Motorhome Sonos
Hi. I would like to fit Sonos on my newly acquired Motorhome. The main problem is when away from fixed campsites, I can only operate on a 12v Leisure battery. I have my music stored on a NAS and want the advantages associated with Sonos. I believe that there are some of you out there who have tried and succeeded, so any help greatly appreciated.
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Userlevel 7
+22
Setting up a power system for your Sonos is complicated, you might ask that at a spot like the Escapees RV Club's forum site, lots of folks living on 12 volts are over there.
Ok and thanks! I was hoping for not complicated....but that's life!
Userlevel 7
+21
You'll likely need an inverter of some sort, since all Sonos devices are designed to run on standard 120/240V AC power. The NAS may well be able to run on 12V DC... many NAS devices include a transformer of some sort to convert AC to DC, though the voltage may vary depending on the NAS. If it's something other than 12V, you'll need to connect the NAS to the inverter as well.
Hi Mike. The NAS is 12v compatible, so the inverter just for the Sonos and anything running concurrently (although I need to keep that as minimal as possible). So what size inverter? Here I will get really out of my depth! Would 500/600W do? Or does it need to be over 1000W to be on the safe side? I expect to have 200W solar to top up the Leisure batteries on sunny days, but I am still hitting and hoping rather than having a more scientific answer. Anything running concurrently is likely to be the router, maybe a laptop/mobile phone top up or something similar. The fridge/freezer can work off the LPG (I think?!)
Userlevel 7
+22
I'm really rusty on this, we sold our RV many years ago... You need an inverter, pick the size by plugging all your intended devices into a meter like a Kill-A-Watt to see their true power draw, go about 25% larger. You could risk using a modified sine wave inverter but they have been known to destroy some electronic devices. A full sine wave inverter is much safer and more expensive, it gives you power very similar to a wall socket.
You'll have your power use numbers from the inverter sizing process, use them and how many hours you plan to run the various bits to get a total number of watt hours needed. Toss in a 20% deduction for wiring losses and inverter inefficiency and convert the watt hours to 12 volt amp hours to see how much battery power and number of batteries you will need. Plan on discharging your battery to no more than 80% full or plan on a very reduced battery lifetime.
Also plan on a charging system that will provide bulk charging that tapers off to an acceptance charge so that the battery gets to a true 100% charge state. You can miss that for two days in a row without too much concequence but going over 72 hours between full charges can start building up hard sulfite crystals in your battery leading to shorter than normal lifetimes.
Our system had four golf cart batteries, T-105 (about 75 pounds each) as the storage, we charged off a 400 watt bank of solar panels through an MPPT type controller (better charge at low temps and a bit better efficiency) backed up with a 1000 watt generator for cloudy days or shady camping spots. We had a big 3000 watt inverter because the wife wanted to be able to use the microwave and other stuff at the same time. Our normal use was a Hughes satellite Internet, a router, two laptops and a bit of lighting and other normal RV draws.
Short version get your power draw numbers and plan everything else based on them.
The Escapees folks are much more current and can give you much better advice than I can.
You'll have your power use numbers from the inverter sizing process, use them and how many hours you plan to run the various bits to get a total number of watt hours needed. Toss in a 20% deduction for wiring losses and inverter inefficiency and convert the watt hours to 12 volt amp hours to see how much battery power and number of batteries you will need. Plan on discharging your battery to no more than 80% full or plan on a very reduced battery lifetime.
Also plan on a charging system that will provide bulk charging that tapers off to an acceptance charge so that the battery gets to a true 100% charge state. You can miss that for two days in a row without too much concequence but going over 72 hours between full charges can start building up hard sulfite crystals in your battery leading to shorter than normal lifetimes.
Our system had four golf cart batteries, T-105 (about 75 pounds each) as the storage, we charged off a 400 watt bank of solar panels through an MPPT type controller (better charge at low temps and a bit better efficiency) backed up with a 1000 watt generator for cloudy days or shady camping spots. We had a big 3000 watt inverter because the wife wanted to be able to use the microwave and other stuff at the same time. Our normal use was a Hughes satellite Internet, a router, two laptops and a bit of lighting and other normal RV draws.
Short version get your power draw numbers and plan everything else based on them.
The Escapees folks are much more current and can give you much better advice than I can.
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