On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 11:45:14 -0500, Neon John
wrote:

It sounds like the microwave is tripping off on undervoltage. I'd be
looking at my 12 volt connections, as that is the usual source of the
problem. Depending on the length of the run, that #2 wire may be a
bit small.

=============================

I agree that #2 wire is marginal at best. You are pulling well over
100 peak amps and voltage loss in the cable increases as the square of
current flow. I'd sugggest something like 2/0 cable both to the
inverter and for your battery parallel straps.

It is true however that some devices just refuse to run on modified
sine wave power. We had to try several different brands of electric
blankets before we found one that worked.

Wayne.B wrote in
:

It is true however that some devices just refuse to run on modified
sine wave power. We had to try several different brands of electric
blankets before we found one that worked.


Oh, Wayne. I just gotta hear all about your house battery banks and
charging system.

How many amp-hours are aboard to run electric blankets and the other loads
all night?

Thanks.....



(Nothing is funnier than a boater with a new 4KW inverter carrying his
electric heater down the dock with that knowing smile on his face....)

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 11:46:01 GMT, Larry W4CSC wrote:

Wayne.B wrote in
:

It is true however that some devices just refuse to run on modified
sine wave power. We had to try several different brands of electric
blankets before we found one that worked.


Oh, Wayne. I just gotta hear all about your house battery banks and
charging system.

How many amp-hours are aboard to run electric blankets and the other loads
all night?

I just looked at the tag on my king-size electric blanket. It draws
200 watts. That'd be about 16.67 amps at full load from the battery.

Not many people would use a king size bed in an RV. More like a twin
or regular. I'd guesstimate the draw to be more in the 60 watt range
or 5 amps. This corresponds well to my 12 volt electric throw that I
use that draws 3.5 amps. Remember that these things are
thermostatically controlled so they don't run all the time. That
makes the actual situation better than it looks.

I have a couple of Group 29 batteries in my rig and have no problem
running the blanket, the furnace and other loads for a day at a time.
According to the E-meter, I'll typically use 80 ah per 24 hour period
in the winter.


(Nothing is funnier than a boater with a new 4KW inverter carrying his
electric heater down the dock with that knowing smile on his face....)

Yup. Old rule of thumb, a gallon of gas is about the energy
equivalent of about 1000 lbs of lead-acid batteries.

John
---
John De Armond

http://www.johngsbbq.com
http://neonjohn.blogspot.com -- NEW!
Cleveland, Occupied TN

Neon John wrote in
:

(Nothing is funnier than a boater with a new 4KW inverter carrying his
electric heater down the dock with that knowing smile on his face....)

Yup. Old rule of thumb, a gallon of gas is about the energy
equivalent of about 1000 lbs of lead-acid batteries.

John


Thanks. Good rule of thumb.

http://www.fleetsubmarine.com/battery.html

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 11:46:01 GMT, Larry W4CSC wrote:

How many amp-hours are aboard to run electric blankets and the other loads
all night?

======================================

It's not really a problem believe it or not. On our old boat the
house bank was 4 golf cart batts in series-parallel, total capacity of
440 A-H, usable capacity about 150 A-H. We had a 7.5 KW genset so
recharge was never a problem.

The electric blanket has a peak load of 300 watts translating to about
30 amps at 12 v. Duty cycle is about 50% on a chilly 50 degree night
in the north east. So for 8 hours of sleep we were pulling down about
120 A-H for the blanket (15 x 8), and maybe another 30 A-H for the
fridge. Never had a problem. The batts were 3+ years old when I sold
the boat and still going strong.

For the new boat (GB49 trawler), I plan a house bank made up of
individual 2 volt cells bolted together. It will weigh close to 1,000
lbs but that's not really an issue on a boat that weighs 60,000 fully
loaded. Total capacity will be over 1,000 A-H with usable capacity
greater than 350. Those 2 volt cells are guaranteed for 10 years so
they may turn out to be the last battery I ever buy. Recharge will be
via a high power inverter/charger, 20KW generator, and/or high
capacity alternators.

Wayne.B wrote in
:

For the new boat (GB49 trawler), I plan a house bank made up of
individual 2 volt cells bolted together. It will weigh close to 1,000
lbs but that's not really an issue on a boat that weighs 60,000 fully
loaded. Total capacity will be over 1,000 A-H with usable capacity
greater than 350. Those 2 volt cells are guaranteed for 10 years so
they may turn out to be the last battery I ever buy. Recharge will be
via a high power inverter/charger, 20KW generator, and/or high
capacity alternators.



I like this guy!.....(c;

I've mentioned it before, but have you seen these guys in Colorado that
make all their own power?
http://www.otherpower.com/

Talk about energy independents!