Cargo Trailer Camping Converting

[UrbanElite]

I'm going to take a look around at the Victron Mppt 100/50 charge controller and see what reviews and pricing I can get on it as well as some other MPPT in the 50a range or male 60a, just to see what's out there and pricing.

I see the diagrams they will be handy for wiring my system in and very easy to follow, I'm sure I will just have to make sure to size the wire and fuses according to my system.

I'm going to be mounting a small fuse board that will take the bigger blade fuses to put outside lights, inside lights and such. Would this be wired straight from the battery?

I like the idea of those fuses mounting right to the battery post cause its clean, easy to mount to the battery and if there is a problem I won't loose the wiring before the fuse. I Was thinking of putting a main power master switch off the positive battery to shut all power off to the system, or is that not needed?

Off that estimate of Battery Bank of 479 amp hours is that in total without 50% battery or after?

What do you think of this inverter? http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/mo...1866p.html#srp
I saw it come on sale, I've had many C tire inverters in the past for car trips and always worked great. Looking through reviews it looks like it does a great job for powering a little fridge and other things of my needs.

[sensij]

Here is your calculation:

1200 watt-hours give or take with using 50 watts. Running withothe sun for 2 days.

5741 watt hours = Battery Bank of 479 amp hours, 390 watt in panels needed, running 2x 320 watt panels = 54 amp controller....

Here is Sunking's (modified slightly for 1200 Wh)

AH = [3 days x 1200 wh] / 12 volts = 300 AH.

Do you see the difference?

If you can get comfortable with the idea of using a battery less than 400 Ah, you can stick with a (much less expensive) 40 A charge controller. As Sunking has pointed out, you don't need to plan for so much autonomy because you have another power source available (the alternator) to pick up the slack when solar is not available. As Wrybread and I have pointed out, with the pair of 320 W panels you have purchased, with decent exposure, you'll have enough power from the panels to minimize the amount of time you need to fall back on running the engine or tapping shore power, no matter what charge controller you choose.

[SunEagle]

The decision for an additional power source, like a generator, falls to every person. In most cases you can go for a couple of days without sunlight and not kill your batteries. But sometimes it could be many days without any significant recharging from solar due to the weather.

AKA. Since Saturday (5 days) we have had little to no sunshine here is West Central Fl. The forecast is calling for a couple more days of rain and clouds. My guess is that by the time this weather event ends I will have seen very very little sun for more than 9 days.

So if anyone was banking on the sun to recharge their batteries and live close to where I live, will be in for a big surprise unless they can find another source to charge them back up.

This is my strongest argument concerning solar when I try to convince people that there is always a chance of an extended loss of sunlight. If you put all of your chips on using solar to run your electrical devices you will one day end up in the dark.

So I say, yes you can use solar energy, but please at least prepare for the chance of not getting enough sunlight for extended times if you really need power for medical or critical loads and can't rely on the grid.

[Wrybread]

Personally I hope you go with the 50 amp Victron since I'm hoping to hear how that works out.

And I personally wouldn't worry too much about the "3 day battery reserve", that's another case of applying off grid house thinking to an rv. But of course it doesn't hurt.

Also the link for your inverter isn't working for me. Is it a true sine wave inverter?

[SunEagle]

Personally I hope you go with the 50 amp Victron since I'm hoping to hear how that works out.

And I personally wouldn't worry too much about the "3 day battery reserve", that's another case of applying off grid house thinking to an rv. But of course it doesn't hurt.

Also the link for your inverter isn't working for me. Is it a true sine wave inverter?

The spec for that MotoMaster inverter mentions a modified sine wave output so it is not a "true sine wave" device.

[Wrybread]

In the bad old days of rv solar before TSW inverters existed I powered tons of stuff from non sine wave inverters, and it works, but works much worse than TSW inverters. And they die at least 3
times more often. So even if it's 1/3 the price, pretty soon you've bought 3 of them, so it equals out...

Just my experience of course, but I'd definitely go for the TSW inverter (the xantrex prowatt 600).

[SunEagle]

In the bad old days of rv solar before TSW inverters existed I powered tons of stuff from non sine wave inverters, and it works, but works much worse than TSW inverters. And they die at least 3
times more often. So even if it's 1/3 the price, pretty soon you've bought 3 of them, so it equals out...

Just my experience of course, but I'd definitely go for the TSW inverter (the xantrex prowatt 600).

+1. I agree with your choice of the xantrex.

[Sunking]

Sunking, it's one thing to disagree with people's equipment recommendations and approaches, but you're simply lying when you say this:



As I've explained a bunch of times, I've never run out of power in the year that I've had my current system.

No lie my friend, I do not lie. It is gospel fact, Even Sensij and SunEagle are agreeing with me. You just do not want to hear it, that you really do not know what you are doing or talking about.

You are just lucky up to this point you have not have not suffered several cloudy days in a row to run your batteries down. Got news for you, ask any off-grid person on here, cloudy spells happen, and batteries get discharged and exhausted. That is a fact jack. . That is what you cannot get through the meat between your ears.

By the way I have an Isolator

Now you admit you have an Isolator. Who is the liar and pretender now? It is a passive devices that works automatically every time you start the engine. An Isolator can provide more charge in a hour than your system can generate in a day. When you drive to camp, the Isolator fully tops off and saturates your batteries. When you leave it completely recharges and saturates the battery, and it does it fast like it is suppose to do. It is the best $50 to $75 spent by any RV user. It does a whole lot more than a thousand dollars worth of panels and controllers will ever do.

You have been lucky up to this point. Your batteries are large enough to last you 3 to 6 days without any solar. the panels just keep you topped up. But one day your luck will run out. You will be on that extended stay with a 3 or 4 day cloudy spell, and run your batteries down. I guarantee you will start the engine to save and charge your batteries with that Isolator you tell everyone they do not need or want. Do you know what that makes you?

[UrbanElite]

So even if it's 1/3 the price, pretty soon you've bought 3 of them, so it equals out... [/B]

+1. I agree with your choice of the xantrex.

Great points and I have done that in the past with other stuff, bought 3 instead of the pricey expensive one, ill look at them, but is the 600watt going to be enough, or is a guy going to do the 1000 watt?

What about this guy? https://www.costco.ca/Sunforce-1%2c0...100353065.html

So I was doing some looking around on Amazon, and my good old china sites. I found 2 60A MPPT charge controls, pretty beefy, looking the specs I need they seem to work? Take a look and see what you guys think of each and get back to me:

https://www.amazon.ca/SRNE-SOLAR-CHA...GMSVQSRJQ4SWZG
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/high...8-de3fd73b42c1

I was also linked this one on another forum, 50a with a display: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Y-SOLAR-150V-...oAAOSw5cNYQnX9

[UrbanElite]

Some questions I'm still wondering about:

I'm going to be mounting a small fuse board that will take the bigger blade fuses to put outside lights, inside lights and such. Would this be wired straight from the battery?

Off that estimate of Battery Bank of 479 amp hours is that in total without 50% battery or after? With 2x s550 that would be 1100 AH in total but only 550 is usable correct?

I Was thinking of putting a main power master switch off the positive battery to shut all power off to the system, or is that not needed?

[SunEagle]

Great points and I have done that in the past with other stuff, bought 3 instead of the pricey expensive one, ill look at them, but is the 600watt going to be enough, or is a guy going to do the 1000 watt?

So I was doing some looking around on Amazon, and my good old china sites. I found 2 60A MPPT charge controls, pretty beefy, looking the specs I need they seem to work? Take a look and see what you guys think of each and get back to me:



I was also linked this one on another forum, 50a with a display:

IMO the 2nd and 3rd are fake MPPT CC so I would stay away from them.

Hard to tell about the first one but I would also be wary that it may not be quality hardware

[Sunking]

I already did answer that question in a pervious post already..... So from a really good site I figured out: 1200 watt-hours give or take with using 50 watts. Running withothe sun for 2 days.

5741 watt hours = Battery Bank of 479 amp hours, 390 watt in panels needed, running 2x 320 watt panels = 54 amp controller....

Where did you come up with 1200 wh/day? I thought you were measuring how many you really needed with a Kill-A-Watt Meter?

But lets go with 1200 wh a day. Your numbers are off. For a part time system like an RV you can get away with discharging down to 70% DOD or if you prefer 30% SOC. 50% is for every day use like a home. So to have 2 usable days without sun requires a 3 days x 1200 / 12 = 300 AH battery. At 5741 wh battery [456 AH] using 1200 wh a day is 5471/1200 = 4.5 days with roughly 3.5 days usable.

Either is OK, your wallet will might scream, but requires completely different charge current minimums. With a 300 AH battery you can get buy with a 30 or 40 amp charge current. A 450 AM battery you are going to need 50 to 60 amps of charge current. Si I hope you know what you are asking for, and using real numbers and not from some website. You are talking some $eriou$ money difference between a 300 and 450 AH battery, and a 40 vs 60 amp controller.

I am trying to keep it real and inexpensive for you. My best advice is if 1200 wh per day is real, use a 300 AH battery, 40 amp CC, and take some of that $500 you just saved and buy a good $75 battery Isolator. If not me, listen to Sensij, that is also what he is telling you.

[Sunking]

Some questions I'm still wondering about:

I'm going to be mounting a small fuse board that will take the bigger blade fuses to put outside lights, inside lights and such. Would this be wired straight from the battery?

Off that estimate of Battery Bank of 479 amp hours is that in total without 50% battery or after? With 2x s550 that would be 1100 AH in total but only 550 is usable correct?

I Was thinking of putting a main power master switch off the positive battery to shut all power off to the system, or is that not needed?

Have you looked at the drawings I showed you? This is how it is done.



You will need a Fuse Block like below available from Blue Seas Marine. They have all the battery fuse blocks, distribution blocks, and even pre-made cables made to order.

[UrbanElite]

Where did you come up with 1200 wh/day? I thought you were measuring how many you really needed with a Kill-A-Watt Meter?
I am trying to keep it real and inexpensive for you. My best advice is if 1200 wh per day is real, use a 300 AH battery, 40 amp CC, and take some of that $500 you just saved and buy a good $75 battery Isolator. If not me, listen to Sensij, that is also what he is telling you.

I used an off grid website: https://www.altestore.com/store/calc...id_calculator/ I still am measuring with the kill-a-watt meter, so far I'm at 1 day 17 hours with 2.018 kWh

Like I said before the most part I'm camping is 2 days and sometimes up to 4 or more, but that's rare. So, for the most part, I want to size the system so I can camp with power for 2 days without worry about the weather, but if the weather is good my batteries over the 2-day trip will be topped right up and not draining them.

I know you are and you have been great with replying and keeping up with the topic, thank you a lot.

[Sunking]

I used a off grid website: https://www.altestore.com/store/calc...id_calculator/ I still am measuring with the kill-a-watt meter, so far I'm at 1 day 17 hours with 2.018 kWh

Like i said before the most part Im camping is 2 days and sometimes up to 4 or more, but thats rare. So for the most part I want to size the system so I can camp with power for 2 days without worry about weather, but if weather is good my batteries over the 2 day trip will be topped right up and not draining them.

300 AH is all you need for 1.2Kwh/day. If all you do is 2 days, no solar required. Your batteries would be recharged by the time you get home. At 450 AH you can go about 4 days without a recharge.

Think of solar a different way in an RV. It just extends the time you can stay out. It can stretch a 3 day reserve to 6 or 7 days. You do not need a system designed like a home system where you want the batteries fully saturated every day. Do that and you will save a ton of money, and get exactly what you want with redundancy with an Isolator.