Refrigerator Advice

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Palmerdad

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Sep 24, 2016
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I am in the middle of renovating our new to us 1976 Eleganza and need to make a decision about the dead fridge. I have looked into taking it down to
Indiana to have it repaired (6 hour drive one way) and am also playing around with getting a new one. If we go the new route our options are wide
open and I am curious about getting an energy efficient smaller residential model and running it off of the battery and a pure sine inverter. Our use
will be 90% at sites that have electricity and we have the Onan for the rare times we are without. Currently the fridge is the last thing hooked up
to propane so a residential fridge would enable me to pull the propane tank and gain extra storage space as well.

The best combination of energy efficiency and space seems to be the
http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-5-6-cu-ft-Mini-Refrigerator-in-Black-GCE06GGHBB/205508766. It is obviously smaller than the Norcold we currently have
but we just went through a kitchen reno and lived for 3 months with a small fridge about this size with little to no lifestyle changes so I think it
will be enough for us on weekends and short trips. It is energy star rated at an annual 236 kWh.

Here is where I need help. I've never been good at math and the whole watts, amps, volts confuses the heck out of me. What would this 236 kWh break
down to for a daily draw on a house battery? What gauge wire would I need to run from the 12v system to the inverter to handle this size draw?
Also, am I right in thinking the house battery would get enough charge while the vehicle is underway to keep it full even with the fridge running?
Any other things you think I'm overlooking in considering this as an option???
--
-James Palmer, Traverse City, MI
1976 Eleganza
 
Hi,

For a AC Compressor Fridge, you need an inverter that can handle the very high, short moment the compressor starts running.
So if the average draw is 65 watts, you need at least an inverter that is capable of 10-15 times that 65 watts !
Even it is for a very short time, ones the compressor runs its settles to that 65 watts.

I also switched to a compressor fridge, but choose the 12 volts version from Dometic, the Waeco Coolmatic CRX110.
We don't need a inverter, and this low temps, I use 45 Amps / 24 hours.
This is including lights (LED), waterpump, ALDE 3010 heater with warm water reservoir, and 2 hours of television.
Waeco gives an estimate of max 2,5 Amps/hour when the outside temp is 80-90 degrees.

During the ride the batteries are constantly charged by the alternator, and a Votronic Chargebooster 1212-45 Amps max.
When your batteries needs extra charging you could run the generator, but at campsites the combination of charger and batterie will be enough.
Those 12volt compressor fridges are super efficiënt. And in very hot circumstances they are capable of cooling down very good.
But that is also true for domestic fridges. Going for either the domestic AC fridge or the RV/Ships 12volts Fridges, I think is in your situation the
best way to go.

People who do a lot of boondocking need to enlarge their batteriebanks and/or additional solar.
During summertime my solarpanels can keepup with the demands of my fridge, lights at night etc ...
Additional, thanks to my chargebooster, I can drive an hour and almost put 45 amps, back in the batteries, when they are discharged for more then
30%.

Daniel

PS: not Based on the situation in a GMC, but a european build Hymer class B+
But that makes for function and making a choise no difference since our 12volts systems are simullar, and the fact that our domestic fridges use
230volt is only a detail ;)
--
Daniel Jacobs, No GMC, but an admirer of them .... We'll see what the future brings ....

Always remember, the world is full of nice people!
So, if you can't find one, be one!
 
> ...I've never been good at math and the whole watts, amps, volts confuses the heck out of me. What would this 236 kWh break down to for a daily
> draw on a house battery? What gauge wire would I need to run from the 12v system to the inverter to handle this size draw? Also, am I right in
> thinking the house battery would get enough charge while the vehicle is underway to keep it full even with the fridge running? Any other things you
> think I'm overlooking in considering this as an option???
You can't rely on the numbers from the energy guide. The amount of energy will go up and down the ambient temperature goes up and down. And your
particular model will vary from the guide.

But to get you in the ballpark, 236kWh is 647 watt-hours per day, or 27 watt-hours per hour. Divide that by 12VDC and you get 2.245 amps effective
continuous draw. Multiply that by the 15% loss in an inverter and you get about 2.6 amps effective continuous draw on your house battery bank. It will
probably be more like double that half the time (when the fridge is running) and zero the other half of the time.

IF (big capital letters) it doesn't draw more than that, and IF (big capital letters) you could actually get 100 amp-hours out of a battery, and IF
(big capital letters) you had nothing else drawing power from your house battery bank, you could go about 38 hours before a 100 amp-hour house battery
was dead. Two golf cart batteries might get you to 48 hours or so with other loads on it.

That sub-3 amp load could get by with a 16 gauge wire. I would run 12 gauge.

Yes, the house battery would get enough charge while underway to keep it topped off. Where you will suffer is when there is nothing to charge the
house battery. Figure a day maybe with other loads like lights and what-not. Or build a serious house battery bank.
--
73 23' Sequoia 4 Sale
73 23' CanyonLands Parts Unit 4 Sale
Upper Alabama
"Highest price does not guarantee highest quality."
 
This might help you break it down.

Your fridge will most likely draw 3 amps @110 volts. This is 330 watts. (A normal household fridge draws about 7-8 amps @110 volts)

Converting that to 12 volts means that you divide 330/12 equals about 27 amps of 12 volt power.

The duty cycle is a bit tough to figure. How often is the fridge going to run depends on ambient air temp and the amount of ventilation you give it. The more venting the more efficient. In a house there is lots of ventilation. In a GMC not so much.

Lets assume a 30% duty cycle (this is probably on the high side). This means that the fridge will run 8 hours over a 24 hour period meaning that you will use 216 amps through out the day or ABOUT 2000 watts. You will flatten a regular 105 amp battery in about 12 hours.

Wire size for the inverter is dependent on how close it is to the battery source and how big the inverter is. There should be a spec sheet with the inverter to tell you this. From the inverter to the fridge you can use a #12 appliance extension cord.

With a good 120 amp alternator you ought to be able to keep the fridge running while driving but make sure you have at least a #6 or larger wire from the alternator to the batteries. Not sure where your house battery is located but the standard #10 wire will not cut it if that is what you have.. That alternator is going to suck up about 2 horsepower from the engine at full output so make sure the belts are good and you might even consider a double pulley (see JimK for this).

All of the above is making lots of assumptions but it might help you along.

>
> I am in the middle of renovating our new to us 1976 Eleganza and need to make a decision about the dead fridge. I have looked into taking it down to
> Indiana to have it repaired (6 hour drive one way) and am also playing around with getting a new one. If we go the new route our options are wide
> open and I am curious about getting an energy efficient smaller residential model and running it off of the battery and a pure sine inverter. Our use
> will be 90% at sites that have electricity and we have the Onan for the rare times we are without. Currently the fridge is the last thing hooked up
> to propane so a residential fridge would enable me to pull the propane tank and gain extra storage space as well.
>
> The best combination of energy efficiency and space seems to be the
> http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-5-6-cu-ft-Mini-Refrigerator-in-Black-GCE06GGHBB/205508766. It is obviously smaller than the Norcold we currently have
> but we just went through a kitchen reno and lived for 3 months with a small fridge about this size with little to no lifestyle changes so I think it
> will be enough for us on weekends and short trips. It is energy star rated at an annual 236 kWh.
>
> Here is where I need help. I've never been good at math and the whole watts, amps, volts confuses the heck out of me. What would this 236 kWh break
> down to for a daily draw on a house battery? What gauge wire would I need to run from the 12v system to the inverter to handle this size draw?
> Also, am I right in thinking the house battery would get enough charge while the vehicle is underway to keep it full even with the fridge running?
> Any other things you think I'm overlooking in considering this as an option???
> --
> -James Palmer, Traverse City, MI
> 1976 Eleganza
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org

Gary and Joanne Worobec
Anza, CA
1973 Glacier 23
 
Hi Daniel -

"During the ride the batteries are constantly charged by the alternator, and a Votronic Chargebooster 1212-45 Amps max."

I'm very curious about this... I looked at the documentation for this device (in German) and it appears that it takes the alternators current as
supplied to the starter battery and provides it to the house battery/batteries as required by them.

How is this different than a traditional combiner ?? (http://www.yandina.com/c100InfoR3.htm)

Thanks and Happy New Year !

Steve W
1973 23'
Southern California
 
There is no way of telling how much juice the fridge will use. as stated above, the temperature outside and inside the coach varies so much, and the
food you have in it, and how often you open the door and how long the door is open.

Both the fridge you posted from home depot, and the fridge Daniel was describing is a lot smaller then the fridge that is standard in your eleganza.
I like to have plenty of cold beverages in the coach, and they tend to take up some space.

I just know from my experience, there is cost of trying to boost battery capacity. (solar, bigger battery banks, inverters). and I never could get
a long weekend out of my electric only fridge. Before my $700 spending on batteries/solar, I could barely go 24 hours on my stock battery/norcold.
Going with a propane fridge, just took all my battery capacity problems away.

I would have no issues getting a decent used fridge. I see no reason to buy $1200 new fridge when you can find a rebuilt or used one for less then
$500.

There are other guys out there too other then the guy in indiana, but he is probably the best. We have a re builder in Minneapols/St. Paul, so
maybe you do not have to travel that far.

--
Jon Roche
75 palm beach
St. Cloud, MN
http://lqqkatjon.blogspot.com/
 
> Hi Daniel -
>
> "During the ride the batteries are constantly charged by the alternator, and a Votronic Chargebooster 1212-45 Amps max."
>
> I'm very curious about this... I looked at the documentation for this device (in German) and it appears that it takes the alternators current as
> supplied to the starter battery and provides it to the house battery/batteries as required by them.
>
> How is this different than a traditional combiner ?? (http://www.yandina.com/c100InfoR3.htm)
>
> Thanks and Happy New Year !
>
> Steve W
> 1973 23'
> Southern California

Hello Steve,

Here a link in english for the B2B chargebooster, I am talking about.

http://www.votronic.de/index.php/en/products2/series-vcc/standard-version/vcc-1212-45

The big difference to a combiner or diodeblock, is the fact it is a full electronic controlled charger, see it as a charger that has not 110 volts
input, but the 12-15 volts the alternator produces, then through sense-lines measures the alternator/startbat current and chargestatus, and the same
for the house battery bank. It can be ajusted for different types of batteries, gel, agm, acid-lead, also the manner of input and the speed of
charging.

I did also renew my wirering, don't know the diameter for US standards, but I took 16 mm2 diameter high quality cable, 80 amps fuse at startbat side
and 50 amps at house battery side. As advised by Votronic.

The big advantige is further more, not only the very good charge charasteristics, but too low input from the alternator side will be brought to a
higher level, so the charge voltage is always as needed. Long distance from alternator to house battery will be compensated that way.
And I know that is often an issue in MHs.

They have also an connection for the D+ so the booster only then makes a connection and starts charging when the engine runs.

There are different models availeble, 25 amps, 45 amps and there will be comming soon a 90 amps version.
Also a model especially for LitiumIon batteries.

Even after starting the engine, running at idle (about 800 rpm) the chargebooster charges at 45 amps, and is also tempcontrolled, what is also an
advantidge. The batteries are discharged about 30-40%. And it continious very strong.

In the situation before I had the booster installed, it started at 20 amps max, and did go down to 10 .... 8 amps after a short time, since the
alternator saw a already fully charged startbatterie ...

Also for all of you a very happy newyear.

Daniel.

--
Daniel Jacobs, No GMC, but an admirer of them .... We'll see what the future brings ....

Always remember, the world is full of nice people!
So, if you can't find one, be one!
 
> This might help you break it down.
> Your fridge will most likely draw 3 amps @110 volts. This is 330 watts. (A normal household fridge draws about 7-8 amps @110 volts)...
My power consumption numbers for 12VDC reflect what the energyguide for the fridge would consume. You made me realize that my wire sizing was based on
a continuous 2.6A DC and not something like a 10% duty cycle, which would be 10 times that amount. So you need to plug it in and measure the current
draw before you can size the inverter and the wire to the inverter.

What is true is that pretty much any guess is going to be off, probably by quite a bit. The only way to know is to put it in the environment in which
it will be used and put something like a Kill-A-Watt on it and measure real life. Then insert the inverter into the picture and measure/track the
current that traverses the inverter from a full house battery to a dead one. THEN you will have numbers that you can use to figure out how long it
will take to run the house battery down.

And any test has to be real life, including opening the door as much as it will be opened and making ice cubes and what-not.

Everyone contemplating a compressor based electric fridge needs to read this: http://www.bdub.net/Refrigeration_in_the_GMC.pdf

Realistically, the only people that can get by without a propane fridge are the people that always plug in, and those with solar panels and charge
controller(s). The Onan and a converter/charger is a very inefficient and ineffective house battery charging system.

And if you decide to go solar, battery charging is critical, and rarely gets done right. When you have a day or two to read and reread enough to
understand it, read here: https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/the-rv-battery-charging-puzzle-2/
--
73 23' Sequoia 4 Sale
73 23' CanyonLands Parts Unit 4 Sale
Upper Alabama
"Highest price does not guarantee highest quality."
 
.... :)

Thanks Peer ...

Pffff what a formula ...
And yes I see also the listing.

Lets say I took wires of high quality, almost, as thick as my ringfinger .... :lol:

Since on the startbattery site a max of 65 Amps goes through that wirering, the bigger diameters are better.
There are listing where you can look for what's needed.

Daniel
--
Daniel Jacobs, No GMC, but an admirer of them .... We'll see what the future brings ....

Always remember, the world is full of nice people!
So, if you can't find one, be one!
 
Thanks everyone for the info. I understand that in the real world a lot depends on the use. I wonder if the energy star ratings account for some
kind of "typical" days use opening the door and what not. IF I were to go this route what would be a good battery configuration. Right now the house
has one 12v deep cycle battery which the PO had just installed.
--
-James Palmer, Traverse City, MI
1976 Eleganza
 
> > ...I've never been good at math and the whole watts, amps, volts confuses the heck out of me. What would this 236 kWh break down to for a
> > daily draw on a house battery? What gauge wire would I need to run from the 12v system to the inverter to handle this size draw? Also, am I
> > right in thinking the house battery would get enough charge while the vehicle is underway to keep it full even with the fridge running? Any other
> > things you think I'm overlooking in considering this as an option???
> You can't rely on the numbers from the energy guide. The amount of energy will go up and down the ambient temperature goes up and down. And your
> particular model will vary from the guide.
>
> But to get you in the ballpark, 236kWh annually is 647 watt-hours per day, or 27 watt-hours per hour. Divide that by 12VDC and you get 2.245 amps
> effective continuous draw. Multiply that by the 15% loss in an inverter and you get about 2.6 amps effective continuous draw on your house battery
> bank. It will probably be more like double that half the time (when the fridge is running) and zero the other half of the time.
>
> IF (big capital letters) it doesn't draw more than that, and IF (big capital letters) you could actually get 100 amp-hours out of a battery, and
> IF (big capital letters) you had nothing else drawing power from your house battery bank, you could go about 38 hours before a 100 amp-hour house
> battery was dead. Two golf cart batteries might get you to 48 hours or so with other loads on it.
>
> That sub-3 amp load could get by with a 16 gauge wire. I would run 12 gauge.
>
> Yes, the house battery would get enough charge while underway to keep it topped off. Where you will suffer is when there is nothing to charge the
> house battery. Figure a day maybe with other loads like lights and what-not. Or build a serious house battery bank.

So, using a hypothetical number of 3 amps per hour to try and account for the losses my 100 aH battery is pretty well drained down 75%-80% after one
day. Running my Onan 6k with the new Progressive Dynamics 45 AMP power converter would take roughly 2 hours to bring it back up? (Or am I missing
something in the genset charging rate?)

--
-James Palmer, Traverse City, MI
1976 Eleganza
 
Hello James,

Dometic also has a bigger type compressor, the Coolmatic HDC-195, also 12 volts.
Consider also the fact that if you only have to buy a good quality sinus-inverter for you household fridge that operates at 110 volts, those are not
cheap.

I see the Coolmatic series operating at 12 volts at prices between 700 and 1400 Euros, and since your dollar is so strong now it will be almost the
same in dollars. No extra cabeling for inverter, no extra heavy fuses, no intermittent heavy loads on house batteries.
An average consumption of 3,5 amps//hour, and if the compressor runs at max it is 5-6 amps, so no extra heavy wires necessairy.

If you have already a quality sinus-inverter, with enough power, you can save money buying a domestic fridge.

So you see it still comes down to choosing ... Something you have to do yourself.

Daniel
--
Daniel Jacobs, No GMC, but an admirer of them .... We'll see what the future brings ....

Always remember, the world is full of nice people!
So, if you can't find one, be one!
 
Quote:
> So, using a hypothetical number of 3 amps per hour to try and account for the losses my 100 aH battery is pretty well drained down 75%-80% after
> one day. Running my Onan 6k with the new Progressive Dynamics 45 AMP power converter would take roughly 2 hours to bring it back up? (Or am I
> missing something in the genset charging rate?)

Hallo James,

Never drain a lead-accid, gel or agm batterie more then 50%!
So a 100 amps bat gets you only 50 amps at max....
Further a 45 amps charger does not charge continually at 45 amps, it goes down and down since the internal resistance of the battery goes up and up so
it will take at least several hours more to top them up ...
But if you go from campsite to campsite, plugging in your rig, bringing up your batterie capacity could do the trick in getting enough "juice" for the
fridge while shopping and taking a rest, during the day. Go from 100 to 200 or some more ...
Also as long as the engine runs, so the alternator runs and keeps the batteries at the max, also gives enough for the fridge.

Daniel

--
Daniel Jacobs, No GMC, but an admirer of them .... We'll see what the future brings ....

Always remember, the world is full of nice people!
So, if you can't find one, be one!
 
Others may chime in on the actual math, but the batteries charge rate will vary. I think it takes longer then 2 hours to charge up a house bank
drained down 75%. the batteries will not take the full 45 amps.

i can only say my experience. with my original 12v marine battery, the fridge seemed to kill the battery in a 24 hour period or less. I then
upgraded to 2ea 6v golf cart batteries, about 215 amp hour, and it would last 36-48 hours. I added 65 watt solar, and it did not really add any
time, batteries were drained dead by sunday morning when I had rolled into camp friday night. I then stated putting Ice in the fridge, and it
seemed to help getting me through Sunday.

with my 2 golf cart batteies drained all the way down, a 2 hour drive home(alternator charge), they were charged up quite a bit, but never topped
off 100%.

remember when the sun hits the coach, and you are not running A/C, it can get really hot. Also the back of the coach fridge is usually exposed to
outside temps. (obviously not the case if you install a residential unit, you will probably close off the back of the fridge compartment).

there are people who run electric fridges and are plenty happy with them. My experience though, is if you ever want to make it longer then 2-3 days
without a power cord, then a propane fridge is the way to go.

--
Jon Roche
75 palm beach
St. Cloud, MN
http://lqqkatjon.blogspot.com/
 
From everything I'm hearing and from Rob Allen's article I'm thinking all electric might work for us. For instance, we are planning a road trip this
Summer for 2 weeks. (This will be the longest use I can see us doing at this point in our lives, the rest will be weekends to state parks with hook
ups) During that 2 weeks most camping will be at places with hook ups. We might have a night or 2 at a Walmart on our way but that will be after an
8 hour drive and before another 8 hour drive so the battery charge shouldn't be a problem. When we camp at Yellowstone I want to stay at Canyon
campground which does NOT have hook ups. The 4 days there will be a challenge. We don't have a toad so we will be driving the GMC around each day so
that will help a bit. I will just have to find time to run the genset 2-3 hours a day to keep everything going. All the lights we have are being
converted to LED and we will use the bathrooms for showers/hot water use. We do have a small TV I let the kids watch while we're on the road but we
don't like it to be on when we arrive as the whole point is to get out and enjoy nature and being together. The GE model I'm looking at claims a 27
watt an hour rate so even with the 85% inverter inefficiency we will be around Rob Allen's 30 watt goal. It sounds like what I would really need to
do is get a couple of golf cart batteries to replace the one battery I have now.

So I understand I won't be saving money after I buy new batteries and a pure sine wave charger (in addition to the fridge). What I will gain is the
ability to better close up and insulate the part of the coach where the fridge is as well as give myself a new storage compartment where the propane
tank sits. Both would be nice. I'll probably keep analyzing this for days to come!
--
-James Palmer, Traverse City, MI
1976 Eleganza
 
FWIW, we've had the Avanti 7.4 residential fridge for about a year now. We have a largish inverter (Xantrex 2500) and the combination has been
great. According to the display on the xantrex, we will see 7-800 watts at startup for maybe a second or 2, then it settles down to around 50 watts
running. We have 2 pairs of Trojan 125s, and running on only one pair we get about 2 days out of the batteries before the Xantrex automatically shuts
them off when it senses them discharged. I can then either flip over to the other set of batteries, or we need to plug in, run the gen or coach
engine, etc. This is running a minimum amt of other stuff off the batts in that time.

The price on the amazon link below can be beat if you shop around... I think we paid $250-300 delivered. We already had an inverter, but to me it
makes more sense to buy a residential fridge and use the savings over a 3 way to buy an inverter (which is useful in itself), unless you do a large
amt of boondocking.

https://www.amazon.com/Avanti-RA7316PST-Apartment-Refrigerator-Platinum/dp/B00D1SZNO6
--
Mark S. '73 Painted Desert,
Manny 1 Ton Front End,
Howell Injection,
Leigh Harrison 4bag and Rear Brakes,
Fort Worth, TX
 
> FWIW, we've had the Avanti 7.4 residential fridge for about a year now. We have a largish inverter (Xantrex 2500) and the combination has been
> great. According to the display on the xantrex, we will see 7-800 watts at startup for maybe a second or 2, then it settles down to around 50 watts
> running. We have 2 pairs of Trojan 125s, and running on only one pair we get about 2 days out of the batteries before the Xantrex automatically
> shuts them off when it senses them discharged. I can then either flip over to the other set of batteries, or we need to plug in, run the gen or
> coach engine, etc. This is running a minimum amt of other stuff off the batts in that time.
>
> The price on the amazon link below can be beat if you shop around... I think we paid $250-300 delivered. We already had an inverter, but to me
> it makes more sense to buy a residential fridge and use the savings over a 3 way to buy an inverter (which is useful in itself), unless you do a
> large amt of boondocking.
>
> https://www.amazon.com/Avanti-RA7316PST-Apartment-Refrigerator-Platinum/dp/B00D1SZNO6

Just to add, please remember the 50 watts is "running"... The fridge only runs maybe half the time. Our inverter I believe is a modified sine wave,
which are much cheaper than the true sign. Have not noticed any issues running the modified sine inverter for our uses.

--
Mark S. '73 Painted Desert,
Manny 1 Ton Front End,
Howell Injection,
Leigh Harrison 4bag and Rear Brakes,
Fort Worth, TX
 
I see there was a lot of good information pertaining to the electrical setup. I did not see anyone discuss the propane setup. I don't know if that
is because it just does not perform well or if the original preference was leaning to electric? I too have been debating this issue and would like to
boondock at times so I was leaning towards a 3-way fridge for most flexibility. Any thoughts pertaining to that?

Thanks,
Tom
76 Eleganza II with electrical fridge now
 
It is very hard to get enough battery power into one of our coaches to make=
household refrigerators work well unless you are nearly always plugged int=
o shore power or willing to run your generator or the engine when not. Not=
e that even the largest 45 foot rolling condos with six or even eight 8D ba=
tteries with over 1000 amp hours can only dry camp for a day or at most two=
before needing to run the generator. To prove this for yourself, get a Wa=
tt meter like a Killawatt unit and plug your home refrigerator into it. Us=
e the refer normally for a few days and then read the number of KW consumed=
. Convert that into average watts per hour at 120vac. Know that even the =
most expensive inverters are not 100% efficient so when you convert that in=
to amps per hour at 12vdc know that you will need to increase that draw ass=
umption to make up for the less than 100% efficient conversion from 12vdc i=
n the batteries to 120vac needed by the refer. The numbers will scare you =
when you consider that about the most battery capacity you can cram into a =
GMC is four 6v golf cart batteries (around 400 to 450 amp hours of capacity=
with around 200 to 225 amp hours available. If you have to run the furnac=
e while also servicing the inverter power needed to run your home style ref=
er your run time will drop much more quickly as the furnace alone will cons=
ume 7 to 9 amps per hour of operation. A more complete explanation of =
all this is contained in a presentation I made to GMCMI a couple of years a=
go that you can download from the GMCMI.org web site: http://www.gmcmi.com=
/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/GMC_Battery_Presentation_-_Jerry_Work.pdf =
Bottom line, at least for me, is you cannot beat propane for space heating,=
water heating and running the refer while dry camping in a GMC. In anothe=
r presentation made at the GMCWS rally in Coos Bay, OR, in October of this =
year I also talked about running our Onan generators on propane, as well: =
http://www.gmcmi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Feeding-the-Barbarian-Jerry=
-Work.pdf Once you make that switch you will never look back at things lik=
e home refers and massive battery banks because your Onan will start easily=
, run quieter and more smoothly, outlast you and the next several owners an=
d have no more ugly exhaust smell so you can run it easily and as often as =
you need to to keep everything in your GMC running comfortably whether plug=
ged into shore power or not. Jerry Jerry Work The Dovetail Joint=
Fine furniture designed and hand crafted in the 1907 former Masonic Temp=
le building in historic Kerby, OR glwork http://jerrywork.c=
om Message: 12 Date: Tu=
e, 10 Jan 2017 14:33:59 -0700 From: Jon Roche To:=
gmclist Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Refrigerator Advice Mess=
age-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; =
charset "utf-8" Others may chime in on the actual math, but the bat=
teries charge rate will vary. I think it takes longer then 2 hours to cha=
rge up a house bank drained down 75%. the batteries will not take the f=
ull 45 amps. i can only say my experience. with my original 12v mari=
ne battery, the fridge seemed to kill the battery in a 24 hour period or le=
ss. I then upgraded to 2ea 6v golf cart batteries, about 215 amp hour, =
and it would last 36-48 hours. I added 65 watt solar, and it did not rea=
lly add any time, batteries were drained dead by sunday morning when I h=
ad rolled into camp friday night. I then stated putting Ice in the fridg=
e, and it seemed to help getting me through Sunday. with my 2 golf c=
art batteies drained all the way down, a 2 hour drive home(alternator charg=
e), they were charged up quite a bit, but never topped off 100%. r=
emember when the sun hits the coach, and you are not running A/C, it can ge=
t really hot. Also the back of the coach fridge is usually exposed to o=
utside temps. (obviously not the case if you install a residential unit, y=
ou will probably close off the back of the fridge compartment). there =
are people who run electric fridges and are plenty happy with them. My ex=
perience though, is if you ever want to make it longer then 2-3 days with=
out a power cord, then a propane fridge is the way to go. -- =
Jon Roche 75 palm beach St. Cloud, MN http://lqqkatjon.blogspot.co=
m/ =
 
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