Soon to be Customline owner

[Steinzy]

Great setup. Look forward to hearing how it all goes

[matm]

Ok so we have had the Customline for over a year now and have saved up some more cash to fix up a decent electrical setup. I read on some forms and made a bit up myself and hopefully some people who actually know what they are doing can let me know if what I have done is decent. Hopefully I have not missed anything critical.

1. I purchased 2 110a/h calcium batteries (exide stowaway marine dual purpose http://goo.gl/KTmLLf)
2. I paralleled them positive to positive, and negative to negative (the thick wires from battery to battery in the pic)
3. I joined all the positive terminals to the positive on one battery, and all the negatives to the negative on the other battery for the following items:
   a. 12 volt setup which goes to cigarette sockets at the back of the trailer for fridge and LED lights, and inside for LED lights
   b. Water pump
   c. Anderson plug at the back of the trailer (it was already in there so thought i would hook it up even though I don't know what I would use it for)
   d. A light inside the box
   e. A digital volt reader
   f. another Anderson plug at the front of the trailer to connect to a solar panel
4. I got a Waeco 120w solar panel.
5. I got a Waeco CFX65 Fridge
6. I got a Honda 10i Generator
7. Tomorrow I get a Projecta PC2100 automatic battery charger (21amps)

So my calculations are as follows:
1. the fridge will draw 2amps/hour(average) x 24hours = 48amps per day (hopefully worst case scenario)
2. I have no idea how many amps the LED lights will draw in a night, hopefully not many?
3. The solar panel will put back in about 6amps/hour x 6 hours of daylight = 36amps per day
4. The difference will be about 12amps per day (+ whatever LED lights draw)
5. 220a/h batteries means I have 110amps to play with.
6. every couple of days I will use the generator to charge the batteries back up to 100%

My understanding is that I shouldn't let the batteries get below 12.2v because if they drop below 50% it reduces the life of the battery.

I just realised I haven't factored in the water pump, but o well, here's hoping I don't run out of power. We are going away for 10 nights on Tuesday

Interested on anyone's comments particularly about using the Honda 10i generator to charge the batteries for a couple of hours using the Projecta PC2100 as a backup.

Cheers,

Mat.

[KingBilly]

For battery longevity it is best to not drain them too low, too often.  There are plenty of graphs/charts etc on Google explaining the benefits of this.  I try to keep mine above 70% at all times.  Sometimes that is not possible, but as a general rule that is what I aim for.  I have attached a chart which will help.  Always test whilst under load, like when your fridge is running.

Using the gennie, don't try to charge direct off its 12v outlet but instead use a 240 volt battery charger.  The higher the charger's amperage, the quicker you will charge your batteries and the less time you will need to run the gennie 

Good luck
KB