Genesis batteries - lets do some math

[Beemer533]

The Cascadia system ONLY charges AGM. So another charge controller would be necessary for a lithium system. Lithium, AGM, wet led acid, all take different charging profiles. Not all chargers are capable of charging all of the different profiles, and you would need a separate charger for the AGM vs lithium anyway because the two systems cannot be directly connected together.





I am doubting that 0.8ah spec - that would be lower than any fridge ever. Engle is known for drawing the lowest amount of power as it uses a rotary compressor where as everyone else uses a standard style, and they spec an average of 1.5 with a max of 2.5ah. I could be wrong, but that doesn't compute at all. Have you put an actual DVM inline with it to see what it really pulls - not looking just at the app? Actually, I just looked at the domestic site. they spec 0.84ah but that is for 110V AC power like in your house. Their 12v DC power spec is 8.9ah. That sounds more appropriate.




It is interesting to note though that even with all the calculations in the world, real world usages can vary a ton!

Yeah, you are correct, I was definitely recalling the wrong number lol.

The duty cycle is quite low though I was very impressed with the run time.

Yeah, all the calculations definitely have a lot of margin of error I guess you could say.

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[Blade1668]

I'm a bit confused about your system. If you have 200w solar charging both your main battery (car) and house battery, then why do you need the cascadia system? Redundancy? Feels a bit unnecessary. I have my house battery charged through solar and not connected to the car battery at all. Also use a ac-dc charger from the bed outlet for when the truck is running. Nice to be able to switch that on/off from the cab. I've been thinking about going dc-dc route so the solar can charge the main battery as well via something like a renogy dcc50s with mppt.

The Cascadia system is to the vehicle batteries then the other (200 w) is to the "house battery" but though the solar charger/ controller (Renogy) it will cycle extra to vehicle batteries and when vehicle is running the excess from vehicle system can also feed into house battery.
Something I have noticed when driving on sunny days is oddly slight increase in fuel economy due to batteries being fully charged and kept charged by solar is my SWAG. All day where I'm at now has been raining and cloudy between them both battery systems are almost fully topped off with out even being started for last 4 days, fridge freezer running nonstop, regular vehicle parasitic electric use even. Might be overkill in some areas, but a fully charged or close to is better for battery. I do know that 4-5 no charge or cloudy days and cold weather in a row can cause the fridge to shut down due to voltage drop. Leaving starting battery ready to go and fully charged from the Cascadia system.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The Cascadia system is to the vehicle batteries then the other (200 w) is to the "house battery" but though the solar charger/ controller (Renogy) it will cycle extra to vehicle batteries and when vehicle is running the excess from vehicle system can also feed into house battery.
Something I have noticed when driving on sunny days is oddly slight increase in fuel economy due to batteries being fully charged and kept charged by solar is my SWAG. All day where I'm at now has been raining and cloudy between them both battery systems are almost fully topped off with out even being started for last 4 days, fridge freezer running nonstop, regular vehicle parasitic electric use even. Might be overkill in some areas, but a fully charged or close to is better for battery. I do know that 4-5 no charge or cloudy days and cold weather in a row can cause the fridge to shut down due to voltage drop. Leaving starting battery ready to go and fully charged from the Cascadia system.

Your observations must be finely tuned, but would be correct as far as mpg.
The system reduces engine load by trimming back the voltage to the alternator's rotor (field) coil, when the batteries are either hot, or near full charge. It can trim things back far enough that you see 12.6-12.7 volts on the gauge while driving down the highway. I saw that twice on my 2020 when driving back from Colorado Springs - hours on the highway at 75-80 mph. The batteries were either hot or full and the field to the alternator was cut to perhaps almost nothing.
I can't recall my calculations, but it seems to me that it would be somewhere around 4 hp if the alternator was near maxed out. So you'd be taking load off the engine, the alternator would be just basically coasting.
4hp isn't huge, but then again it's something on an engine that's only putting out just for kicks (could be wrong here) say, 285 hp. You're taking away over 1% of the HP if the alternator is under load. (1.4% ????)
Considering the inefficiency of the system, could be taking 1.5% of the HP away from that 3.6 when the alternator is needed at high output.
Engineers can pick that apart! I may be way off base on that.

As far as battery life - all else being equal, you can bet on longer battery life because you are keeping them near 100% charge. They don't like to be cycled low and kept there.

 

[Blade1668]

Your observations must be finely tuned, but would be correct as far as mpg.
The system reduces engine load by trimming back the voltage to the alternator's rotor (field) coil, when the batteries are either hot, or near full charge. It can trim things back far enough that you see 12.6-12.7 volts on the gauge while driving down the highway. I saw that twice on my 2020 when driving back from Colorado Springs - hours on the highway at 75-80 mph. The batteries were either hot or full and the field to the alternator was cut to perhaps almost nothing.
I can't recall my calculations, but it seems to me that it would be somewhere around 4 hp if the alternator was near maxed out. So you'd be taking load off the engine, the alternator would be just basically coasting.
4hp isn't huge, but then again it's something on an engine that's only putting out just for kicks (could be wrong here) say, 285 hp. You're taking away over 1% of the HP if the alternator is under load. (1.4% ????)
Considering the inefficiency of the system, could be taking 1.5% of the HP away from that 3.6 when the alternator is needed at high output.
Engineers can pick that apart! I may be way off base on that.

As far as battery life - all else being equal, you can bet on longer battery life because you are keeping them near 100% charge. They don't like to be cycled low and kept there.

Don't forget I was doing the " hyper mileage driving" and I keep a log of all my fuel usage in my Jeeps.

Sorry for the sidetracking of this thread.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Don't forget I was doing the " hyper mileage driving" and I keep a log of all my fuel usage in my Jeeps.

Sorry for the sidetracking of this thread.

LOL - I was wondering why it was taking us to long to get to church last night. My wife took her 4xe and she was trying to see how far she could get on battery alone, and was counting up the mpg on the cluster each time she'd see a new number pop up. Got up to 36 then the engine kicked on and it slowly went down again.
Anyway - 65 zone, she was doing maybe 54. In the 55 zones, she was hitting a whopping 52 mph.
She needs to get a job with the EPA.

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