My dad just got a new A-Liner and had some questions about maintaining power and specifically running a fridge while off the grid. GoRVing

Hello /r/GoRVing!

As the title suggests, he got himself a new A-Liner and it's been quite the learning curve already with getting a tow bar, brake controller and harness fitted, however we finally got that out of the way.

There are still questions that none of the reps we've spoke with can answer with certainty. My dad plans to do a lot of camping sans hookups, hopefully getting 3-4 days off a "charge". Currently the A-Liner comes with/has 1 marine battery fitted from the factory.

Originally he was going to have an LP fridge installed however at the last moment Aliner threw in a normal 12vDC/120vAC Dometic similar to this oneand he wants to give this a go before committing to fitting an LP, although we don't know the model as of yet, and I'm having difficulty finding the exact power draw. I've been getting wildly different answers and none of the manuals I've found online specifically state how much amps/watts it would use. Furthermore, calculating Wh and Ah has also eluded me so far.

He originally wanted to go solar but from what we've been researching it may be less than ideal, especially with the power draw from the fridge. He would also really rather not use a generator if it's possible to avoid it.

Here are some questions he had, if anyone can chime in that'd be appreciated:

1- Can I charge my RV marine battery via my car while driving? If so, how?

2- how long will a 12V deep cycle marine grade battery power lights and fan?

3-how much does battery above weigh?

4-how long does it take to charge battery via AC outlet? Via car alternator?

5- do these marine grade batteries get hot? Need water or other maintenance?

-6 Are bigger, badder more powerful batteries available? If so are they cost effective? Size? Weight? Significant power increase?

Fridge questions:

1- how much power does a 2.5 cubic ft electric fridge draw?

2-how many continuous hours will 12V battery power fridge? 2 12V batteries? 3?

3-Can fridge be powered by car/alternator instead of marine battery while driving?

We really have been doing a lot of research but can't seem to find straight answers. Thanks for any help in advance!

Submitted April 15, 2016 at 08:11PM by Aliner60 http://ift.tt/1NsGK4S GoRVing