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Old 12-07-2014, 02:34 PM   #1
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Amp Hour Consumption

What have you folks that know figured to be an average Amp Hour consumption during the day and night? Assume you have a 2012 Mid sized Class A. All LED lighting and use of a 1000 watt inverter for a 2 hour DVD along with minimal furnace usage during 60* nights. Maybe a shower or 2. I ask this because my 2 group 31 batteries are starting at a full charge and are discharged to 50- 55% by morning. I should have about 120 amp hours available according to Interstate. I don't believe the batteries specs are what is advertised. I am also aware that "amp counters" are available I just don't want to spend the $'s yet. thanks to those that respond.
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Old 12-07-2014, 02:43 PM   #2
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Two Group 31's should give you 130 amp hours, and that does not sound totally out of line, but with all LED lighting, perhaps your batteries are dropping.

Tri-Metric battery monitors do monitor amp hours used as I recall, as well as voltage, and their best estimate of state of charge,, They are "Polarity Senistive, which is to say you tell 'em how much battery you have, you tell 'em when it's full and from then on they computer state of charged based on amp-hours used and replaced. Very fancy device, but actually not all that technically advanced.

But There are several models. I will link to one of them you can "Back up a level" to find more of them on the Best Converter page

Trimetric 2030RV Battery System Monitor
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Old 12-07-2014, 02:53 PM   #3
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without amp meter / counter everything from this point would be speculation but to imagine batteries would stand up to advertised specs is challenging, usually there is a production date somewhere on the battery - branded in, some sit on shelves for a year or more, additionally cell differentials in the batteries can parasitically draw from one cell to another, meaning each cell sits at 2 volts, if one is at 1.9, it will be a constant draw upon other cells, if batteries are on an isolator, it will keep one from drawing the other down - basically a digital volt meter on one battery, if its at 12.29 and the other is at 12.01 - you have differential, but again - any answers from me are speculation as ambient temps play a role, age of battery, static / sitting voltages among other things, even isolators can have parasitic draw, diodes can leak, etc... Motors have higher start rate than running, devices use more current warm than cold - inverter, so many MANY variables come into play FWIW pure speculation but if its critical, I wouldn't use fuzzy logic - I'd pop for the correct tools for the job...
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Old 12-07-2014, 03:08 PM   #4
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Amp Hour Consumption

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Originally Posted by lwarranty View Post
without amp meter / counter everything from this point would be speculation but to imagine batteries would stand up to advertised specs is challenging, usually there is a production date somewhere on the battery - branded in, some sit on shelves for a year or more, additionally cell differentials in the batteries can parasitically draw from one cell to another, meaning each cell sits at 2 volts, if one is at 1.9, it will be a constant draw upon other cells, if batteries are on an isolator, it will keep one from drawing the other down - basically a digital volt meter on one battery, if its at 12.29 and the other is at 12.01 - you have differential, but again - any answers from me are speculation as ambient temps play a role, age of battery, static / sitting voltages among other things, even isolators can have parasitic draw, diodes can leak, etc... Motors have higher start rate than running, devices use more current warm than cold - inverter, so many MANY variables come into play FWIW pure speculation but if its critical, I wouldn't use fuzzy logic - I'd pop for the correct tools for the job...


I realize I am asking for speculation but I figured I could get an answer with an estimate of +/- 10 Amp Hours. As to the history of the batteries, they are less than a year old and have only been put to use on only two trips.
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Old 12-07-2014, 06:27 PM   #5
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Len, assuming you have standard lead-acid batteries with caps to check/add water as necessary, have you ran an equalization cycle on them?
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Old 12-07-2014, 06:30 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by len poleshaj View Post
I realize I am asking for speculation but I figured I could get an answer with an estimate of +/- 10 Amp Hours. As to the history of the batteries, they are less than a year old and have only been put to use on only two trips.
I would say about 60ah's...
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Old 12-07-2014, 07:22 PM   #7
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Len, assuming you have standard lead-acid batteries with caps to check/add water as necessary, have you ran an equalization cycle on them?
Yes, they are lead batteries, and I have never allowed them to even get close to needing water. As to equalization, I believe Winnebago installed a dumb charger(single stage) so I have not been able to properly boil the batteries. I do have 200 watts of portable solar charging and have gotten as much as 70Amp Hours in a day and once the controller claimed full. But then the following day/morning I was down to 50%
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Old 12-07-2014, 07:35 PM   #8
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Mutinyguy, When I was selecting my portable solar system I based the selection of 200 watts on about 60-70 amp hour consumption per day. Well it seems like for some reason the coach with extreme conservation of energy use is drawing more than to 60-70 AH. I guess I need to check each cell for specific gravity and determine if I have a bad, relatively new battery. The batteries are less than a year old so till now I haven't given that possibility much thought.
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Old 12-07-2014, 08:01 PM   #9
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"amp counters" .... i think you would under stand 100% more if you have one

got one Bogart Engineering Products | Bogart Engineering

you may think 1 amp AC is 1 amp DC but when running ACs loads with a inverter you well find 1 amp AC is all most 3 amps DC

50% left i feel is right
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Old 12-07-2014, 08:15 PM   #10
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Len, what are you using to tell you that you have 50% battery left?

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Old 12-07-2014, 09:51 PM   #11
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US Battery says that their batteries don't achieve the rated capacity until they've been cycled 30 to 50 times.
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Old 12-07-2014, 11:11 PM   #12
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Using a digital volt meter and following SOC charts
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Old 12-07-2014, 11:17 PM   #13
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Terry, I know that inverters consume more than they produce. That is why I am very careful to use it only when the entertainment center is being used. Usually no more than the length of a DVD, about 2 hours.
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Old 12-07-2014, 11:53 PM   #14
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We have 4 GC-2 Interstate 6 volt batteries, each is rated at 231 amp hours at a 20 amp rate. Since they have to be doubled to get 12 volts that gives us 462 amp hours, but to draw them down 50% gives us 231 amp hours. Using everything we want with no concern for conservation and a cold night they will show somewhat below 50% charge. We run the refer on gas although it does need 12 volts for the controls. I also run mu CPAP off the inverter.
Sounds like you might need bigger batteries if you're taking them down too much.
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Old 12-09-2014, 12:19 AM   #15
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I would love to add batteries but, the battery compartment is under the stairwell and there is no more room in that are to add more. On one side of that compartment is the propane water heater and of coarse the spark/flame issue eliminates that area and on the opposite side are breakers and the inverter, again not a safe area for off gassing of the batteries. My thought any other usable space is too far of a cable run. Like I said earlier, I may have a bad cell. If that is not the answer I might have to try a pair of 6's, I think I still have enough vertical clearance for them to fit.
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Old 12-09-2014, 02:47 AM   #16
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Our RV started out with 2 12v coach batteries when new. (about 240ah) One battery developed a bad cell, and really dragged down the good one. With cost being a big factor, I replaced them with 2 6v golf cart batteries (about 220ah). Used them one year, found that running reasonable interior lighting at night, perhaps 3 hours of TV/satellite watching, refer, the wife's CPAP machine, and occasional propane furnace, the batteries would drop from 12.5v to 11.9v by morning. Then I added 2 more 6v golf cart batteries (now total was 440ah). Over the last 2 years, we have found we could run everything we wanted, hours and hours, and hours. Start out at 12.5v and by morning, most of the time, were at 12.4v. Very pleased with results.
In your case, since you are limited by the physical room for batteries, your solution would be to get the highest capacity batteries that would fit in the space allowed. If your budget allows, I understand the AGM type have huge ah ratings.
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Old 12-09-2014, 09:22 AM   #17
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We have 4 GC-2 Interstate 6 volt batteries, each is rated at 231 amp hours at a 20 amp rate. Since they have to be doubled to get 12 volts that gives us 462 amp hours, but to draw them down 50% gives us 231 amp hours. Using everything we want with no concern for conservation and a cold night they will show somewhat below 50% charge. We run the refer on gas although it does need 12 volts for the controls. I also run mu CPAP off the inverter.
Sounds like you might need bigger batteries if you're taking them down too much.
6V batteries are used in sets of 2 to obtain 12V, but you do not multiply amperage, you still get total amperage of one 12V battery.
With 12V batteries, voltage is not multiplied, amperage is multiplied X number of batteries.
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