profdant139
Explorer II
Joined 20 years ago
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Re: New to Solar. Conect directly to battery ????
For whatever it's worth, we boondock a lot and have a 120 watt folding portable panel. It has a built in controller -- the panel puts out almost 14 volts in bright sun. We hook it right to the battery (group 31) with alligator clips. The panel supplies all of our power almost all the time. We've been using it this way for many years with great results. We have a portable panel (not rooftop) because we usually park the trailer in the shade. We use a long ten gauge cable so we can park the panel in the sun without a lot of voltage drop due to the long cable run. The twelve gauge cord that came with the unit did cause a measurable voltage drop because of the resistance in the thinner wire. So we replaced it with ten gauge. The panel is a "no name" Chinese imitation of a Renogy briefcase unit.2.7KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Sacramento to Redondo Beach, CA?
I have lived in SoCal (LA and Orange counties) for 70 years and the traffic is always bad, except in the middle of the night. Watch out for the drunk drivers and you will be fine. Or just dive into the daytime traffic and be prepared to spend an extra hour on the road. That's not so terrible. It's only this one time. Think of those of us who deal with this every day of our lives. We just accept the traffic as the price of living in a place with beautiful weather and year- round camping. Mountains, deserts, beaches. Heaven on Earth, and 40 million people crammed into a crumbling freeway system.549Views0likes0CommentsHow much capacity is lost if converter isn't Li-friendly?
(This question was prompted by a different thread, but I thought it may warrant a separate thread.) If I get Lithium batteries but my converter is old school, how much capacity (amp/hours) will I lose? I know the old converter will not fully charge Lithium batteries. For what it is worth, I often connect a 120 watt solar panel to my batteries and often can boondock for a week without any other charging device. That charge does not go through my converter -- I just use alligator clamps from my solar panel to my battery. Thanks in advance for your collective wisdom. (And yes, I know I should update my old converter, but I don't want to do that unless I have to.)2.4KViews0likes14CommentsRe: Shocks
For what it's worth, I had the dealer add shocks to my leaf spring suspension. My trailer is 12 feet long and weighs 2500 pounds wet. It tows nicely. Not sure the shocks are really necessary, but they give me extra peace of mind. We got the trailer new in 2012 and have towed it about ten thousand miles a year since then, over all sorts of roads.1.4KViews0likes0CommentsRe: Saying Good-bye/Scrapping a TT
That's a good point -- if the trailer is really beyond hope, don't donate it. But if it can be rehabbed, then maybe. Often, used vehicles that don't run can be donated -- their parts are still valuable. I am not sure if that is true for trailers, though.693Views0likes0Comments
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