How much power are you using?

[mjmsprt40]

I got to thinking about this when I stopped for a few minutes this morning at a truck stop in Fort Wayne. There was a Panther van with a generator-- it looked like a Honda generator, but it was mostly covered so I couldn't be sure. The unit was running, and I noticed the Qualcomm unit on the back of the van and conjectured that this device (a) needs more power than the starting battery can give it over a long period and (b) is likely not the only toy on the van consuming power. It's Saturday, so it's not outside of reason to assume the driver may have a small TV, quite possibly a refrigerator and of course his laptop to keep running all weekend, maybe a bit longer.

So, I'm curious. How much power ARE you guys consuming while standing by? For me, it's never much because right now I'm on the hotshot end of this business and I don't stand by anyplace long enough to worry overmuch, but some of you are standing two or three days and need to keep electronics and some housekeeping going at the truckstops. Certainly, as long as you're on duty the Qualcomm has to be kept fed, the refrigerator has to be powered as long as it has food in it and so on. (Note: the company I drive for doesn't have Qualcomm, we're still doing old-fashioned paper BOLs and the whole rest of the way Gramps did things. We communicate by cell phone, and since it's my personal cell phone, I can make sure it doesn't eat too much power.)

 

[Turtle]

The Qualcomm actually uses very little power. If it did, vans all over the place wouldn't be able to start in the morning. When the ignition key is turned off, the QC goes to sleep after a few minutes so save power. Every hour or so it'll wake up for 5 minutes, check messages, then go back to sleep for another hour. It'll so that for like 6 or 8 hours, then it'll stay off for good unless you turn the key on. Different profiles can be programmed into it so adjust those times, though.

I draw between 2 and 7 amps per hour when I'm sitting. About an amp per hour if I have the inverter turned off and the Espar is running. If I have lights and TV and satellite box up and running it's in the 7 amp range, the laptop and lights is in the 5 amp range. If I have everything up and running, including the fridge which I'm not currently using, it's about 11.5 amps per hour. I have a 610 AH battery bank, however.

When the key is off, the only thing you should have connected to the starting battery is the QC. GPS or XM Radio can be connected, but should be turned off except for brief usage. Any inverter should be used with a house battery bank, not the cranking battery.