Single battery won't last a day

[hutchman123]

Thank you very much!

[PappaJohn]

What is the voltage on shore power during charging and when on float?

[Redapple63]

What is the voltage on shore power during charging and when on float?

Very key questions as this will help determine if your converter is actually charging the battery.

[hutchman123]

shore: 14.04
float: 13.14 immediately after unplugging from shore power.
The previous 12.6 was after being unplugged from shore for 15 minutes.

[hutchman123]

shore: 14.04
float: 13.14 immediately after unplugging from shore power.
The previous 12.6 was after being unplugged from shore for 15 minutes

[PappaJohn]

By the way, float voltage means the voltage that the batteries are maintained at after the charge cycle when connected to shore power.

If the battery had only been on charge for 15 mins, 14V is probably alright and probably would increase as the charging progressed.

Sounds like the battery charger is probably working and you just have much too small of a battery for what you want to do. If you could get access to a DC clamp on amp meter that would confirm if the current draw is high enough to discharge the battery in a couple of hours.

[hutchman123]

Thank you for the clarification on "Float" definition.
I'll work on the DC clamp on meter.
Thank you for your help and suggestions!

[PappaJohn]

Just for the heck of it, I measured the current draw from the battery with shore power disconnected and only the 18cu frig turned on and it was 3.5A. Turned a bunch of light on and it was 12.5A.

[hutchman123]

OK.
I think I'm following you.
All readings are unplugged from shore power:
12.65-fridge on
12.68 fridge off
12.4 fridge and a bunch of lights on.
Been unplugged for almost 2 hours now. Fridge has been on the whole time.

[PappaJohn]

We don’t know the impedance of the battery but the frig only lowering the battery voltage by 0.03V indicates that it isn’t drawing much current.

A couple things to keep in mind.

The 12V feed to the trailer from the truck while towing is not very effective at charging the battery.

Once camping, it takes a number of hours to recharge a battery so it you don’t run the generator long enough you won’t fully recharge the batteries.

Solar on the roof is convenient but are sometimes not very effective because the relative angle with sun or that you may be parked in the shade much of the day. Also they need to be cleaned to maintain their max efficiency.

I have a portable, folding Go Power unit that I bring along while dry camping. If it very effective for its size since it can be placed in the open sunlight and aimed directly at the sun but is extra work and can grow legs if you don’t keep an eye on it.

Good luck with getting things working like you want.