Dear Sir/Madam:
I bought the 17A last year and had a solar panel installed on the roof of the unit. Up to now, the solar panel has always been able to recharge my batteries (two 6v deep cycle batteries that came with the trailer) and there was no need to use my generator. This week was the first week of camping where I experienced sufficient cloudy and rainy conditions to justify using my small Honda 1000i generator. When the batteries were down to 50%, I plugged my electrical cable into my generator and ran it for 2 hours. I am aware that the EMS unit must be put into the bypass mode for the current to flow into the trailer. I know I was getting power because the fridge switched to AC mode and the microwave lights came on. The electrical outlet in the trailer also became useable.
The problem that I had was even after running the generator for a full two hours, the battery charge % only initially went up by 10 % and then started going back down, even with the generator still running. I tried the next day, but this time I made sure that the fridge was switched to the gas mode and all lights, fans and other items that could possibly be drawing power were turned off while I was running the generator. To my surprise, the same thing happened again… a small increase in the % of battery charge followed by a decrease. When my solar panel is in full sun, 2 hours would be more than enough to recharge my batteries. Am I doing something wrong or is there something in the trailer that is not working properly?
Thanks in advance,
Ivan
Hello @idesjardins,
The generator is not supplying enough power to charge the batteries and the fridge together, Escape recommends a minimum 2200w generator, granted this is to ensure there is enough power for the trailer including the air conditioner however, a 1000i doesn't output enough.
In a pinch you may consider turning the fridge to propane, this way the 1000i generator's output would go directly to the batteries.
Note: Allowing the batteries to deplete to 50% or below will lessen the life of the batteries.