beemerphile1 wrote:
You are getting good advice but I am curious about the reasoning behind all this. If you don't know/understand how these systems work, how do you know you need to change them? Are you doing this because someone told you that it should be done? Did a shop sell the thought of these modifications?
Maybe the whole thing would have worked fine just the way it was. I always suggest that people first use what they have and then take baby steps into upgrading. It is easy to waste money on upgrades that someone else recommends that in practice are worthless to you.
Well I have a bit of knowledge, it's slowly starting to resonate.
I'm taking out my old Flooded 85aH deep cycle
House battery for my own reasons, replacing them
With 2x 400aH 6volt lifeline wired in series.
I boondock for long periods of time, so I need a large reserve. I don't use much I any of the appliances in my vehicle but I'm a bit of a nomad these days as well as I'm
Installing a 1800-2000W RMS sound system in the van for music festival season so I figure bigger batteries would be nicer.
I got a killer deal on 2x 95W solar panels, a controlled/regulator which also shows SOC,
1000W pure Sine Wave Inverter, all the wiring. I know the panels alone won't really help that much but I can throw them on during the day and trickle/float to keep them charged (if that's the right term). Seeing I'm switching to AGM(had to as the batteries have to be inside the vehicle) the controller that displays SOC is definitely necessary. Plus I got the package for like $250. Eventually I'll upgrade the panels.
Then the converter I have know is an old
New Mark Model PCS 30 RAC
With Battery Charger
Input 120 Volts AC 60Hz 4.6 Amps
Output12 Volts DC NOM 30 AMPS
5 Amp Charge rate is part of total load
Knowing I had to redo all the wiring for AGM I figured I might as well replace he converter. I was recommended to buy a 60amp 4 stage charger but I ended up going with the 45amp 4 stage converter. EDIT: Randy got it changed in time so I will have the 60amp by next week.
I was looking into transfer switched and all that jazz but from my understanding if my converter is off when not plugged into shore power or a genny I'm safe, when I am plugged in, I turn it off.
