Fresh Water & Battery Reads on SeeLevel ll Monitor?

DouayHA

Hello, 

We are on our first outing with our new 2017 Outback! Overall so far everything is going well. We have run into a couple things that we are unsure of. 

First is with the fresh water tank. When hooked up to city water it does not appear to be filling to 100%. The highest the SeaLevel II monitor will read is ~60%. While connected to city water we can use the shower, faucet etc. without the water pump being turned on. If I fill through the pour spout then the monitor will reach 100%. Any suggestions on why the tank would not fill while connected to city water? Or maybe it is an issue with monitor?

Second question is about the battery levels. When fully charged the monitor only reads in at ~12.6. I came across a battery chart here: http://tab-rv.vanillaforums.com/discussion/2971/t-b-task-lists#latest and it looks like you have from 12.6-12.1 before doing damage to the life cycle of the battery. Leaving an overnight spot on the way to Bryce Canyon we switched the fridge over to battery in preparation to leave. It was about 30 minutes before we left and the battery went from 12.6 - 11.5. I know the Norcold fridge uses quite a bit of battery, but wouldn't have thought it would have used more than 50% of the battery in that short a period of time.

Thanks for the assistance!

Helgi

Verna

City water is used as it flows into your pipes. It bypasses your tank. Your water pump should not be used when you have a city water hookup, only use it when you are using water from your tank. 

Your Norcold is a battery hog!  There are many discussions about how most of us choose not to use our frig's on battery at all. 

JohnDanielsCPA

Note, also, that your SeaLevel monitor is only reading the level of your fresh water tank.  So, as Verna indicated, being hooked up to city water should not have any impact on the fresh water tank level.

There are some that will run the refrigerator on battery while in transit; (hooked up to the tow vehicle and using the two vehicle's alternator to keep your battery topped off).  However, not all cars have enough alternator output to keep the battery topped off.  Although mine does (I pull with an F350 or a Ford Flex), I just don't ever use the refrigerator on battery.  It runs very efficiently on shore power (when available) or propane when no shore power is available.

DouayHA

Thanks! I misunderstood how the city water worked. I was under the impression that it should both fill the fresh tank as well. The Norcold pulls 11.7 amps at 12v DC. I have 2 24 group batteries, which should be giving me somewhere in the range of ~170 amps depending on temperature conditions etc. Maybe I'm completely misunderstanding how the amps is working, but if the Norcold is pulling 11.7 amps, and my batteries have ~170 amps, then running the fridge for 30 minutes shouldn't drain the batteries halfway.

As far as charging while driving, I'm pulling with a 2015 Tacoma. We were driving for maybe 4 hours and I checked the battery levels again, and even with the fridge running on battery while driving, the monitor was reading 12.6.

jkjenn

You can have a charge wire added to your TV - I highly recommend it. Either your T@b dealer or Toyota dealer can add it. I would make sure they are adding at least a 10#, preferably 8# wire.

Estancio

I have #8 wire from tow vehicle to charge camper battery while traveling. In one of my early T@B experiences, I left the fridge running while I was parked and loading up the camper. An hour later, when we  were ready to pull out, it had drained both the T@B battery as well as my tow vehicle (FJ Cruiser) battery. My FJ just barely started! Lesson learned: unplug tow vehicle from camper when the fridge is running. I have the parts for installing a switch to separate them when parked (camper power switch), but have not gotten around to it yet. 

DouayHA

So you have a separate charge wire completely even though you can just charge through the 7-pin connector?

ok another note, does anyone have an idea how to get the display on the Alde to go into a dark standby mode? At night it is WAY too bright!

wizard1880

The voltage reading of your batteries cannot be used to guage the level​ of power remaining, unless they've been completely disconnected for at least 4 hours.  The voltage needs time to stabilize.  This is the nature of lead acid batteries.

Because it's almost impossible to get 4 hours of time without any battery use, it's difficult to know where you're really at.

In any case, I'll bet the voltage reading on your batteries will recover to somewhere in the 12.4v ballpark if you let them sit for a few hours.  They're probably fine.

Also remember you can't use more than 50% of the battery's available amp hours without causing permanent damage (cycle loss).  So you have 85AH available for use.

A way to truly know your battery capacity is by installing a Bogart TriMetric or Victron battery monitor.  They offer a very accurate percentage of charge, just like your cell phone offers, for your RVs batteries.  They do cost a hundred or so bucks, and require installation of a shunt in the wiring.

Newfisher

My 2016 Norcold 3 way fridge manual says " battery setting should only be used while towing or engine running"

Using LP off grid cools better and is more efficient. We have an Edgestar compressor driven fridge and Webasto heater in the Vanagon, 150w solar and a 180ah battery. Fridge has been running 3.5 years now. It's design is similar to the ARB, Engle etc and not a AMP hog like the 3 way Norcold

Estancio

DouayHA, the charge ciDouayHA said:

So you have a separate charge wire completely even though you can just charge through the 7-pin connector?

The charging wire comes from the engine compartment, and merges into the 7-pin connector. As I recall, it's pin #4 on a 7-pin connector. 

dragonsdofly

@DouayHA, just because you have a 7 pin connector doesn't mean there is an active charging wire. Have your connector checked. As an example, each chevy trailblazer and gmc envoy ever manufactured have a hitch and 7 pin connector and a full tow package. Yet in each of these vehicles, there is a charging line built into the vehicle but it is not connected! You have to actually have the line connected in the engine to deliver the power to your 7 pin connector. Have your 7 pin checked to verify you actually have a charging wire installed and connected. Advice from someone who had to learn all of this less than a year ago. Am confident you'll catch on and work out all the bugs, then happy t@bbing!

Newfisher

dragonsdofly said:

@DouayHA, just because you have a 7 pin connector doesn't mean there is an active charging wire. Have your connector checked. As an example, each chevy trailblazer and gmc envoy ever manufactured have a hitch and 7 pin connector and a full tow package. Yet in each of these vehicles, there is a charging line built into the vehicle but it is not connected! You have to actually have the line connected in the engine to deliver the power to your 7 pin connector. Have your 7 pin checked to verify you actually have a charging wire installed and connected. Advice from someone who had to learn all of this less than a year ago. Am confident you'll catch on and work out all the bugs, then happy t@bbing!

Not only do you have to connect it to the fuse box, but you will have to install the fuse inside the box. Simple 12v test light will verify its connected and charging.

Michigan_Mike

Estancio said:

I have #8 wire from tow vehicle to charge camper battery while traveling. In one of my early T@B experiences, I left the fridge running while I was parked and loading up the camper. An hour later, when we  were ready to pull out, it had drained both the T@B battery as well as my tow vehicle (FJ Cruiser) battery. My FJ just barely started! Lesson learned: unplug tow vehicle from camper when the fridge is running. I have the parts for installing a switch to separate them when parked (camper power switch), but have not gotten around to it yet. 

As noted by many others on the forum, the Norcold is an energy hog when switched to the 12 volt setting and you are far better off running the frig on 110 V or propane (not on the 12 volt setting) and this will eliminate the trailer battery drain situation.  

Any time you are parked and planning to leave the trailer hooked up to the tow vehicle (let's say to avoid having to hook the trailer up the next day on a trip, etc.)  you should unplug the the trailer 7-pin harness from the tow vehicle.  This will eliminate running down the vehicle's battery and you will be running the trailer on the trailer battery.  

ScottG

@DouayHA, was the fridge still on when you took your 11.5V battery reading before departure? Expanding on what wizard1880 said above, if a high amperage device is running, your battery voltage will read significantly lower than it would under a no-load situation.

I use a $15 plug-in meter, and I notice this all the time when I switch things on and off. While the cheapo meter doesn't provide a true indication of battery voltage, if you understand its limitations it works just fine for general monitoring of your charge state.

Also, since your battery charged back up again after you drove for a while (with the fridge still running), I think it's safe to say you do have a 12V charge line already in place on your Tacoma's 7-pin connector.

jkjenn

ScottG said:

@DouayHA, was the fridge still on when you took your 11.5V battery reading before departure? Expanding on what wizard1880 said above, if a high amperage device is running, your battery voltage will read significantly lower than it would under a no-load situation.

I use a $15 plug-in meter, and I notice this all the time when I switch things on and off. While the cheapo meter doesn't provide a true indication of battery voltage, if you understand its limitations it works just fine for general monitoring of your charge state.

Also, since your battery charged back up again after you drove for a while (with the fridge still running), I think it's safe to say you do have a 12V charge line already in place on your Tacoma's 7-pin connector.

A plug in voltmeter should not be necessary with the new Sea Level II monitors, but you are correct, it measures the current voltage, including power draw vs. the actual state of charge of the battery. 

ericnliz

@DouayHA, I noticed your question about the Alde light was not addressed. Go to the main screen, you'll see a little wrench in the bottom right hand corner...that is your tool screen. Scroll through, and you'll find an adjustment for the light that will actually turn everything to total dim (off) except for the little green light on the power button. I have mine adjusted so it automatically does this after a few seconds when not using any of the functions on the screen. If you have a manual, it will tell you how to do this. Alde Manual page 14. Does that help?

DouayHA

ericnliz said:

@DouayHA, I noticed your question about the Alde light was not addressed. Go to the main screen, you'll see a little wrench in the bottom right hand corner...that is your tool screen. Scroll through, and you'll find an adjustment for the light that will actually turn everything to total dim (off) except for the little green light on the power button. I have mine adjusted so it automatically does this after a few seconds when not using any of the functions on the screen. If you have a manual, it will tell you how to do this. Alde Manual page 14. Does that help?

Yep! I'd tried this before and it didn't appear to work. Apparently I was just being too impatient for the screen to turn off. Thank you!

DouayHA

@ScottG

Yes, the fridge was still on when I took the 11.5v battery reading. I did not realize that if there was a draw on the battery it would read lower than what the actual charge level was. Though this does make sense. We have a lot to learn about all of this. Thank you to you and everyone uses in the community that has been so helpful as we learn how to use our new T@B!

ericnliz

@DouayHA, Hang in there, it all becomes second nature after a while, and who knows, you might get a T@B University badge to boot!

ScottG

jkjenn said:

...
A plug in voltmeter should not be necessary with the new Sea Level II monitors, but you are correct, it measures the current voltage, including power draw vs. the actual state of charge of the battery. 

Right! I keep forgetting the new gizmos that have been added since 2015. Does the Sea Level II offer any advanced battery monitoring functions, or is it the equivalent of a cheap plug-in meter?

pthomas745

The SeeLevel does have a simple voltage display, but you have to go over to the display and press a button.  Not a big deal, I know!  But..... I bought one of the Innova battery monitors for my last trip.  The ability to see my battery status and usage in almost "real time" was incredibly worthwhile and educational.  Also, crosschecking the SeeLevel with the Innova showed me the SeeLevel seems to work pretty well, and I now have a bit more confidence in it.

wizard1880

Does the seeLevel show battery capacity in percent, or does it simply show how many amps are going in or out of the battery (in addition to volts)?

Verna

Seealevel is purely a "see now" volts of the battery, just as a plug in voltage meter would be. 

Michigan_Mike

wizard1880 said:

Does the seeLevel show battery capacity in percent, or does it simply show how many amps are going in or out of the battery (in addition to volts)?

No, the SeeLevel ll readout is in volts (when running straight off the battery) or the current charge voltage when plugged to shore power (e.g., 13.5, etc.).   You will see it drop when you are running the Jensen or anything that has a significant drain on the battery.  You basically press the button and the read stays lit for around 4 seconds and shuts off.  

Michigan_Mike

And regarding the Alde back-light display, I turned mine off completely with the setting below and basically just select "menu" and the display will stay lit until you push the menu button in again, which turns the light off.  No more obnoxious lighting at night and the cabin area is dark.