joelmyer
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Joined 21 years ago
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Re: Pullrite Superslide 5th Wheel Hitch
Similar experience. 1. Be sure truck and trailer are in straight line. 2. Chock and back in to the trailer, holding some pressure on the hitch with brakes while pulling the lever. I've never had to pull the pins and get loose that way but a good option. Every year or so I pull the pins and lube the mechanism, using a pair of pliers to hit the release trigger and work the lube in. Spray lithium grease from NAPA.492Views0likes0CommentsRe: Running fridge Norcold N611 off inverter?
Just to add a data point on propane consumption: Dry camping on the Navy Base in Key West since Dec 5th, I've emptied a 7 gal propane bottle every 15-17 days. That's refrig, hot water, stove and occasionally knocking the chill off in the morning. It was 59 this AM, brrr Joel561Views0likes0CommentsRe: Looking to add solar
doughere wrote: smkettner wrote: Call ahead and stop in Norco on your return. (save the shipping) https://www.solarblvd.com/index.php?cPath=1_269 I recommend a pair of 120 watt panels and Morningstar PWM controller. Maybe some parallel MC4 connectors and 80' #10 MC4 wire to bring power down. I think this is the closest to what you would need. I have a pair of their 60's flat mounted on the roof, and a 100 portable panel. If I were doing it again, I'd get 3 120's, two mounted and one portable. Regards, Doug I put 245 watts of solar flat on the roof last year, and LED lights. I've been off grid since Dec 5th and have run the generator only to run the microwave or because it seemed like a good idea to run it every week or so. I ran the furnace a little this am (60 degrees in the trailer!) and at 1AM I'm at positive amphours from full. A good price for solar seems to be $1/watt plus $100 for shipping so if you can pick some up without paying shipping. Go up on the roof and measure where you would put panel(s) taking shading into account. Then compare the area(s) you have with the size of panels. For me, one 24 volt panel made the most sense, especially since I could pick it up locally. Once you decide on panels then you know what type controller you need (volts & amps capability). It is not hard. Lots of good info and help here. Joel469Views0likes0CommentsRe: how to turn off converter easily
Everybody has talked about a switch. What I did, Mark 1 installation was to unplug the converter, run an extension cord to a compartment that opened to the outside. Then plug that into my 1kw generator. Inverter on clips in the battery compartment, shore power cable plugged in to inverter. Frig & Water Heater on gas, microwave & ac off. Mark 2 installation. I had GFI problems. While chasing those I put all the convenience outlets on one breaker. The hot side of that breaker goes to a dpdt switch near the inverter, then back to the convenience outlets through an normal spst switch near the circuit breaker box so I can kill the inverter output. Picture Now for dry camping I turn on the inverter and flip the switch. I still put refrig & water heater on gas. Shore power is connected to the 3kw generator so when it's running the power converter, micro and ac are available. I have an appliance extension cord cord plugged into the same outlet as the power converter for the toaster oven or the high wattage thing.376Views0likes0CommentsRe: Top Charge Question
mena661 wrote: NinerBikes wrote: You should see 1.275 or better, for all cells. X2 x3 That's what USB says. That's where I want to go. Got involved with chili dogs, conversation and adult beverages last night. Today is advertised as partly cloudy with a high of 72. We haven't seen a totally clear day for about 10 days now. But it looks just a little hazy now at 8AM. So hopefully solar will get me up to near full and the MegaWatt tonight will get one bank on the road to specific gravity happiness. To answer NinerBikes questions: Trimetric is a meter, it measures the voltage at the battery as well as net amps into/out of the battery and amp hours from full. The morning I unplugged, I reset the AH from full to zero and have reset it several times when it got to more than +20 AH. The AH from full was the basics for my top 10% SOC statement. Obviously there is more going on. USB says charge inefficiency can be 5% to 50%. MEX posted a link to a paper that suggested it can be 100% in the top 10% of charge. TriMetric defaults to 5%. TriMetric EcoWorthy is set to 14.8/14.4. I have rarely seen 14+ volts but I don't sit inside & watch volts. Mostly I monitor amps which I have seen as high as 11 amps (that's net as measured by the Trimetric). US Battery recommends 14.4 bulk, 14.4 absorption, 15.3 top charge and 15.3 equalization. Late breaking news: At 8:22 Mr Sun is putting more into the batteries than is being used. Joel Joel500Views0likes0CommentsRe: Top Charge Question
MEXICOWANDERER wrote: Unfortunately a formula must be used. 5% of amp hour rating in amperes until voltage rises to 15.0 For 6 of your cells, 11-amps constant current would be appropriate. But top charging is designed to minimize sulfation not undo it. Equalization is needed. So continue on to 16.0 volts if need be. This means 11-amps at 15.8 volts should going that high be necessary. This is where most apparatus falls flat on it's face. That'sa nice, but I have what I have which is a 30 amp MegaWatt. It goes to 15.3 period. Experience says that it will push less than 5 amps into fully charged bank, gently bubble and raise the SG. Joel500Views0likes0CommentsTop Charge Question
Well it's been 33 days since I've seen hookups. The 245 watts of solar gets the Trimetric into the positive AH from full most days. Specific gravity has dropped. A couple of cells to 1250, and a couple to 1260. There are 4 x 6 volt batteries in two banks. So at sunset tonight I'll switch to bank 2 and hit bank one with an hour of 15.3 volts from the Megawatt. And then.... Bank 1 will have a higher voltage than bank 2. Is it ok to just switch back to 1+2? The voltages will equalize pretty quickly. Or should I just stay on bank 2 for a week, switch to bank 2 and zap bank 1 with the megawatt? Then I can check weekly and zap the weaker bank as required. The batteries are 232 AH so total nameplate rating is 464. Morning AH from full is averaging -30 so the batteries are living in their top 10%. Joel2.9KViews0likes18CommentsRe: BATTERY LIFESPAN survey...
We dry camp at Trumbo point NAS Key West for about 90 days a year. On 12/27/10 I bought 4 new Interstate GC2-XHD-UTL Batteries. So they have 3 years (11, 12, 13) x 3 months plus dec '14 dry camping experience. HOW MANY DAYS BETWEEN RECHARGES? Recharged daily FULL SIZE MOTORHOME/TRAILER? 5th wheel COMMENTS? Prior to this year I ran the generator 1 hour morning and about 2 hours evening (supper/tv). This year I installed 245 watts of solar and thus far I have used the generator to run the microwave and air compressor a few times and one hour of charging since it seemed to be a good thing to do. The morning evening min, max, average AH from full are: -77.6 -72.3 -0.6 28.5 -28.2 -2.0 The first day I cooked a pot roast in the crock pot. That's the -70 AH points. It took about 5 days to put all those AHs back in the battery189Views0likes0CommentsRe: Battery monitor: useful tool or toy?
I can't imagine dry camping without something like the Trimetric. Last winter I collected amp hour usage data to decide how much solar to install. This winter I will use it to manage generator time. That said, there's 200-300 of us military retirees dry camping for the winter down at Trumbo Point. I'm the only one I know of that has a Trimetric. Most don't even have voltmeters, the ones that do with solar think all is well when they see 12.6+ when the sun has been up a while. The ones without solar run their generators a lot. In either case when the lights don't work in the morning before generator or sun hours, they go pick up a new battery. That works too I guess. I guess you could manage reasonably well looking at voltage after sunset and before evening power usage and morning voltage before sunrise and adjusting generator time to make those happy numbers. I managed a few winters before Trimetric. Start generator when Charge Wizard light went solid on, stop when you could hear generator speed when you turned a light on. Joel205Views0likes0Comments
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