Marine battery concerns

cajeff64
cajeff64 Member Posts: 5
in Battery/Electrical & Solar
Went camping this weekend to a campground with no electrical plug-in. I tried to run the furnace and a little and the battery last just a few hours. I was told the battery should run the furnace at least overnight. Is that accurate? All I had on was the fridge and the heater cycling on and off only a few times and the battery went dead in about 2 hours. Problem with battery? Should I have a 2nd battery installed for twice the capacity?
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  • Nomad
    Nomad Member Posts: 7,209
    Not normal - I have a small Group-24 battery and run my interior reading lights till midnight, fridge, and Alde all night. In real cold where the Alde runs a lot, I still have battery in the morning. With normal Alde heat I've never come close to a depleted battery.
    I'd have the battery checked. If it's not that, then there has to be a draing draw coming from somewhere. Anything else beside fridge/heat going? Outside light left on for instance?
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  • jkjenn
    jkjenn Member Posts: 6,417
    cajeff64 said:
    Went camping this weekend to a campground with no electrical plug-in. I tried to run the furnace and a little and the battery last just a few hours. I was told the battery should run the furnace at least overnight. Is that accurate? All I had on was the fridge and the heater cycling on and off only a few times and the battery went dead in about 2 hours. Problem with battery? Should I have a 2nd battery installed for twice the capacity?
    Were you running the fridge on LP or battery? Were you running anything else, like lights or TV? If you started with a fully charged battery, it should have lasted more than two hours.


    I have 2 posts on battery management:

    1. http://jenngrover.com/2015/11/guilty-as-charged-rv-battery-use-management/

    2. http://jenngrover.com/2016/01/guilty-as-charged-rv-battery-use-management-part-ii/

    2021 T@b 320 Boondock "Mattie Ross" | 2021 T@b Nights: 239 | Total nights in a T@b 455 | 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Overland | T@b owner since 2014

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  • Mercator
    Mercator Member Posts: 237
    cajeff64 said:
    Went camping this weekend to a campground with no electrical plug-in. I tried to run the furnace and a little and the battery last just a few hours. I was told the battery should run the furnace at least overnight. Is that accurate? All I had on was the fridge and the heater cycling on and off only a few times and the battery went dead in about 2 hours. Problem with battery? Should I have a 2nd battery installed for twice the capacity?
    If you were running your fridge on 12 volt that is what will kill your battery quickly.
    Ray and Vida Barrick
    (formerly a 2013 T@B Q M@X); 2015 Jeep Sahara JKU (Max Tow)
    Toronto ON Canada
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  • RZRBUG
    RZRBUG Member Posts: 890
    Mercator said:
    If you were running your fridge on 12 volt that is what will kill your battery quickly.
    What he said. 

    Larry & Booger - 2013 T@B, 2012 GMC Sierra

    Happy Trails Y'all

    States Visited Map

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  • irvingj
    irvingj Member Posts: 335
    Ditto. 3-way refrigerators employ an adsorption refrigeration system, and only require a source of heat to operate.

    Supplying heat by running a 12vDC resistance coil will suck up a lot of amps! Far better to use propane (and a small amount of 12vDC for a fan) or 120V AC, if that's an option.
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