Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:42:51 -0700
Reply-To: Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Brief Report on Norcold after a Week of Camping
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Some of you will recall that a few weeks ago I was asking questions (and
getting some very good answers) about installing a Norcold DC0040, a larger
aux battery and ways to charge that battery during extended stays in the
boonies. I'll be doing a Blog with more details in the near future but here
is a summary of the results.
First I need to extend a big thanks to several people on these lists that
offered a lot of very good advice both on the list and through pmail. Larry
Chase for advice on where to order a generator and saved a bunch of money.
Mike Elliot for sharing all his experience in doing the same thing and Karl
Mullendore also, as far as I know the first to publish info on installing a
Norcold and who kept patiently answering my questions over several months as
I decided to take on this project. And especially Dennis Haynes whose
urging to go to a bigger onboard charger was right on . And again a special
thanks to Paul Guzyk for his hands on help in figuring out the rats nest of
wiring in the old aux battery box, getting all the interior accessories
switched to the new aux battery without having to add any additional wiring
and helping get the new Surepower 1315 in.
First, I consider the change over to the Norcold a total success. After
one full week of use I have no complaints, not even about the way I did the
install. The configuration I ended up with I'm very happy with. It's like
this:
Norcold DC0040 installed where the Dometic 182 was. The old front panel,
sans door, from the Dometic was widened slightly and retained as the
surround for the front.
A Fullriver Group 31 AGM battery was installed under the rear seat and wired
into the existing aux power fuse panel already in place.
A Surepower 1315 was wired in and replaced the old relay system that was in
place for battery separation. (Will later up size the wire between the
starter battery and the Surepower and add wiring to allow the aux battery to
assist the starter if needed)
Wiring was created for easy attachment of either a solar charge controller
or an onboard charger running from 110v ac.
The cheapest solar controller I could find was installed and a 50 watt solar
panel was acquired.
Two onboard chargers were acquired, a 5 watt and a 30 watt and wiring rigged
to be able to easily switch between the solar charger or either onboard
charger.
And a Honda EU1000i generator was acquired.
Results:
In temperatures ranging from a high of 85 to a low of 55 at night the
Norcold kept an internal temperature between 38 and 42 degrees around the
clock depending on where the control was set.
On a 110 AH battery I'd expect to go at least four or five days before the
battery was to low to operate the 'fridge. A fully charged battery, reading
12.5 volts, will drop to about 11.85 volts in 24-30 hours, down to about
11.2 in 48 hours.
Cycle times on the Norcold were 50% or less most of the time.
A 50 watt solar panel, under a brilliant Sun at 6,300 feet will bring the
battery up from about 11.5 volts to 13 volts in about six hours.
I mentioned a Honda generator. My thinking: Belt and suspenders. What if
no Sun? I'd planned to test out the charging from the generator and the
weather cooperated, overcast on that day anyway. Results: A 5 amp 'Battery
Tender' type charger just don't cut it, Dennis was very right when he said
it wouldn't even keep up, it just barley did. After an hour I disconnected
the small charger and hooked up the 30 amp charger. Instantly heard the
load on the generator and the charger pulled the battery up to 14 v in about
an hour.
Did I stress the system all the way to a dead battery? No. Am I convinced
that a 50 watt solar panel can be used for extended camping? Yes, but only
with good Sun (and adjusting the angle of the panel every hour or so.)
Will a generator do the job with the right charger? Of course.
The one option that I didn't try was using the 12v battery charging option
on the Honda generator. I hadn't set up wiring to do that and was also
worried about the quality of the 12v from the gnerator, didn't want to
disconnect everything from the battery to protect other circuits, like the
Norcold. BTW, I had the Honda cable for this, two guys parked next to me,
with the bigger Honda, used the cable to charge their batteries.
What remains to be done? Well, as mentioned above, complete the upgrade
wiring for the Surepower 1315, right now I'm not able to take advantage of
the aux boost for starting feature. I'll also come up with a better,
permanently mounted volt meter/battery monitor system. I just attached a
DVM to the battery with long leads to monitor the battery for this trip.
One other, last item. What about noise from the Norcold? There have been
several comments from those that have installed the Norcold about the hum of
the compressor. Being forewarned I used Sorbothane under the Norcold to try
to isolate it and was very careful that no other part of the 'fridge touched
anything except where it was screwed to the front panel to keep it in
place. Only one time did the hum/noise really get my attention and that was
when a pot on the stove was sitting just right and started vibrating. When
I firgured that out and moved the pot the noise dropped back to an almost
inaudible level. At night, if you are listening for it, you can hear the
Norcold cycle on and off. I'm not sensitive to noise at night, can sleep
with the Propex running, so no problem for me. I'm going to add rubber
washers between the front frame and the cabinet, where the mounting screws
are, and see if thatreduces the noise even further but not becuase it's
annoying, just to see if it makes a difference.
I hope all this helps and has been of value. And thanks again to all that
offered such good advice, it really helped in this process.
