Quote:
Originally Posted by kieranmullen
What is the consumption rate of those refers? I told it was not much anyway. It is suggested for other rvers not to have them on while you are at the gas station. Otherwise they use them. Does the 12VDC option work the refer and the heating element? My understanding it does not the element to heat the ammonia only works on AC. So it would be more efficient on AC or Propane. In DC mode it works using thermoelectric pads which always do a piss poor job of cooling. That being said... I could be completely wrong on everything!
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Yes, you're completely wrong about the DC side.
There are two
different electric heater elements: one for AC (about 170 Watts at 120VAC) and one for DC (about 140 Watts at 12.8 VDC). The propane heater has about the same power as the AC heater. They are all used to heat the ammonia solution, and the refigerator works the same way in all 3 Modes.
If you do the division, you see that 140 Watts/12.8 Volts = nearly 11 Amps. When running down the road, your car alternator should supply a lot of that amperage - through the Bargeman connector, and into the 12V electrical panel. The 12V electrical "distribution panel" receives power from 3 possible sources - the Converter, when the Converter is plugged into 120VAC; the Batteries; and the Tow Vehicle connection (if connected, and higher voltage than the batteries). If stopped for lunch, or some other long break, the only source of power is batteries (TV and Trailmanor). The refrigerator is the biggest 12VDC power consumer in the Trailer, and it will draw down your batteries pretty fast. If your batteries are 80 Ah each, and fully charged, then you could theoretically "break" for about 7 hours before reaching 50% discharge on two batteries. If you leave the Bargeman connector into the TV connected, there is also a possibility of running down the TV battery so far that you will be unable to run the Starter.
In reality, the WFCO converter (if TM still uses that manufacturer) can't charge the battery bank to a genuine 100% level. (IIRC, 85% is more typical - it depends on temperature, total of "phantom loads" including things like the turned-off stereo, and time spent in "trickle charge" mode). So, it's likely that you can safely consume only 30-35% of labeled battery capacity. All those phantom loads continue to consume power during the break. And the downwards-blowing exhaust fan (which MUST be "On" during towing with Fridge powered up) constitutes another small power consumer. After just 2 hours of continuous fridge operation without an exterior power source, you might be in trouble. After 3-4 hours, without TV or Solar to supply a large proportion of the power which will be consumed, you are almost
certain to be in trouble.
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A good alternator in your TV, and good wiring to the trailer connector, help a lot to keep the fridge running "more from the TV" and less from the TM's own batteries when the TV is running and supplying higher voltage (from the Alternator) than the TM batteries are offering. Solar may also prevent problems: - at 140 Watts actual solar power, which is what I have (My panels are 200 Watts Max), you can run the Fridge on DC with hardly any effect TV or TM batteries between 10 AM and 4 PM.
I wouldn't run propane while towing; an accident could damage tubing or regulators. If one of the tank valves is wide open when that happens, it's a "Very Bad Thing" (tm). It's also illegal in many tunnels. You short trip is no problem, as long as the TV provides considerable power to the Fridge via the Bargeman connector (the towing connector), and you don't stop for more than 1 hour along the way.
Newbie Question on Electrics, batteries and refrigerator
but is really the radio antanna booster.
I wouldn't run propane in motion.
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