[Brittany Dogs]

In regards to scubajaysnest second link about his tests and in providing what I concluded when I attempted to run the refrigerator on DC when on a trip, my conclusion is this:

Most TV usually have an alternator that can provide a heck of a lot of amps. This is especially true when the TV is going down the highway with a fairly high RPM turning the alternator pulley.

So why does it seem like the trailer's battery is fairly discharged when you get to your destination? It's a matter of cable length and resistance in my opinion. The trailer would rather pull current from the trailer battery due to the shorter cable length and the gauge of the cable.

In the end I do not travel with the refrigerator on DC unless the trip is short enough to allow a little discharge of my batteries and then plug in at the camp site. The refrigerator on the TrailManor units pull about 12-13 amps of DC so that that in account.

Only slightly related to this subject, I have given up on flooded batteries long ago and only buy sealed lead acid batteries. Lastly, trailer batteries can last several years if you don't discharge them bayond 12.2 volts and never beyond 11.66 volts which generally the 20% remainder level. If you reach 11.66 volts (unloaded) in say 24 hours of camping (assuming dry camping here) and you usually go camping for 48 hours, you need to parallel multiple batteries to give you the amp-hour level you need.

I get six years out of my batteries and one time I got ten years out of a Trojan gel cell when I monitored the discharge level. Before that, I would get only two seasons out of a battery because I didn't know about how to take care of them well and often discharged them too low.

I also use computer controlled expensive chargers too since my previous trailer did not have a three stage charger in it. My new TrailManor has quite a nice converter in it and it has been doing a very nice job charging my two parallel batteries.

I have had a conversation with an engineer at Trojan on this subject and then a year or two later, had a related conversation with an engineer at Schumacher Battery Chargers on deep cycle batteries. So I learned enough now to not kill batteries every two years.