RC Pilot Jim
Senior Member
My friend Terry sold his FWCamper because he wasn't using it enough to justify the investment. He bought a Honda Pilot and sleeps in the back.
For food refrigeration he bought a Engle "MR040" portable compressor fridge that he stores on the passenger seat.
Initially we decided to just use the starting battery and my 60 watt portable and see if the panel would keep up with the Engle and charge the batteries...And it mostly did on out late October 7 days engine off trip to Saline springs.
To control the solar input and monitor the volts I built the pictured. (For the test we set it on my Tacoma)
First picture reading with solar panel connected.
Second picture - panel is disconnected. Truck battery was replaced 2 weeks later.
The box was manufactured on a 3D printer. My friend used SolidWorks. The controller is mounted on top. "Glowshift " digital voltmeter is mounted on the bottom. Works real well.
The second morning of our trip at day break the voltage read 11.8. The ignition key had been left on accidentally for 4 hours the afternoon before. Moving running his fridge on my system and devoting the panel to just charging his battery brought it back up to 12.9 volts(full) by sunset. Day three on panel and starting battery kept up .
For food refrigeration he bought a Engle "MR040" portable compressor fridge that he stores on the passenger seat.
Initially we decided to just use the starting battery and my 60 watt portable and see if the panel would keep up with the Engle and charge the batteries...And it mostly did on out late October 7 days engine off trip to Saline springs.
To control the solar input and monitor the volts I built the pictured. (For the test we set it on my Tacoma)
First picture reading with solar panel connected.
Second picture - panel is disconnected. Truck battery was replaced 2 weeks later.
The box was manufactured on a 3D printer. My friend used SolidWorks. The controller is mounted on top. "Glowshift " digital voltmeter is mounted on the bottom. Works real well.
The second morning of our trip at day break the voltage read 11.8. The ignition key had been left on accidentally for 4 hours the afternoon before. Moving running his fridge on my system and devoting the panel to just charging his battery brought it back up to 12.9 volts(full) by sunset. Day three on panel and starting battery kept up .
