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RE: New (to us) 2500 Suburban
We haul 4 of us, a dog, stuff, 4 to 6 kayaks on the roof rack, etc. The trunk area is usually pretty full. Yeah the payload increase is the biggest benefit, not so much the extra tow capacity. The additional stability in cross wind (we live in Colorado and usually travel to Utah) will be nice too.
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EnzoColorado
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01/27/23 10:59am |
Tow Vehicles
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New (to us) 2500 Suburban
After towing with the 1500 Suburban for 6 years, we're upgrading to a 2500 Suburban. Finally found a mint 2012 in Georgia, no rust, with less than 100K miles.
We debated between upgrading to a 3/4 truck vs. the burb. Finally settled on continuing with the burb so we can keep the dog in the back in comfort. Dog in the back seat of a truck is bad since kids are constantly snacking on road trips and there is hardly room for the dog.
We also need the ski gear stays warm in the back instead of frozen in the truck bed. Never put on ski boots when they're frozen LOL.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/N7yJbCiwtt9sfa169
https://photos.app.goo.gl/nSCnBWhn53Y8sfdU9
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EnzoColorado
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01/26/23 09:31am |
Tow Vehicles
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RE: Somewhat wacko battery/solar question
Well, lets assume your two batteries total about 200a/hrs, with a lower available limit of say a 50% depth of discharge…And since with 200w of solar, your batteries are typically topped off by 10:00am, let’s then assume that at about 75’ish % average PV efficiency you recovered maybe 15a/hrs from sunrise to 1000, which would hypothetically suggest a morning awakening SOC low of about 85% - If my guess is close (??) I’d call that fairly high!!
FWIW, with my former two Golf Cart 6v, I had no problem running a 1300+w Keurig coffee maker repeatedly (typically about a 2 min brew per cup), using a 1800w inverter, but not so with a 1500w microwave, because microwave’s are heavily ‘reactive’ loads (coffee makers are resistive)…So, I swapped out the power sucking 1500w Microwave for a far more ‘RV practical 850w Panasonic model’ which actually works out just perfectly!
Eventually I switched to a *better 2k watt pure-sine pass-thru (shore power) inverter-charger and using the same GC batteries could even run the 11kbtu Coleman air conditioner for short periods (compressor cycling, concurrent with solar), so with a coffee maker you should have no problemo!
To prevent nagging battery-to-inverter voltage sags (and inverter alarms - ugg…) its best to use robust sized battery cables - mine are heavy 0004 ought… Also, beyond the all the marketing hype behind inverter ‘advertised watt ratings’ you’ll also want to know the inverter’s surge rating and the duration of surge condition…Know that not all inverter’s of the same wattage rating will handle a reactive load in quite the same way - Models that don’t spec these additional two stats should not be considered - JMHO…
*4500w surge or 5 sec
FWIW, I’ve since ditched the GC batteries in favor of Lithium, which offer very little voltage sag along with a uber deep depth of discharge (DOD)…
Hope this Helps :)
3 tons
This is really good info.
Sounds like I should just get an pure sine wave 2K inverter and give my current batteries a try before getting fancy with adding lithium batteries. If this works, then in a few years when I replace the AGM with lithium, I'll simply have even more power to spare.
Thank you for all the replies!
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EnzoColorado
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09/09/22 08:54pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Somewhat wacko battery/solar question
How low are the existing batteries come morning?
A 600w coffee maker should pull around 50amps for maybe 10min for a total consumption of around 8.5amp-hr. That seems quite reasonable off a 200amp-hr battery bank unless they are borderline covering the overnight consumption.
As previously mentioned, mixing different battery types (doubly so with different ages) is not recommended.
Usually low to mid 60% in the morning before the panels start to receive lights. I'm told that AGM batteries shouldn't be discharged more than 50% so I'm using 100amp-hr useable capacity in my back of napkin calculation.
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EnzoColorado
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09/09/22 06:55pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Somewhat wacko battery/solar question
What is draining your batteries during the night. 200AH even 100AH should be enough for the coffee maker (one pot) for sure and the microwave will depend on the length of time. Maybe I am out to lunch on the amount of power needed
We have a fridge that uses propane but the circuit uses the battery all night. In the evening, we have lights (all LED's), water pump and water heater that uses battery. Usually by the early morning before sunrise, the controller indicates 62 to 65% with voltage around 12.4. But the camper's own battery indicator usually shows 3 to 4 lights out of 4 lights.
I'm under the impression that AGM batteries shouldn't be discharged more than 50%. Hence the hesitation about using them in the morning for coffee maker or microwave.
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EnzoColorado
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09/09/22 06:53pm |
Tech Issues
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Somewhat wacko battery/solar question
I have two 100 Ah Renogy AGM batteries in my TT, connected to two Renogy 100 watts solar panels on the roof via a Renogy 30A PWM controller.
I want to install an inverter so I can use coffee maker and microwave. Quick napkin calculation showed I don't have enough power in the batteries to run the coffee maker and microwave in the morning before the sun had a chance to charge the batteries.
I want to install another battery but this time a 200Ah LiFe battery. Can the Renogy 30A PWM charger charge both the AGM batteries and LiFe battery at the same time? Multiple reason for the LiFe batteries: more useable capacity than AGM, longer life cycles. The AGM batteries are 4 years old and I think when I need to replace them, it'll be LiFe batteries.
I don't think I need add more solar panels since the two AGM batteries usually gets topped off by 10 AM. We have good amount of sunlight here in Colorado.
My best guess is I can not mix AGM and LiFe batteries in the same circuit to be charged by the controller. But I hope I'm wrong.
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EnzoColorado
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09/09/22 01:39pm |
Tech Issues
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