I am starting to really dislike my camper solar

[CougarCouple]

Morning Dawn
Sounds like you might be better served getting the Monitering device you purchased installed first.

Russ

 

[hoyden]

you did say it was at 85 the morning before, but what was it at in the evening ? the key question is, are you getting a full recharge ever day or every other day? what it reads in the morning doesn’t matter as long as it’s somewhere over 50%

I think it did get a full charge during the day.

I think where I'm confused is that when I first started having issues and was looking at the %, (some) folks told me the % is worthless and what you need to pay attention to is the Voltage and that getting down in the 11's wasn't good. But now I'm paying attention to the %....

 

[hoyden]

Morning Dawn
Sounds like you might be better served getting the Monitering device you purchased installed first.

Russ

Hey Russ,
I have the monitoring device installed - and have the bluetooth app to go along with it. It's great!
What I don't have installed is the new MPPT controller.

 

[Vic Harder]

I think it did get a full charge during the day.

I think where I'm confused is that when I first started having issues and was looking at the %, (some) folks told me the % is worthless and what you need to pay attention to is the Voltage and that getting down in the 11's wasn't good. But now I'm paying attention to the %....

And that is a very good thing. The % SOC (State of Charge) is a much more useful number. And the SOC at any one time tells you what you need to do. 40% in the morning means you used too much of your battery's capacity, and either need to cut down on what you use (no hair dryer or electric frying pan today!) or get a bigger battery.

Not getting to 100% MOST DAYS by end of day means you need more charging capacity.

That said, my batteries may sit at 80-95% for a few days under snowy/cloudy conditions because I know the over night draw isn't enough to drag them even lower.

Make sense?

 

[hoyden]

Does indeed make sense.

I was plugged in yesterday overnight, drove around a bunch today, and parked at about 1:30pm to camp.
I'll be parked today and tomorrow - it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow, so we'll see how this goes

 

[hoyden]

83%
12.54
@ 11:30pm
Gonna rain all day....

 

[Vic Harder]

My panels charge a little bit even in the rain, so hopefully you should see some amount of power coming into the batteries too. IF not, well, we can expect your batteries to drain during the day and also over night, say 30% more drained than now. That will leave you at just over 50%. That's fine.

I would plan on finding a way to charge tomorrow... either drive to your next destination, have sunshine, or plug into shore power.

 

[hoyden]

82% 12:50pm

Thanks, Vic. And boo.
Wonder if the campery neighbors would let me borrow their gennie. Hahhaa!

 

[hoyden]

2:15 and already down to 80%

I wish I hadn't leveled, but maybe I'll risk leaving my levelers at my spot (Im in a small campground. Wanted solid footing during rainstorm), and go slowly drive around in a bit. I can keep popped up if I stay really slow.

I suppose I could idle the truck for an hour, but that seems rude to any neighbors, tho they do have their gennie on.

 

[Vic Harder]

I drove 60 miles with the top up at 70 mph... the camper can handle it!

Idling should be ok too, just verify via the Victron BMV that you are getting a charge. Again, 80% is ok... when is your next move/relocation? If tomorrow, then you are fine at 80% right now.

 

[Wallowa]

I drove 60 miles with the top up at 70 mph... the camper can handle it!

Idling should be ok too, just verify via the Victron BMV that you are getting a charge. Again, 80% is ok... when is your next move/relocation? If tomorrow, then you are fine at 80% right now.

Come on Vic....60 miles at 70 mph with the top up? Darn, now I need to beat that record! Rest assured your record will fall; I excel at dumb things....

Phil

 

[Vic Harder]

LOL, yeah... the only "damage" was a bunch of bugs on the vinyl. Tough campers!

 

[hoyden]

Ha! Well, I popped down and drove around but not for long. Up to 86% now.

I shouldn't have popped down (thought I could take a ni e drive into canyon and didnt want accidental scraping but turns out road stops not too far in. Lame)

Now it's raining enough I don't wanna get out to unlatch and pop up, so me n dogs are listening to radio in truck now.

Sometimes I really miss having a homebase (more often these days)

 

[craig333]

Cloudy today and mine only got to 98%. I really think you're doing okay. Maybe a bit more solar for the amount of off the grid camping you do. I'd help you hook up the new solar charger but heck, if you make it this far i'd stop in and chat with marty at ATC.

 

[hoyden]

74% when I woke up this morning at 6:30am. Then down to 71% for some reason. Maybe fridge turned on. Oof.
Two hours later, now at 8:30, it's way up to 75%. Fun stuff.

Luckily, it's sunny today and I might be able to plug in at a friend's place for full-up charging.

 

[CougarCouple]

I’ve noticed the angle of the sun affects my system also. It might be light out but it’s not until the sun has been up a while does the solar system seem to start charging.

Russ

 

[hoyden]

Oh, it definitely does, Russ! That's a good part of why I want to get a portable panel - so I can set it out with the sun angle, especially now that winter is coming and the sun is lower. (that's not the scientific thing that's actually happening with earth axis etc, but I'm still working on my coffee, so you get "the sun is lower" hahhaaaha!)

 

[CougarCouple]

Cheers️[emoji507]

 

[Vic Harder]

74% when I woke up this morning at 6:30am. Then down to 71% for some reason. Maybe fridge turned on. Oof.
Two hours later, now at 8:30, it's way up to 75%. Fun stuff.

Luckily, it's sunny today and I might be able to plug in at a friend's place for full-up charging.

.... .but I'm still working on my coffee, so you get "the sun is lower" hahhaaaha!)

The good news is your system and you are acting predictably! Coffee = sunshine for your camper... it get's a buzz going!

At this rate (being at 74%) this morning, you have yet another day where you don't HAVE to find a charging source. That's really good. And yes, more solar or portable solar would be a good thing if you want to not worry about this much anymore.

 

[hoyden]

100% at 1pm! Lotsa sun.

Of course, I'm going to stay at a friend's house tonight (so looking forward to taking a shower). Ha!
But it means that this might actually work out... as long as I don't have to use the furnace on a cloudy day. Hahaha!