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Old 11-18-2018, 06:11 PM   #1
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Interesting Observation at 11.4 volts

Last night after staring at the fire till 10 pm we went inside and turned on the water pump. It wouldn't shut off. There were NO leaks anywhere, but it was time for bed. Our voltage was at 11.8 volts. At 5 am this morning I took out the Shurflo manual and read the possible causes. A misadjusted pressure was one, and low voltage was another. I then checked our voltage and it was 11.4 volts after another night running the furnace at 30-34 degrees. After 11 days our 170 watt solar just couldn't keep up. Funny, it's mid-November, we camp under trees, and the air is smoky from at least two California fires.

This morning I also tried to lite the inside stove for coffee and could hear the spark, but it would not lite the stove. Of course we HAD to have our morning coffee, so out came the butane lighter and we had coffee 15 minutes later. Thank god, Terry gets cranky without her morning coffee!

OK, I do too!

We're now outside Yosemite Park with full hookups. Once we hooked up to 30 amps the stove lights and the Shurflo turns off.

Tomorrow, after charging our batteries, we'll be camping in Yosemite for three days and then starting our maiden voyage home.

Enjoy,

Perry
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Old 11-18-2018, 06:25 PM   #2
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Good information. Try to stay away from low voltage batteries!
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Old 11-18-2018, 06:26 PM   #3
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So, maybe 10 days the limit with the solar and marginal sun?
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Old 11-19-2018, 07:58 AM   #4
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Good information there

I suspected 170W would be marginal, in shaded conditions.

We added a second 100W to the roof, with no cable splicing necessary..
Now the batteries are full before noon, even with shade
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Old 11-19-2018, 08:50 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by TZBrown View Post
Good information there

I suspected 170W would be marginal, in shaded conditions.

We added a second 100W to the roof, with no cable splicing necessary..
Now the batteries are full before noon, even with shade
We don't have an inverter and the only real draw is the furnace at less than 40 degrees. We screwed up one day, left early in the morning and forgot to turn the furnace off. It only got up to 52 degrees that day, but when we returned late that evening the voltage was only the same as it was when we left that morning. We lost the entire day of solar charging. That won't happen again! Or will it?

We'll find out this winter in Arizona if the 170 watts will keep up, but considering the poor solar conditions we've been traveling in I believe it will. If not, we'll just glue a 100+watt flexible panel to the roof.

Enjoy,

Perry
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Old 11-19-2018, 08:52 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by Perryb67 View Post
Last night after staring at the fire till 10 pm we went inside and turned on the water pump. It wouldn't shut off. There were NO leaks anywhere, but it was time for bed. Our voltage was at 11.8 volts. At 5 am this morning I took out the Shurflo manual and read the possible causes. A misadjusted pressure was one, and low voltage was another. I then checked our voltage and it was 11.4 volts after another night running the furnace at 30-34 degrees.
That is interesting. The Shurflo manual says +/- 10% so if designed at nominal 12V it should be fine down to 10.8V. I know our pump has run fine at much lower than 11.8V. Thanks for sharing as this may help others when troubleshooting a misbehaving pump.
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Old 11-19-2018, 09:15 AM   #7
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That is interesting. The Shurflo manual says +/- 10% so if designed at nominal 12V it should be fine down to 10.8V. I know our pump has run fine at much lower than 11.8V. Thanks for sharing as this may help others when troubleshooting a misbehaving pump.
Last June we ran our Lance's batteries down under 11 volts a number of times but the pump kept working. I was going to call Escape before I turned the pressure down on the pump. We don't need 40+ psi. In another thread someone said Rease told them to turn the pressure down. Thanks for verifying that the pump should still have turned off at 11.4 volts. Now I'll have no problems turning the pressure down a little.

Thenks!

Perry
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Old 11-19-2018, 09:31 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by Perryb67 View Post
I was going to call Escape before I turned the pressure down on the pump. We don't need 40+ psi. In another thread someone said Rease told them to turn the pressure down. Thanks for verifying that the pump should still have turned off at 11.4 volts. Now I'll have no problems turning the pressure down a little.
Perry,
Just be cautious before you turn the pressure down too much as you may get more cycling which can affect the temperature at your shower(s). I would watch this video below which may help you to determine where you should land without causing other issues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=jtjssFGWA-I
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Old 11-19-2018, 09:51 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by rubicon327 View Post
Perry,
Just be cautious before you turn the pressure down too much as you may get more cycling which can affect the temperature at your shower(s). I would watch this video below which may help you to determine where you should land without causing other issues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=jtjssFGWA-I
Knowing myself, I'll probably only turn it down if the voltage gets that low again. I do know that it shuts off in the high 11's. Perhaps 11.4 volts was the tipping point.

Thanks for the video, but right now we're below 10% left on our Verizon data, so I'll save that one for two days from now when we start a new billing cycle. I did watch three youtube videos, but they were rather useless.

Right now, "If it's not broke, don't fix it!"

Thanks,

Perry
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