However I did a test at home to confirm. Plugged into shore power with inverter off, all 12V systems worked (as we have experienced) also the 120V systems worked (A/C, Microwave, and all 120V outlets). Unplugged from shore power with inverter off, all 12V systems worked, 120V outlets did not. Turned inverter on (still no shore power) 120V outlets now worked (showed 115V on multimeter). So the inverter converts 12V DC from the batteries to 120V AC for the 120V outlets only.

When plugged into shore power the "converter" (not the inverter, two different things), not only powers your 120V systems (A/C, Microwave, 120V outlets) but it also converts the 120V AC to 12V DC which powers all your 12V systems (lights, TV, Refrigerator, water heater, furnace, awning, etc) but also charges batteries.

Batteries are charged by 3 systems all of which can be run simultaneously, Solar, Converter (from shore power), and your tow vehicle's alternator/battery.

You can also hookup external solar (suitcase solar) with the solar on the side. You have 2 things to be careful with here. First the solar on the side plug is wired directly to the batteries so you must provide a separate charge controller for this use. It does not run through the factory installed GoPower charge controller in your trailer (mine is on the dinette wall under the TV). Second I have read reports that sometimes that plug has been wired backwards at the factory so you need to check it's polarity before using it.

I hope this helps you have some understanding of your trailers electrical system. I am no expert and there are others more knowledgeable than me, but I believe I have told you correctly.

Happy Camping!

[RamManMN]

Everybody is talking about what the "typical" battery is. You need to pull the cover and find out what you actually have. We have a 2022 Ultra Lite 2608BS with dual batteries and dual 190 watt solar panels. I think your solar panel is also 190 Watts, not 100 as the 190 was ( I think) standard accross the rockwood line. This became 200 watts in 2023. According to their web site, dual panels are an option on the Geo Pro so if you aren't sure, climb up there and have a look.

With our setup, yes the solar panels DO keep up with the refridgerator....for our usage. Here is an example of our usage:

We stopped at the Air Force Museum near Dayton Ohio in the morning. The trailer started the day fully charged. It was parked from about 10 AM to about 4:30 PM. Tjis was on a bright sunny day, in the open, on a former taxiway. At lunch time we used a little 700 watt tea kettle off the inverter to heat water for tea and coffee. Other than that we didn't run anything but the 12 volt refridgerator.

This is the kind of thing we use solar for. We don't dry camp but there is no trouble keeping the refridgerator going during our site seeing stops. Some people say solar is worthless. I say it's very useful for what we need.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by cfrudolphy

When plugged into shore power the "converter" (not the inverter, two different things), not only powers your 120V systems (A/C, Microwave, 120V outlets) but it also converts the 120V AC to 12V DC which powers all your 12V systems (lights, TV, Refrigerator, water heater, furnace, awning, etc) but also charges batteries.

This is not exactly correct. The converter happens to be mounted in the Power Center (along with the 120 Vac breakers and 12 Vdc fuses, but it plays no role in supplying the 120 Vac outlets and appliances. That power goes directly through the 120 Vac breakers and bypasses the converter (which is on its own 120 Vac breaker).

Being precise and accurate matters. Right now, in another forum thread, we are trying to un-confuse an individual who has read misleading statements and information from people whose equipment and knowledge is entirely different from theirs.l

[markb5900]

Originally Posted by Human Yuman

No, we are not camping. There are 2 reasons why we keep the fridge on. Even if you shut the cooling switch off and leave the doors open, the light stays on. If we turn it off and then shut the doors, the fridge stinks even though it has been cleaned.
As for the inverter, I'm hoping for a more detailed explanation as I don't believe it only controls one outlet.

Not sure what brand your fridge is, mine is a Furion and when you leave the doors open, the light shuts off after 5 minutes.

Also, as long as your battery is hooked up, you will be getting parasite drag on the battery. Fridge, ac, thermostat just to name a few. Your Solar should keep the battery charged if in a sunny spot.