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Old 04-15-2020, 09:04 AM   #15
KimNTerry
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Windsor
Posts: 236
Current electrical:

4 Duracell GC Batteries from Sam's Club with it's own cutoff switch in the battery compartment (We can easily get by on 2 and I may reduce to 2 this season to save weight.)

An 1800 Watt Xantrex Inverter Charger with a built in transfer switch to run the DW's small hair dryer. The on board converter is bypassed so it does not accidentally get turned on. The 40Amp charger on 2/0 cables a few feet from the batteries does a much better job of the charging the batrtteries than the WFCO converter. In my case the onboard converter does not go past 13.8 Volts at the battery due to the circuitous routing of the rather anemic 6 gauge wire. Voltage drop is real. No idea why 30 ft of wiring is used on the converter or why the converter is in the middle of the trailer. The converter should be next to the battery on big fat cables.

All 120V outlets are availble to the Inverter. I just turn off the AC and microwave breakers to keep them from turning on.

The wired remote for the inverter does show voltage, but it is deceptive as when an item gets used, the voltage drop can show drastically, you have to wait until the load stops and the batteries settle a bit to use voltage and guess at State of Charge.

For power generation I have 2x Yamaha EF2000is generators that can be connected in paralell.

I added a Hard Start Capacitor to the AC and can start and run the AC using a single generator but nothing else.

Most of our camping is boondocking in the mountains and we don't typically use the Microwave or need the AC. If I know I'm going somewhere AC is required, we look for spots with electrical or paralell the generators. If I know I'm going to be at 10,000 feet with a high of 70 degrees F I'll only bring one generator to charge the batteries if required. With 4 GC batteries we can go an entire 3 day weekend without charging.
For coffee and/or tea I heat 1/2 gallon of water on the stove and pour it into a vacuum carafe that keeps the water drinakbly hot until early afternoon. I have a single serve drip coffee maker I put on a thermal mug and make my coffee 1 cup at a time. (I usually have time on my hands when camping to do this.)

Future plans:
A shunt based battery monitor to better see what is happening with the batteries.

I would like to acquire a smaller hard wired 300 watt inverter for the TV and entertainment stuff as running the 1800 watt inverter does use some extra energy that is not required for those items. I have tried running a 150 watt inverter, but the samller 10 gauge? wire used in the trailer at the opposite end of the run furhtest from the batteries does not lend itself well to that. We can't even make it through a movie before the small inverter reads an under volatage condtion and shuts down. Again DC voltage drop on long wiring runs is a real thing.

400 Watts of solar panels to keep the batteries topped off and bascially not let them get below 70-80%.
Solar Charge Controller to be determined. I keep going back and forth on the technology between PWM and MPPT compatring costs and different wiring requirements and brand(s) to use etc. I have researched this to death and have speced out many options right down to wire gauges, connectors, fuses and fasteners. It's all a mental exercise until I have a budget in place and funds comitted. I was going to try this year until the pandemic hit reality stage and my salary was cut 20%. So, on-hold yet again. Which is a shame since I have an extra day each week I have the time to to do the install.

I can fill the generator with fuel many many times and not equal the cost of a solar install even a DIY install. $1,000 fills that genrator a lot of times.

No plans on Lithium Ion Batteries. (The cost/benefit is not there for me yet.)
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