Ethergore
Senior Member
Good Afternoon,
I felt like posting for a few reasons after some difficult experiences with my new 2 way fridge and solar panels.
My current system contains:
-2001 toyota tundra with a 100 amp alternator
-2009 Hawk
-75 amp hour Die Hard AGM with dual terminals
-Sure 1314a separator
-100 watt Renogy flexible solar panel remotely mounted (ie not mount to the roof)
-30 amp charge controller with LCD display
This system needs to power:
-Water pump
-Norcold fridge with Danfoss compressor (3 amp draw) rated to run 50% at 80 degrees
-LED lights
-Misc 12 volt stuff (negligible)
So my problem happened in the following scenario.
-Left home fully charged and fridge pre cooled (measured 12.8 volts after sitting 2 hours)
-Drove from 12 pm to 6 pm and parked
-I woke up the next morning at 6 am with 12 volts (ie less than 50% charge)
-Drove from 7 am until 5 pm doing mostly off roading with the AC on
-Arrived at destination with 12.2% (IE 50% charged)
Obviously my battery would be damaged if I left my refrigerator running on a 50% charged battery overnight so I turned my truck on and let it idle. What I noticed is that my separator was turning off and on. I checked with my multimeter and the separator was doing what it was supposed to (turning on at 13.2 and off at 12.8 v).
The lesson I learned was that my deeply discharged battery is unable to be charged with the separator in line because the voltage will drop low enough to let the separator turn off.
What I ended up doing is bypassing the separator so that both batteries were combined and let the truck idle for 4 hours to get to a charge of 12.7v. The next day when I woke up the battery was down to 12.2v so after starting the truck I again bypassed the separator and drove most of the day off road. This time when I arrived at my destination my battery was at about 12.7 with a surface charge.
So from what I have read, this is not abnormal behavior. I have noticed people with similar setups but I am assuming that maybe they don't have a problem because they are not driving as much and their system is fully charged when the sun sets.
I know some may recommend I get more storage (battery) but if my system is fully charged when the sun sets I am able to start the day with a battery that is less than 50% discharged.
So it seems like there are a few solutions I can think of to my situation.
1) Get a DC to DC charger to charge my aux battery with the correct voltage
2) Permanently mount my solar panel so I am always getting a charge at the correct voltage (except without sun)
3) Use a solenoid to connect batteries at startup
Number 1 seems like it will work if I am driving all day but what if Im in town and stop to eat and sight see regularly. I still need to power my fridge and cant put out portable solar as it may get stolen.
Number 3 seems like it should work and is basically what I did to get through my last trip but knowing the voltage is that low should I be concerned about low voltage problems within my vehicle? Also, I still have the problem of not driving enough during the day.
Number 2 seems like the best option since I will always have charge during the day and hopefully always have a fully charged system when night comes (assuming there is good to moderate sun). The only problem is if I stay parked stationary in the shade. But I guess I can at least buy another panel for this situation which is still cheaper than a dc to dc charger.
What does everyone think and what is everyone's experience with this? Am I understanding everything correctly or am I missing something?
Thanks?
I felt like posting for a few reasons after some difficult experiences with my new 2 way fridge and solar panels.
My current system contains:
-2001 toyota tundra with a 100 amp alternator
-2009 Hawk
-75 amp hour Die Hard AGM with dual terminals
-Sure 1314a separator
-100 watt Renogy flexible solar panel remotely mounted (ie not mount to the roof)
-30 amp charge controller with LCD display
This system needs to power:
-Water pump
-Norcold fridge with Danfoss compressor (3 amp draw) rated to run 50% at 80 degrees
-LED lights
-Misc 12 volt stuff (negligible)
So my problem happened in the following scenario.
-Left home fully charged and fridge pre cooled (measured 12.8 volts after sitting 2 hours)
-Drove from 12 pm to 6 pm and parked
-I woke up the next morning at 6 am with 12 volts (ie less than 50% charge)
-Drove from 7 am until 5 pm doing mostly off roading with the AC on
-Arrived at destination with 12.2% (IE 50% charged)
Obviously my battery would be damaged if I left my refrigerator running on a 50% charged battery overnight so I turned my truck on and let it idle. What I noticed is that my separator was turning off and on. I checked with my multimeter and the separator was doing what it was supposed to (turning on at 13.2 and off at 12.8 v).
The lesson I learned was that my deeply discharged battery is unable to be charged with the separator in line because the voltage will drop low enough to let the separator turn off.
What I ended up doing is bypassing the separator so that both batteries were combined and let the truck idle for 4 hours to get to a charge of 12.7v. The next day when I woke up the battery was down to 12.2v so after starting the truck I again bypassed the separator and drove most of the day off road. This time when I arrived at my destination my battery was at about 12.7 with a surface charge.
So from what I have read, this is not abnormal behavior. I have noticed people with similar setups but I am assuming that maybe they don't have a problem because they are not driving as much and their system is fully charged when the sun sets.
I know some may recommend I get more storage (battery) but if my system is fully charged when the sun sets I am able to start the day with a battery that is less than 50% discharged.
So it seems like there are a few solutions I can think of to my situation.
1) Get a DC to DC charger to charge my aux battery with the correct voltage
2) Permanently mount my solar panel so I am always getting a charge at the correct voltage (except without sun)
3) Use a solenoid to connect batteries at startup
Number 1 seems like it will work if I am driving all day but what if Im in town and stop to eat and sight see regularly. I still need to power my fridge and cant put out portable solar as it may get stolen.
Number 3 seems like it should work and is basically what I did to get through my last trip but knowing the voltage is that low should I be concerned about low voltage problems within my vehicle? Also, I still have the problem of not driving enough during the day.
Number 2 seems like the best option since I will always have charge during the day and hopefully always have a fully charged system when night comes (assuming there is good to moderate sun). The only problem is if I stay parked stationary in the shade. But I guess I can at least buy another panel for this situation which is still cheaper than a dc to dc charger.
What does everyone think and what is everyone's experience with this? Am I understanding everything correctly or am I missing something?
Thanks?