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10-20-2017, 07:37 PM
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#1
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Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Poulsbo, WA
Posts: 23
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Off grid air
Sportsmobile says you can run the air with 200ah batteries and a 2000 watt Inverter. Mine never could so I upgraded to 400ah lithium battery and still doesn’t work. I called Maxim Inverter and they said there is no Inverter that can handle the start-up load.
Is off grid air a myth?
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10-20-2017, 08:17 PM
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#2
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Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Poulsbo, WA
Posts: 23
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Sorry. I meant MAGNUM Inverter.
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10-20-2017, 08:47 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 2,504
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You will have to be more detailed on what air conditioner you are talking about. There is the possibility of adding soft-start capacitors top aid in start-up.
I can certainly understand why the batteries had no effect on the issue.
-greg
__________________
-greg
__________________________________________________ ______________
"Goldilocks" 2020 Ford Transit High Roof Extended 3.5 EcoBoost AWD Homebuilt
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10-20-2017, 09:06 PM
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#4
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Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Poulsbo, WA
Posts: 23
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Dometic Penguin with a soft start. 13,500 btu.
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10-21-2017, 06:14 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,242
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelp
Is off grid air a myth?
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No, but off grid air without a generator is. I just don't think you're ever going to reliably run a 13,500 AC unit without a generator. You can spend all this money and time on inverters and huge battery banks that cost much more than the generator, and it's still not going to run for hours which is what is needed if you need AC, be it overnight or long enough to really cool a camper down.
People try this over and over and it has been beat to death. If it were achievable everyone in the southern half of the country would do it. Instead we just buy generators.
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10-21-2017, 10:33 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 2,504
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Eric is correct, the amount of time that you could run the air has been extended by adding battery capacity, but not really enough to make it worth while.
Now it seems that Sportsmobile does say that their air conditioners can run off of their 2000 watt inverter, which I do believe is Magnum.
So have you talked to Sportsmoble? The magnum 2000 does have pretty good surge power specs. Dometic is not very good at listing their specs.
You need to make Magnum and Sporstmobile talk to each other. One is saying one thing, and the other the opposite.
What error is your Magnum displaying?
I see this as a option for someone with pets, that need to provide cooling for short breaks , as they are away.
__________________
-greg
__________________________________________________ ______________
"Goldilocks" 2020 Ford Transit High Roof Extended 3.5 EcoBoost AWD Homebuilt
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10-21-2017, 10:56 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 633
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The Dometic Penguine II 13.5kbtu (the latest version) according to the literature uses 1735 watts once operating. If that's accurate, that would probably take a 20 amp shore power to not trip the breaker or a 3.0kw generator at a decent throttle setting. This is excluding the in rush current issue.
Again, if this is true, shame on Sportsmobile for saying it's no problem.
-Eric
__________________
2005 SMB RB 4x4 6.0 PSD
A rocket on the pad is safe,
but it's not what rockets are built for.
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10-21-2017, 11:17 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 4,244
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I agree that you have been misled. I'm amazed that SMB has stated you can run a 13Kbtu A/C unit off the batteries. Even if you could get it started without spending tons of cash on an upgraded inverter and some form of a soft start system, the length of time it would run would be pretty inefective without a huge battery bank. If you were willing to spend the money, I know that at least some inverter's can be paralleled, that is two inverters can be connected together, giving you twice the start-up ability, but again, your limited by your battery capacity.
http://www.outbackpower.com/download..._Explained.pdf
I've installed a small 5Kbtu window unit, and am able to get it started using a small 1000W gen. I'd love to have a bigger AC, but the generator size and weight would be excessive for the small amount of space I have available. By the way, what type of Lithium battery did you install, and do you have a matching charging system for it? To get the maximum benifit of a Lithium system, you need a very robust alternator, properly regulated to match the battery. Sorry this isn't working out as well as you had hoped.
__________________
Arctic Traveller
KC6TNI
2001 GTRV
Advanced 4wd
Agile Ride improvement package
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10-21-2017, 11:32 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 633
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I meant to link this. I assume a lot of folks have seen it. But if you haven't take note of the size of their lithium bank, solar watts and inverter size. Albeit, they may have a little larger A/C than 13.5kbtu.
-Eric
__________________
2005 SMB RB 4x4 6.0 PSD
A rocket on the pad is safe,
but it's not what rockets are built for.
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10-21-2017, 11:49 AM
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#10
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Site Team
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Turlock Ca
Posts: 10,409
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 86Scotty
No, but off grid air without a generator is. If it were achievable everyone in the southern half of the country would do it. Instead we just buy generators.
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Yep ain't that the truth. Big battery bank... It would be large and expensive.
__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer
Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures.......... On and off road adventures
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Sportsmobile (AKA Money Pit)
Linear Mode
