AC on batteries test - results!
Before I handed off my Xplorer to her new owner, I wanted to do a test of running the air conditioning for an extended period.
I installed the LG 9000 BTU high efficiency air conditioner to replace the original unit the van came with. That unit was a big energy hog with no cycling, 1500 watts load and a deafening amount of sound.
I had installed a 2800 watt Magnum pure sine wave inverter, the advanced remote and the BMK kit. For batteries, I had four, 125 amp hour Stark Power drop-ins.
It was a sunny day today, temp in the low 80's and not really humid (Southern California). I turned on the inverter and then the AC on eco mode, set at 72 degrees.
It ran full blast for a bit, maybe 30 mins, and then would cycle on and off. At 5 hours in, I was down to 78% SOC, so I stopped the test. I wanted to see if the amp draws and it running overnite was even a possibility. I concluded it is.
At peak, on the draw between the AC and the refrigerator (it switches to 110v mode when the inverter is on) of 55-58 amps. Around 7 is the refrigerator. During part of this test, I was getting input from the solar of around 19 amps (the magnum display would fluctuate between 37 to 42 amps at peak). To my amusement, the inverter didn't break a sweat - no fan noise, and no appreciable heat on it or the cabling.
I hate to part with this van now - everything is working so well!
One nice thing about this air conditioner is that it has a timer function - so you could set it to shut itself off after you fall asleep - so you could run a bit to cool the rig down, then run a bit while you fall asleep, and then shut itself down. That would extend battery use greatly.
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