Bounder94
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Re: Yet another solar panel question
I also use a 230w panel, unmounted...I made a 'stand' for it that hinges off the back of the solar panel...I used bulk 10 gauge wire that looks like yellow extension cord....I made a pigtail off the back of the solar panel, about 6" long, with a female extension cord plug...my solar charge controller is mounted in a small waterproof plastic case, with a 10' cord with battery clips running out one side of the case, and a short 6" pigtail with a male extension cord plug out the other side....then I went and bought a 50' 10g heavy extension cord that I use to plug the solar panel to the charge controller.... I set it in a specific order like this: Set up solar panel in the sun, then I plug the male plug of the 50' extension cord into the female plug of the solar panel.....I hook up the battery clips to the battery bank of the RV...then I plug the male plug of the charge controller into the female plug of the 50' extension cord....and your set.... The RV stays in the shade, while the panel is sitting in the sun...I move the panel to catch the morning sun....then once around lunch for the midday sun angle, then once more in the late afternoon for evening sun... The 230w panel charges my four 6v GC batteries to full by early afternoon.... I use this setup around the farm to charge tractor batteries out in the barn or the grain trucks, since they sit around for sooo long....when I know I am going to be wanting the tractor the next day, I will set the solar panel up and let it charge the battery the day before....I figure if I am going to spend the money on the solar set up for my RV, I might as well NOT permanently attach it to the RV....then I get more year round use of it....same with using the heavy 50' store bought extension cord, I can use it anywhere/anytime I need an extension cord...the 'system' is very versatile and multipurpose. Your idea of a 15w panel is not a good one....go with a minimum of 130 and 230 is a good value for the buck for one panel to work with a multi-battery bank Bounder94326Views0likes0CommentsRe: Your Favorite Boondocking Pics
Early morning, in middle of alfalfa pivot, adjacent to the corn field we were cutting, northwestern Kansas, eight miles from Nebraska line...we were helping at family farm...DW and I stayed in the fields every night when the rest when home to sleep...absolutely, eerily quiet...and the stars, OMG, the Milky Way was SPECTACULAR!!...368Views0likes0CommentsRe: What did you do to your Class A MH today???
Installed a Marinco 30A plug in on the back of the motorhome, just inboard of the left taillight assy, routed the 10/3 wire from there, down thru the floor, forward along the inside of frame to the mid-ship services bay, thru back of bay, where it was wired to a wall-mounted j-box with a 30A RV receptacle....now, if I have a genny on the rear cargo carrier, I can plug in my RV's shore power chord, which I shortened to 18", into that 30A receptacle to run off the genny. (note: I removed my old broken Onan from the RV, since I rarely used the genny, but wanted this option of using a genny to be convenient...and by the way, when the 17 yr old Onan went out, it surged power to the ATS and fried it too, so rather than do the expensive repair on the Onan ($600-$700 parts ONLY, no labor) and replace the ATS ($150-$200), I opted to just remove them both and use that geeny bay for MORE BOONDOCKING BATTERIES!!!) Drilled holes thru other bay walls for wiring new battery bank to an inverter in next bay, then will route wires to inverter from batteries and from inverter to service bay to another 30A receptacle to plug the 18" shore power chord into.....see, I am the "MAN"ual Transfer Switch for my 110v power sources...LOL....(the only reason for this larger inverter (2500w MSW) is for the occasional microwave use, during tailgating excursions or while boondocking...I have a smaller PSW inverter for all the entertainment equipment, inside the RV near those systems) and replaced a faulty water pump switch in the service bay, that was near the outdoor shower assy. Always tinkering, always fun, and we're heading out to western Kansas for a week to help nephew with the corn harvest, and we'll be boondocking out in the middle of nowhere, near the fields, moving daily, as they have 1000's of arces to harvest...can't wait to unplug from the world's news and get back to basics!! Happy RV'ing to all Kelly297Views0likes0Comments
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