Sasquatch's (aka "Sassy") Tinker and Adventure Tread (2 Viewers)

[AlpineAccess]

Successful Four Corners Folk Festival in Pagosa Springs, CO! Drove up Friday, parked the truck at 3PM and didn’t start it until Monday at 11am with no dramas. Temps were pushing 90 during the day which means ambient temp in the back of the cruiser must have been at least 100. With the fridge set at 37F and moving the solar panel a few times per day woke up with the battery right at 12.0-12.1 each morning. Nights were in the 40s which helped, though I still feel like at 100Ah the battery should be able to sit longer before hitting 50% discharged. Hard to know without taking actual measurements of Wh from the solar panel and Ah pulled by the fridge, thinking about purchasing a Kill A Watt to measure those in real world conditions. I’m reading so many threads with guys sitting for 3+ days with smaller batteries before needing to charge and that’s without solar, though no one seems to mention what their voltage was. I’m trying not to discharge beyond 12.0 to extend the battery life, even though the truck with obviously start with less juice. Maybe I just need to let that go? 3 day Moab trip coming up in a few weeks, just concerned about not keeping up if the days are scorching (though they shouldn’t be). Would a traditional battery tester tell me if my battery needs replacing to help hood more charge?

Hey Dan, what size is your fridge? I'm sure there are a lot of factors to this but that seems like an awful lot of draw or a battery that's discharging inefficiently. We run a 35qt fridge off a 600wh portable battery and our last few times out it has gone over 48 hours without needing any top up power (days at 80-85* and nights at 35-40*).

The larger fridges aren't much less efficient - so I would expect you would get at least 36 hours from a single charge on our battery. A quick calculation on this would be that our 600wh at 12v is roughly 50ah. So that is why I think your battery has something else going on.

 

[dividedan]

Hey Dan, what size is your fridge? I'm sure there are a lot of factors to this but that seems like an awful lot of draw or a battery that's discharging inefficiently. We run a 35qt fridge off a 600wh portable battery and our last few times out it has gone over 48 hours without needing any top up power (days at 80-85* and nights at 35-40*).

The larger fridges aren't much less efficient - so I would expect you would get at least 36 hours from a single charge on our battery. A quick calculation on this would be that our 600wh at 12v is roughly 50ah. So that is why I think your battery has something else going on.

We have a 63qt Edgestar which I’m sure isn’t the most efficient, it’s also relatively old at this point. 36hrs to get the battery to 50% discharge (assuming it gives me all 50Ah and it’s a functional battery) would be 1.38Ah/h so at the 75W draw quotes by Edgestar that would be a 22% duty cycle on average? 75W / 12V * 1Hr = 6.25Ah at 100% duty cycle, so 1.38Ah / 6.25Ah possible= 22% duty cycle??? (I’m new to this 12V electrical stuff, hopefully that’s correct).

22% duty cycle average over 36hrs seems like an unrealistic expectation given the higher ambient temps, but maybe? I also am working on fabricating a good portable stand for the solar blanket to maximize panel angle. I found an app that will calculate your ideal panel angle based on location. Hoping this will help take the guesswork out of panel placement.

Also, I have a NOCO genius 10 that I charge the battery with for like 24hrs before and after trips, though I just started doing that. Do you think a traditional battery tester would tell me anything? Seems like more nuance in battery function than they are designed for. I just don’t want to replace a good battery if I don’t have to!

What state of charge is your battery at after the 48hrs of sitting?

 

[AlpineAccess]

We have a 63qt Edgestar which I’m sure isn’t the most efficient, it’s also relatively old at this point. 36hrs to get the battery to 50% discharge (assuming it gives me all 50Ah and it’s a functional battery) would be 1.38Ah/h so at the 75W draw quotes by Edgestar that would be a 22% duty cycle on average? 75W / 12V * 1Hr = 6.25Ah at 100% duty cycle, so 1.38Ah / 6.25Ah possible= 22% duty cycle??? (I’m new to this 12V electrical stuff, hopefully that’s correct).

22% duty cycle average over 36hrs seems like an unrealistic expectation given the higher ambient temps, but maybe? I also am working on fabricating a good portable stand for the solar blanket to maximize panel angle. I found an app that will calculate your ideal panel angle based on location. Hoping this will help take the guesswork out of panel placement.

Also, I have a NOCO genius 10 that I charge the battery with for like 24hrs before and after trips, though I just started doing that. Do you think a traditional battery tester would tell me anything? Seems like more nuance in battery function than they are designed for. I just don’t want to replace a good battery if I don’t have to!

What state of charge is your battery at after the 48hrs of sitting?

You may just have a higher draw device and all is well in the world. This battery is a 600wh lifepo4 with integrated charging controller, etc. By state of charge do you mean how much juice is left? My understanding is that being LifePo4 it runs linearly until voltage basically just falls off a cliff and it hits the internal cutoff. We have ran the battery to under 1% charge with the fridge. When no load is on the battery we can get it to turn on and charge a cell phone (sometimes a full charge) but it does seem the battery "gives its all" to the fridge and has virtually nothing left when it shuts off. We've been really pleased with it as it doesn't seem to encounter the thermal cutoffs that the other (and much smaller) Lithium Ion bank we had for a few years was encountering when cold.

Our fridge is a smaller IceCo with danfoss compressor. I pre-chill it off a wall outlet before we leave the house. We've only had it for a short while now and I'd estimate around 300 hours of run time (some off road, some road trip, and some just in the backyard for get togethers).

The battery setup we have had for longer - but I still haven't tried running a solar panel to it as we just aren't drawing on it too hard. When we're out and about on the trail it seems it can recharge 12 hours of fridge draw in 1-2 hours off the vehicle's 12v port in the back (which if I remember right is a pretty low amp port).

Not sure I'm helping here or creating more confusion; let me know - as of right now I guess its just feedback from our experience on a different fridge and different setup.

 

[dividedan]

You may just have a higher draw device and all is well in the world. This battery is a 600wh lifepo4 with integrated charging controller, etc. By state of charge do you mean how much juice is left? My understanding is that being LifePo4 it runs linearly until voltage basically just falls off a cliff and it hits the internal cutoff. We have ran the battery to under 1% charge with the fridge. When no load is on the battery we can get it to turn on and charge a cell phone (sometimes a full charge) but it does seem the battery "gives its all" to the fridge and has virtually nothing left when it shuts off. We've been really pleased with it as it doesn't seem to encounter the thermal cutoffs that the other (and much smaller) Lithium Ion bank we had for a few years was encountering when cold.

Our fridge is a smaller IceCo with danfoss compressor. I pre-chill it off a wall outlet before we leave the house. We've only had it for a short while now and I'd estimate around 300 hours of run time including some just in the backyard for a small get together.

The battery setup we have had for longer - but I still haven't tried running a solar panel to it as we just aren't drawing on it too hard. When we're out and about on the trail it seems it can recharge 12 hours of fridge draw in 1-2 hours off the vehicle's 12v port in the back (which if I remember right is a pretty low amp port).

Not sure I'm helping here or creating more confusion; let me know - as of right now I guess its just feedback from our experience on a different fridge and different setup.

Gotcha. That’s helpful for sure, sounds like you’re averaging about 1Ah/hr with a smaller fridge, I’m at least double that which may be reasonable given the device size. I think I just need to spring for a Kill a Watt device to actually measure what the fridge is drawing and compare that to the voltage on the fridge to see if I’ve actually drawn 50Ah when I hit 12.0V. The way my set up is wired I could get the Anderson PowerPole connectors pre-wired for $50 and measure both the solar input and fridge draw.

 

[AlpineAccess]

Gotcha. That’s helpful for sure, sounds like you’re averaging about 1Ah/hr with a smaller fridge, I’m at least double that which may be reasonable given the device size. I think I just need to spring for a Kill a Watt device to actually measure what the fridge is drawing and compare that to the voltage on the fridge to see if I’ve actually drawn 50Ah when I hit 12.0V. The way my set up is wired I could get the Anderson PowerPole connectors pre-wired for $50 and measure both the solar input and fridge draw.

Just plugged my fridge in to see what the max power consumption was (trying to cool fridge down on max mode). It shows having 13 hours of runtime at this constant load. I would say the battery is notoriously conservative on the "hour estimate". I notice it usually doesn't draw this much when the compressor is just kicking on to keep the fridge at a constant level just for reference.

The 12v auto plug is less efficient than the other ports; but that cable is in the vehicle right now.

 

[dividedan]

Just plugged my fridge in to see what the max power consumption was (trying to cool fridge down on max mode). It shows having 13 hours of runtime at this constant load. I would say the battery is notoriously conservative on the "hour estimate". I notice it usually doesn't draw this much when the compressor is just kicking on to keep the fridge at a constant level just for reference.

The 12v auto plug is less efficient than the other ports; but that cable is in the vehicle right now.

View attachment 2780029

Nice! Looks like it’s putting out 44W compared to the 75W mine is supposed to pull. That could definitely explain the differences in battery capacity.

 

[AlpineAccess]

Nice! Looks like it’s putting out 44W compared to the 75W mine is supposed to pull. That could definitely explain the differences in battery capacity.

Definitely. Also, how full do you keep the fridge? I notice the fridge cycles more often when its trying to keep a few drinks cold vs when its full.

 

[dividedan]

Definitely. Also, how full do you keep the fridge? I notice the fridge cycles more often when its trying to keep a few drinks cold vs when its full.

SO FULL. There’s 4 of us, but even then we waaaay overpack. Something I’m working on…

 

[dividedan]

So I asked the guy at Autozone to test the battery while I was there getting plugs for my Scout and it came up reading a bad battery! He ran the test twice and both times same thing. I guess I’m in the market for a replacement now? I asked whether it was reliable in a large amp hour AGM battery and he said yes.

 

[dividedan]

Battery now sits at 12.3V on the days Inget in and drive the truck, so thinking it’s time. Is there a way to tell when a battery was produced to see if it’s under warranty? Anyways looking at replacement.

The exacts replacement for my current battery is this: https://www.batteriesplus.com/product-details/marine_rv/battery/x2power/sli31agmdpm

But man $456.99 is a little hard to swallow. Being in the boonies no battery plus store to exchange the core and by the time I pay shipping for the 70lbs brick the core charge will be a wash.

This one looks very similar and it’s more affordable: https://www.batteriesplus.com/product-details/truck;-hd-equip/battery/x2power/sli31agmdp

But the posts are different (threaded alone versus a SAE plus threaded). I do like the second set of posts to connect the battery charger, but could definitely work around that. Are the SAE post adapters problematic?

Odyssey are essentially identical except this one: https://www.autozone.com/batteries-...tery-31-925s-group-size-31-925-cca/412267_0_0

We do have an autozone so warranty would be easier.

This interstate is cheaper: https://www.interstatebatteries.com/sitecore/content/product-catalog/products/31-agm7

Experience/feedback with any of these options?

 

[trdcorolla]

Battery now sits at 12.3V on the days Inget in and drive the truck, so thinking it’s time. Is there a way to tell when a battery was produced to see if it’s under warranty? Anyways looking at replacement.

The exacts replacement for my current battery is this: https://www.batteriesplus.com/product-details/marine_rv/battery/x2power/sli31agmdpm

But man $456.99 is a little hard to swallow. Being in the boonies no battery plus store to exchange the core and by the time I pay shipping for the 70lbs brick the core charge will be a wash.

This one looks very similar and it’s more affordable: https://www.batteriesplus.com/product-details/truck;-hd-equip/battery/x2power/sli31agmdp

But the posts are different (threaded alone versus a SAE plus threaded). I do like the second set of posts to connect the battery charger, but could definitely work around that. Are the SAE post adapters problematic?

Odyssey are essentially identical except this one: https://www.autozone.com/batteries-...tery-31-925s-group-size-31-925-cca/412267_0_0

We do have an autozone so warranty would be easier.

This interstate is cheaper: https://www.interstatebatteries.com/sitecore/content/product-catalog/products/31-agm7

Experience/feedback with any of these options?

I would get the battery that would be easy for you to get a warranty replacement locally. That being said, I would go with the Odyssey from Autozone. Napa also sells Odyssey batteries and aren't excluded from their % off sales. Another alternative is a non deep cycle H8/49 AGM. You'll need a wood/plastic spacer under it since they are short and fat.

 

[dahlmaker]

Finally got the media mount from @Ramathorn15 installed in preparation for a 3,000+ mile road trip from CO > FL.

Here’s the disaster during:
View attachment 2701933

And here’s the finished product:
View attachment 2701934
This is a 6” arm which I think is a perfect position, we’ll see though once we can test it on the road. Last projects are a 2nd row platform for the pooch and installing a grid panel from Gamiviti.

Great build! And keeping an eye on baby as well.

 

[dividedan]

Great build! And keeping an eye on baby as well.

Thanks! Nap time = project time.

 

[dividedan]

I would get the battery that would be easy for you to get a warranty replacement locally. That being said, I would go with the Odyssey from Autozone. Napa also sells Odyssey batteries and aren't excluded from their % off sales. Another alternative is a non deep cycle H8/49 AGM. You'll need a wood/plastic spacer under it since they are short and fat.

Does that 31-925 seem legit? I can’t seem to understand why it’s so much cheaper than the other Group 31 they sell.

 

[trdcorolla]

Does that 31-925 seem legit? I can’t seem to understand why it’s so much cheaper than the other Group 31 they sell.

Sorry, thought you linked the normal 31M with the full size posts. I don't know much about the model you linked to. Maybe it's for accessories.

 

[dividedan]

Leaving this here for future reference. Should probably think about replacing this in the next 20k miles.

Brake Booster Pump for Land Cruiser 100 Series, 4Runner, Tundra

Brake booster pump for the Toyota Land Cruiser 100 Series, 4Runner, and Tundra.This is a wear item that usually requires replacement as the truck approaches 150K miles. Brand new part, not a rebuilt item or rebuild kit. Direct replacement for part # 47960-60010. Applications: '98 to '07 Land...

www.cityracerllc.com

 

[dividedan]

Sorry, thought you linked the normal 31M with the full size posts. I don't know much about the model you linked to. Maybe it's for accessories.

Realized that the 31-925 is not the Extreme series so not as highly rated, fewer cycles, etc.

 

[dividedan]

Dropped off the second swing out parts to the legendary Tomken shop north of Buena Vista today for powder coating. Had no idea these guys were local to me, and basically the only shop powder coating in house within a 2hr drive. Nice folks, and they didn’t even give me a hard time pulling a Cruiser into a Jeep shop! Stoked to get it all together as additional water and fuel storage are desperately needed in our current set up. Next up is talking to Autozone about an Odyssey battery.

 

[dividedan]

Changed the url.

 

[dividedan]

Finally installed the 1” Bora spacers I bought off another member LAST FREAKIN YEAR, rotated them as well. Very happy with the improvement in the stance, I’m glad I got over my “functional mods only” hang up. Would have gone with 1.25” if I ordered new, but couldn’t pass up the deal and I’ll probably appreciate the smaller size when I size up the next time I need tires. Still stuck between 295/70r 18 and 285/75r18. I also have a set of stock 16” rims so have entertained the idea of 295/75r16 as well, but I’ve been liking the larger sizes for the 18s lately.

Before: