Search results

I think there is a little confusion on how solar controllers/chargers work. The controller will try and output the set-point voltage for what ever stage of charge it is in (eg 14.4V in bulk/absorb or 13.4V in float). It won't try and add anything to this. However during the bulk phase of...

PS I have no idea why these things are called 'solar generators'? As far as I can see the base product doesn't even have solar (it is a battery) and it is certainly not a generator.

These 'battery in a box' things are not really a great solution for a camper, unless (as Craig suggests) you really need them for something else and the camper is a secondary use. There are several issues - it is an unknown battery and a bunch of unknown parts from an unknown manufacturer in a...

I would second what Vic is saying - sounds like either a trailer or some tents would be a better option. I really can't imagine 4 close to adult size people in a truck camper, it would be unbearably cramped, even 3 would be pretty tough to manage. The other big issues are storage and weight...

You would want to be a little careful with putting an isolator in parallel with the DC-DC charger. With it activated, it would be shorting the output of the DC-DC back to the input of the DC-DC. If the voltage were to rise enough that the DC-DC thinks the alternator is running, it will...

I honestly don't mind the expense either, compared to my overall recreational budget it is a very small amount. What is annoying though is having to have a different pass for each type of land - an interagency federal lands pass (thankfully only one of these) a state parks pass for each state...

The reasoning is that these lands were purchased/leased with funds from hunting/fishing licenses (bit tax revenue) and are seeing heavy use which may degrade their suitability for their primary wildlife use. I am not sure I necessarily agree with this, but realize this is a small fraction of...

The 1314A is a uni-directional separator, meaning it only monitors the voltage on the truck side of the relay. As a result, if you attach a battery charger to the truck, the separator will close and the camper will also be charged. If you attach shore power, the separator will not close and...

I think you may be confusing your currents here. The 14.84V/5.8A is the voltage and current from your solar panel into the MPPT charge controller - which is 86W. The 13.49/6.1A is the voltage current from the charge controller into your battery - the MPPT is doing its job and boosting the...

That looks really good to me, the cells are staying in balance both charging and discharging. Remember, the display on the balancer is only guessing at what the battery SOC is based on the voltage it sees, which doesn't work very well on lithium to start with, and really doesn't work when the...

The Iota DLS-30 defaults to 13.6V: https://www.iotaengineering.com/pplib/dls30spec.pdf With the 'dual voltage jack' installed it ups this to 14.2V. However, it would also be worth giving this document about charging LiFePO4 charging a read...

The converter should output a constant 13.6V at up to 30A, so it will charge your LiFePO4 battery up to 80 - 90% SOC. The converter actually does a pretty good job of charging lithium batteries. I use a bulk charge of 13.8V and a float of 13.3V on my lithium setup and it has worked very well...

The '%' value on the balancer display is just a guess at the SOC based on the battery voltage. For LiFePO4 batter 12.71 V is pretty much flat, the normal resting voltage is 13.2-13.3V, so an estimate of 7% SOC is pretty reasonable. Remember that for lithium batteries, using voltage for SOC...

Same here - bought a camera on ebay off a wrecked Highlander (same part number as my Tacoma) and mounted that to my flatbed with a DIY mount. With the camper on the back the camera is particularly useful.

I think we need some more details here - when you say you plugged the camper into shore power - you mean you are using the stock IOTA converter? That should bring the batteries up to 13.7 or so, so there is something not right there. You would not expect to see any current on the Victron, as...

There is a curb weight difference between the access cab and the double cab. For the 3rd gen Tacoma it is about 150lbs, so the total weight between the 4-door + swift and 2-door + fleet is about the same. Personally I would think the Swift is too cramped to be functional. We use our...

I am curious as to what surface rights such a lease brings with it? If you win one one of these leases, can you restrict surface access in any way? Can you put in a road? Can you use the land for anything besides drilling? The article is a little short on details. I am also a little...

Two things to consider before the generator: 1. A good battery monitor: https://shop.pkys.com/Victron-Energy-BMV-712-Smart-Precision-Battery-Monitor.html This will tell you what the state of your battery really is - judging by voltage alone is fairly hit and miss. 2. A DC-DC charger - this...

Plenty (most?) folks here seem to do well charging their batteries with solar and/or the truck. I am one of those folks and do just fine with a 160W roof panel and very occasionally a 120w folding portable panel. I am wondering if you either have particularly high energy usage, or there is...

We looked at an ATC Bobcat before getting our Fleet, and I wondered about the window design, I am not sure why ATC does it that way. It seems very inconvenient to have to open/close the storm flaps from the outside and the upward facing edge appeared to form a gutter. On the FWC soft windows...

Space X is deploying something called Starlink. It is supposed to enter a public Beta later this year. Initially anyway it will be focused on fixed ground stations, not mobile use, but mobile use could happen in the future. This is a little more complex than a satellite phone system like...

One point for both ATC and FWC - if you are handy just get the 'solar prewire' so that the wires are run to the roof and then get the solar yourself. You can get a much better system for less money. Another option to consider are the yakima tracks (I assume ATC offers these) for mounting...

While Victron doesn't make this clear - that spec would only apply to the output of the DC-DC converter. The concept behind the DC-DC charger is that it will convert whatever voltage it gets on the input (between 8 - 17V) to the correct voltage for charging your battery. Because of this...

I don't see any issue with connecting the iota to the starting battery (electrically the same as the alternator, but easier to wire to). My starting battery is getting charged by the camper solar (bi-directional ACR) which is functionally the same thing, and it has caused no issues. One...

I am not sure what the purpose is of the relay you are adding? Why not just connect the iota to the input to the DC-DC directly? The only possible 'issue' (I would call it an advantage) is that the iota would also charge your starting battery when you have shore power. Also 10AWG wire is...