Calculating amp usage January 01, 2013, 02:33:07 pm Yahoo Message Number: 135937Hi everyone, happy new year. We just got back from a quick overnight stay at one of our local beach camps. We caught some really nice weather and had a quiet evening. Since we prefer to dry camp, I've been spending some time detailing out our battery usage. I had a chance to sit down and actually calculate our amps usage (using a volt meter and a cheap battery tester - both Equus), but I thought I'd run them by the group to get some feedback. Here's the stats:Battery amps (3 month old Costco #245725): 220 Battery @ start: 12.8v Battery @ end: 12.4v Amps used: 44 Hours: 21 Amps/hour: 2.1 Full 24hr day amps: 50 Days to 50%: 2.2 We ran a 19" Apex LED/LCD TV for approx 4 hours, so @ 2 amps/hr, that's 8. We had one fluorescent light on for approx 4 hours, so that's another 8. The (propane) frig was on for 21 hours. I use .5 amps/hour for the controller - is this too low? Water pump, hot water & furnace use was minimal. Thermostat, antenna pre-amp, etc are practically de minimis. Based on our actual usage, it looks like my assumptions per device consumption are slightly off. Any thoughts/suggestions to tighten them up? Part II are re-charge rates. Our '93 22' MP only has a 105 amp alternator, but a big 454 that basically jogs in over-drive while driving. We got home in under 30 minutes, and our batteries were recharged up to 12.8v. That is, 100% or 220 amps. Question: does it appear reasonable to gen approx 44 amps in 30 minutes of driving? The shore-power trickle charger is only 10 amps/hour, so this seems a little high. Besides, it also seems like it would get pretty hot running that kind of current. Thoughts/comments?As usual, TIA.Karl
Re: Calculating amp usage Reply #1 – January 01, 2013, 10:17:26 pm Yahoo Message Number: 135944QuoteBased on our actual usage, it looks like my assumptions per device consumption are slightly off. Any thoughts/suggestions to tighten them up? Best advice - and you'll get the same from others here - is to get a battery charge monitor, such as a Xantrex LinkLITE. They use a precision current shunt in series with the battery bank to measure every amp-hour of charge going in or out of the battery, and give you a running total. Even with solar, you can use the monitor at night to check the current consumption of every device in the rig, as well as monitor and track down phantom loads.Steve
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