TobyG
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Re: Battery Questions
KD4UPL wrote: dpgllg wrote: KD4UPL wrote: You say you checked the charge level using your charger? How does that work? Have you checked the battery's resting voltage? If it's 12.6 or 12.7 it should be fine. In my opinion Optima batteries are overpriced for what they are. I've installed hundreds of Deka batteries over the years along with lots of Rolls and Lifeline. I've had very good results form all of them. You have just one battery but use it to power an inverter running a coffee maker? That is very hard on that battery. If you have a 1,200 watt coffee maker I would think you would want at least 600 AH of battery hooked to the inverter. My battery charger has a gauge that indicates the battery strength when connected. It has a 12 volt deep cycle setting to charge the RV battery. When fully charged it indicates the amount of charge ( I can't remember exactly what the numbers are). It is probably not real accurate but enough to let you know that when you hook up the battery the amount of charge in it. When I say making coffee we make two cups on a Kurig and that's it. We have only done this twice with this battery. I can turn the inverter off so it is not running all of the time just when I need it. You say that you have installed hundreds of batteries over the years. Are you in the business? If so what battery and size would you go with and why? My wife's Kuirg uses 1,425 watts AC. Pulling that thru an inverter will likely be about 140 amps. That is an enormous draw on a 100 AH battery. It's best to not draw above about a C/5 rate; that is the Capacity in AH divided by 5. So, for a 140 A draw you would want 700 Ah. It's not that you can't do it with less, it's just harder on the battery, the voltage sags more, etc. I'm an electrical contractor who specializes in solar systems, particularly off-grid homes and cabins. I would install 2 6v golf cart batteries in series rather than 1 or more 12v batteries. That will give you about 220 AH. If you want more I'd use 2 sets of 6v GC batteries for 440 AH. Good info, I have a Keurig and two 6v's in series (220Ah). I Run a single 365 watt solar panel and 40 amp 3 stage charge controller. I have been trying to find out what caused my battery to boil over after using the Keurig. I'm not sure if the quick discharge or solar charge was the culprit... or a combination of the two. My digital volt meter in the trailer drops down to 11 when the Keurig is doing its thing of a minute or two while making coffee but, then pops right back up after it is done. Didn't mean to highjack the thread but, thought it might provide usful info. for the OP.593Views0likes0CommentsRe: Cool Mods - Thread restored 10/18/2012
After looking into all my options for solar and trying to decide if I wanted my panel mounted to my roof for security and simplicity or if I wanted a portable solution. I liked the security of mounting it to the roof but, then what happens when I park the trailer in the shade? On the flip side what if I went portable and someone decided they need my panel more than me? Which brought me to this idea... If I mounted my panel to a pole, had enough cable to move my panel to the front or rear of the trailer and had mounting points at either end I would be able to minimize the chances of someone walking of with my panel and would have the flexibility to move the panel for the best possible sun. I haven't actually made the mounts for the rear yet but, I will most likely do something similar to the front and use the rear slide frame as a mounting point. The picture with the panel and trailer set up was before I came up with the solution for anchoring the pole with the clamps in the other pictures. Built aluminum frame using an old satellite dish mounting bracket. [img] Click For Full-Size Image.[/img] Panel with frame mounted on pole. [img] Click For Full-Size Image.[/img] heavy duty pole mounting brackets. [img] Click For Full-Size Image.[/img] This is my preliminary test with the solar panel mounted on the pole before I installed the brackets. [img] Click For Full-Size Image.[/img]441Views0likes0CommentsRe: Home solar panel on RV...anyone attempted?
lawrosa wrote: Dont know why it wasnt posted, or maybe I missed it on my re-read... What batterys do you have? Your 1000 watt inverter may be set for crazy alarm voltages. My krieger inverter is a 10 volt cut off with a 10.5 volt alarm. You do realize when you runn a 1000 watt load from the inverter you are drawing 90 amps from the batterys? Standby losses are about .5 amps. Now you think a 3000 watt inverter will fix it? Nope. It will be worse. Technically if you tried to draw 3000 watts thats 250 amps... Ha ha ha.. LOL. Let us know the batts you have. Maybe its 1. you have 6 volts and they have higher resistance why the voltage drop. 2. The inverter has a high alarm value like 11.5 or something. ( post actual models. 3. You dont have enough battery and/or wire is so small you have too much voltage drop What to do> 1. Make coffee in a stove top percolator. 2. Warm food the old fashioned way. Pots, pans, oven, 3. Forget the microwave. Buy jiffy pop. Warm coffee on the stove.. 12v offers lower resistance possibly. I have not proven this yet. But I still use 12 volters. Watch this video. Sorry I mumble https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz2ttT8fFLc And this draw test with toaster over.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p-oNT8YDIs&t=1351s Thanks for the info. I currently have an old XPower by Xantrax 1000 inverter connected to two 6v golf cart batteries with 220ah. However, after further investigation I have figured out that my wire might be the culprit. I thought I had wired it with 2awg but, in reality it was 4awg wire. I plan to replace the old 1000watt inverter as the new one has a remote switch and it was really too good of a deal to pass up. I know it will drain the batteries faster but, other than the coffee maker we really use very little power on a regular basis. In the 1st video I noticed your charge controller. By chance is This the controller you have? If so, how has it worked for you?556Views0likes0CommentsRe: Home solar panel on RV...anyone attempted?
Boon Docker wrote: I would go with with minimum 8 AWG for the run from the controller to the batteries. Six foot run at 13 volts / 20 amps. Loss with 12 AWG = 0.38 volts (way too much voltage drop) Loss with 8 AWG = 0.15 volts (still a bit high) I appreciate the info. I was thinking 6awg from the controller to the batteries. However the run from the batteries to the 3k inverter is another story. The inverter came with 0AWG wire but, it's only 15" which is about 4' short. What I was thinking was to use the provided 15" 0AWG wire to a 400A waterproof breaker mounted to the tongue of the trailer, then continue to the inverter with more 0AWG wire. Final piece of the puzzle what size breaker should be used between the panel and the controller. I haven't settled on which controller but, I do know it will be 35A or 40A based on what's needed.(335w panel to 2x 6v battery bank) The reason for a breaker is to give me a simple way to disconnect the panel if any work needs to be done. It's not something I intend to use regularly.Thoughts and or suggestions?556Views0likes0CommentsRe: Home solar panel on RV...anyone attempted?
TobyG wrote: Boon Docker wrote: TobyG, what is the distance between the panel and the charge controller and what distance between the controller and the batteries? both runs will be 5-6' max. scratch that, I miss-read the 1st time. The run from the panel to controller is less than 10'. I'd say closer to 8'based on where I think I can run the cable. The run between the controller and the batteries is 5-6'.557Views0likes0CommentsRe: Home solar panel on RV...anyone attempted?
westend wrote: You don't state the size of the inverter and that will dictate your highest current draw and your largest cable size. Most inverters have wire sizes applicable to the current. Your panel won't develop more than about 20 amp charge current so the smallest sized wire from controller to battery would be 12 AWG. 36V and maximium current from the panel would indicate 12 AWG also to be adequate. FWIW, since I decided to have the least loss of harvest possible and had to order 100' of 4 AWG, I decided to use it for most of my runs. I bought the cable at Waytek Wire, they are local to me. A good online seller that will make custom wire pieces is Genuinedealz.com. Here is a wire gauge calculator: Calculator Thanks! I will check out that site for wire. I currently have a 1000watt inverter (modified sine) but, I just came across a great "open-box" deal on a 3000watt inverter with a remote on/off switch also mod-sine. What I found with the 1000w is it didn't like the load my coffee maker put on it and keep beeping at me even though the coffee maker was only 900w. The new 3k inverter states to use 00awg wire and a 500-amp ANL fuse if hard wired. Does this sound like overkill?556Views0likes0CommentsRe: Home solar panel on RV...anyone attempted?
lawrosa wrote: TobyG wrote: Thanks for the suggestions on equipment and just for the record I'm aware that there is no such thing as a "home panels and RV panels" I was merely trying to paint a visual for people. The panel I have is an: LG335N1C-A5 Since I can't get my pictures to work the specs on the panel are: Vmp 34.10 V Imp 9.83 A Voc 41.00 V Isc 10.49 A Pmax 335 watt I am only using one panel. I'm trying to decide on MPPT controllers. Currently I am looking at the Epever 40A MPPT or the EpicSolar 40A MPPT but, I am open to hear other suggestions. I also, need to look at switchable fuses, bussbar, wire and some other incidentals. Does anyone have suggestions on what would be a good fit for my size system? The two controllers you linked are the same controllers... Watch where you order from. The solar epic comes from hong kong.. The epever sold by ZHC can be fulfilled by amazon... Thanks, any suggestions on wire or fuses and where to get a good price? My run from the batteries to the controller and inverter are 5-6'. The solar panels to the controller is less than 10 feet.557Views0likes0CommentsRe: Home solar panel on RV...anyone attempted?
Thanks for the suggestions on equipment and just for the record I'm aware that there is no such thing as a "home panels and RV panels" I was merely trying to paint a visual for people. The panel I have is an: LG335N1C-A5 Since I can't get my pictures to work the specs on the panel are: Vmp 34.10 V Imp 9.83 A Voc 41.00 V Isc 10.49 A Pmax 335 watt I am only using one panel. I'm trying to decide on MPPT controllers. Currently I am looking at the Epever 40A MPPT or the EpicSolar 40A MPPT but, I am open to hear other suggestions. I also, need to look at switchable fuses, bussbar, wire and some other incidentals. Does anyone have suggestions on what would be a good fit for my size system?256Views0likes0Comments
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