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Old 09-19-2017, 12:08 PM   #1
Eagleback
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Power useage

I have a 2013 331rlt Mountaineer and after the hurricane. ( I cant believe the unit made it through with zero damage) i was forced to use the fridge on propane. OK the question, I want to know how long a single 12 volt house battery that comes with the unit should last. Its 3 years old and i made sure all nonessential 12 volt power was not being used (Lights radio ETC.) when i unhooked from the truck the fridge gave me a low dc fault after about 4 hours on the battery. Is my battery bad or is the 1210 norcold power hungry. Also how many watts does the power converter use when its in full charge mode. I have a generator and need to get a better idea how much to calculate for it. I think the fridge uses 300 watts under 120 volt operation.

Any help would be great. Because were still in the dark here in Naples.


Thanks

John
 
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Old 09-19-2017, 01:57 PM   #2
AZ Traveler
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John,

Your fridge should draw about .5 amp on the 12 volt side when running on propane. This is only about 6 watts unless there is something wrong with your fridge. Would suspect your battery has an issue - maybe it was not fully charged or has expended its useful life.
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Old 09-19-2017, 02:03 PM   #3
NCFischers
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The battery could be older than that. You've only had it 3 years, how long was it on the shelf before being installed?
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Old 09-19-2017, 02:24 PM   #4
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I agree with NCFischers the could of been on a shelf for up to a year you should have
at lest (2) 12 volt battery's or (4) 6 volt gulf cart battery's works the best way moore
battery capacity with (6) volt.
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Old 09-19-2017, 03:30 PM   #5
speedster100
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you might also want to check and make sure your light isn't staying on in the fridge. Sometimes if you move a shelf (depending upon the fridge) that affects the switch that is supposed to shut off the light when the door closes. That light draws alot of power....

I suspect by the sounds of it you have a low battery or a bad cell, a single 12 volt with only the fridge & the CO detector etc should go three or 4 days. Add another 12 volt and you can go a week....
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Old 09-19-2017, 03:44 PM   #6
jcurtis934
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The fridge has a 5 amp fuse in the electronics to run off of 12vdc. Not only is the electronics and the user panel running off this, but the two fans that cycle on and off as needed, the door seal heater on the left hand flap, the gas valve to allow gas flow, divider heater, and of course there is that defrost function that automatically melts the ice off of those fins in the fridge section. This requires more than 60 watts, which is why the 12vdc section of electronics is protected with a five amp fuse. I would think your issue is the single group 24 battery (85 amphr) battery is less than up to the job...especially when it also has to run the converter to charge the battery as well as the propane leak detecter, antenna preamp, standby power to 12vdc bedroom tv if installed, 12vdc to water heater and furnace electronics, and any light that happens to be used. I ditched the group 24 battery and went to one 12vdc agm group 31 battery as I never boondock.
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Old 09-19-2017, 06:14 PM   #7
kc8lvy
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Hi John. As you know I have no power either. I went 2 days on a single battery with fridge on gas. I am now running a generator. I cannot run everything on the rig at once but I went through and seen how many amps each item on the rig ran in amps.
Front AC 15 amps
Rear AC 15 amps
Hot water heater 12 amps
Microwave 13 amps
Inverter 4 amps
Coffee maker 8 amps
Fridge 6 amps
Golf cart charger 9 amps
I know this doesn't help you much on battery. But if you get a generator it might help.
Hopefully we will see power soon.
Glad you made it home safe.
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Old 09-20-2017, 11:37 AM   #8
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Ok. Check the battery. Thanks for the input, My power is now back on along with water. But a lot of damage in the park. I hope most have Insurance but i hear 90% do not and with 560 sites 55 of them have been condemned. Lisa and myself were considering a park model with a nice lanai. But now were staying in the monty. there are about 25 5th wheels in the park and not one got any damage. Thanks Ted nice to hear from you and hope all are safe. This is a life experience i wish on nobody.
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Old 09-21-2017, 09:14 PM   #9
jcurtis934
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The good thing is that the Monte made it through the experience. Hurricanes and the high humidity are why we depart SW florida at the end of april and do not return until Nov 1st. I really believe your issue is the battery. I got my group 31 agm at west marine in port charlotte, but you should be able to get one at west marine near you. Much stout battery and no maintenance. Hope Maria stays away from florida as well. John
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Old 09-22-2017, 07:17 AM   #10
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Looks like Maria might be a new England problem and from my postion here I'm OK with that. I will tell you were going to make some changes for hurricane season by having 5, 5 gallons of gas and diesel in storage next year from about July through Oct or so just in case we have to bug out again. The main problem was no fuel or supplies, and it was getting hard to find even a week before Irma even made land fall. Our friends in Sebring have months and months supply of dooms day food packets so to the camping store to have a few of them also. Of course no problems with fire arms or ammo. We are picking up the pieces here, even though i have a day job, at night were helping clean up to get our park back to normal as soon as we can. But it will have a lot of open spaces and a few said to us there not coming back. I guess i don't blame them, i would not be here ether in the summer but i'm not retired yet. and we said no to buying a park model, were staying in the monty and after i retire it will travel back to Michigan in the summer. Thank you all for the prayers I know it kept us all safe.
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