battery consumption by refrigerator

[xphoneguy]

Hello,

I am a newbie to the RV world and have recently purchased a 2018 View 24V. On our maiden voyage my wife were dry camping and I noticed that the refrigerator consumes the batteries each night. If the refrigerator is left on high or if anything else is used (tv, furnace, water pump, etc.) the batteries deplete to a point that somewhere during the night the refrigerator will no longer turn on. The freezer begins to melt and the refrigerator warms up until the sun comes up high enough to begin solar charging or I have a chance to run the generator.

I met a couple with a 2017 View and their frig had an option to run on propane. They had no problems. Mine refrigerator is strictly AC or DC - no propane. I read the owners manual and it says "do not run refrigerator just on DC batteries as it will deplete the batteries.

Am I doing something wrong or was I sold an expensive RV that isn't really set up to dry camp? If I am not plugged into shore power I have to be fully charged before nightfall, turn the frig on low and don't run anything else in order to keep the refrigerator running!

I am wondering if I complained to Winnebago if I would get any help or satisfaction.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Tucsontoy]

No problems, that is all there is. The 2018 comes with 200 watts of solor to charge batteries but the batteries from the factory are junk. I have a 2017 View and tossed the two house batteries after a few months. Your current NAPA batteries might run the refrigerator by itself all night but the point is to enjoy everything else as well. You need larger batteries. I installed two Trojan T-1275 12 volts batteries giving me 300 amp/hours connected. Use that as a reference. There are a lot of other choices from 6 volt deep cycle to the new lithium. Change your batteries and have more fun without worrying about batteries. Enjoy....

 

[luvlabs-WO]

Don't forget you have a generator. Run it for two hours in the AM and 3 hours at night and with the solar, you should have a healthier battery outlook. Turn off the inverter when you are not using it. It consumes 2-3 amps/hour on standby. You could also modify your propane valve to draw less current (stock one draws 1-1.4 amps/hour).

And do change the batteries. I like two 6V 230 amp/hr golf cart batteries as they are true deep cycle batteries which can be deeply discharged and recharged many times. They also fit better in the battery compartment.

 

[al1florida]

What refrigerator do you have? Is this an all electric RV?



Kind of surprised to see an RV w/o a gas/elect fridge.

 

[Tucsontoy]

All new Views are made with the new 12v/120v electric units. Winnies solution was to add 200 watts of solar.

 

[al1florida]

All new Views are made with the new 12v/120v electric units. Winnies solution was to add 200 watts of solar.

Most interesting. Got me curious, so I downloaded the brochure for the 2018 View.
Quote about the fridge in the brochure:

The new compressor-driven
double door refrigerator keeps
things cool without depleting your
propane supply

Note, the thing about not depleting your propane supply. The standard equipment is a propane generator with an optional diesel generator.

The propane generator will use far more propane to charge the batteries than a gas/elect fridge would running on gas.

Don't get me wrong. There are good reasons to have a compressor fridge. It should keep things much colder than the gas/elect, and you don't have to be concerned about being level. However the term "level" for the gas/elect fridge is, "if you are comfortable being in the RV then it is level enough for the fridge".

Now is the salesman going to tell the consumer that they really need to watch the charge level on the battery because of the fridge. Nope! Could be in the walk thru, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[al1florida]

Hello,

I am a newbie to the RV world and have recently purchased a 2018 View 24V. On our maiden voyage my wife were dry camping and I noticed that the refrigerator consumes the batteries each night. If the refrigerator is left on high or if anything else is used (tv, furnace, water pump, etc.) the batteries deplete to a point that somewhere during the night the refrigerator will no longer turn on. The freezer begins to melt and the refrigerator warms up until the sun comes up high enough to begin solar charging or I have a chance to run the generator.

I met a couple with a 2017 View and their frig had an option to run on propane. They had no problems. Mine refrigerator is strictly AC or DC - no propane. I read the owners manual and it says "do not run refrigerator just on DC batteries as it will deplete the batteries.

Am I doing something wrong or was I sold an expensive RV that isn't really set up to dry camp? If I am not plugged into shore power I have to be fully charged before nightfall, turn the frig on low and don't run anything else in order to keep the refrigerator running!

I am wondering if I complained to Winnebago if I would get any help or satisfaction.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Yes you were sold an RV which will have difficulties dry camping for more than a day or so. Kind of a nasty surprise for an small RV which lends itself to easily park most anywhere.

Do you have the propane generator? If so watch the propane level if you run the generator very much. They use quite a bit of propane.

If you only run the generator for a couple of hours a day, to charge the batteries, it should work well. However if you run the generator for 4-8 hours a day especially to run the A/C then your propane gets used up pretty quick. The brochure lists a 13 gallon propane tank, but you can only fill it to 80% for safety reasons, so you are left with 10.4 gallons.

I would suggest you read the basic info in the following two links, to learn more info about batteries, solar and especially what it takes to charge the batteries.
The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)
The 12volt Side of Life Part 2

 

[LarryW-WO]

Tucson's suggestion of two T1275s is a good one. Do an energy survey of what you want to use. Could be you’ll need three. Boondocking is the best and you can set your rig up for it.

How are you dealing with the 31 gallon fresh water tank? Couple of Jerry cans could work. Winnie engineers must not shower often. lol

 

[Kayak73]

Showers are not a problem. I have found we use far less water, remarkably less, with the Truma on demand water heater. Instant hot water, no waste. In fact we have had only one two week camp in this rig in 5 months, rest of time it is in the shop or waiting for parts. So....the size of the tanks is adequate and at half the size (or less) of our prior DP tanks we can go a day longer without fresh or a dump & flush.

Now, the refrigerator is a limiting factor. Of course there is a massive thread on the iRV2 forum about this issues with the fridge. Once you have it operational you need to remember it consumes 5.6amps when running in maintenance mode after cool down. During cool down it can bump over 8 amps. Things to know. Our unit will indeed hold temps between about 1*F and 2*F in freezer now on setting 4.5 and not freeze things in the bottom with the home made air dam in place to control air flow.

First, the solar panels WGO installs are faulty and my experience shows major cupping of the cells on a hot day which means internal flex which in fact led to one panel failure already, the replacement should be in next week. They are screwed and glued on. If one is replaced your roof will be damaged in the removal.

Second, what everyone else says - get new batteries. I tried to settle on T-105s because of weight. NOT enough. Well, enough if you do not sleep with a CPAP and don't run anything else in the evening. Right now the only reasonable way to use the new View IMHO is to get lithium battery pack and replace the converter with one suitable. Big cash outlay. The other option won't work - replace the fridge with an absorption unit - because the LP tank is very small but I would seriously consider it since the LP fridge uses very little propane in operation. Overall about the same cost as a great lithium battery pack with appropriate controls, converter to recharge etc. Then you must get creative, rebuild the storage compartment for batteries and insulate it and provide a small heat source or park it in freezing weather. We camp in the cold primarily. Cold recharge will kill lithium - be aware of that and the need to heat and insulate the batteries. It is indeed possible though. Weight is a limiting factor in adding new batteries - the more amp/hrs the heavier unless you go lithium.

Right now we are trying to decide what to do with our new 5 month old View. It has been unusable most of that time, going back to shop next week for A/C and the replacement solar panel. Thought which is banging our heads is take the LOSS now and move on to a CoachHouse 261XL QD and get back on the road. Overall we might be happier but my bank account is screaming very loudly - STOP this! It might be smarter to get the lithium conversion done, should be less than 5k cash, the trade or sell/trade will be much more costly but our satisfaction with the new View is just about gone and we have yet to be "on the road" for more than one two week trip and that was with a failed refrigerator.

Yes, I should have known better - but here I am with a new View 24D.

 

[LarryW-WO]

“Showers are not a problem. I have found we use far less water, remarkably less, with the Truma on demand water heater.“

Very few good reports regarding on demand water heaters. Hopefully others with Trumas will comment.

 

[Kayak73]

Another thought...
T-105 weight = 62lbs each, about 225amp/hrs
T-1275 weight = 85lbs each about 300amp/hrs
OEM junk weight = 42lbs each about 150amp/hrs (not real deep cycle)

See where I am going here? OCCC is about 1100lbs. Three T-1275 is a big hit on OCCC, not realistic at all. Two is about 84lbs off OCCC - possible with modifications to battery bay. Now do your usage calculations based on what you normally use during an evening and night. The refrigerator operates on greater than 50% duty cycle at 4.5 setting with high ambients. Don't want to go below 50% discharge either, less is better. Solar "turns on" at first good light with very little output. Depending on time of year and location and weather you might get 7-10 amps for three or four hours (with two 100 watt working Zamps) on a good day, less as it tapers off before and after peak sun. Combine a few hours of genny use in AM and PM and you can get batteries charged a bit but unlikely to get near 100% SOC in that time. AGMs will recharge a bit better with solar. Get a LP refrigerator, 3 way or lithium.

 

[Kayak73]

“Showers are not a problem. I have found we use far less water, remarkably less, with the Truma on demand water heater.“

Very few good reports regarding on demand water heaters. Hopefully others with Trumas will comment.

Larry, the one great thing in the new Views is the Truma. It has been widely used in Europe for three or more years and so far it appears to be meeting great reviews in the USA. We absolutely love the Truma, greatest innovation in RVs in years IMHO. Expensive, yes, but very functional and it uses very little LP. Right now new View buyers must add the optional electric heater kit to drive the thing below freezing without damage to the water heater. That kit cost me $225 and that included shipping. I consider it a must have option for every new View owner unless they start shipping with it installed. It also draws heavily on the DC power supply so we operate it only when the rig is started. Until then keep the unit on ECO mode which runs off LP and keeps water temps at 45*F with recirculation. Read about the Truma, it is a great unit and possibly the best feature of the new rigs. Yes, the older on demand units had some issues and many people posted those but this is a Truma. Fingers crossed and chicken bones tossed we will see how it holds up to use.

 

[LarryW-WO]

Thank you, Kayak. I will read more about them.