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  • Noob with a Motorhome needs help

    Hi everyone

    My name is Alan and i have a Talbot motorhome for which i have just bought a 150w solar panel to go on the roof.

    I have made some changes to the basic power layout of the MH, there are now two power sources, the campsite hook up and a 4000w peak/2000w cont. invertor connected to a 140amph battery.

    Camsite power in self explantory......

    The MH is parked on the other side of the street as i have no other choice, as a result getting mains power to it requires a mains lead strung out across the road, not safe and quite frankly a pain. I have bought the invertor so that i can use AC to bring out the hoover, use the odd power tools and check my onboard PC network etc...

    Obviously the use of this drains the battery and it only makes about three or four trips a year, bring in the solar panel..... i am going to mount this on the roof and have some questions....

    1) The panel controller has connections to the SOLAR PANEL, BATTERY & LOAD. It was my intention just to connect the controller to the panel and battery to charge or keep charged the battery and leave the MH's 12v system connected directly to the battery thus not using the LOAD connections. Is this ok? or does the whole 12v system need to go through the controller?

    2) The battery can be charged when either the motorhome is running or the campsite mains is connected. Do i need to disconnect the Solar Panel from the battery if it is getting charged from another source?

    3) Can the Solar Panel be left connectted the entire time? Right now i am doing a lot of work in there but it can go weeks or even months without use, will it just manage itself or should i disconnect it if i think a long time between usage is taking place?

    Sorry for the bombardment of questions but i wanted to grasp the details before i mount it and wire it.

    I bought this solar panel kit:
    http://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/12v...l-solar-panel/

    Attached is a jpeg of my current setup thats working and the solar panel as intent to install it. (im no elctrician so no laughing....)

    I'd appriciate any advice anyone can give

    Cheers

    Alan


  • #2
    Sequence of connections (unless the kit says otherwise) Connect the controller to the battery, and let it boot up. Then connect the solar panels to the controller. ignore the loads, they are already wired up via the existing battery. 150W of panel will keep the battery topped off, and you should check the acid level in the battery monthly, adding distilled water as needed to keep the level correct.
    The controller will (if it works properly) not overcharge the MH battery if the engine is running,

    One thing you did not specify, the type of battery, is it sealed. flooded, deep cycle, ordinary vehicle starter battery ? The controller should be set to match the type of battery it is charging
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

    Comment


    • #3
      Thanks for the response Mike

      Its a brand new sealed 140amh battery & i believe deep cycle.

      Cheers that was the response i was hoping for.

      Alan

      Comment


      • #4
        1. Do not use the load connection on the charge controller. They can not supply enough wattage to run your loads.

        2. No. Leave everything hooked up.

        3. Yes it can be left connected.

        WWW

        Comment


        • #5
          mav359,
          Good concept, we do something very similar. Although your battery is way undersized for that inverter, it isn't likely going to be an issue with the relatively small AC loads you've described. Don't think that you have 2000 watts worth of AC capacity though, not with a single 12V battery supplying power the inverter. When you are running your inverter, it is critical that you disable the RV's converter. [Ignore the rest of my post if you are already aware of this] The converter uses AC power and converts it to 12V DC power to operate the RV's 12V system and also charge the battery, which is how things are supposed to work when connected to shore power or a generator. The converter doesn't care where the AC power is coming from, so when you fire up the inverter it will mistake that for shore power and try to use it power the 12V system and recharge the battery. You cannot use power from the battery to recharge that same battery, it will just result in discharging that battery. My converter was hardwired into the AC breaker box, so I just flip that breaker off. Others are plugged in via a standard AC plug, so you manually unplug it. If you've wired things up via a transfer switch, then that can be more complicated. Especially if it is an automatic transfer switch. I understand conceptually how to deal with that, but I have never actually done it and it may be beyond my skill level!
          Last edited by ewarnerusa; 06-08-2016, 11:38 AM. Reason: I realized that you may be in UK, so I removed reference to 120V AC
          I'm an RV camper with 470 watts of solar

          Comment


          • #6
            Yes i'm in the UK so 230v here..

            Its my understanding that if i leave the ZIG unit 'MAINS SWITCH' in the van switched off & in 'TOURING MODE' then the ZIG Unit will not attempt to charge the battery, i've had a few people agree with me so i'm hoping were right.

            The Alternator in the van is old..... like the van. Just sitting there with the engine on takes hours & hours to charge the battery and im wasting petrol doing it. I can't just swan off around the block a few times because parking is so scarce, you pull away and 2mins later you parking spot is gone and its too big just to park anywhere hence the Solar Panel.

            The invertor is there as i say for me to hoover up, test some PC and photography equipment before a trip so i know everything is working. It'll never be run more then an hour straight and even then it'll be one item at a time. I just want to be able to walk away and let the Solar Panel do the job of charging the battery.

            I am considering another 140amph battery and run them in serial but at 30kgs a pop i think some rear suspension support will need to be undertaken in the left rear quarter or she'll start to sag.

            Cheers for the reply

            Comment


            • ewarnerusa
              ewarnerusa commented
              Editing a comment
              I'm not familiar with a ZIG unit or European campers, so I may not really have any useful input after all! But if it is a battery charger and it has an option to not act as a charger while hooked to AC shore power, then you have probably already addressed what I was talking about.

              Run 12V batteries in parallel, not series. Series will output 24 volts.
              Last edited by ewarnerusa; 06-08-2016, 05:17 PM.

          • #7
            I keep doing that.... i meant Parallel. My mates an electrical engineer and is constantly giving out when i get them the wrong way round.

            The Zig units are just the preffered choice of power managment in motorhomes and the like over here, theres nothing special about them as far aas i know

            Finished installed everything today & the solar panel is working a treat in conjunction with everything else. Managed to blow a fuse on the ZIG unit which i have replaced and seems fine but touch wood so far so good.

            Thank you for all the help guys

            Comment

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