24' travel trailer Camp Host (Keystone Cougar)

Gobyrider · April 2013

My dad is a campground host at a location with no power. He has the following...
2 Eu2000 generators
Original Standard microwave that came with trailer
Propane refer
Standard (useless) converter/charger (came with trailer)
2 Trojan t105 (12v bank) old and prepared to replace.

We want a system that can run his TV (don't ask how much it draws because I'm going to buy the TV also)
Satelite drv I can check the usage with my kilowatt thingy
Security dvr and 4 cams. These are 12v using 3amp and 1amp supplies when on Ac

We want to run the dish box virtually 24/7 and the TV a few hours a day (2-6) this is for ease of use for my old folks

I'm prepared to buy whatever it takes. Looking at magnum 3112 msw. Now people are freaking me out with talk of msw and idle draw. I start thinking smaller psw inverter charger with a big msw inverter for microwave and power tools. I can buy as many batteries as I want and have the joy of starting from scratch.
Oh yah. I also want to charge with solar mostly and generators once or twoce a week. Am I crazy. I like overkill an I there yet? Please someone help. I've been searching for days for "this is my setup" that looks like what I wanna have and it seems nobody has it. Thanks in advance!!

Cariboocoot · April 2013

Re: 24' travel trailer Camp Host (Keystone Cougar)

Welcome to the forum.

You probably haven't seen a set-up just like you need because each and every one is different; all tailored to the individual need.

In this case going solar makes sense because there is no grid available and running even EU2000 generators will get expensive fast.

Sounds like you've got some 12 Volt equipment which makes it desirable to stick with 12 Volt. Will the propane 'frige stay, or is it time to go whole-hog AC on that too? It makes a difference.

Another thing that makes a difference is running stuff 24/7, as that adds up to Watt hours. Example: my satellite Internet system uses as much power as the refrigerator; if left on all day & night it would chew through 1200 Watt hours. You will have a similar situation with the TV dish system.

So whereas a small inverter like the Morningstar 300 would run everything from 12 Volt battery bank, you'd need a large one to make up the necessary Watt hours. For instance the T105's (if new) would provide about 1200 Watt hours maximum.

The Magnum 3112 would not be a good choice in my opinion. You would be better off with a small pure sine inverter and start the generator if you need to power the microwave. It doesn't make sense to scale up the whole system to accommodate one thing that is far outside the normal usage pattern and only used occasionally for short time. Possibly changing out the microwave for one of the "trucker" units would be a good idea.

At any rate, you (and we) will be taking wild guesses without some firm numbers for maximum Watts and daily Watt hours to work from. And guessing leads to heartache, headache, and wallet-ache.

westbranch · April 2013

Re: 24' travel trailer Camp Host (Keystone Cougar)

that 24/7 for the dish box is going to use a lot of power, 50 to 80 or more watts per hr, doesn't seem too big but @ 24 Hr it is at least 1.2Kwh. so for margin lets double that for the TV etc. so 2.4 kwh, at that level you are well over the optimal level for a 12 v system...
then there is lighting in the trailer, try to change them over to LEDs, look on ebay ...
I think since you are mainly going to run electronics that a TSW would be better.
keep us in the loop,
HTH

Gobyrider · April 2013

Re: 24' travel trailer Camp Host (Keystone Cougar)

I have some real numbers!
Just to make sure i did this right. Killawatt reading in watts divided by 12volts and multiplied by hours of use per day.
here we go.

Device

DCAmps ---Hours/Day---Total

Furnace

10

1.5

15
DishDVR

3.6

24

86.5
Coffee Brew----81

.25

20.25
Coffee Warm---4.5

3 --- ---- 13.5
SamsungLEDtv- 5.5

5

27.7
Microwave---- 166 ---- .17

28.2
cctvdvr

3

24

72
lights

6

4

24
laptop chg---- 4.5- ---- 4

18

TOTAL: 305.15/day

Just an FYI, Someone told me to double the microwave cooking watts to determine the draw watts (seems fishy) but these numbers truly represent a "worst case scenario".
There are things they can do to reduce power and I'm doing my best at convincing them. For now they want to use these items and only want to run the generators to run the AC or to charge the battery banks if the sun hides. Would solar panels work to replace this high usage? Should I have a bigger battery bank to make that possible? A 2000 watt psw inverter/charger should work, right? MS2000-U? I know, I know...and i agree...but they want to run the microwave off the batteries. :-) Should i replace the microwave? ill get a real number on the KillAwatt thingy later today. Dads already at the mountains so I have to rely on him to plug in the meter. Someone help me, please. Im lost in watts and will likelly spend way more than i have to or way not enough.

Oh, by the way i built this for fun. wonder if i can use it finally? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OPT44CQbqg

Cariboocoot · April 2013

Re: 24' travel trailer Camp Host (Keystone Cougar)

Why not just leave the Watt hours as Watt hours? Then tot up and see what you get for a daily total.

You only need to divide by 12 to get the Amp hours for determining the battery bank size. Once that is set the solar array is sized for recharging it. In the case of an RV it sometimes isn't possible to make it big enough to fully recharge so all it can do is relieve some of the consumption; full charging has to be done from generator or other source.

Microwave: plug it in to the K-A-W. See what it reads; that's what it uses. I think someone was trying to explain the difference between the cooking Watts that they're rated in and the Watts they use to produce that. The factor is not 2X on any one I've tested. More like "+200" Watts.

Anything that can run off 120 VAC outlet can be run off solar. If you can have an inverter that will handle the max loads, a battery bank that can handle the Watt hours & current draw, and enough solar to recharge same. ChrisOlsen runs an entire electric household off-grid (with wind and solar and generator).

Optical difference tracker?

Tracking panels can add a couple hours to the useful sun time.

NorthGuy · April 2013

Re: 24' travel trailer Camp Host (Keystone Cougar)

Gobyrider wrote: »

I have some real numbers!

The number for the microwave seems too high. 2kW microwave should be fed from 20A outlet because it would trip 15A breaker.

It's very important to get the microwave right. If it uses 2kW then, along with other loads, it'll overload your 2000W inverter.

If it uses 1.3-1.5kW as regular microwaves, then 2000W inverter might be Ok. You only cannot run it together with cofeemaker.

westbranch · April 2013

Re: 24' travel trailer Camp Host (Keystone Cougar)

wow, that's 3660 Watt-hrs, though not all of it will be drawn at the same time. 315Ahr will need a battery of 750Ahr rating, not so heavy a load.
So you need an inverter that will handle the max load... which will occur at the same time.

hth

24' travel trailer Camp Host (Keystone Cougar)

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