Amps monitored

[Life is a Highway]

Sorry Amps not Ams I hope a moderator can fix that edit (Got it fixed)

I’m trying to decided on 2-3- or 4 Battle Born 100 amp which will feed a Victron 3000 inverter. Still up in the Air with solar as a DC to DC 60 amp charger with an all day drive will charge the batts. If I use propane for the refrigerator

I’m trying to wrap my head around real world current draw within a stock 25 ft flying cloud ,30 amp service with a micro wave oven.

Had anyone measured the amp draw of individual appliances on a constant draw boon docking. How many days? The furnace fan lights tv etc. Although I have one Ac with micro start I’m not considering that running off batts. A Honda 2000 will be our backup

As I’m Fixated on Battle Born Lithium’s I’d enjoy hearing your real life boondocking experiences with lithium.

My interstate flooded are pathetic and I maintain them well.

[lsbrodsky]

You must have money to burn! I get by with 2 100 AH Lithiums on my 25, with no solar whatsoever(National Park with trees) and some morning runs of the furnace, I can go 4 days before I need to run the generator to top off. Yes, I have the Victron 3k, Inverter/charger. Since you have a generator to charge, why not use it instead of spending the money on 4 batteries? I have solar, but Eastern National parks are not solar-friendly in the good sites.

Larry

[wulfraat]

Real world microwave will draw 1100-1200 watts or so even though its rated for 900 or 1000. There is efficiency loss of the multi-itself as well when inverting.

We have 600ah and a multiplus 3000. We run pretty much residential power all the time without worries. If we are running some things like the ice maker, microwave, what have you, we see about 1400-1600 watts peak. Maybe 75-250w if the microwave is not running, but the TV, ice maker, etc are running.

We bump to 2000-3000 watts when we run the air conditioner off the batteries, depending on what else is going on in the trailer (yes we can and do run microwave + Air Conditioner + ice maker all at the same time off batteries ).

I often run the fridge on AC through the multi. It draws about 400 watts when cycling, but I have enough solar (800w) to deliver that energy and more when driving down the road. I can recover about 275ah per day on a sunny day, so I don't tend not to care about running things on LP vs AC.

If all you are worried about is running the microwave from time to time 200ah of balttleborns will be fine. that's only ~0.5-1C current draw from the batteries. That being said if you want to run residential power all the time off batteries and not give a hoot you will need at least 400ah if not 600 or even 800 if you want the ability to run the Air conditioner for extended periods of time (2+ hours).

I have a honda 2000. I use it from time to time if I need to run the Air conditioner all day long. In this scenario I will run the multi in hybrid mode, pull ~1200w from the Honda (at altitude w/propane) and the rest from solar and/or batts.

[daleyocum]

I have a 2018 FC25 and started with 300ah of Battleborn being charged from 500w on the roof. I've since moved up to 500ah of Battleborn but that's just us. At level you just really don't have to think about power usage most of the time.

Similar to Wulfraat, I also have a Victron 3000 Multiplus hybrid inverter, Victron solar stuff, etc. I also have a Honda 2000 generator as a backup.

We are fairly heavy users of electricity and use an induction cooktop, microwave, coffee maker, TV, hair drier, etc. We do run the AC for an hour or two to cool things off at night without having to run the generator. If it seems like it will be more than an hour, we fire up the Honda to supplement the solar and battery.

Since you are contemplating a sophisticated system, I'd recommend the Victron Multiplus 3000 rather just an ordinary inverter. That unit will mix battery power and shore power, like from a generator. It also takes the place of your current converter and charger. It's Lithium ready where as otherwise you'd likely need to upgrade your charger.

To answer your question, for our FC25 using power like we do exclusive of the AC, 300ah would have been enough unless you make a habit of parking under trees for extended periods of time. That's using an induction cooktop.

If you find it's not good enough, you can add more battery later, like we did, if you leave room. I'd advise doing it no more than one year later, though, so that your batteries will be fairly well matched.

By the way, getting 60 amps of charging current from your TV is highly dependant on that vehicle. My F150 is limited to around 10-15. Plus, remember that you'll need to some electronics to step that up to the 14.3 volts the Lithium wants.

In our FB Twin, I ended up with the batteries under our curbside twin along with the rest of the electronics. Here's a few pictures.

[Life is a Highway]

Thanks for the reply I see your point
There are times I just hate listening to that Honda or with my current set up Honda’s pound. In a Overnight at a Casino or Walmart in rain would be so nice to not have to worry about had in the gens.

[Life is a Highway]

Long long Honeymoon which For their efforts rightfully so got some sponsors perks. 4 BB 100 were installed 400 watts of Solar and a Renogy 50 amp DC-DC charger. I believe you get that controllable regulation back to the batts. I now see a 60 amp version DIY solar Will had a pretty good review of a 40 amp. I was thinking 300 amps is a good start. Although bloggers Less Junk more Journey stuffed 600 amps into his Airstream. I’m sure with sponsoring help.

A VERY important question to answer please. As the inverter in our twin fb will be under the wife’s bed will I be getting a WTH is that noise or vibration from the 3000 Victron and forced to switch sides. LOL

Very nice install thanks for the pictures. Appreciate that.

QUOTE=daleyocum;2357767]I have a 2018 FC25 and started with 300ah of Battleborn being charged from 500w on the roof. I've since moved up to 500ah of Battleborn but that's just us. At level you just really don't have to think about power usage most of the time.

Similar to Wulfraat, I also have a Victron 3000 Multiplus hybrid inverter, Victron solar stuff, etc. I also have a Honda 2000 generator as a backup.

We are fairly heavy users of electricity and use an induction cooktop, microwave, coffee maker, TV, hair drier, etc. We do run the AC for an hour or two to cool things off at night without having to run the generator. If it seems like it will be more than an hour, we fire up the Honda to supplement the solar and battery.

Since you are contemplating a sophisticated system, I'd recommend the Victron Multiplus 3000 rather just an ordinary inverter. That unit will mix battery power and shore power, like from a generator. It also takes the place of your current converter and charger. It's Lithium ready where as otherwise you'd likely need to upgrade your charger.

To answer your question, for our FC25 using power like we do exclusive of the AC, 300ah would have been enough unless you make a habit of parking under trees for extended periods of time. That's using an induction cooktop.

If you find it's not good enough, you can add more battery later, like we did, if you leave room. I'd advise doing it no more than one year later, though, so that your batteries will be fairly well matched.

By the way, getting 60 amps of charging current from your TV is highly dependant on that vehicle. My F150 is limited to around 10-15. Plus, remember that you'll need to some electronics to step that up to the 14.3 volts the Lithium wants.

In our FB Twin, I ended up with the batteries under our curbside twin along with the rest of the electronics. Here's a few pictures.[/QUOTE]

[Life is a Highway]

That was my objective I realize at 300-400 battery amps Ac is needing Honda support but maybe on quite idle instead of full till scream. I do have a micro start installed

[daleyocum]

Our Multiplus 3000 is indeed under MY bed. The fan changes its speed depending on what’s going on. Most of the time the unit is either silent or the fan is running slowly and is close to silent. If the inverter is running at full tilt I can hear it but it’s just another source of white noise to me. Seldom are we running high current AC devices when we are sleeping, though!

I understand that you’d like to charge the batteries heavily from the tow vehicle. What I’m saying is the modern pickups vary wildly in how much current they’ll provide. My 2019 F150 only has, maybe, an 18 gauge wire going to that charging pin. 10 amps is all I can draw from it. Ford has all kinds of electronics between that charging pin and the battery to keep it from draining the truck battery or drawing too much current from the alternator.

Some people have been known to install their own relay and bigger wire back to the trailer. Some install bigger or second alternators. Some even install their own connector to the trailer in addition to the 7pin.

[Life is a Highway]

Understand Thanks

I know running two gauge back from a solenoid activated by my trucks up fitter switch. Circuit protected by 60 BlueSea fuse.

Anderson connectors 4 gauge from the Truck batteries to trailer connector.

Your right the stock trailer wire will not get it done

I understand that you’d like to charge the batteries heavily from the tow vehicle. What I’m saying is the modern pickups vary wildly in how much current they’ll provide. My 2019 F150 only has, maybe, an 18 gauge wire going to that charging pin. 10 amps is all I can draw from it. Ford has all kinds of electronics between that charging pin and the battery to keep it from draining the truck battery or drawing too much current from the alternator.

Some people have been known to install their own relay and bigger wire back to the trailer. Some install bigger or second alternators. Some even install their own connector to the trailer in addition to the 7pin.[/QUOTE]

[daleyocum]

Looks like you’ve thought this through. Assuming the alternator can handle it, and you have something like the Renogy DC-DC charger, you should be good to go.