AC Unit With Inverter

[southjk]

Can you run the roof ac while driving down the road off the inverted?
Looks like I need to fire up the onan I guess? Also why would not use two 6 volt golf cart batteries in series rather than the 2 12 volt in parallel?

[HowieE]

If you are and you will have to run the generator the batteries don't enter the equation. The AC draws about 13 amps at 120 volts.

You could not carry enough batteries to run the AC off them.

[UKDUDE]

You can use 2 6 volt golf cart batteries and in fact many of us have upgraded to them. They provide useful additional capacity, but take up extra space, so you'll have to plan how to install them.

[gmillerok1]

Originally Posted by southjk

Can you run the roof ac while driving down the road off the inverted?
Looks like I need to fire up the onan I guess? Also why would not use two 6 volt golf cart batteries in series rather than the 2 12 volt in parallel?

No, you cannot. The are only a few select devices and AC plugs on the inverter circuit, and the AC is not one of them. Even if it was, the inverter itself is only 1000 watts and that's not enough to run them, nor is the battery bank large enough to run them for any length of time. You can run the genset while driving, and then run the AC.

The main reason for 6vdc is that they are cheaper if they are a wet cell type, such as a golf battery, but in my opinion, when using AGM's there is no significant difference between the two. In my 2011, it's would not be feasible to check the water, as the batteries are stacked on top of each other, and it also requires removing the couch to check them. Hence, the AGM's, which don't need water, and don't need checking.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by gmillerok1

The main reason for 6vdc is that they are cheaper if they are a wet cell type, such as a golf battery, but in my opinion, when using AGM's there is no significant difference between the two. In my 2011, it's would not be feasible to check the water, as the batteries are stacked on top of each other, and it also requires removing the couch to check them. Hence, the AGM's, which don't need water, and don't need checking.

The advantage to using two 6v AGM batteries versus two 12v AGM batteries is increased amp-hours.

A Group-24 12v AGM battery has approximately 80 amp-hours rated capacity. Two in parallel give you 160 amp-hours of 12v power— of which you can actually use 80.

The 6v AGM batteries that some Interstate owners have installed are almost the same size as the Group 24 batteries except for being about an inch taller. But each 6v battery has about 230 amp-hours capacity. Two in series give you 230 amp-hours of 12v power, of which you can actually use 115.

For those who have at least 200 watts of solar panel and boondock in direct sun, it doesn't matter if you have 12v or 6v batteries. But for those who rely upon generator power to recharge their batteries, the extra 35 amp-hours of usable battery capacity means you can go that much longer before you have to wake up Mary-Ann* to recharge the batteries.

*The first generator built by Edison was nicknamed "Long-legged Mary-Ann" by Edison's all-male laboratory staff.

[gmillerok1]

Yep, that's sure true, too. You get a bit better bang for the size. I looked at Lifeline's AGM Group 24 12vdc as opposed to the 6vdc GPL-4, which is about the same size, and sure enough, with 2x6vdc, you get 220amps, with about 110amps usable, a with the 12vdc Group 24 12vdc, with 2 you get 160 amps, with about 80 usable.

So, that's quite a bit better.

I'm working with Lew to do a lithium upgrade this fall with about a 300-400 amp system with about 260 or more usable and a 300-400 watt solar upgrade. Now we're talking some usable amps with that!

[southjk]

Looks like Roadtrrk has the right idea. I looked at a few but didn't like the workmanship. I understand they use a underhood generator along with a lith-ion system also supported by a beefier solar system.

[UKDUDE]

Originally Posted by southjk

Looks like Roadtrrk has the right idea. I looked at a few but didn't like the workmanship. I understand they use a underhood generator along with a lith-ion system also supported by a beefier solar system.

I have yet to find anyone who can verify that RoadTrek's technology actually works without issues. They have 2 pilot vehicles running in the hands of their bloggers Mike Wendland and Campskunk, who never reveal any issues. Sounds too fishy to me.
If you go through the motions of ordering an E-Trek or other MB-based model on the RoadTrek website, you can order up to 600 watts of solar, up to 1600 Amps of Lithium, and an under-slung AC unit (where I'm sure it will be fully in line for all the road grime and road dust. All for almost $200K. Would you order something like this without reading some credible reviews?

[TG Twinkie]

Remember: while the 6 volt batteries last longer. It takes longer to recharge them back to their max capacity.