Off Grid Living / Camping > Tents / RV
Who else has disconnected that power hungry converter from AC mains?
ChrisOlson:
--- Quote from: Watt on March 31, 2012, 11:50:01 am ---I've thought about doing that very same thing to our travel camper. Have you had any further problems with boiling the batteries since you implemented that AIMS inverter?
--- End quote ---
Absolutely none. The power converter has a transfer relay in it, that when plugged into shore power, flips to take the DC load off the batteries and it runs the DC loads with the transformer in the converter. It's VERY inefficient and that transformer gets hot with just light DC loads on.
I took that whole works out and replaced the DC distribution center with a marine power bus. Then installed the AIMS 3 kW with the output on the AIMS powering all the AC loads in the camper, and the AC input on the AIMS going to the transfer switch that allows us to get AC power from either the Onan or shore power.
When you provide AC input to the inverter it has an internal transfer switch that flips and all the AC loads go direct thru, and it switches to battery charging. It has an internal "smart" charger that charges the batteries and then shuts off when they're fully charged. The DC loads never get switched off the battery bank (two Group 4D marine deep cycles, 200 ah each). The AIMS will not start charging the bank again until the voltage drops below rebulk voltage (below 12.5 volts for about two hours). It does not waste power floating the bank.
It is a so much better setup than the original power converter that there is no comparison. This is the inverter we have in our camper:
http://www.aimscorp.net/3000-watt-power-inverter-with-battery-charger-and-transfer-switch-12-volt/
We went fishing in Canada where there is no grid or shore power available. We lived in our camper for 7 days with nothing but a 123 watt Sharp solar panel to help keep the bank up. We ran the furnace at night because it was cold, plus my wife used her hair dryer (1800 watts) just about every day. We made coffee with our electric coffee maker, we made toast with the toaster, and we watched TV (19" LCD ~45 watts) on the only TV station we could get up there. We never ran the generator once for the whole week.
Those power converters are 1970's technology.
--
Chris
birdhouse:
my trailer also has one of those power monger converters in it. the trailer is a '76 airstream 32'. the converter is much larger than a loaf of bread, and it pretty darn warm even if nothing is turned on. terribly inefficient!
my case is a little different as the trailer never moves, and no longer has batteries in it. i want to connect it to my RE system (24v), and have via the shore plug into the inverter, but it drains my batteries pretty hard over night. i'm pretty sure there are a ton of phantom loads in that thing...
so, just ordered a 120 to 12V 30A 360W Switch Power Supply Driver For LED, off ebay from china. lets hope it work for a whopping $29. thinking when i tear out the old one, i'm only gonna reconnect the wires that i need and hopefully end up with a more efficient converter that is no longer feeding any phantom loads. basically, i want it for is the lights, furnace, oven ignition, exhaust hood, and oven light. the bathroom has also been torn out and converted to a bedroom.
adam
Watt:
Birdhouse, have you got your new power supply?
ghurd:
--- Quote from: ChrisOlson on March 31, 2012, 01:50:09 pm ---Those power converters are 1970's technology.
--- End quote ---
Mine was 1930's technology.
12V is 12V, right?
Nope.
It smoked a very expensive car stereo in the blink of an eye.
Issue #1) It made 12VAC, while loaded. Unloaded is a LOT more.
Issue #2) 12VAC rated loaded, when rectified, is a whole lot of basically unloaded VDC.
Issue #3) Very expensive 12VDC car stereos do NOT apperciate a whole lot of VDC input.
I would shut it off at night just because of that 60Hz buzzing... unless it was cold enough to need the LP gas heater.
I never saw the guts of a camper with a regulated battery charger built in, that I can recall.
The ones I saw were all just a big transformer intended the feed an unsensitive load, or feed a battery sized just large enough to deal with overcharge conditions and loads for the 3 day weekend, but no longer.
But I never saw the guts of an Airstream either.
G-
Watt:
--- Quote from: ghurd on April 10, 2012, 10:44:09 pm ---
--- Quote from: ChrisOlson on March 31, 2012, 01:50:09 pm ---Those power converters are 1970's technology.
--- End quote ---
Mine was 1930's technology.
12V is 12V, right?
Nope.
It smoked a very expensive car stereo in the blink of an eye.
Issue #1) It made 12VAC, while loaded. Unloaded is a LOT more.
Issue #2) 12VAC rated loaded, when rectified, is a whole lot of basically unloaded VDC.
Issue #3) Very expensive 12VDC car stereos do NOT apperciate a whole lot of VDC input.
I would shut it off at night just because of that 60Hz buzzing... unless it was cold enough to need the LP gas heater.
I never saw the guts of a camper with a regulated battery charger built in, that I can recall.
The ones I saw were all just a big transformer intended the feed an unsensitive load, or feed a battery sized just large enough to deal with overcharge conditions and loads for the 3 day weekend, but no longer.
But I never saw the guts of an Airstream either.
G-
--- End quote ---
I must have had one of the same models in my camper. That thing was heavy as can be. Although, it did run the ' car style deck ' with no trouble. I have a solid state style somewhere that stopped working in our last camper. I need to find it and see if any of you could give me a clue as to what is wrong with it.
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