Jayco Eagle 12vdc Off Grid Setup?
Hey everyone. Just purchased my first TT, a Jayco Eagle 30'. I am trying to get it set up for off grid use to live in this summer while we finish our off grid house we are building. I have a few quest...
Forum Discussion
Lots of questions, and a lot of these topics are covered on this site (recently)
A lot is personal preference. I prefer 6v batteries in series to make 12v. There are no true deep cycle 12v batteries.
Some people get confused here so I’ll clarify, you can add voltage or add current, not both. Meaning you can have two 6v 200 amp batteries, make them a 12v (series) battery and it will still be 200 amps. OR you can have two 6v batteries (parallel) and they will be 6v and 400 amps.
You could rewire from the converter to the batteries and get some voltage back, but I'm not sure its worth it.
Important distances are Solar panels to the solar controller. Solar controller to the batteries. Inverter from the batteries. The lines need to be as short, thick, and equal in length as possible. Also figure max current draw and have lines (and a fuse) appropriately sized. YOU CAN double up wires to have a higher gauge but lower voltage loss (ie two 10ga wires per pole vs one 10ga per pole will have less of a voltage loss)
The distance from the inverter to the 120 plugs is not (usually) a factor, unless a high amp draw device is being used (like an AC). Do NOT place an inverter next to or in with the batteries. This is a bad practice.
The inverter you get should be a PURE Sine Wave type. A Modified (standard off the shelf at Harbour Freight or Walmart) Sine wave will easily fry a lot of electronics, chargers!!!! It also causes the devices on it to use more power than they would off house power or a PSW inverter.
Most PSW inverters have a remote on/off remote included or available separately. This allows the PSW to be installed wherever its closest to the batteries, but you have the ease of a radially available on/off switch.
Keep the length from the batteries to the inverter SHORT. 3’ about is ideal. Be ready to use some thick cable if you are using a large inverter. (I have two 1/0 gauge per pole, each fused)
Have a fuse close to the batteries between them and the inverter.
For wiring the inverter in to the camper 120 lines. If this is something you will do a lot, then leave the converters breaker off, unless you need it on shore power, then its easier to make sure the inverter is not connected.
There are a lot of ways to do this, some are unsafe. (Suicide cords)
Solar… You need to decide how many panels you want. This is a personal preference but I love Renogy panels, great company and support.
You will need a charge controller. Get a PWM –not- an MPPT type. (insert debate here) MPPT is simply not worth it, and will likely perform worse than an PWM for small solar systems. (less than 800w in panels) This gets worse if the temperature is high in your area (>90 degrees). (do some research on the pro’s and con’s of MPPT and PWM, as well as PWM vs MPPT)
You are of course limited by roof space. Look at the roof for ideal placement, and try to either keep the wire lengths to a minimum or run lower gauge wire. Think about how shadows would be cast over the panels from the vents / AC/ skylights on your roof. Try to avoid them if you can.
I like Morning Star controllers. They are generally fully customizable for voltages, and perform very well. Think about getting a controller that allows for further expansion. A 15amp controller is cheap, but that’s only two or three solar panels. A good controller will have a temperature sensor (option), battery voltage sense (option), and very configurable voltage set points. The TS-45 allows about everything to be programed by your computer to the 0.01 volt. I also like the ability to set the LED indicator lights to change colours based on battery sense voltages.
The Voltage sense option would probably get rid of Canadian's volt loss due to distance. The controller will send a higher voltage to make up for that loss with the battery voltage sense wires attached.
Hope this helps!
A lot is personal preference. I prefer 6v batteries in series to make 12v. There are no true deep cycle 12v batteries.
Some people get confused here so I’ll clarify, you can add voltage or add current, not both. Meaning you can have two 6v 200 amp batteries, make them a 12v (series) battery and it will still be 200 amps. OR you can have two 6v batteries (parallel) and they will be 6v and 400 amps.
You could rewire from the converter to the batteries and get some voltage back, but I'm not sure its worth it.
Important distances are Solar panels to the solar controller. Solar controller to the batteries. Inverter from the batteries. The lines need to be as short, thick, and equal in length as possible. Also figure max current draw and have lines (and a fuse) appropriately sized. YOU CAN double up wires to have a higher gauge but lower voltage loss (ie two 10ga wires per pole vs one 10ga per pole will have less of a voltage loss)
The distance from the inverter to the 120 plugs is not (usually) a factor, unless a high amp draw device is being used (like an AC). Do NOT place an inverter next to or in with the batteries. This is a bad practice.
The inverter you get should be a PURE Sine Wave type. A Modified (standard off the shelf at Harbour Freight or Walmart) Sine wave will easily fry a lot of electronics, chargers!!!! It also causes the devices on it to use more power than they would off house power or a PSW inverter.
Most PSW inverters have a remote on/off remote included or available separately. This allows the PSW to be installed wherever its closest to the batteries, but you have the ease of a radially available on/off switch.
Keep the length from the batteries to the inverter SHORT. 3’ about is ideal. Be ready to use some thick cable if you are using a large inverter. (I have two 1/0 gauge per pole, each fused)
Have a fuse close to the batteries between them and the inverter.
For wiring the inverter in to the camper 120 lines. If this is something you will do a lot, then leave the converters breaker off, unless you need it on shore power, then its easier to make sure the inverter is not connected.
There are a lot of ways to do this, some are unsafe. (Suicide cords)
Solar… You need to decide how many panels you want. This is a personal preference but I love Renogy panels, great company and support.
You will need a charge controller. Get a PWM –not- an MPPT type. (insert debate here) MPPT is simply not worth it, and will likely perform worse than an PWM for small solar systems. (less than 800w in panels) This gets worse if the temperature is high in your area (>90 degrees). (do some research on the pro’s and con’s of MPPT and PWM, as well as PWM vs MPPT)
You are of course limited by roof space. Look at the roof for ideal placement, and try to either keep the wire lengths to a minimum or run lower gauge wire. Think about how shadows would be cast over the panels from the vents / AC/ skylights on your roof. Try to avoid them if you can.
I like Morning Star controllers. They are generally fully customizable for voltages, and perform very well. Think about getting a controller that allows for further expansion. A 15amp controller is cheap, but that’s only two or three solar panels. A good controller will have a temperature sensor (option), battery voltage sense (option), and very configurable voltage set points. The TS-45 allows about everything to be programed by your computer to the 0.01 volt. I also like the ability to set the LED indicator lights to change colours based on battery sense voltages.
The Voltage sense option would probably get rid of Canadian's volt loss due to distance. The controller will send a higher voltage to make up for that loss with the battery voltage sense wires attached.
Hope this helps!
