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  1. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West How Does The Victron BMV Temperature Sensor Measure Temperature?

    https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/data-sheets/AD590.pdf
  2. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Question on replacing Battery Separator

    With the stock 10AWG wiring, this is unlikely to happen. The wiring provides plenty of resistance to limit the current. Even with 'upgraded' wiring it is unlikely to be an issue due to the length of the wire. As an example, I installed 6AWG wiring from the alternator to camper, and even...
  3. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Question on replacing Battery Separator

    I think you have figured out what is going on. The Sure Power isolator uses a lot of power when on (0.8A) which is why it gets hot. The resting voltage (~13.3V) of the lithium battery is high enough that once the Sure Power turns on it won't turn back off, even after the truck has started, so...
  4. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Solar Charging Issue

    Is the 13.6V that the controller is reporting consistent with what you are measuring from the panels with your meter? If so, that is not enough for the MPPT to start charging and could indicate a problem with the panels. Can you disconnect one of the solar wires from the charge controller...
  5. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Insuring a FWC through USAA

    As in buying insurance directly from the insurance company, as opposed to going through an agent or broker. In our situation anyway, esurance (which is Allstate) was significantly cheaper than what an agent/broker could quote us for the same coverage. I guess this kind of makes sense as...
  6. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Insuring a FWC through USAA

    I definitely agree with those who want to get explicit coverage for their camper (if they want it covered). We had a similar situation with our camper where the insurance agent insisted that it would be covered with the trucks comprehensive insurance without an additional charge, we then had a...
  7. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Outdoor shower?

    It should blow out the shower as well - but of course the shower itself needs to be attached and turned on during the blowout. The shower is definitely the weak point for freezing, at least on the flatbed campers. I ended up adding shutoff valves on the lines to the shower. In the autumn I...
  8. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West delete

    Victron did think of that. There is hysteresis between the 'on' and 'off' voltages as well as a smart mode, which momentarily disables the charge current to check and see what the truck battery/alternator voltage is without any current flowing and loss in the wire. For example, say your...
  9. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West delete

    The Orion 30A will operate with an input voltage anywhere between 7 and 17V, it is really not very sensitive to this, which is kind of the point of the DC-DC. In terms of wiring you are only limited by the ampacity of the wiring, which means 10AWG would probably be OK, and 8AWG or larger would...
  10. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West delete

    There is no issue going with thicker cables. I wanted to make it clear that using thinner cables won't reduce the current the DC-DC draws, so that no one ends up buying a too large DC-DC charger for their alternator with the thought of using thin wires to adjust it down.
  11. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West delete

    It doesn't quite work that way. Using smaller diameter wire between the truck alternator/battery and the DC-DC charger will actually slightly increase the current draw on the alternator/battery, not decrease it. It is a little bit counter intuitive, but one of the main reasons to install...
  12. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Fire and Smoke Map

    That is a very cool resource. It has been way too smokey here for the past couple of days for June. I am not looking forward to what is to come.
  13. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Goal Zero Possibilities? Help Needed

    I think a lot of us are missing the fact that the OP already has a ~120Ah lithium battery (the Goal Zero 1500) that includes a built in solar charge controller, inverter, battery monitor etc. If you were starting from scratch, this would not be the recommended way to go, for various reasons...
  14. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Craters of the Moon backcountry

    This is the best trip report I have read in a while - thanks for sharing! One the attractions to wandering and exploring is finding the hidden gems off the beaten track. But the reality is, this gems are few and far between. Often that blank spot on the map really is just a cowed up, dusty...
  15. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Iota float for long-term shore power

    I think that means the Iota has the built in IQ4 module. That is what my 2016 came with. On the upside it has the IQ4 module, on the downside you can't change it out for a different IQ4 module. As Vic said, there is no issue at all leaving it on the Iota for a few weeks at a time. Also...
  16. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West LFP4 internal resistance test vid, cell/battery match, parallel/series, could use some help

    You are on the right track with internal resistance. With two batteries in parallel, the battery with lower internal resistance will receive slightly more of the charge current than the battery with higher internal resistance. Similarly during discharge, the battery with lower internal...
  17. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Bears Ears Kickstarter

    Here is an interesting update on Bears Ears and GSENM: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/06/14/haaland-biden-national-monuments/ (and another source in case you can't see the WaPo article...
  18. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West weight distribution and air bags?

    The springs + air bags support the load, but they don't change the load or the load distribution.
  19. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West weight distribution and air bags?

    The 'ride height' is determined by both the load and the spring rate, which is a measurement of how stiff your springs are. Adding air bags is increasing the spring rate and does not change the load. Spring rate is how much a spring compresses for a given load - measured in N/mm in normal...
  20. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Anti vibration mounts for Solar Panel and Dirt Roads

    In my experience these are not necessary, either for rigid glass or semi flexible panels. I have also never heard of anyone else using these.
  21. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West For anyone on the fence about Lithium - 100Ah Renogy LiFePO4 for $499

    There is a bluetooth module available for these: https://www.renogy.com/bt-2-bluetooth-module/ There is also a little plug in screen that will give you what you need to know: https://www.renogy.com/monitoring-screen-for-smart-lithium-battery-series/ Basically this means you wouldn't need a...
  22. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West weight distribution and air bags?

    Good point - airbags don't move the load at all, or improve the weight distribution, they just adjust the spring rate to change the height. Toyotas do tend to lean to the drivers side without any load (driver, battery and petrol tank are usually on that side), the camper is just increasing...
  23. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West For anyone on the fence about Lithium - 100Ah Renogy LiFePO4 for $499

    The low temperature charging thing is really not that big of an issue, but has been overblown on many of the blogs/forums. First, the BMS has a low temperature charge cut off. It won't let the battery charge if the cells are below 0C which means you cannot damage it, even if you tried. You...
  24. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West For anyone on the fence about Lithium - 100Ah Renogy LiFePO4 for $499

    They can sit on the shelf for years with no issue, unlike lead acid batteries they actually prefer to be stored at a low state of charge.
  25. RA

    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Reservation time for WRT campsites?

    I have ridden it a couple times, with the luxury of a FWC sag wagon. Riding is definitely a more immersive way to see it than a windshield tour. If you can switch off the driving, definitely take a bike and switch out the driving/riding.
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