There's nothing like starting the day off with a nice warm piece of tasty Hawaiian banana bread. This recipe came from Maui where I used to spend quite a bit of time. It takes great restraint for me not to eat an entire loaf all at once. AND it goes perfect with my morning wake up coffee.
It also helps soothe the brain after trying to figure out all this RV electrical stuff. Let me just say all RV's are not the same, nor are they made to WORK the same. Add to that .... things made in Canada and things made in the U.S. do not work the same either. For a non-electrical person like me, it's just downright hard to understand what you can do when, and with what!
So I'm passing on what I learned about my Canadian built PleasureWay van. It's all about the batteries, and I get that. It means most everything requires the oh-so-noisy inverter. That thing sounds like a jet engine. It's MOSTLY no bother when you are awake. I just turn the TV up louder.
On the other hand, when you are trying to sleep at night and that thing is three feet away, it's not acceptable. On my fifth wheel, they must have had it in a soundproof box.
On the van, they have installed a battery operated ONLY fridge/freezer. That is apparently due to all the RV fires you hear about. Whether you are plugged in or not, the fridge runs ONLY off the lithium batteries, not electricity of any kind NOR propane. That was an eye opener. You have to be darn sure your batteries stay charged or you will be dealing with Dave's yummy dead fish smell from the restaurant he managed.
So how to keep the batteries charged? When plugged in, the inverter charges the batteries which run the touchscreens, water pump and vent fan AND the fridge. That means the inverter is required to work all day long. Can I turn the inverter off at night? YES thank goodness, assuming of course that the fridge will not drain the batteries. That remains to be seen. I guess I'll have to try it out and see.
Even with the inverter off, if you are plugged in, you can still use the microwave, the stove and the A.C. because those will run on 120 power. You cannot however, use the touchscreen control panels, so no lights or battery monitoring.
When boon docking and not using any appliances, I can turn the inverter off because the fridge does not need it to work. Want to cook dinner? Turn the inverter on. Want to charge the batteries from solar? Turn the inverter on. I think. Confused? Oh yeah!!
I think it might behoove me to go spend a few nights in the rig with the fridge on and the inverter off to see just how long the batteries will last. As I said, the learning curve is steep and LONG. When in the other rigs it didn't matter because the inverter didn't keep me up at night!
After a quick trip to town for a haircut, I settled in to get some sewing done. My stack of quilts needing binding was getting higher and higher. It takes me about 20 minutes to stitch it on before it goes into the NEXT stack for hand sewing. I could sew it by machine, but I don't have the correct FOOT to do it evenly. On my next trip to the big city, I'll stop in and get one.
This one with spiderweb binding got added to the same pile.
That ended a nice day of rest and recuperation from a long night of Bingo. Funny ... that never seemed to bother me as much when I was YOUNGER!!
Today brings yet another surprise. I raised one sprinkler in the back yard a little too high. I placed a big piece of concrete there so it would not be run over by the lawn mower. It mattered not because it got run over, breaking it off WAY below ground level. Maybe ... just maybe ... I can get it fixed today BECAUSE ......
The landscaper is finally showing up ... after FIVE MONTHS ... to repair the weed killer spray accident. I'm having rock put in the entire length. No more sprinklers to deal with, at least along that side of the property. Pictures tomorrow!!
That banana bread looks delicious. Do you share recipes?
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your Thursday.
Frances:)
I do .... I'll send it to you Frances.
DeleteDid you check out this RV before you made your purchase, or did you just go and buy it online? Sounds like it may be more trouble than it is worth.
ReplyDeleteWe have an 8500 watt inverter for our solar panels, and it is quiet as a mouse, no moving parts. Hard to understand why yours is so noisy unless it is a fan of some sort.
We had a BMW Z4 once, great with anything mechanical, but anything electrical was a problem waiting to happen. When the electric door locks gave up the ghost for the 4th time, it went on its way down the road, along with a lot of other annoying little problems. Great little car, and fun to drive, but all the annoyances that came with it made it less and less fun, and finally it just had to go.
Before I bought it? Heck no ... I saw it online and bought it! Just kidding. Yes Kenny, I checked it out. I don't know why it's so noisy. You don't notice those things until it's midnight and you can't sleep.
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ReplyDeletemr. Ed said feel free to pass on that email to Bob’seye
Second opinion is always helpful
An as Kenny states Even so your inverter / charger. has two fans they should be real quiet, similar to the ones you have an a desktop computer. So without a picture of what the unit is, it’s hard to pinpoint like we’re trying to play pool at night with no lights.
If the noise turns out to be the actual inverter charger, I would take it back to the RV dealer and let him make that determination with a decimal meter or a swap out not a big deal. Remember you have a warranty and have you address the issue directly to PWs team ?
I might just have to do that.
DeleteSo your inverter is more like a inverter/converter, which makes more sense to me. So I think Nancy is going to be turning it on and off a lot, which is ok. And don't worry, the fridge will not kill your lithium batteries overnight... lithium batteries can drop to 10 volts and be ok, unlike AGM's that need to be above 11.5. surprised inverter needed to allow solar to charge batteries...
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave ... I checked again ... I do not need the inverter to charge the batteries. The inverter is off and solar still charges, even though it's under cover.
DeleteDave B here’s a nutshell hope this helps
ReplyDeleteA converter can turn AC power into DC. It can change the voltage level from one level to another, such as from 110v to 12v. On the other hand, an inverter transforms DC power into AC power.12v to 110v.
The banana bread looks good why is it called Hawaiian banana bread
ReplyDeleteJoanne, it has crushed pineapple and pecans in it, so it's very moist and tasty!
DeleteI'm assuming there's pineapple in the bread? It looks so yummy, gonna look for a low carb one with almond flour. Ken thought it looked good too. :) Love the quilts!!
ReplyDeleteYup ... pineapple and pecans, sometimes macadamias if I'm feeling rich! LOL
DeleteLooking at your diagram I see this. The solar cells are connected to your charge controller which is connected to your lithium batteries and your 12 volt fridge is connectred to your lithium batteries so the inverter is not involved and does not have to be on for the fridge to run as it runs off the lithium batteries. Your starter battery is also connected to the lithium battery and will keep it charged through the axilery battery charger. This all means the solar panels will keep the lithium batteries charged up without your inverter on or plugged in connection is also not needed to do this. Even in your shed, there should still be enough charge from your solar cells to keep both batteries charged up, so there is no need to be concerned about keeping the batteries charged up when not in use. You only need the noisey inverter on when you need to use 110 volt AC stuff, otherwise leave the noisey thing off. The fridge should be one of the newer compressor pump types that only puts a low draw on the lithium batteries and with the solar panels working the fridge will not drain the batteries.
ReplyDeleteBobseyes
Yup ... that's what the PW guy told me. I checked ... it's 85 decibels. My friends rig has the same problem. Maybe we can find a quieter one.
DeleteBob correctly notes how your system operates & is a very desirable RV capability.Hard to fathom that PW would install such a noisy inverter & would suggest that be the CALL to PW.All the best.
ReplyDeleteEvery RV has its idiosyncrasies ... now that I know what's what, I can just turn it on when I need it. It's on the touchscreen, so easy to turn on and off.
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