Auxiliary battery and inverter question.

[Stralya]

Greetings all. I'm not allowed to post in electrical modifications so I thought I would ask here. I'm looking to fit an auxiliary deep cycle battery and 2000w inverter to my trailer. Anyone ever done this or does anyone know of any pitfalls to avoid? I don't know where to connect battery for sure but I assume I'd run a connection between the auxiliary battery and the existing charging system somehow, Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Dan.

[Stralya]

These are what I'm looking at,

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/350563740...84.m1423.l2649

and

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/230953323...84.m1423.l2649

The main thing I want to run is my 1400w coffee machine.

[crazy steve]

That battery won't be anywhere near big enough, and even if you do install one that is, the puny XS charging system may have a hard time bringing it back up.

Your 1400 watt coffee maker will draw at least 100 amps @ 12V, so you'll need a full-size car battery to power it. You'll likely damage that bike battery....

You would be better off finding a small 2000 watt generator and packing that along.

[Stralya]

I thought as much. Oh well. I'm now looking at this.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/261219667...84.m1426.l2649

I'm no expert but it seems pretty good.

[jwhughes3]

What about a solar recharge panel mounted on back of sidecar to recharge deep cycle battery while riding?

I think the Honda 1000 is the one you want for quiet and longevity, though they ARE expensive. About 30 lbs?


And you can use it to jumpstart the bike if needed!

John

[Jerry]

I thought as much. Oh well. I'm now looking at this.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/261219667...84.m1426.l2649

Is your coffee maker 240V? That's the output voltage of this unit.

Any way you cut it, 1400 watts is a lot of power. Even my small Kawasaki generator is rated at 1100 continious, 1400 watt peak @120 volts. It has a handle and I can tote it around, but I would not want to add it to the load I pull with my Concours.

Not being a dedicated coffee drinker (I drink tea instead) I get by with hot water and tea bags. You can also get coffee in a tea bag format, have not used these myself but might be worth a try. Does a search using Coffee + Camping turn up any alternatives?

[Stralya]

It's 240v, yes, and small enough to fit in my trailer along with my camping gear. I'll also be able to charge the batteries on my laptop and tv/dvd player plus I have an induction hotplate as well as a butane jobbie. I've bought the generator, $315 delivered, not too bad really, and it's an inverter type so noise is much reduced.

[crazy steve]

Is your coffee maker 240V? That's the output voltage of this unit...

Jerry, everywhere but North America uses 240 volt 'mains', we're the only ones that have 120 volt stuff.

That's a cute generator, and given what a battery/inverter combo would weigh, probably about the same weight or lighter.

Inverters are generally a poor choice for getting AC power for anything more than short intermittent use. I tried one in my Motorhome to power a small 350w TV/VCR combo and two movies would suck the coach battery down pretty seriously...

[Crusty Snippets]

Inverter

Everything you need to know about the subject is in a book called " Living on 12 volts "
That is what I do with the boat. Using an inverter for any sizable loads is really hard on the battery. Good ones are expensive, has to do with sine waves.
To cut down on battery use we use LED lights inside the boat. The fridge is a big draw. The BA35 Danfoss compressor is the one to get but not cheap.
I only use the inverter for the coffee grinder or to charge the phone batteries. I have a 2000 watt Yamaha as back up. Again not cheap.
We have 2 50 amp solar panels and add another 70 watt for the most excellent summer cruise.
If you use 1 amp per hour for a daily total of 24 amps, you have to put back in 48 amps to charge the battery. My engine has a 55 amp alternator, but it only makes that many amps at WOT. So halve that for slower engine speeds, lets say 24 amps. So I would have to run the engine for 2 hours just to run a single old style bulb all day.
A 50 amp solar panel does not produce 4 amps. 50 divided by 12 is not the answer. You need about 14.5 volts to charge the battery. So 50 divided by 14.5 which is 3.45 amps and what it says in the small print on the back of the solar panel. Almost 14 hours is needed to charge the battery to run that one bulb.
So cut down on the usage, use LED bulbs, stay with 12 volts where you can. A cheap 1000 watt Chinese generator is about $150- and a 2000 watt Yamaha or Honda about $1450-.
I use two big deep cycle batteries. One runs everything and if it dies I use the other to fire up Clunky, the engine.
I think a bike battery would up and die, and so would the alternator if you used them for anything other than what they were designed for.
A cool OZZY sail boat is called the General Lee.
Unkle Crusty

[Jerry]

Jerry, everywhere but North America uses 240 volt 'mains', we're the only ones that have 120 volt stuff.

Yes, I know. Trust the USA to pick the deadlist combination of voltage and cyles out there. (120V @ 60 cycle.)

As far as a generator goes, I checked with a few junk yards around here and there are a couple Onan RV units that came out of junked or wrecked trailers for sale for around $150 - $200. These are 5,000 watt units, low profile, supposedly very quiet units. May need some work or parts like a new starting battery (they are electric start) or fuel tank (normally plumbed into a separate tank) but one may be a future addition to my trailer which is battery only at the moment. The 3 roof-mounted solar pannels are OK for weekend use, but when the furnace fan runs ast night it can take the batteries down before the panels kick in again. (Nights are still below freezing at my 9,600 foot elevation lot.)

Given the power loss at that elevation a 5K watt unit would be about right for me to run everything, including the roof air unit that will only run on AC power. Trailer input is 30 amps at 120 volts, or about 3,600 watts. I'll see what happens this summer to determine if I need to add a generator or not. Heading out tonight after quitting time for another overnight stay and more lot developement work.

[Stralya]

Just realised that a trailer here is a box trailer and what you call a trailer we call a caravan. I finally finish my trailer today, been a couple of months and a whole lot of work but I think it will be worth it. Here's a pic of the almost completed body from the back.



I'll take a few more this afternoon when it's complete and post those as well. I have decals and graphics to attach to the sides but I wont have time to do that today though.

It's for the Swiftcicle, in case you were wondering.

Dan,
Future camping addict.

[crazy steve]

Trust the USA to pick the deadlist combination of voltage and cyles out there. (120V @ 60 cycle.)

Deadliest? No way... While you can argue that 60 cycles is closer to the 'normal' human heartbeat, it's the voltage that's bad. Higher voltage will more easily overcome the body's resistance.

Being a retired electrician, I managed to sample all the 'flavors' over the years (not often thankfully) and I can tell you 277v is the worst (only found in commercial/industrial). That stuff can grab you; literally being unable to let go of it. Almost every instance of guys being 'hung' on live circuits were 277v. 480 is bad, but will knock you off.

Some of the oldtimers I knew would check voltage with their thumb and index fingers on occasion (limiting the current path to the hand supposedly). Most could tell you the voltage too... The ones that did it regularly sometimes couldn't feel 120 unless they licked their fingers first...

[natemoen]

I managed to sample all the 'flavors' over the years (not often thankfully) and I can tell you 277v is the worst (only found in commercial/industrial). That stuff can grab you; literally being unable to let go of it. Almost every instance of guys being 'hung' on live circuits were 277v. 480 is bad, but will knock you off.

Not even being an electrician (thought about it for awhile but my hands can take working with wires all day) I too have tasted them all! I have a nice burn scar on my arm from a 480 cable that hit me once. Gotta love electrickery!

[Crusty Snippets]

Volts and things

North American volts will make my knees wobbly. NZ and OZZ volts will buckle my knees and propel me several feet until I hit something solid, whereupon I die for a short while. Kind off like being tackled by Colin Meads.
The boat diesel furnaces use a lot less amps but also cost more.
For the cabin, a less expensive diesel heater can work.
The early Onan generators were anything but quiet.
I was just given a " quiet " diesel generator, made in China.
I think it is " quiet " because it does not run. I will report later when I get it running, but it could be a while.
The black trailer / caravan looks cool.
Unkle Crusty

[Mullineaux]

I think the problem can be solved with on of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Percola...R25TB8E0E5864Q

Just pop it on a camp stove and perc to desired strength. If your grocery store has whole beans and a grinder, pick your fave bean, set the grinder to as coarse as possible and it'll help keep the grounds out of your teeth. If your more the espresso type you can get one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Stovetop-Espre...m_srch_tsr_rtr

I found a cheaper model on clearance at Walmart for $5. But a camp stove and a non-electric coffee maker will most likely be your best solution here. It'll cost less, take up less space, and weigh less to boot.