power required for just charging batteries

tofran · 08-28-2007, 08:22 AM

Hi folks, I'm a new owner of a used 2003 Journey. I Have an existing 15 amp. circuit available which I have previously used for charging a Minnie Winnie.I've been told by an RV tech. that I need at least a 30 circuit for the Journey. Just wondered if anyone is using a smaller circuit just for battery charging? The tech seemed to be telling me the Charger/inverter on the Journey re-
quired 30 amp. service. Any help would be appreciated....

tofran · 08-28-2007, 08:22 AM

Hi folks, I'm a new owner of a used 2003 Journey. I Have an existing 15 amp. circuit available which I have previously used for charging a Minnie Winnie.I've been told by an RV tech. that I need at least a 30 circuit for the Journey. Just wondered if anyone is using a smaller circuit just for battery charging? The tech seemed to be telling me the Charger/inverter on the Journey re-
quired 30 amp. service. Any help would be appreciated....

smlranger · 08-28-2007, 08:40 AM

First, welcome to the forum

and congrats on your great new rig. You are going to find lot's of help and some great folks here....many Journey owners.

Some of our electrical experts will surely respond but I will at least tell you that I have plugged my rig into a 15 amp circuit (using the appropriate dog bone adaptor) and had no issues. I could use lighting and the inverter/charger worked fine. If all you have is a 15 amp 110V outlet, that should suffice to keep your charging system on for battery maintenance. I would suggest you consider doing what I did, upgrade the outside circuit to 50 amp, or at least 30 amp.

Harry B · 08-28-2007, 09:16 AM

For charging batteries, 15 amps is fine, as long as it is for maintaining your batteries at full charge.

If your battery is depleted, you will need to limit your charger to 15 amps or less or bulk charge it with the engine and then let the inverter/charger take over again.

On my Horizon I can specify the AC current being drawn by the inverter/charger and reduce it all the way down to 5 amps (Normally it is set at 25 amp max.). I am not sure what kind of charger your Journey has and if it has this feature. Perhaps other Journey owners can chime in.

jimandsue60 · 08-28-2007, 09:22 AM

In addition to what the others have said, make sure the frige is on propane or off, water heater is off or on propane, microwave and tv's unplugged if possible. All of this should assure enough power to keep the batteries charged.

Jim

skigramp · 08-28-2007, 11:05 AM

I have a 2004 Journey ... when I visit my daughter she has a 15 amp circuit that I plug into ...

If I turn the frig and water heater to LP, turn off air conditioner compressor #2, and set the EMS to 20 amps ... I can run my air conditioner without popping her circuit breaker

The point of this is ... that 15 amps is more than adequate to keep your batteries charged.

BIGRED1 · 08-28-2007, 11:27 AM

I have an Progressive Industries HW50C EMS on my coach and it displays the current draw on L1 and L2 output from my inverter/charger. When I first plug into a 20A service(normal 110V ac house plug) and the charge cycle starts it's drawing about 14A. After it reaches the float charge stage, the draw drops down to about 4A. Your tech was probably referring to the kind of amp level that you need to operate your coach under normal circumstances, not just battery charging.

FrontRangeRVer · 08-28-2007, 02:41 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by tofran:
I've been told by an RV tech. that I need at least a 30 circuit for the Journey. The tech seemed to be telling me the Charger/inverter on the Journey re-quired 30 amp. service. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Nonsense from the RV Tech.

I run 200' of cord to my unit out in the woods from my 15 amp home circuit....not enough to run the air, but plenty of voltage to run the battery charger....and I have recently installed a much better quality Converter than Winnie put on.....

John_Canfield · 08-28-2007, 03:39 PM

Oh my - 15 amps is plenty to keep the batteries topped off.

With lots of energy management, you could even get by with being on the coach and having only 15 amps available. Not ideal, but doable.

SCVJeff · 08-28-2007, 11:28 PM

Unless you're charging really DEAD battries you won't come close to 15A. Once charged and floating it's not going to draw more than a few watts just to keep the charger electronics alive.

As a comparison I often run the coach with TV, DSS, 2 Laptops, patio lights, interior lights, and some misc. phantom loads. My Honda eu2000i hardly knows there's even a load unless I charge up after 24 hrs on batt and the charger needs to work for an hour or so.