Solar Battery Charging

[Carl Main]

Having lots of trouble keeping batteries charged while dry camping. We have a 2010 FunFinder X210UDs. When dry camping we use minimal electricity, using only occasional water pump, refrigerator, CO2/Propane detector and an entertainment center that we don't turn on. We usually use portable battery lanterns for light. But still have problems keeping batteries up to snuff.

Want to use a solar charger, but not sure what to get. Hopefully a portable charger of about 200 Watts would be adequate assuming a generator backup option. Does anyone have any suggestions what to get?

[profdant139]

I have a 120 watt portable unit -- it provides plenty of power (but we are minimalists). It is a Chinese imitation of a Renogy suitcase unit -- I think the Renogy is better-made.

Do you have LED lights? They make a big difference. So does a small accumulator for your water pump -- much less "run time" for the pump.

Also, what kind of batteries do you have? We have two group 31 deep cycle batteries. I use one for a few days and then switch to the spare. With the solar, we now don't even have to switch -- the main battery is full every day, and the spare just sits there. My generator is gathering dust -- I only run it once a month at home, to clear out the cobwebs. (And then I drain the carburetor, so no gunk builds up.)

I wish I had gotten the solar a few years ago.

[PieGuy]

I have a 100 watt solar panel that I mounted on top of my T160. We just returned from a 17 day trip where we camped 3 and 4 days at a time with out ever needing to charge the battery. It never got below 12.5 volts. I was concerned about being in the shade and it not charging. You can pick up a complete kit on ebay for $200.00. Most of the cheap controllers that come with the kit are not very good. If you want to learn alot about off grid solar check out https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/ I emailed Bob and he responded with some suggestions.

[N&K]

I have a Renogy 100w portable suitcase system. It does a good job of maintaining two smaller (Group 24) batteries. My electrical use is a little higher than your use based on your description. I like the way I can move the panel around to maximize the amount of sun available. The original power cable was 25 ft long which limited my ability to avoid the shade so I have purchased a 50 foot 10 AWG cable to increase the effective working circle. I will test the use of the new cable in the next few weeks.

[michellep]

My 100W panel could not keep up with my MINIMAL usage last year. So, I've added a 2nd 100W panel. Haven't used it yet...

However, a BIG issue that I did not know existed, and do not know if YOUR fridge has it, either, is a "climate control" heating element that works all the time.

Here is a reply I received from Dometic on August 28, 2015. It was a real pain to get to this point and then to figure out how to disconnect the damn thing.

Michelle,

With the climate control system, as long as the refrigerator is on the climate control will pull .5 amp per hour.

We appreciate this opportunity to address your situation and hope all of your future travels are trouble free. Please do not hesitate to contact us at any time to order parts or for further assistance.

Sincerely,
Holly Gayheart
Customer Support Center
Dometic Corporation
800-544-4881

[Carl Main]

Michelle ... thanks for the info. How can one tell if one has the climate control on the refrigerator. And, having it, were you able to disconnect it? How? Is there any downside to disconnecting it?

Regards,
Carl Main

[Carl Main]

N&K ... thanks for the information. Do you have a source for obtaining the longer cable? I have heard that can be a problem.

Regards,
Carl Main

[Carl Main]

Pieguy ... thanks for the link. I'll take a look.

Regards,
Carl Main

[Carl Main]

progdant139 ... thanks for the info. I have 2 12 volt deep cycle batteries. I think they are group 27, though I'm not sure.

Yes, I do have LED bulgs for all but a few of my trailer lights. However, when dry camping we almost never use any of the lights anyway.

What is a "small accumulator" for the water pump?

Regards,
Carl Main

[profdant139]

An accumulator is a small pressurized tank -- when you open the faucet, water first comes out of this small tank without triggering the pump. Only after the tank is drained does the pump come on. This reduces pump usage and also the noise. Shurflo makes various sizes -- I only had room for the smallest unit under my seats, near the pump. It really works as advertised.

[michellep]

Carl, it took a lot of digging and questioning (I drive people nuts with my questions - just ask George...) and I finally figured out how to do it. IRV2.com had some instructions, but the guy's instructions included cutting a wire in order to NOT lose the refrigerator light.

I figured out how to pull a jumper on the outside circuit board without having to cut any wires (cutters in my hand is not a good thing). Only issue is that pulling the jumper made me lose my interior fridge light.

The guy who posted pictures and instructions on IRV2 reported back a year later and said NO problems from having cut the wire and turning off that darn heater.

As to whether you have "it", you'll have to research your model number. The online instructions from Dometic are VERY confusing as they say there is a SWITCH under some panel on the inside front. That switch has been removed in later models, so you cannot just turn it off. Grrrr...

My remedy was to locate and pull Jumper J2 on the circuit board...



On MY circuit board, J2 is clearly marked HEATER,although you can't see it in the pic.



And here is the link to the instructions over on IRV2:

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f54/new-d...-113116-2.html

I DO NOT KNOW IF THE HEATER EXISTS IN 1-DOOR MODEL REEFERS. Mine is a 2-door model.

[michellep]

Carl, I just made my own solar extension cables - got some 10AWG wire at Lowe's, ordered some 10AWG SAE connectors online and voila...

Probably not the most elegant, but I haven't a clue what I'm doing...

[profdant139]

(Just to set the record straight, Michelle's "dumb" questions are great -- thought-provoking and useful.)

[michellep]

Originally Posted by profdant139

(Just to set the record straight, Michelle's "dumb" questions are great -- thought-provoking and useful.)

.
.
LOL - thanks, Dan. But I don't bombard you with email questions like I do poor George.
Thank goodness he has seemingly endless patience...

.

[N&K]

Carl,

I am getting my cables off of Ebay from the UnlimitedSolar store. I notice that their price for the 50 foot cable went up $5 this week. If people are checking prices per foot, this is equivalent to a 100 foot single strand.

The one question that I have because I am not familiar with your model of TT is whether it has a flat roof or a rounded roof. To me a flat roof would be more conducive to mounting a panel. Mine is rounded and I didn't want to deal with the brackets and the fact that you create a gap for wind to get under the panel. This would really come into play when you are going down the road at 60 mph. I made the choice for a portable panel that I could move around and angle to maximize the sun angle.

Norm

[Carl Main]

Michelle ... Wow! That's a lot of great info. You're obviously way ahead of me on the tech/hardware side. So, mine is a DM2652, which is the first one listed on your wiring diagram. I think I see what you call J2 on my board. But I can't read it with the connector in place. So ... do I just pull that connector straight out, or is there something to squeeze or whatever to make it come loose? I'm always worried about breaking something when pulling it apart because I don't understand how it's connected. Also, once out, do you just leave it hanging there?

And ... I didn't understand about the inside fridge light ... did you lose that when disconnecting J2?

I'll probably have more questions when you answer these ... I can bug people too, and I know so little!

Much thanks,
Carl Main

[michellep]

Can you see the word HEATER printed on the circuit board right by J2? I THINK I just wiggled the jumper straight back, VERY gently because I don't know what I'm doing, either! ON EDIT: I see that you said you can't see the printing on the board! DUH on me.

I then tucked it up and put the cover back on.

As far as losing the interior fridge light, one of those cables on the jumper control the light and the other, the heater. I wasn't going to take a chance on screwing something up, so it was a very acceptable trade-off for me to lose the light, as long as I lost that battery-sucking heater.

If you go to the link I posted on IRV2, the guy posted pictures of what he did (he had enough cajones to cut the wire...I did not).

And PLEASE - do not take anything I say as fact. I screw up more stuff than I fix, said the woman who drilled straight through the trailer wall to the outside when trying to hang a small cup holder... (I have the fix to prevent that, but I keep forgetting to buy it!)

[jbfunfinder]

Carl
I am real late to this party, but I'm always putting in a plug for using our FF forum's great search feature. Your questions have been asked and answered in the past. So you can combine the great answers you getting from our members now with the "wisdom of the past." If you search "solar install", you will find a multi-part post on my solar installation plus many helpful comments from others at that time. Plus, such a search for "solar" will yield lots of other info. Good luck!
Jamie

[beddy]

We have 2 85w Polycrystalline panels and a MorningStar ProStar PS-30M Solar Panel Charge Controller that we can put up or leave on ground depending on the location. We can keep our 2 6v Trojans charged even when partially shaded.

Took us a few trips to get it figured out. We purchased our 210 with 2 12v batteries and couldn't keep the fridge running more than 24 hours without boosting the batteries with the generator. We were sure we had a massive power leak. We discovered some bad wiring at the converter panel and thought we found it, but continued to have trouble keeping up. We even put a switch on the Co2/gas detector. Over the winter we studied batteries and discovered the batteries the dealer sold us were the worst and had the lowest amp hours of any. We had no amp storage!

We purchased 2 Trojan T125 6v batteries and increased our amps by over 400%. (from 50 amp hrs to 240) and we purchased the solar panels on ebay. We didn’t want to pierce the roof, so we outfitted them with teflon furniture feet from Home Depot. This allows us to place them anywhere on the roof and they slide right across the roof with minimal friction. They sit real close to the roof so wind has yet to be a problem, and we have seen some wind! We can also use them on the ground. We purchased a 30 amp controller because the cost difference between the 15 amp and 30 was negligible and we thought if we needed more solar we would not have to change the controller. Started with a Steca.. but replaced it this year with a REAL controller from MorningStar. (That’s another story) We have a collapsible ladder and find it only takes about 10 minutes to get the panels up and running.

The 85w panels are rated at 4.86 amps. We get about 7amps in the full sun and the volt meter shows around 14.2 volts. It’s just like putting the batteries on a charger. The controller manages the charge and stops charging when the batteries are at full charge. We used the standard solar connectors to make all the cable connections and 8guage wire. Everything is available on ebay and it was very easy to setup.
We mounted the charge controller in a plastic tool box and attached a cheap hose holder to hang it over the tongue near the battery box. All the wires can be rolled up into this box for storage. We built a portable box for the panels that we carry in the truck bed and lined it with waffle foam. Everything is portable.

It’s been 3 years now, and we only use the generator to run the microwave and the toaster. (Have to have some luxury even when dry camping.) We can be out 10 days and not need to run the generator to charge the batteries ever. I recommend you get replace EVERY bulb with LEDS (no more battry lanterns), replace your batteries with good 6volts and install a permanent volt meter. And get a battery voltage chart so you can watch your available volts. We put a small volt meter right next to the trailer control panel and put a switch on that too!

Get 2 100w panels minimum, or more if you spend a lot of time in cloudier weather. Look for the most efficient panels you can afford and let the physical size be your watt control. (The bigger the panel, the more watts per panel.) But if you get too much solar, you will just waste most of the energy. If you are going to mount them, you have to be sure they will fit on the roof alongside all the other stuff up there. Get a name brand controller at least twice the max combined amps of your panels. The Steca was half the price, but we didn’t get half of the performance and information from it to be able to best understand the power we were generating and could not run anything off the load side to use the excess energy that was just wasted.

Good Luck!!

Mac & d

[profdant139]

Beddy, that was a great write-up -- thanks for posting!! These sound like portable panels -- do they fold up for travel? Where do you store them when you are on the road?