Chris RV Living
Seasonal RV’er
Starting to add Boondocking to our camping experience.....
Posts: 145
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Post by Chris RV Living on Sept 21, 2020 13:01:14 GMT -5
Our dealer said we should tow with the Battery Disconnect on our Connect 261RB in the OFF position. I asked the technician twice to confirm, and emphasized that means our BATTERY only refrigerator would not be receiving any power for cooling.
He reaffirmed, the Battery Disconnect should be in the OFF position.
I'm going to read the manual again, but I don't see that the actual RV manual states anything on it
The NORCOLD N10DCX manual says you can run the refrigerator while towing because the movement of the vehicle makes up for any amount of the vehicle being unlevel beyond the 3 degree maximum for safe running. However when you park, if not level you should turn the frig off.
Has anyone found a definitive answer about Battery Disconnect OFF or ON during towing for refrigerator operation of the 12V DC only refrigerators?
I'm going to message Norcold also, as their manual says you can operate while towing.
And to clarify this is a 12V DC only refrigerator. It does not at any time operate via Propane.
Thanks everyone.
Chris
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Post by lynnmor on Sept 21, 2020 13:21:35 GMT -5
The dealer has no clue. Turn the battery on.
Your manual says that the frige will operate out of level by 10 degrees side to side or front to rear, that is quite a bit. Get a level app for your smart phone and use it if the tilt is in question.
Unless there is confusion about the model number, you should have a compressor type frige, the absorption type has the 3 degree side to side limit.
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Chris RV Living
Seasonal RV’er
Starting to add Boondocking to our camping experience.....
Posts: 145
|
Post by Chris RV Living on Sept 21, 2020 13:59:50 GMT -5
Thanks Lynnmor. I thought the dealer was wrong. I have the Levelmate for the trailer, so I can even monitor while towing, not just when parking for camping. The manual clearly says you can operate the frig while towing and in motion. The only way to do that is with the Battery disconnect in the ON position. Read twice, confirm with a Professional RV'er, and I am good to go  Thanks again |
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Post by nvguy on Sept 21, 2020 22:56:31 GMT -5
What Lynnmor said, and why tow with the battery off? Also, depending on how the switch was wired, if the switch is off your battery may not be receiving a charge from the tow vehicle.
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Chris RV Living
Seasonal RV’er
Starting to add Boondocking to our camping experience.....
Posts: 145
|
Post by Chris RV Living on Sept 27, 2020 8:50:57 GMT -5
Thanks NVguy. and I did further research on our F150 and it appears it will charge the batteries of the RV, but you have to have the engine off, connect the 7-way cable, start engine, keep brake on and then select the RV trailer in the towing menu. Apparently LED test lights don't put enough load on the Power to trigger the Charge from the F150
We have a trip coming up, so Frig on, and will have battery on and see if we arrive after X hours with a full battery or 75% used up, or some % less than when we turned on the fridg and connected the truck.
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Post by lynnmor on Sept 27, 2020 9:41:01 GMT -5
You need a voltmeter if you own an RV. Check the voltage at the trailer battery with the truck connected and running, it should be over 13 volts to keep the battery charged.
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Post by Chuck on Sept 27, 2020 18:14:49 GMT -5
I wonder if that RV tech telling the owner to disconnect the battery was grad of the Camping world RV school of techs  |
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Post by nvguy on Sept 28, 2020 0:22:02 GMT -5
Word of warning regarding tow vehicle charging. The tow vehicle's charging system's main concern is to keep the tow vehicle charged, so the RV receives whatever is left. Plus the charge line usually isn't all that large, further contributing to low charging rate. Usually the charge line can offset what a refer will use while running on LP, along with the usual parasitic RV loads like LP /CO detectors.
End result- don't leave home with a dead RV battery and expect it to be fully charged when you get to the campsite.
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Post by rvcouple on Nov 21, 2020 15:04:07 GMT -5
Word of warning regarding tow vehicle charging. The tow vehicle's charging system's main concern is to keep the tow vehicle charged, so the RV receives whatever is left. Plus the charge line usually isn't all that large, further contributing to low charging rate. Usually the charge line can offset what a refer will use while running on LP, along with the usual parasitic RV loads like LP /CO detectors. End result- don't leave home with a dead RV battery and expect it to be fully charged when you get to the campsite. I agree with not expecting the tow vehicle to charge the battery. With that said, from what I read, don't expect your 12VDC converter to fully charge the battery either. Most don't have a charge mode and don't put out enough voltage to fully charge the battery. t We plug our C261RB in the night before loading and turn on the 12DC fridge. It takes overnight to get the fridge down to acceptable temps. ON/OFF 20A switch was added with 10Ga wires because the only way KZ left to turn the fridge off while plugged in was to pull the fuse. Being plugged in while loading will get the battery near full charge and the tow vehicle will do the rest while towing if you are going an hour or more and your DC fridge is already cold. We always tow with the battery turned on so the fridge runs. No issues in two seasons so far. BTW, the battery charge line is connected to the battery even when the battery switch is turned off so the battery will charge while towing, even if the switch is turned off. I am certain of this because we crushed the electrical line in the hitch making a tight turn and blew fuses in the truck. Fortunately it was a new enough vehicle to have specific fuses for the trailer connector and nothing in the truck was effected. While ringing out the circuits and connections replacing the connector cable, I know the battery will be charged by the tow vehicle while the battery switch is off. |
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Post by nvguy on Nov 22, 2020 23:22:59 GMT -5
Yep, you have it pretty much figured out. Unfortunately most OEM converters don't have the ability to charge the battery and run a 12V refer, its an either-or- situation. Can't say I am surprised that the charge line isn't affected by the battery switch, my battery switch doesn't seem to actually disconnect much.
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Chris RV Living
Seasonal RV’er
Starting to add Boondocking to our camping experience.....
Posts: 145
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Post by Chris RV Living on Nov 29, 2020 14:25:31 GMT -5
Thanks... I put the volt meter to the battery while the truck was off, and then turned on the truck and if I recall correctly with truck on it jumped to about 13.5V It was definitely 13.x + So definitely sending some charge, but I didn't check how many AMPS going to it.
I bought a 50AMP Female to 15AMP Male so when home even for a shore time we can plug in and get the RV on power to cool the frig, and charge the battery.
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Chris RV Living
Seasonal RV’er
Starting to add Boondocking to our camping experience.....
Posts: 145
|
Post by Chris RV Living on Nov 29, 2020 14:27:17 GMT -5
One other battery charging tip. I have a small 12V Battery charger, that I can plug into our 120V 400watt outlet that is in our Ford F150. So when I am tinkering at the storage lot, or if I am doing some extended preparation before leaving the storage lot, I can add charge to the battery via the 110V outlet in the truck.
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