Jeff,

I think mine is supposed to be one of those "smart" converters. Seems to be doing fine keeping the batteries charged without over doing it.

My storage place for the RV is pretty flat, so I don't think there is an issue there. I have the bubble levelers on my trailer and can line them up pretty close to perfect. Now some of the places I go RVing (boondocking) I have to work a little harder to level it out....


Also..just thought I would mention....My fridge was on the Dometic recall list. I had the dealer do the recall....just took about 30 minutes or so and they had the parts in stock. Basically just installed a heat shield.

 

My new exhaust sounds very raspy and some of my posts on this site could be considered rather raspy. I like it. Wetspirit is an old pen name I don't want to use anymore. Thanks for asking, always nice to see your posts.


John

 

Thanks...im glad somebody is...

 

TexasCTD,

Yeah, I think mine is part of that recall, too, but I haven't gotten it down to a shop to get that done.

I'd say just turn the fridge on when you feel like having it on, and shut it down when you don't. As long as it is within about 3 degrees of level, you should be good.

 

Thanks Jeff. I wish we lived a little closer. I'd say we should meet up and go for an ATVing/Camping trip somewhere! I am about to go to Ouachita MTs of Arkansas again this coming long holiday weekend. Beautiful place to be.






My son trying to walk across the Little Missouri Falls.

 

Yeah, if you get up this way, I could show you some neat riding areas, too...

 

If I had the time off to go that far....i'd just meet up with you on our way to Alaska to meet up with AKTALLPAUL!

Oh man....will retirement ever get here! I need to win the lottery.

Time and money......Time and money.......both are in short supply.




edit....by the way all my local riding buddies ride those Honda things too..

 

I don't know any reason why, but it is supposed to be life-shortening to leave them shut off for a season, although a month or so isn't bad. I replaced our old one (1984) 2 years ago, I started it up, it woiuldn't cool, na dit stunk badly of ammonia. the new one is fine, but I only shut it down for a month or less at a time.
BTW, if it smells like ammonia, replace it. It won't fix.

 

Yeah, the smell of ammonia on an ammonia absorption refrigerator would indicate it has lost it's charge, and the entire cooling unit would have to be replaced. Parts and labor might be high enough that replacing the whole thing can become attractive...

 

Humidity and condensate is a killer. If you are prone to conditions that cause condensate (dew,etc.) then leaving it on is a better choice.

Sliding a bit sideways, but what is the condition of your water heater? Mine is showing lots of age from moisture damage. I won't leave the pilot lit during non use periods. This time of year we see temp swings from 40's to 80's and the temp lag really brings on the condensate. Proably should get inot the habit of draining it down during the slack times. Sure would be nice to have an electric change over.

 

If that was for me, my water heater shows some signs of use, but I suspect it will remain operational for a long time.

If you've got a pilot light model that's looking rough, I think when it gives problems it might be worth while considering upgrading to a direct spark ignition model with a 110v element.

 

My comment was for anyone to respond. Moisture is the killer of many items. My water heater should go for many years. It really shows signs of being 20 years old.

I've been thinking on the fridge question. I don't think periods of non use will bother an ammonia adsorption unit. The rules of leaving it plugged in really apply to compressor units and the settling of lube oils and drying of seals.
I do think it would be a good idea to use it after transport though. My camper gets bounced (especially on the crappy Canadian roads) and the start/stop cycles are equivalent to be non level.

 

It's not uncommon for absorption friges to start becomming less and less effective. I've had this problem too and it was nothing to do with the flame. The ones I've had that were always on just kept working fine. As mentioned in my earlier post, turning them upside down is a common fix.

John

 

When I returned home after my last trip, I left my RV connected to power for a few days. When I checked yesterday, batteries had ramped up to 15.6 volts. I'm not expert at this but I believe that's high enough to cook out water over a time. I do have a cutoff switch but elected just to unplug the rig.

Dan

 

If it's one of the newer multi-stage chargers, it may have gone into an equalization mode and charged a little higher than normal, then it would more or less shut down into float mode.

Mine, being older, has a single stage charger, so I plug it in for a day every few months in storage to keep the batteries at or near full charge, and only find the batteries need water every year or so...

Like you, if I want to run something on 110 w/o the converter powered, I can unplug the converter, or kill that circuit breaker.