Some Whacky stuff

[68camaro]

Before trips I plug in at home for at least 24 hours to get frig good and cold, once I leave I am always on LP for frig for the whole trip. My experience is the batteries would get depleted fast when running the frig even when driving, so by the time I went to boonedock I needed to run the generator for long time to recharge batteries, and this defeated the purposes of having off-grid setup. Honestly, I never turn LP off when at gas station....I know, I know....but tank on opposite of rig from pump so I think it gives a good buffer.

Like Chin I rarely use hot water heater, actually never. If I need hot water I just heat some up on LP stove which takes no time at all. Since water tank inside, in summer water is comfortable as is. Also frig barely sips LP so my tank last super long time.

[chin_k]

...My experience is the batteries would get depleted fast when running the frig even when driving,

Are you sure your batteries it attached to the alternator via the solenoid properly? The alternator is definitely enough to charge your chassis battery AND the coach batteries when the engine is running on the road. You may want to check the voltage from the solenoid and see if it is charging the chassis battery and when the voltage is high enough, it should be going to the coach's.

[68camaro]

...My experience is the batteries would get depleted fast when running the frig even when driving,

Are you sure your batteries it attached to the alternator via the solenoid properly? The alternator is definitely enough to charge your chassis battery AND the coach batteries when the engine is running on the road. You may want to check the voltage from the solenoid and see if it is charging the chassis battery and when the voltage is high enough, it should be going to the coach's.

Yes, engine battery does great job of recharging coach batteries while driving or just engine idling. However, it seems my frig pulls out power from coach batteries faster than alternator can replenish them.

[chin_k]

Yes, engine battery does great job of recharging coach batteries while driving or just engine idling. However, it seems my frig pulls out power from coach batteries faster than alternator can replenish them.

I think the way to put this to rest is to measure the current coming from the alternator, and the current used by the frig. The alternative current rating is way higher than the fridge. The spec for the alternator is 130 A (see viewtopic.php?t=1905), while the DC heating element uses a 35 A fuse while the control uses 3 A fuse, (http://techsupport.pdxrvwholesale.com/w ... Manual.pdf pg. 15). So from reading the specs, it should be more than enough to keep the fridge running at full blast (It will shuts off the heating element when it is cold enough, unless you keep opening the doors), and charge up your coach and chassis batteries. (I am too lazy to look up the heating element wattage rating, sorry, but it is some where in the forum).

My experience matches what the specs says, so I suggest that you look at your alternator, solenoid and the fridge.

[Astrodokk]

Good information here.
My sources (YouTube ha-ha) pretty much confirm the drive on DC philosophy.
The few ones that had battery depletion were when the significant other, when assigned different tasks when traveling, forgot to turn the fridge back to gas after stopping.
I will try it one time on my next trip and see how it goes.
Thanks for everyone's input!