batteries

[trickto32]

We have a 2015 3611RL with a residental refigerator, We have one battery. I am wondering if we should have two batteries. What would the benefit other than extended time not hooked to shore power.
thank you

[Bigboomer]

One battery is not going to cut it with an inverter running a residential frig for any length of time.

You would benefit from 2 deep cycle golf cart type batteries with more amp hours which will give you the ability to run the inverter to power the frig while traveling including overnight boondocking like at Wally World. Note that you will need additional charging source if your tow vehicle cannot recharge the batteries sufficiently while towing.

[Dam Worker]

On the units with the residential fridge and the inverter that I looked at Keystone was shipping them from the factory with a battery case designed to hold two batteries. In my opinion that would probably mean that they expected the units to receive two batteries because of the almost continuous draw put on the batteries.

Tom Marty

[DQDick]

It's just not going to work for you with one if you want to run the frig all day while towing. Remember running the battery way down will damage it and result in the need for a new battery sooner than necessary.

[cw3jason]

I added a second interstate 24 battery to take the trailer down to Disney. Here are my results. batteries were fully charged, fridge running on inverter. stopped first night at Walmart, next morning everything still running. drove to campground second night pluged in to shore power. everything worked. day 3 not enough juice left in batteries to keep inverter running if truck was shut off. The inverter shuts down before batteries are completely drained, safety feature to save the batteries I suspect. had to start truck and reset inverter everytime I stopped and shut off the truck. Lesson learned: 2 batteries are good for 1 day, maybe alittle more. after 24 hrs even being plugged in or when driving, the batteries do not charge fast enough to replenish what the inverter has used, so the fridge will only run off the truck alternator and inverter and shut down if truck is turned off. If you plan on Wallydocking more than 1 night, you need to get better batteries. 2 deepcycle 6 volts possibly. Same results on the return trip from Disney, accept we didnt Wallydock untill the seccond night and some time in the early morning the inverter and fridge stopped. just reset once truck was running and home we went.

[trickto32]

thank you for the info. We do have (2) 6 volts from a different unit we had. we might try those out when we go down to florida this winter to see the difference. thanks again

[Bigboomer]

Trick,

You might want to consider a small solar setup with a single high voltage high wattage panel and a charge controller to maintain the battery/ batteries properly.

[trickto32]

Bigboomer, where can I get info on the solar system you speak of?

[poloace]

We have 2 Trojan 6v batteries, and a 80W solar panel. Been out boondocking almost 2wks, and only need the generator when the DF needs to use the hair dryer. Refer working well.

[steelpony5555]

Even with just an RV frig I would want 2 batteries. I have 2 Interstates which are sufficient to run everything on overnite boondock stops. If I had a residential frig I would definitely go with the 6v batteries.

[Bigboomer]

Trick,

Try this link to Northern Arizona Wind and Sun...

http://www.solar-electric.com/solar-...ndsmbasoc.html

They have a couple of pre-designed simple setups.

I used NAWS for all my equipment and they have very good service and we excellent knowledge.