80 Amp Hour battery enough?

[borlo]

Thanks in advance for the help, first time on this forum and electricity is kinda like magic to me. Trying to sort out the house battery situation on this http://expeditionportal.com/scrolling/753-world-apprentice-solar-system.html rig that my wife and I recently purchased.

It has an Engel MT45 in it it, and 80 watt solar panel, and all the trappings. Previous owner did all the work, and told me when I bought it that the Goal Zero 350 that he had in it didn't have enough power to run the fridge and 12V outlets in the back. 2 way fan and interior lights all working, and charging light on solar controller on. Fridge works on 110 plug.

Bought a MagnaPower AGM deep cycle (79 A.H.@20 Hr, 135 Res Cap) battery from my local Batteries Plus, and it still won't power the fridge or 12V. Fridge light goes faintly green.

Do I need a stronger battery?

 

[McZippie]

Maybe try to temporally hook up any 12 Volt battery to your house battery with jumper cables and see how it works.

 

[borlo]

Maybe try to temporally hook up any 12 Volt battery to your house battery with jumper cables and see how it works.

Thanks for getting back so quickly. Will that boost the output of the house battery, thereby letting me know if my current battery isnt strong enough? (trying to learn here). House battery should be fully charged. (battery bug always reads greater than 12.5V).

 

[wrcsixeight]

That fridge is an AC/DC fridge. you do not want to be running it on the household plug through and inverter

You want that fridge running on 12vdc. Much more efficient than running an inverter to run it on 120Vac(household plug)

80 amp hours might be a tad small for that fridge and all the other loads, but 12.5 volts indicates the battery still has plenty of charge left, and should have no issues running the fridge for at least 12 more hours.

An 80 watt panel in a sunny environment should have no issues powering that fridge indefinitely, as long as the fridge is the only load on the battery, and if the fridge is not roasting in a 120 degree vehicle.

 

[Leipo]

the 12v wires used for powering the fridge are probably to small
beef them up and you will be able to power the fridge without problems :bike_rider:

(small wires over a larger distance have too much voltage loss)

 

[borlo]

That fridge is an AC/DC fridge. you do not want to be running it on the household plug through and inverter

You want that fridge running on 12vdc. Much more efficient than running an inverter to run it on 120Vac(household plug)

80 amp hours might be a tad small for that fridge and all the other loads, but 12.5 volts indicates the battery still has plenty of charge left, and should have no issues running the fridge for at least 12 more hours.

An 80 watt panel in a sunny environment should have no issues powering that fridge indefinitely, as long as the fridge is the only load on the battery, and if the fridge is not roasting in a 120 degree vehicle.

Not using the fridge via the 120 plug and an inverter. I ran a drop cord from my garage to the 120 outlet that the fridge has to make sure that the fridge itself works.

The battery is brand new.

Makes me think that the problem may be other than the battery.

 

[borlo]

the 12v wires used for powering the fridge are probably to small
beef them up and you will be able to power the fridge without problems :bike_rider:

(small wires over a larger distance have too much voltage loss)

The previous owner had it set up to a goal zero battery with even smaller wires that I removed with that battery, and he said that it worked just fine.

I'll try adding another battery via jumper cables and see if it helps, but keep the suggestions coming.

Thanks

 

[ripperj]

Before you start adding more amps and volts, I would try and see if you have a problem, loose connection or short. Your issue should be how long it can run, not getting it to run at all. Check the battery with a meter or a headlight ect and make sure it's good first and go from there, does everything else work of 12v?
keith

Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk 2

 

[ripperj]

I'm home sick, so I'm partially stewed with robotusin , and missed the obvious, did you say that it never worked, even when installed? If this is the case I would pretty much start from scratch, and look at everything/ wire size as stated above, any connections and proper grounds ect

Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk 2

 

[BigSwede]

Your issue should be how long it can run, not getting it to run at all.

Agreed, it should run for hours with the new battery. Whether the battery can power everything as long as you want it to is another question, but your system definitely should be working for a while without issue, so something else has to be a problem.

 

[pugslyyy]

It is very common for Engel's to not work because they don't have a good enough connection to the battery through a stout enough cable. Despite what the PO has told you, I would make sure that part is solid before looking at anything else.

 

[borlo]

Thanks Team,

I'll get in there with my multitester/testlight and see how it goes. The reason that I thought it might not be the wire size is that a) the PO said it had worked just fine in the past and b) the power indicator light on the fridge does come on when I switch it on. What happens is that at first switch on the light is bright green then quickly fades to barely on but still on.

I will give it another look to make sure all connections are good.

What gauge wire should be the minimum from the battery to the fusebox and the fusebox to the fridge?

 

[pugslyyy]

Thanks Team,

I'll get in there with my multitester/testlight and see how it goes. The reason that I thought it might not be the wire size is that a) the PO said it had worked just fine in the past and b) the power indicator light on the fridge does come on when I switch it on. What happens is that at first switch on the light is bright green then quickly fades to barely on but still on.

I will give it another look to make sure all connections are good.

What gauge wire should be the minimum from the battery to the fusebox and the fusebox to the fridge?

That's a classic symptom of a wiring issue. Good connection at minimal current draw but then drops out as soon as you try to pull any amps.

It might not be the wiring - could just as easily be a connection. I traced a similar issue to a bad in-line fuse last year.

 

[Leipo]

That's a classic symptom of a wiring issue. Good connection at minimal current draw but then drops out as soon as you try to pull any amps.

It might not be the wiring - could just as easily be a connection. I traced a similar issue to a bad in-line fuse last year.

had the same with my domelight: measured 12,8v on the connection, but the light would burn very dim
it was caused by an almost blown fuse (it had 10% of its internal break-away connection left)

 

[pugslyyy]

had the same with my domelight: measured 12,8v on the connection, but the light would burn very dim
it was caused by an almost blown fuse (it had 10% of its internal break-away connection left)

Yes, and those are the ones that will drive you crazy because you check voltage when it is open circuit and everything looks fine, but then you put the bulb in and it doesn't work. I've chased my tail a couple of times on things like that.