How much power do I have...if any?

The batteries are always charged, courtesy of the solar panels; we use bottled water; we can use paper plates and products for one night (our fresh water tank hasn't had water in it since I got the RV in 2004!) so we will just unplug from the electric post while we're here at the campground and see how it works. Have to pick a cool night (in Las Vegas???) when we don't need the a/c. Oh, and a night when there's nothing too exciting on TV. My biggest problem is I just cannot do without my computer! This will give me a chance to see just how long it lasts on battery and see how long it takes to recharge.

2oldman, I'm in the process of reading the link you sent. Have to read it very slowly so stuff sinks in.

PennyPA wrote:
Okay, so if I change lights to LED (should do that anyway) and don't use water pump and switch fridge to gas, we should be able to get one night of boondocking in? We've never done it but would love to try it....if even just once. How much does a computer use? So how many amps do I have....3.88 x 2 panels? That's only 7 amps!

Don't change anything right now. You have more than enough battery for one night of boondocking and with a bit of care you can comfortably stay for two.

Just be aware of what is on and using power and you will be okay. For example, my kids will turn on a light over the couch to read a book. Then they go play in the back on the beds and leave the light over the couch on. So I have them come back forward and turn off the light that's no longer in use. If we're all outside by the fire at night, I turn off the interior lights as they are just using battery and not doing anything else. I also leave my thermostat at about 68 and have always made it through a weekend with ease. But then again the outside temps are probably never getting below freezing for more that an hour or two overnight and even that is rare.

I say charge the batteries, fill the water tank, and go boondocking.

Hi bigdogger,

Many of us have to deal with storage areas that have no plug ins. Solar is a no brainer in that situation.

pianotuna wrote:
Hi bigdogger,

Solar isn't for everyone.

Probably the $750 system is poorly designed. It should still do a marvelous job between trips for battery maintenance. It it isn't, then there is something wrong with it.

Start a thread about it--perhaps it can be improved?

bigdogger wrote:
Though I am going to offend many dedicated solar enthusiasts, I have found the solar panels on my rig to be absolutely less than worthless. I admit, I consume power and love it. I am either plugged in to shore power or using my battery reserve without any attempt to moderate usage. When the batteries get low, the generator runs till the batteries recharge. Personally, if I had it to do all over again, I would save the $750.00 or so the solar panels were as an option and spend that money on fuel for the generator. Solar never worked for my RVing style.

Thanks, but in 15 years of RV ownership I have never really felt the need for the solar. I keep the rig plugged in when not on trips and like I said, I either opt for full hookup sites or camp where generator usage is OK. I don't monitor or concern myself with power consumption. The solar panels to me were just a complete waste of money, but I have wasted money before and will assuredly waste it in the future.

The 'current' offering freedom jazz is a small inverter
It is unlikely that you have a remote panel for a Small 140 watt inverter

I have seen mention in other posts regarding Freedom Jazz as some sort of indicator of solar power, the OEM panels may have been 10 watt battery maintainers , but we're replaced with the uni-solar panels
I have roof full of Uni-solar panels, they work very well, very good panel

New panels the same size can make double the power in the same amount of space, but the Uni-solar weigh less, no glass, and work well in low light
Just don't drag your roof through the tree branches, the Uni-solar are subject to scratching the solar film by tree branches

Penny: 128 watts solar is very useful for what you describe with a quality controller (I would recommend a Morningstar 10 amp sun saver for those panels). What you describe is fairly minimal power use age especially with LED lights. With 2 batteries you should be able to easily go a long weekend even using the furnace.

It was only a few years ago that 128 watts solar would have been considered a fairly large system. I use to have 125 watts with twin 6 volts and could easily go a 3 day/2 night weekend tailgating football games without going below 50% SOC on battery bank. Best thing was I could the FW in storage after the weekend and batteries were fully charged and ready to go again 2 days later.

Penny.. This tutorial may be of some help. 12v side of life.

Hi bigdogger,

Solar isn't for everyone.

Probably the $750 system is poorly designed. It should still do a marvelous job between trips for battery maintenance. It it isn't, then there is something wrong with it.

Start a thread about it--perhaps it can be improved?

bigdogger wrote:
Though I am going to offend many dedicated solar enthusiasts, I have found the solar panels on my rig to be absolutely less than worthless. I admit, I consume power and love it. I am either plugged in to shore power or using my battery reserve without any attempt to moderate usage. When the batteries get low, the generator runs till the batteries recharge. Personally, if I had it to do all over again, I would save the $750.00 or so the solar panels were as an option and spend that money on fuel for the generator. Solar never worked for my RVing style.

Hi Penny,

You will be able to do far more than one night. The water pump is a big draw--but only for a brief period of time.

The fridge does need to be on propane.

A computer typically uses about 60 watts. I'd use the internal laptop battery at night.

7 amps x 5 hours = 35 amp-hours. But power flows in from shortly after sun rise and often continues past the "official" sunset.

PennyPA wrote:
Okay, so if I change lights to LED (should do that anyway) and don't use water pump and switch fridge to gas, we should be able to get one night of boondocking in? We've never done it but would love to try it....if even just once. How much does a computer use? So how many amps do I have....3.88 x 2 panels? That's only 7 amps!

Though I am going to offend many dedicated solar enthusiasts, I have found the solar panels on my rig to be absolutely less than worthless. I admit, I consume power and love it. I am either plugged in to shore power or using my battery reserve without any attempt to moderate usage. When the batteries get low, the generator runs till the batteries recharge. Personally, if I had it to do all over again, I would save the $750.00 or so the solar panels were as an option and spend that money on fuel for the generator. Solar never worked for my RVing style.