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captainphx
Senior Member
I also made the little stand for the portable panel,
Upgrading my solar
- Thread starter captainphx
- Start date
Squatch
Senior Member
Nice work!
very cool Capt!
Paul,
Great job, with all these power upgrades all those years (since 2012) of frustration with your camper not working the way it ought to have worked from the factory are now over. Now you can enjoy your camper for extended stays and never worry about your batteries again. Your batteries will last a very long time as they will never be far from fully charged.
I think your estimate of 40Amps a day is conservative, I have the same fridge and some days it can run for 20 hours using 80 Amps. I think you have that covered now. When traveling after 10 days or so and stopping at the supermarket to refill the fridge it can really run for a long time before getting everything cooled down.
The Trimetric may not be the latest greatest but I have one and it is wonderful to be able to look at a gauge that gives you detailed useful information. I'd like to hear just what kind of charging you are getting from your truck and from your solar panels.
There is one more upgrade that you haven't mentioned, maybe you have done it, maybe it is just another upgrade that you need to spend another $20 on. The year after you got your camper FWC added it to all their campers with the IOTA converter/battery charger. The IOTA IQ4 smart chip. It converts you charger to a "smart" charger. It just plugs into your charger with what look like a phone plug, a very easy install. The green light always flashes like crazy and is very annoying but is easily fixed with a small piece of electric tape over the light. With that Trimetric you can see just how useful it is.
https://smile.amazon.com/IOTA-Engineering-IQ4-Smart-Charger/dp/B0030G7ZHM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484067720&sr=8-1&keywords=iota+charger+iQ4
Great job, with all these power upgrades all those years (since 2012) of frustration with your camper not working the way it ought to have worked from the factory are now over. Now you can enjoy your camper for extended stays and never worry about your batteries again. Your batteries will last a very long time as they will never be far from fully charged.
I think your estimate of 40Amps a day is conservative, I have the same fridge and some days it can run for 20 hours using 80 Amps. I think you have that covered now. When traveling after 10 days or so and stopping at the supermarket to refill the fridge it can really run for a long time before getting everything cooled down.
The Trimetric may not be the latest greatest but I have one and it is wonderful to be able to look at a gauge that gives you detailed useful information. I'd like to hear just what kind of charging you are getting from your truck and from your solar panels.
There is one more upgrade that you haven't mentioned, maybe you have done it, maybe it is just another upgrade that you need to spend another $20 on. The year after you got your camper FWC added it to all their campers with the IOTA converter/battery charger. The IOTA IQ4 smart chip. It converts you charger to a "smart" charger. It just plugs into your charger with what look like a phone plug, a very easy install. The green light always flashes like crazy and is very annoying but is easily fixed with a small piece of electric tape over the light. With that Trimetric you can see just how useful it is.
https://smile.amazon.com/IOTA-Engineering-IQ4-Smart-Charger/dp/B0030G7ZHM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484067720&sr=8-1&keywords=iota+charger+iQ4
DrJ
Senior Member
Great install!
Nice job.
That setup should provide plenty of power for your adventures!
Sent from my iPhone using Wander The West
Nice job.
That setup should provide plenty of power for your adventures!
Sent from my iPhone using Wander The West
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captainphx
Senior Member
DavidO,DavidO said:
Thanks. Yes, we do know how hard it is to get the frig to cool things down after refilling with groceries. We also carry a Yeti full of just ice for drinks, so we don't have to go into the frig as much. Sometimes we precool things in there if there is room before putting it in the frig. Sometimes we carry dry ice in the Yeti also. That helps for few days.
I do have the IQ4. I bought that just after buying the camper. Couldn't really tell if it helped much as I just did not have the solar to keep the batteries even close to fully charged. I will post here when I see how the charging is going on the truck. We will be out this weekend.
And thanks, for PMing me with your great info. I love the compression tool from Harbor Freight. Most of the red shrink you see in the photos above is from what you sent me.
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captainphx
Senior Member
I also added some foam to keep the batteries from shifting
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captainphx
Senior Member
So, I just got back from a 6 day trip with the new solar system and I thought I'd give a report. We spent a night in Kofa Wildlife Refuge and the rest of the time was in Mojave National Preserve, both great areas to spend time in. The weather was great at the beginning and towards the end of the trip it was overcast and raining. The last night, the winds were wild and the rain was sideways and the truck/camper was rocking and rolling all night! It was great!
The first thing I noticed after arriving in camp in Kofa that first night, was that the camper batteries were at 100%. I don't think that happened once with my original FWC 85 watt panel setup. We usually had 3 red lights out of 4. Hard to believe now, that that was the only monitoring device we had! Every day on this trip, we arrived in camp with the batteries at 100%. By morning, we were usually down to about 83%. One morning we had 80%. Granted, it wasn't hot out, in-fact it was quite cool, so the frig probably didn't run near as much, but we ran the heater a lot. On one occasion I had my wife start the truck while I watched the trimetric. As soon as the ACR paralleled the truck battery to the camper batteries, the charging amps shot up to 24 and then backed off to about 18 or so. That seems pretty good. Much better than the original setup, I'm sure.
There were a couple of hiccups. First, around noon each day, the propane sensor was going off. I checked my propane sensor manual and it says that it will do that if the voltage goes above 16.2. Bogart Engineering's manual for the trimetric says to use charging profile 9 for Concord Lifeline AGM batteries. It sets the max charging voltage at 16.5. I noticed that the batteries were being brought up as high as 17.1 volts. Also, I noticed that the ACR's remote battery switch, would have 2 red blinking lights, indicating over voltage lockout, isolating the truck battery from the camper batteries. It does this at 16.2 volts. This didn't really seem to be a problem though, because after a while the voltage would drop back down and the ACR would allow the batteries to parallel again. It's all automatic.
But here is one thing that I am not sure if I am doing right. At the end of the driving day, I would check the trimetric to see how the batteries are doing. They were at 100 %. The ACR remote battery switch (set to auto) would have no blinking lights, indicating that the trucks battery and the camper batteries were tied, even though the truck was shut off. The solar was charging fine, which is why, I believe that the batteries remained tied. The ACR manual says that it will keep the batteries tied if a charging source is detected. Well, I knew the truck battery was fine and I wanted all of the solar charge going into the camper batteries, so I would switch the ACR's remote battery switch to "isolate". Then in the morning I would put the switch back to auto. Not sure if I really needed to do this or not. I could allow the solar to top off both the truck and the camper batteries. Then, at night when there is no charging from the solar, the ACR would isolate. For those of you who use the Blue Sea ML-ACR and the remote battery switch, how do you use it? Do you just leave it in auto all the time?
As far as the propane sensor going off, my dog was freaking out, so I disconnected it. I still have to figure out a solution to that problem. A stand alone battery powered propane sensor? I could lower the max charging voltage allowed, by changing the P15 value in the trimetric to something lower, but I'd rather not. I did call Ralph at Bogart Engineering and asked why the voltage goes to 17.1 when it is limited to 16.5 by the profile. He said it is because of the battery compartment temperature sensor that I ordered with the SC2030 solar charger. As the compartment temp gets colder, allowed battery voltage goes higher. All perfectly normal and desirable for proper battery upkeep.
Anyway, I think the setup is a great success and there is much less stress not having to worry about the frig quitting and the batteries dying. And the whole solar/battery/ monitoring thing seems like a normal and natural part of camping off the grid. Sort of fun watching it all work! If you get a chance to go to Mojave National Preserve, go there. Definitely worth spending time there!
The first thing I noticed after arriving in camp in Kofa that first night, was that the camper batteries were at 100%. I don't think that happened once with my original FWC 85 watt panel setup. We usually had 3 red lights out of 4. Hard to believe now, that that was the only monitoring device we had! Every day on this trip, we arrived in camp with the batteries at 100%. By morning, we were usually down to about 83%. One morning we had 80%. Granted, it wasn't hot out, in-fact it was quite cool, so the frig probably didn't run near as much, but we ran the heater a lot. On one occasion I had my wife start the truck while I watched the trimetric. As soon as the ACR paralleled the truck battery to the camper batteries, the charging amps shot up to 24 and then backed off to about 18 or so. That seems pretty good. Much better than the original setup, I'm sure.
There were a couple of hiccups. First, around noon each day, the propane sensor was going off. I checked my propane sensor manual and it says that it will do that if the voltage goes above 16.2. Bogart Engineering's manual for the trimetric says to use charging profile 9 for Concord Lifeline AGM batteries. It sets the max charging voltage at 16.5. I noticed that the batteries were being brought up as high as 17.1 volts. Also, I noticed that the ACR's remote battery switch, would have 2 red blinking lights, indicating over voltage lockout, isolating the truck battery from the camper batteries. It does this at 16.2 volts. This didn't really seem to be a problem though, because after a while the voltage would drop back down and the ACR would allow the batteries to parallel again. It's all automatic.
But here is one thing that I am not sure if I am doing right. At the end of the driving day, I would check the trimetric to see how the batteries are doing. They were at 100 %. The ACR remote battery switch (set to auto) would have no blinking lights, indicating that the trucks battery and the camper batteries were tied, even though the truck was shut off. The solar was charging fine, which is why, I believe that the batteries remained tied. The ACR manual says that it will keep the batteries tied if a charging source is detected. Well, I knew the truck battery was fine and I wanted all of the solar charge going into the camper batteries, so I would switch the ACR's remote battery switch to "isolate". Then in the morning I would put the switch back to auto. Not sure if I really needed to do this or not. I could allow the solar to top off both the truck and the camper batteries. Then, at night when there is no charging from the solar, the ACR would isolate. For those of you who use the Blue Sea ML-ACR and the remote battery switch, how do you use it? Do you just leave it in auto all the time?
As far as the propane sensor going off, my dog was freaking out, so I disconnected it. I still have to figure out a solution to that problem. A stand alone battery powered propane sensor? I could lower the max charging voltage allowed, by changing the P15 value in the trimetric to something lower, but I'd rather not. I did call Ralph at Bogart Engineering and asked why the voltage goes to 17.1 when it is limited to 16.5 by the profile. He said it is because of the battery compartment temperature sensor that I ordered with the SC2030 solar charger. As the compartment temp gets colder, allowed battery voltage goes higher. All perfectly normal and desirable for proper battery upkeep.
Anyway, I think the setup is a great success and there is much less stress not having to worry about the frig quitting and the batteries dying. And the whole solar/battery/ monitoring thing seems like a normal and natural part of camping off the grid. Sort of fun watching it all work! If you get a chance to go to Mojave National Preserve, go there. Definitely worth spending time there!
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captainphx
Senior Member
Kelso Dunes
awesome report. Thanks!
PaulT
Need gumbo
One possibility is a separate small battery and charger for the propane detector. A 12v 5 amp or so sealed lead acid battery (like https://www.walmart.com/ip/UPG-85983-D5741-UPG-85983-D5741-Sealed-Lead-Acid-Batteries-12V-5-AH-.187-Tab-Terminals-UB1250/21618810 ) and either a charger that can run off your main solar power system or a small battery maintainer system like one here: https://www.batterystuff.com/solar-chargers/captainphx said:
More expense & complexity, I know. But consider your dog's sanity.
Paul
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captainphx
Senior Member
PaulT said:One possibility is a separate small battery and charger for the propane detector. A 12v 5 amp or so sealed lead acid battery (like https://www.walmart.com/ip/UPG-85983-D5741-UPG-85983-D5741-Sealed-Lead-Acid-Batteries-12V-5-AH-.187-Tab-Terminals-UB1250/21618810 ) and either a charger that can run off your main solar power system or a small battery maintainer system like one here: https://www.batterystuff.com/solar-chargers/
More expense & complexity, I know. But consider your dog's sanity.
Paul
Interesting idea! Thanks.
Paul
craig333
Riley's Human
Unless you're charging at very low temperatures that voltage seems a bit high according to their chart.
http://lifelinebatteries.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/manual.pdf
http://lifelinebatteries.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/manual.pdf
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captainphx
Senior Member
Thanks for that manual! Thats a great thing to have! I'll add it to my folder of FWC manuaIs.craig333 said:
I see what you are saying. When I talked to Ralph at Bogart, he said that Concorde says that their batteries can actually take a much higher voltage than the chart shows and it is good to do.He says that Concorde says they can take up to 18 volts. Not sure if the P9 charging profile in the Trimetric reflects this. I am going to try to call Concorde this next week to see if I can get more info.
Paul
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captainphx
Senior Member
This is the next battery configuration I am thinking of!
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