Battery levels
Printed From: R-pod Owners Forum
Category: Non-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: Mods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
Forum Discription: Same as podmods, just... not for pods
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=13339
Printed Date: 05 May 2025 at 11:37am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.64 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Battery levels
Posted By: Buffalohunter
Subject: Battery levels
Date Posted: 03 Jan 2020 at 4:01pm
| Ok I downloaded the owners manual...nice but never seems to have answers to my questions. So explain the battery level codes found on the tank level panel...in my bathroom. Push the button and one of four lights will light up...under battery...C...G...F...L. It is the KIB panel that has the tanks levels and the water heater switch plus the water pump. |
Replies:
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 03 Jan 2020 at 9:23pm
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Okay. There are two scales. You are looking at the correct one. The letters are: C - Charging G - Good F - Fair L - Low Better to install a small digital voltmeter next to the panel. It isn't that hard and will give you a much better idea of the battery's condition than the lights. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: Buffalohunter
Date Posted: 04 Jan 2020 at 8:11am
| Thanks for the clarification...should have one for fully charged, but at least that’s another mystery solved. Enjoy the day StephenH |
Posted By: Olddawgsrule
Date Posted: 04 Jan 2020 at 8:14am
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I did a test on those lights and found what I thought.. They don't come close but to show charging is happening.. Not even the tank capacity works well... Please do get a simple meter to check your voltage with. I just bought this one as a in-house capacity checker, yet with it's built-in shunt would be an easy install in the trailer. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T9KYPMG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I have two of these mounted at the battery output and at the solar panel output. I like these due to the decent sized shunt for good readings. https://www.amazon.com/bayite-6-5-100V-Display-Multimeter-Voltmeter/dp/B013PKYILS/ref=sxbs_sxwds-stvp?cv_ct_cx=12v+meter&keywords=12v+meter&pd_rd_i=B013PKYILS&pd_rd_r=3f78aa5a-d191-488f-acef-9b1150865d38&pd_rd_w=i9Qry&pd_rd_wg=5aWJR&pf_rd_p=a6d018ad-f20b-46c9-8920-433972c7d9b7&pf_rd_r=1FXSJT1GQNKGVG6AKYDQ&psc=1&qid=1578146966&s=hi I found the lights do not activate accurately for SOC of your battery. ------------- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJduGeZNFgtptH67leItRFQ - Byways no Highways 2017 Tacoma http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=72408 - Truck Camper Build 2004 F150 My Overlander |
Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 04 Jan 2020 at 10:22am
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These lights can be deceiving at best. The battery lights on the type I have, show the battery at full power whenever you plug into shore power. It doesn't seem to matter what the charge level of the battery actually is, it says full because your plugged in. The opposite is true when you unplug.... the battery indicator goes right to 3/4 full. Not because it's 3/4 full, just because your unplugged. I find the holding tank indicators like this also. I believe, that as soon as the tank measures that the tank is past the one third level, it turns on the two thirds full light. From here on, it's a guessing game how full it really is. ------------- 2017.5 Rp-172 2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding |
Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 04 Jan 2020 at 12:44pm
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The battery indicator is simple once you understand what's happening. my interpretation is: Four lights - the battery is being charged; condition unknown. Two or three lights - Battery is not being charged; condition totally unknown. One light - you left the battery at home. The tank lights are similar. The only tank light that sorta works is the fresh water once you get a rough idea by observing or measuring. Best solutions are a digital voltmeter directly on the battery and a SeeLevel tank monitor system.
------------- Charlie Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 04 Jan 2020 at 5:00pm
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They are just indicators, like the "idiot lights" in older vehicles. They are provided to give you an indication. In my 178 I added 12V receptacles, USB ports and a digital voltmeter, so I know what my battery status is. The indicators just give me a simple heads up. ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: JR
Date Posted: 05 Jan 2020 at 7:26am
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CharlieM, Don't know where you found the operational manual for the battery lights but I think that you are right on, keep up the good work in allowing all of us your understanding.  ------------- Jay 179/2019 |
Posted By: Buffalohunter
Date Posted: 05 Jan 2020 at 10:00am
| I am not a fan of guessing levels...especially if they have indicator lights. So the voltmeter will be a permanent part of the pod package. Don’t know why they could not have put a clear “sight gauge” on the side of the tanks...but that is an unanswerable “why” question. Thanks for the heads up...new perspective on idiot lights and pods. |
Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 05 Jan 2020 at 11:15am
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The black tank is somewhat easy for me to guesstimate. I figure 5 gallons of waste per week per person. It's not scientific, it's just I recall was about how much we used when we used a porta potty back in the pop up. It was 5 gallons, and it was close to 2 empties in a week. I guess you could use 1 gallon a day per person also. It's all a guess so always guess you have more than less. You don't want a blacktank overflow. The grey tank is harder, depends on showers, dishes, how long you take for each. Really hard to guess. That would be a good tank to accurately monitor. ------------- 2017.5 Rp-172 2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding |
Posted By: Olddawgsrule
Date Posted: 05 Jan 2020 at 3:51pm
I agree here! Hey, why not a simple float gauge like my gas can or mower.. I also have become used to what we do and how long things last. Sad it has to be this way.. If anyone actually does ever open up the a tank and sees what this electric gauge is, I'd like to know! I'm sure 'we' could find a better gauge to wire it to! Talking water and waste here... ------------- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJduGeZNFgtptH67leItRFQ - Byways no Highways 2017 Tacoma http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=72408 - Truck Camper Build 2004 F150 My Overlander |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 05 Jan 2020 at 7:22pm
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Look at the videos on this web site and you will see why the current setup does not work well. https://www.rvprobes.com/howitworks.html - https://www.rvprobes.com/howitworks.html
------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 06 Jan 2020 at 7:54am
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All three tanks are 30 gallons. You can see the level in the fresh tank just by looking at it. If you use your 12 pump and don’t connect to city water and empty your gray and black tanks whenever you fill your fresh tank they can never overfill so there is no need for any gauges. Using that approach also keeps your trailer weight and balance within a known and reasonable range, because you can never have more than 30 gallons on board. ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 06 Jan 2020 at 9:33am
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However, the weight distribution of that 30 gallons changes as it is used. For example, in the 179, the 30 gallons of fresh water is forward, nearest the tongue. The black tank is next, just ahead of the axle. The gray tank is farthest back, behind the axle. Transferring that 30 gallons to mostly the gray tank shifts that 250 lbs of liquid from in front of to behind the axle. That should be taken into account because of the risk of sway if the tongue weight drops below 10%. OTOH, some models have the fresh tank behind the axle so use of the water should decrease the risk of sway. I will have to re-figure some of my setup. I just ordered an Expert Power LiFePO4 100AH battery from Amazon and a WF-8950L2-MBA (replaces the main board in the WFCO-8955 converter) main board and is for LiFePO4 batteries. Links are below: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X4Z8FML/ - http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X4Z8FML/ https://www.campingworld.com/wfco-wf-8950l2-mba-rv-power-converter-replacement-main-board-118304.html - https://www.campingworld.com/wfco-wf-8950l2-mba-rv-power-converter-replacement-main-board-118304.html This will take the place of the dual-6V batteries I have been using since we purchased our 179 in December, 2015. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 06 Jan 2020 at 1:02pm
Yes, in the 179 particularly the weight distribution changes significantly as the water gets used and shifts rearwards. My tongue weight drops from close to 15% with the fresh tank full and the gray tank empty to just over 11% with the gray tank full and the fresh tank empty, total change in tongue weight is about 3.5%. Once I convinced myself that these were the limiting cases I knew I was good at either extreme, so any water loading in between the two would also be OK. If there were an unknown amount of water distributed among the three tanks it would be a different story. Congrats on your conversion to Li battery power! ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |