RV Solar

[blubs]

Figured I would attach these. This is directly from Interstate who also makes all Costco batteries. Default settings have the float levels quite a bit too high on most controllers.

[Thaco]

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Figured I would attach these. This is directly from Interstate who also makes all Costco batteries. Default settings have the float levels quite a bit too high on most controllers.

yeah i've adjusted my settings

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Any readings how many watts you are actually getting out of them? I was doing some reading on the flexible units and people are mentioning they are struggling to stay cool without space behind them and overheating thus dropping their current? Seems far fetched but figured I'd get your thoughts as you just installed them.

I really dont think in our climate we will ever have 100% ideal situations to get perfect and consistent results, its really hard to tell what or why the panels may not be performing 100% to spec... also when i installed them i was plugged in to shore so my batteries were already on float so the controller throttled the panels.. haven't had an opportunity to actually test them yet

[blubs]

That's fair, Normally I just unplug shore power, and flip on an inverter with a high load on it (Hairdryer or something). This pulls the voltage down far enough to get the controller to flip into bulk charge and let you know how you are charging. I've seen as high as 475 watts even on a day like today.

[Thaco]

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That's fair, Normally I just unplug shore power, and flip on an inverter with a high load on it (Hairdryer or something). This pulls the voltage down far enough to get the controller to flip into bulk charge and let you know how you are charging. I've seen as high as 475 watts even on a day like today.

cool i should be out this weekend, i might give tit a shot, i havent got my inverter hooked up yet (not really sure where i want to put it yet) but i could probably just hook it up temporarily for testing.

[ExtraSlow]

Just run your furnace fan for a bit, that's a large enough 12v load to draw you down and doesn't require inverter.

[blubs]

If you want an easy place just open your converter box inside the trailer and connect the inverter to the main 12V lugs inside. You need to pull a fair amount of current as the solar setup will start compensating for it as well. A hair dryer is my preferred method on medium it pulls around 45A. Doing this I've seen my converter charging at 37-38A which I'm pretty impressed with.

Typically a furnace fan is only ~7amps, it would likely not draw the batteries down enough to get its max output out of them. Unless you disconnected the panels, then ran it for a while to draw the batteries down then reconnected... but thats more work than just using an inverter.

[Thaco]

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If you want an easy place just open your converter box inside the trailer and connect the inverter to the main 12V lugs inside. You need to pull a fair amount of current as the solar setup will start compensating for it as well. A hair dryer is my preferred method on medium it pulls around 45A. Doing this I've seen my converter charging at 37-38A which I'm pretty impressed with.

Typically a furnace fan is only ~7amps, it would likely not draw the batteries down enough to get its max output out of them. Unless you disconnected the panels, then ran it for a while to draw the batteries down then reconnected... but thats more work than just using an inverter.

I actually used the converter lugs for the solar tie in, and I want to have the inverter closer to the battery, the battery is at the other end of the trailer so putting it on the power box wont be good for the inverter because its such a long run on DC side, i have a tongue box for the batteries (pic below) so i might just install it in there and run extension cords from there in to the trailer... its better to have the cable length on the HV side.

[blubs]

Agreed, thats exactly what I did. Otherwise running the cables in DC just gets expensive and annoying running 4 gauge everywhere. Just route the remote line into the trailer and away you go.

[mzdspd]

That battery box looks nice! Nice work on the entire set up.

I am having a tough time deciding where to mount my 2 - 6V GC batteries with my truck camper. I do not really have any storage compartments large enough to hold both batteries. I was actually thinking of getting a hitch mount cargo carrier and putting both batteries in boxes on this carrier. Everything would sit under the overhang of truck camper (sticks out 18' past truck bed) and I could secure the boxes with chains or something. Another option is to mount them in the box (not sure if I have enough room there).

[Thaco]

Here's final pics of the battery box, my brother's a welder so he helped me drop it down a few inches to give more room for the propane etc...

didnt get a chance to get any decent readings since it was overcast/snowing most the weekend.... maybe next weekend, we'll be dry camping

[Thaco]

didn't really test it hard this weekend, just did our normal camping, weren't really being power conscious (we did have the generator just in case, but didn't need it), but also don't have the inverter hooked up yet, so nothing high drain, but the panels kept the batteries topped up during the day, over night it dropped to about 60% battery on just the fridge and furnace, (my wife is a wuss, she likes it warm) but then the next day it was back to 100%, so it seems i could run indefinitely on this as long as i don't park too much in the shade and get some decent sunny days at least every 2-3days

[ExtraSlow]

That's great. the furnace fan uses a lot of power, so that's probably going to be your biggest draw.

[suntan]

Does that battery box have ventilation and a PP tray?

[Thaco]

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Does that battery box have ventilation and a PP tray?

its got some holes in the bottom, could easily add some in the back as well.

No tray, you could add one if you wanted, i've never had battery leaks before so i really dont see the point.

[suntan]

Should probably add something near the top, you really don't want a buildup of hydrogen.

[Thaco]

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Should probably add something near the top, you really don't want a buildup of hydrogen.

its not sealed, i am sure the holes in the bottom in conjunction with the gap in the lid is sufficient.

[Alterac]

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Finished install, unfortunately i used 6 gauge and the controller seems to only be able to fit 8, so i might have to fix that some time in the future. but it seems to be working well.

Attachment 85726

Looks great, could use something like an Audio Distribution Block instead of just the standard open frame screw down terminals:
Power Distribution

[Thaco]

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Looks great, could use something like an Audio Distribution Block instead of just the standard open frame screw down terminals:
Power Distribution

cool idea... i got these blocks for $16 for a 10 pack on amazon, while those are prettier, i cant imagine they're anywhere near that price, and this gives me the ability to expand in the future if need be

[Thaco]

So just an update, i turned off my panels this previous weekend and let the battery drain to 60%, i turned them back on mid day with a clear sky and the best i saw was 150w, so i don't know what the limitation was, but its good enough for me, it still only took 30 mins to recharge to 100%, the lowest i have ever seen the batteries was 40% at like 4Am with the furnace running all night and they're fully charged again by the time i roll out of bed.

[ExtraSlow]

That's superb. You have 4x100W panels, and 4x6V GC batteries right? I assume the way those panels are rated is that's an absolute maximum. So, since yours aren't angled to the sun, getting an actual 45% output seems okay.