Northern Lite Camper Power Use Calculator

[Siletzspey]

I worked up a power use calculator and wiring map for a Northern Lite camper (2018 9'6" QSE).

http://www.barbless.com/share/www-rv-net/NL-Camper-Power-Calculator-191202.xlsx

For some devices it still contains guesses, and the solar recovery portion was just added. Gap fillers, comments and reviews welcome!

--tg

[Kayteg1]

Yes, the 7-pin is my way of charging when on the road.
We usually drive several hr every day and on average get hookups every other day, so charging was not a problem in the past, till last summer we went to Alaska, when on the road we took advantage of Canadians free dumps and water stations, so we had periods of 7 days with no hook up.
I use battery power to make 1l of coffee every morning, what is pretty big draw after overnight use (fortunately we did not have to use heater) and 1 day when I drove only 4 hr the batteries show low next morning. That indicated that Ford has factory breaker somewhere on charging line, who was cycling and not able to recharge 200 Ah batteries on 1/2 day drive. That is why I am carrying additional high-tech 25 amp charger with me.
Live and learn.

[Siletzspey]

Kayteg1 wrote:
... the system will keep cycling automatic breaker.

Hi Kayteg. Do you have just the 7-pin outlet, or did you add a separate high-current line (2/0ga)? Is the breaker you speak of associated with the 7-pin line, or high-current line, or the converter?

If your jacks are tied directly to the batteries, I would expect the batteries would take most of the load, and you shouldn't be blowing any charging fuses.

Where I'm still under-informed is how motors and inverters can demand a current spike when first turned on, and I believe motors can generate a spike when turned off.

--SiletzSpey

[Siletzspey]

otrfun wrote:
Curious whether you've had a chance to check your maximum charge current (and voltage) from your converter ... you may find the results somewhat disappointing.

Indeed. See p.2 of my LFP upgrade plan, where I included shore and alternator estimates reported by other NL owners. Indeed, very disappointing! Where safe and possible, my LFP plan is for 4ga and shorter wiring distances.

http://www.barbless.com/share/www-rv-net/Gilg-NL-LFP-Upgrade-191204.pdf

otrfun wrote:
BTW, the 4 Happijacs (with the new direct drive motors) draw approx. 25a when lifting our 8-11...

Thanks for the feedback. I'll roll that into the next spreadsheet rev. The "factory interview" numbers seemed to be for twice the weight of our NLs, so a drop from 40A to 25A seems reasonable.

--SiletzSpey

[Kayteg1]

DSL55 is not only more powerful charger, but sounds like it has logic circuit who monitor the charge.
My converter delivers killing 14.3V and I can't use it in storage or it will boil the battery dry.

[ticki2]

I have an Iota dsl 55 , it has never tripped a breaker or bounced back and forth between stages . I don't have elect jacks so can't comment on that .

[Kayteg1]

Its Magnatek 6300 - very common in the past.
It is 40 amp rated, but I can operate only single jack on it, or it will pop the breaker.

[ticki2]

Kayteg1 wrote:
When charging deeply discharged batteries -using factory setups, the system will keep cycling automatic breaker. I had the issue with 40 amp converter and I had the issue with 30 amp Ford charging circuit. Due to cycling, where converter takes way more time to cool than to work, even being plug overnight did not fully recharge my 2 batteries with normal camper use.

what brand converters do you have ?

[Kayteg1]

When charging deeply discharged batteries -using factory setups, the system will keep cycling automatic breaker. I had the issue with 40 amp converter and I had the issue with 30 amp Ford charging circuit. Due to cycling, where converter takes way more time to cool than to work, even being plug overnight did not fully recharge my 2 batteries with normal camper use.

[otrfun]

Great info! Thanks for sharing.

Maybe I missed it. Curious whether you've had a chance to check your maximum charge current (and voltage) from your converter (with no solar; I and V measured at the batteries) with your batteries discharged (i.e., 50% wet-cell or ~20% lithium). If NL used the same 10 gauge wire (for the converter to battery run) as they did on our NL, you may find the results somewhat disappointing.

BTW, the 4 Happijacs (with the new direct drive motors) draw approx. 25a when lifting our 8-11 (camper loaded, no water; maybe 3,200 lbs??). Both the 8-11 and 9-6 weigh approx. 2,600 - 2,700 lbs. at the factory, empty/unloaded.

[Eugarps]

Siletzspey,

Thank you! That’s going to be really helpful!

Best,

Bill