โSep-09-2014 10:28 AM
โSep-10-2014 07:10 PM
Almot wrote:
Those OEM lights on the wall somebody here called an "idiot green light". Good for nothing.
The best source to read on RV solar installs is http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/25705772/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm. A lot of food for thought.
โSep-10-2014 06:57 PM
โSep-10-2014 06:05 PM
Almot wrote:rjxj wrote:
I should have said seasonal travels as we are trying to stay were it is as warm as possible.
A seasonal site is a different creature. A lot easier to have a solar there than when you're constantly moving around. Doesn't have to be roof-mounted. 4 or 5 100W panels sitting on the ground, along the South side of trailer, propped with 1"x1" sticks or metal angles. At 40-45 degrees, for FL in winter. Once or twice a day you turn them towards the sun if you feel like. When you move, you throw them into storage closet.rjxj wrote:
Now I have a quiet gen and a 15.3 v battery charger and have done full charges in 4 hours.
2 things:
1) There is no guarantee that it's "full" after 4 hours, even if you think it's full or OEM green light on the wall says so.
2) There is no such thing as a "quiet generator", though this belief depends on whether you own one or not. 45 DB is enough to wake a sleeping person, and the quietest generators that I heard of, still roar at +60 DB within 10ft. If this is "quiet", then this word needs to be re-defined. Manufacturers call it quiet, alright.
โSep-10-2014 05:34 PM
rjxj wrote:
I should have said seasonal travels as we are trying to stay were it is as warm as possible.
rjxj wrote:
Now I have a quiet gen and a 15.3 v battery charger and have done full charges in 4 hours.
โSep-10-2014 03:51 PM
pianotuna wrote:
Hi rjxj,
That's why I keep going on about temperature compensated charging. My Magnum has it and today it was doing 14.9 volts and 2 to 4 amps in Absorb.rjxj wrote:
After our first winter of travel last year and finding out how poorly converters work I started to look at solar then came to the part of an old guy climbing upon the roof over and over or lugging the panels out and setting them up. I backed up and left it alone and decided to make a gen and real battery charger work.
โSep-10-2014 03:40 PM
rjxj wrote:
After our first winter of travel last year and finding out how poorly converters work I started to look at solar then came to the part of an old guy climbing upon the roof over and over or lugging the panels out and setting them up. I backed up and left it alone and decided to make a gen and real battery charger work.
โSep-10-2014 02:27 PM
Muddydogs wrote:
Then again I will have to get over punching holes in my roof which just seems crazy as well. So many things to think about makes a guys brain hurt or maybe I have just been setting on it to long.
โSep-10-2014 02:11 PM
โSep-10-2014 01:53 PM
โSep-10-2014 01:16 PM
Almot wrote:Muddydogs wrote:
I will go fixed or tiltable in the spring I'm sure, I just won't have time to get it done in the next week and a half
So, let me poo on something that you haven't done yet - tilting. As recently as last week, at this very forum - Search doesn't work well but you will find it if you look hard - an estimate or prediction was made that an average person tilts his panels 7 times. He goes up and down the ladder 7 times - or 14 times if 2 panels need to be accessed separately. Then he is fed up.
To me, it's not even climbing up and down that sucks, but walking around panels on the roof. It's slippery even when it's dry, and it's not flat on my trailer. Stepping from the ladder to the roof and back again is a dangerous part too.
This would be TAD tolerable on a seasonal site, where you only do this once a season. Still, better to avoid.
โSep-10-2014 01:16 PM
โSep-10-2014 12:58 PM
Muddydogs wrote:
I will go fixed or tiltable in the spring I'm sure, I just won't have time to get it done in the next week and a half
โSep-10-2014 12:35 PM
pianotuna wrote:
Hi Muddy,
Try RVing at -39 C (-37 F) without heat, and the water system in use?
Don't you think folks might tend to want to use their unventilated heaters while they sleep in that situation? As you already know, my daughter is a CO survivor. I'm not going to play games with CO.
For the price difference of one tank of fuel (in Canada, on my Class C) one can get a Platinum Cat which IS vented, IS safe and has a thermostat. To me, that is a no brainer.
Your solar system is going to more than meet your needs. Mine is a fixed install on the roof and when I was not full time more than met my needs.
I would encourage you to do a fixed installation, especially if you don't have shore power where your RV is stored. That way every trip starts with a battery bank that is 100% charged.
โSep-10-2014 12:34 PM
rjxj wrote:
Off track with this but do you know what happened with the cat platinum guy? I emailed him this spring and he responded that it would be a while before he could build it. I responded but never heard from him again so I went forward with plans on running my house furnace for now. Thanks