Newbie advice

[Wrybread]

To be honest if your trips are 3 days or less, you do not need solar. All you need is batteries, Inverter, and charger. Save the cash. Just conserve energy like turning off the Inverter when not being used. You can even run a line from the Alternator and an Anderson Connector to use the alternator to top off batteries while you drive. ! hour engine run time is 2 or 4 days of solar. Think before you jump in.

Since you're going to need the batteries with or without the solar (having lights is nice!), you might as well add the solar. The solar part is dirt cheap compared to batteries, is easy to install, it keeps your batteries topped off, and is generally a good thing to learn how to work with. And there's a *really* good chance you'll run your batteries low after your first day on the road given that you're still learning about what's practical to power off of batteries (as others have said, that compressor fridge is out). This way no matter what you do you'll be charged back up the next day. And no need to drive anywhere or run your engine if you don't want to.

One issue you'll find on this particular forum is that people will only recommend top of the line equipment, and scream bloody murder if you diverge from the absolute perfect setup. That's a bit silly when installing in an RV, especially given that you describe your rig as a "hillbilly toy hauler". Furthermore they vastly over complicate things, and a specialty of this forum is either talking people out of installing solar or talking them into building vastly over priced and over spec'd setups. I'm of course not saying you shouldn't do everything to keep your setup safe, but you don't need top of the line equipment to be safe.

I just did a similar build to what you're contemplating and couldn't be happier with it. Here's my equipment list:

- Pick up one or two big 60 cell panels, which are in the 250 to 300 watt range. You could also get 72-cell panels, but then your voltage might go over 100 watts on cold mornings, which could fry your charge controller. Sticking with 60 cell panels keeps you safe there.

If you shop around a bit you should be able to find 60-cell 250 watt panels for about $150 each if they're demos or cosmetic defects or $210 or so new. Wire them in series unless you anticipate having one of the panels shaded occasionally, in which case you'll want to wire them in parallel (a bit less efficient but hey it's an RV).

- I have and highly recommend this charge controller. Its a few hundred dollars cheaper than the Morningstar and works beautifully.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

One thing to note is that it's 100 volts, so if you're planning on possibly using 3 solar panels in series now or in the future you might consider getting the 150 volt version:

https://www.amazon.com/SolarEpic-Cha.../dp/B00YCI48F4

But you can easily run two 250 watt @ 36 volt solar panels with the cheaper version.

I recommend getting the external monitor box at the above link too, it's only $30 and is very handy for seeing the status of your panels.

- get some 10 or 12 gauge wire to run from your panels to your charge controller.

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Gauge-S...ICM/ref=sr_1_4

For batteries, as recommended above get 2 6-volt batteries. You can't go wrong with Trojan T105's. Wire the batteries in series for 12 volts. If you want more capacity get 4 of them. Personally I still wire them for 12 volts to keep things simple, but there's good reasons to wire them for 24 volts. But keeping it 12 volts means you can use your existing 12 volt inverter, removes the need to step up the voltage from your alternator, removes the need to step down the voltage for your cabin etc, and 12 volts works just fine.

For your fridge, as others have recommended get a propane fridge. They work fantastically well and are available cheaply used. They still take a tiny amount of 12 volt power to run the brain but it's negligable.

And if you wire your panels in parallel, get some of these fuses (or a combiner box if you want to spend 10 times as much on the Cadillac route):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019YP0HQ8..._Y1oezbEV0ZKE0

And if you're wiring your panels in parallel you'll also need these or these.

And for flat mounting your panels to the roof of your RV, these work well.

[bcroe]

Anderson 50s and 175s are common here; beside being cheap, they have the additional advantage of being unisex.
Bruce Roe

[Sunking]

Do not use the 7-Pin Trailer Plug to charge batteries. Lot's of things happen and none of them are good. Beside the minor stuff like dim trailer lights and having someone rear end you, bad things are burnt wiring and electric brake failure. The Isolators tell you what gauge vs length you will need along with Fuse sizes. Most importantly the Connector must be sized for the amount of current. Anderson SB connectors go up to 450 amps with the proper sized wire. For your application an SB50 should be perfect. The SB50 is good up to 120 amps and can fit a #6 AWG wire. Make sure to use a 110 degree rated insulation like Marine Battery Cable or even this stuff will work great. You can order it with the Connector Terminated which I recommend because you do not have the tools or skill to terminate. You can buy all your wire, connectors, and fuses from Powerwerx. They even will make the cables for you.

[ewarnerusa]

If you're using a 7-pin trailer connection as in the diagram, then you will likely be getting some battery charging from the alternator without having to buy anything else. But it is basically a trickle charger due to long skinny wire length between the vehicle's alternator and your camper battery. Useful for charging if you've got many hours of driving to do. If you want the alternator to dump gobs of amps into your camper batteries for fast charging, then Sunking has described the path.

[SunEagle]

Well.... it sure ain't as simple as I thought, that's for sure. I think I need to plan out a few things before I go and start buying stuff. Thank you all for help.

Smart plan. It is not a good idea to look for cheap ways to generate power or charge batteries. Taking shortcuts can lead to equipment failures or worse like fires.

[HITEKREDNEK]

Well.... it sure ain't as simple as I thought, that's for sure. I think I need to plan out a few things before I go and start buying stuff. Thank you all for help.

[Sunking]

Thank you so much Sunking, that sums it up. Are trips do last upto a week at times, most the time we are in the woods riding though. I do plan on using 1 of the extra wires in the trailer wiring to top off the batteries while driving, my concern was I think I've got something like a 190 amp or maybe a 200 amp altanator on my truck and that's a lot of amps to put through a 12-16 guage wire, I'm not for sure what the 7 wire trailer wiring is I'm just guessing, is this common and safe?
Again thanks to all for the help.

OK tap the brakes. If you want to charge the battery through your Alternator, you will not use 7-Pin Trailer Connector. I assume that includes Electric Brakes. You will run two 4 to 8 AWG wires. A Black one either directly on the Battery Negative Term Post, or on the Firewall where the heavy cable from the Battery Cable goes. Understand? Look under your hood you should have two heavy cables already on the Battery Negative Tern Post. One will go to the Engine Block, and another going to the Firewall or a Terminal. So you want to be either on the Term Post, or at the end of a heavy cable. OK?

You will want to use a Smart Electronic Battery Isolator for the Red Wire or Positive. It will have a Voltage Regulator built-in and you install it between the Alternator Output and the Truck Battery. It will also have aplug that goes to your Alternator Voltage Regulator. On the Isolator there will be two Ports. One for your Truck Battery, and one for the House Battery. They are vehicle specific meaning Ford, Dodge, or GM. No worries about the Alternator Amps, bigger is better. The resistance of the Wire and fuses will take care of the Current Regulation. Not something you have to worry about except proper fuses and wire size.

An Alternate method is the old Mechanical Isolators that use a relay wired to your ignition. You just take a #4 AWG to the Battery Positive Term Post, run it to the relay, and then to the Trailer. If you go that route look for one with a Pre-Charge Resistor as that will help in keeping you from welding the contacts on the relay.

You are going to make a 2nd plug using an Anderson Connector of the appropriate size. I will give you some links to look at to help you understand.

Cole Hersee is made by Little Fuse a good company makes a good 200 amp Mechanical Some What Smart Isolator and works with any vehicle. It will not connect the House Battery until the SLI battery is charged, and has Precharge.

Sure Power makes good Electron Isolators and they have to match vehicle alternator. Choose your group and Amps.

Anderson Power Connectors. Choose Wire to Wire

That ought to get you going.

[littleharbor]

7WayTrailerEnd.jpg

Not sure of the gauge, probably 14 and 12 or 12 and 10 but from my feeble recollection the 12 volt (charging) wire is heavier than the tail and turn signal light wires.

[HITEKREDNEK]

Thank you so much Sunking, that sums it up. Are trips do last upto a week at times, most the time we are in the woods riding though. I do plan on using 1 of the extra wires in the trailer wiring to top off the batteries while driving, my concern was I think I've got something like a 190 amp or maybe a 200 amp altanator on my truck and that's a lot of amps to put through a 12-16 guage wire, I'm not for sure what the 7 wire trailer wiring is I'm just guessing, is this common and safe?
Again thanks to all for the help.

[Sunking]

Sunking, I do apologize for what ever reason only a small part of your post showed up the first time I looked at it, I'm going to look around to find them batteries you suggested, will any solar panel do the job or do I want to look for a specific type, name brand? Thanks again.

Any 200 to 250 AH 6-Volt Golf Cart battery will work just fine. Trojan just makes the best. If you go to a Box Store like Wally World, Costco, Tire and Supply will have them, and they are made by Interstate. Another good one is US Battery.

OK for panels no big deal either. Just try to use panels made for Grid Tied system and not battery panels. Battery panels have 36 cells. Another give away is power as battery panels are usually 190 watts and less with 36 cells. You want 60 to 72 cell panels. As for wattage 200 to 325 watts.

Your Charge Controller determines what you can do. At 12 volt battery use this formula to figure out what size you need. Amps = Panel Wattage / 13 Volts. Example 200 watts / 13 volts = 15 amps. Likewise for a 24 volt battery 400 watts / 26 volts = 15 amps. Here is a clue if you have chosen a real and quality MPPT Charge controller. A 15 amp model will cost you $200, a 30 amp Model some $350. Look at Morningstar line up.

If it were me in your shoes I would look a 200 to 250 watt panel, a MS SunSaver MPPT 15 Amp Controller, a pair of 6-volt golf cart batteries, and a good 500 watt True Sine Wave Inverter. Also make sure you buy a decent 15 to 20 amp 12 volt Marine Type battery charger so you can charge and maintain your batteries properly. Solar cannot do that.

To be honest if your trips are 3 days or less, you do not need solar. All you need is batteries, Inverter, and charger. Save the cash. Just conserve energy like turning off the Inverter when not being used. You can even run a line from the Alternator and an Anderson Connector to use the alternator to top off batteries while you drive. ! hour engine run time is 2 or 4 days of solar. Think before you jump in.

Biggest challenge you are going to face is obtaining batteries. The rest of the stuff you can order online and get delivered easily. Batteries can be delivered but a PIA and dangerous because they come Dry Charged and they send the Acid separately that you have to mix. If you do not know what you are doing is extremely dangerous. Example add water to acid and it blows up in your face. You will be blind and have severe acid burns over the majority of your body.

Do you have Golf Cart Shops or Golf Courses around? Those are excellent sources of batteries. Other options is if you are in a city there are distributors. Also Wallmart, Sams, Costco, and large Automotive will have Generic Golf Cart batteries. Do your homework and good luck.

Here is an example wiring diagram for you. Larger than you need, but the pieces all fit the same. I can help you with actual wire and fuse sizes.

[SunEagle]

Sun eagle, thank you for the info, would it be safe and gain me more power if I was to have 2-3 of them 250 ah 12v batteries in a bank and would the 300 watts of panels be able to charge them back up?

You do not want to have multiple 12 volt batteries wired in parallel. You need to find 6 volt type and wire 2 in series. I know Interstate makes a 6v 232Ah which will work if you get 2 of them or go with the Trojans that Sunking listed which are higher quality but will cost more.

Then your 300 watts of panels wired to a 30 amp MPPT type CC. If you want more than 360 watts of panel you will need to go to a higher amp rated CC which starts to cost.

300 watts fits just nicely with a 12votl 232Ah battery system. It will not run that fridge but will get you enough to power some LED lights and small loads for a few hours.

[HITEKREDNEK]

Sunking, I do apologize for what ever reason only a small part of your post showed up the first time I looked at it, I'm going to look around to find them batteries you suggested, will any solar panel do the job or do I want to look for a specific type, name brand? Thanks again.

[Sunking]

Well sh*t fire Sunking, what do suggest, I thought I had a small understanding about solar power & power inverters but now I'm just lost.

I already told you exactly what will work.

[HITEKREDNEK]

Ok, I think I'm back on track. Ewarnerusa no propane fridge as of yet I've thought about getting either a propane or 12 volt actual camper fridge down the line. Yes led light bulbs are at the top of the priority list
Again thank you.

[ewarnerusa]

So to translate and hopefully get you back from being lost -> 2x6V GC batteries in series. Shoot for 300 watts or more in solar panels. No larger than a 1000 watt inverter. Forget about running a dorm (compressor) fridge off of an inverter. Does your camper have an absorption (propane) fridge? Those work best for boondocking. Also consider changing all of the camper's lighting to LEDs, they'll use a fraction of the power and put out much less heat. Cheap from China direct replacements off of ebay work great.