Proper battery / generator operation

[OutlawBiz]

I am a new wheelhouse owner...i haven't had very good luck with utilizing 1 deep cycle battery in my Ice Castle. I have basically just been running a couple 12v lights & the forced air furnace. So far I think the longest my battery has lasted is 3.5-4hrs! Granted, the battery is 3yr old battery & out of my camper, so maybe that's my biggest problem!?

So, I bought a new generator, and a new deep cycle battery. So...what is the proper way to get the most from my battery so I don't ruin it? I have a 110v battery charger in the battery storage area that I can plug into an outlet & then hook to the battery once the battery gets low. I assume once the battery drops to a certain level, I can hook up the charger, and fire up the geny to recharge the battery. But, how low do I let the battery level get before firing up the geny?

Is it best to take the battery in the house (between fishing trips) when not in use so it doesn't freeze!? I will probably eventually (next year) put a converter / invertor type setup...but just 1 battery & geny for now.

[Tom7227]

http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/

You can learn a lot about batteries from the HSOforum that you will find by googling Darden and Batteries. In the past my use of a direct link has been eliminated because the HSOforum is commercial.

[jjohnson5150]

I'm in the process of figuring this out as well. Up until now, I've just kept the generator running. I recently got a suggestion to buy the biggest baddest batteries. The one I got was a 31 and really made a difference. My plan is to eventually put in a second 31 and run them parallel. I have a second battery in our boat, but I need to wait until it's out of storage to get it. Although you may need to modify the battery / electrical area of your fish house a bit, it might be worth upgrading your current battery, buying a second & research how to run them parallel to maximize your stealth power.

[fsnrod]

I run two 31 size in parallel hooked up to a rv inverter that charges them when the generators on they will run the furnace and a couple led lights a couple days without the generator.

[Hawg]

Why screw around with 12volt when you have a generator?

[Whoaru99]

The deeper the discharge the shorter the total battery life. For example (from Interstate battery),

25% discharge = ~2200 cycles

50% discharge = ~1000 cycles

75% discharge = ~550 cycles

100% disharge = ~250 cycles

"Cycles" refers to a discharge/charge cycle. The number of cycles is the point where the battery can deliver only 1/2 of its rated amp-hours. Generally considered worn out at this point.

The above assumes proper recharging etc. etc.

Leaving a battery sit at a partially discharged level is very hard on it because that's what causes sulphation, as does only partial recharging such as running it down then giving only a partial recharge.

[fsnrod]

The 31 dual purpose are used in my boat and fish house I just replaced one was ten and the other was nine years old. In the boat which is a inboard thy are hooked up to charging system all the time like a car battery.

[BLACKJACK]

Why screw around with 12volt when you have a generator?

So you don't have to screw around running the generator all the time.

I don't feel that I need to run a crockpot or a microwave, I can cook just fine on a stove top. The TV that I bought runs on both 12 and 120 volt. The radio runs on 12 volt. What more does a person need?

I have two class 31 batteries in my IC, one hooked to the furnace and one hooked to the lights, an onboard charger thats hooked to the batteries, and so far its been just fine. Go for an overnight trip, plug it in when I get home, and its good to go. Now I have not been on a two night trip yet, when I do that I would take the generator with and run it for a few hours during the day. We will see how that goes.

I did find out that too small of a battery will not run the furnace and blower all night, it takes a big well charged one.

[OutlawBiz]

Why screw around with 12volt when you have a generator?

Like I said...I am a 'new' wheelhouse owner...so, maybe I'm wrong on this...BUT, the forced air furnace ONLY runs on 12v if I'm not mistaken!? Maybe I'm way off here.

The other night we were out...my battery got low after 3hrs and the furnace blower quit running & the lights got dim. So, I fired up the geny and the furnace STILL didn't want to kick into 100% power. It took a good 20 mins of the geny hooked to battery charger hooked to the battery to give the furnace enough juice to function properly. At least it seemed this way.

Or, can the furnace be run 100% off the geny power!?

[OutlawBiz]

Another question that hasn't been discussed that I asked...

Do you all take your battery(s) indoors between uses so they don't 'freeze'!? Or, I've heard as long as they have a FULL charge they won't freeze...is that correct?

Is everyone using volt meters to monitor battery levels before turning the geny on? If so...at what level do you say 'it's time'?

[Hawg]

OB, You'll get a lot better answers than from me because I didn't put 12 volt in my new house at all. There are a lot of people on here that did though so you should get a lot of responses. I think most just run a small charger but I think most have their batteries inside also. Good luck

[swmndeerhunter]

I'd invest in one of the converters that comes standard with most new Ice Castle's. You just plug your generator in and it charges the batteries and will run your furnance, lights and everything.

[BigFish1]

I quit screwing around with the battery thing years ago. I bought a converter that is run off my generator that runs everything including the furnace. I haven't had a battery in my fish house in years, and really like the room with not having batteries under the cabinet.

[Redlineracer12]

Everyone will have their own opinion on what they think is the best electrical setup depending on their style. I personally love a single 12V battery (mine is a sears Diehard platinum truck battery), inverter/charger (I have this: http://www.progressivedyn.com/power_converters_9200.html), and generator (honda/yamaha 2000w).

Everything in my house is 12v except the 110 outlets. I have one 110 outlet in the box with the battery and furnace that powers the PD9200. I can run with or without a battery if I have the generator (because the PD9200 puts out up to 45W of 12v power). I feel like this gives you the most flexibility. I can run the heater for hours without the generator if I am not in the house or driving out on to the lake (so that it's warm when I start to setup). I can do a day trip without even needing the generator, so I don't NEED to run the generator all the time. If it runs out of gas or something I am also not out anything (other than 110v outlets) as the battery should be fully charged at that point and last for several hours.

[mmartin]

I do the same thing. Usually only run my generator at night. It is nice not having to worry about whether or not the battery or generator is going to make it all night.

[Whoaru99]

Like I said...I am a 'new' wheelhouse owner...so, maybe I'm wrong on this...BUT, the forced air furnace ONLY runs on 12v if I'm not mistaken!? Maybe I'm way off here.

The other night we were out...my battery got low after 3hrs and the furnace blower quit running & the lights got dim. So, I fired up the geny and the furnace STILL didn't want to kick into 100% power. It took a good 20 mins of the geny hooked to battery charger hooked to the battery to give the furnace enough juice to function properly. At least it seemed this way.

Or, can the furnace be run 100% off the geny power!?

Battery chargers often won't have enough "oomph" to simultaneously charge a low battery and run fairly high demand loads like the furnace.

The answer is a converter/charger as some have already mentioned. They have enough output to run both high demand loads and charge the battery.

Something like this: http://www.americanrvcompany.com/Progres...CFVQV7AodJ2kALA

[Whoaru99]

Do you all take your battery(s) indoors between uses so they don't 'freeze'!? Or, I've heard as long as they have a FULL charge they won't freeze...is that correct?

A fully charged battery doesn't freeze until something on the order of -80F.

[B-man715]

IMHO it would be foolish to only rely on a generator unless you had a back up generator......

Moving parts fail and things can freeze. Even with the best gennys money can buy. If you disagree, you haven't fished enough

[Larry3760]

I have one agm battery hooked up to a converter in a 19' house and have ran 2.5 days on the lake without a charge, I have all led lighting which helps, 2 things to know are have a converter with some kind of charging wizard so it automatically charges correctly anytime it's plugged into 110v another thing to know is don't let your battery go completely dead wheather your on the lake or sitting behind the house for weeks on end, letting the battery go completely dead at any given time will greatly lower the lifespan and time between charges, I bought my charging wizard converter panel for under 200.00 if I remember correctly and has all the spots for 110 and 12 wiring built in.

[Tom7227]

Maybe I am getting out of touch but I thought that an inverter changed 110 AC to 12 vDC and a generator made 12 vDC power. In a car an alternator creates 12 vDC and in older cars it was a generator.

What is a converter?

[Whoaru99]

Inverter (typically) 12V > 120V

Converter (typically) 120V > 12V

In the contest here, generator = 120V. That said, some generators also produce 12V for battery charging, albeit at relatively low amps.

[jsr426hemi]

I purchased 2 optima deep cycle gel batteries. They are spendy but we'll worth it. I too installed an rv converter box not only for charging the batteries with my 3000 Honda but also wanted a central clean place to hookup all wiring with fuses. When I am not running the generator I use a 1200 watt inverter to power my 110 outlets. I came up with a method to be able to have power to all the outlets with either the generator or inverter power. If it's just a day trip we can run the tv, led lights, radio/dvd player all day. Haven't run the batteries dead yet. Have 2 20 watt solar panels to install but haven't made the mounting bracket yet. They will be there to keep the batteries topped off while we are not fishing.

[OutlawBiz]

I bought my charging wizard converter panel for under 200.00 if I remember correctly and has all the spots for 110 and 12 wiring built in.

How many amps I'd your RV style converter? Was looking online...they are anywhere from 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 amp etc.

Ice Castles HSOforum 'parts' link has a 40A RV style converter for $169. Is 40A sufficient in most shacks?

[low277]

From memory I believe that automotive alternators produce 3 phase ac power which is then regulated, rectified into usable dc power.

[BLACKJACK]

Battery chargers often won't have enough "oomph" to simultaneously charge a low battery and run fairly high demand loads like the furnace.

The answer is a converter/charger as some have already mentioned. They have enough output to run both high demand loads and charge the battery.

Something like this: http://www.americanrvcompany.com/Progres...CFVQV7AodJ2kALA

Whoar, so how does this hook up?? Can you hook it up to two batteries?? And plug the other end into an outlet??