Quote:
Originally Posted by Comanchecreek
With that setup, what do you do about your Refrigerator heating element? My Dometic in my old rig had an electric off switch, but I have to unplug the Norcold in my new unit. Also how do you mount the panels through you rubber roof? Do you lag them to the plywood underneath? Where's the best supplier for the better panels?
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I have a switch on my fridge that allows me to chose propane and/or electricity. If I didn't have the switch, then I would wire the fridge to a wall switch (light switch 15 or 20 amp one) and shut the fridge heating element off so it would force the fridge onto propane.
I use renogy solar panels. Are they the best? Probably not but they are affordable and work great for me. The best may have 10% better performance but at 50% more cost and that isn't worth it for me. I never buy the best. I find that the second best costs much with only slightly less performance.
I use renogy commercial z mounts. I use six per panel and use wider sheet metal screws with them-I did not use any lag mounts but I guess you could. I also put dicor under the mounts, apply a lot of dicor over the mounts, and then eternabond each mount. I have no problem with my mounts or roof. In fact, I just installed a new roof last summer and had no concerns remounting all of my panels.
I did not drill a hole in my roof to run my cables. I ran my cables down the vent for my bedroom sink drain, pulled the wire out about 8 inches above my sink, and then ran the wire further down the enclosed paneling that covered up the sink drain vent tube. I did put some silicon on the wiring as it exited the vent tubing-drilled a hole into it to get wire out so I could go further downward with the wire run.
I used renogy monocrystalline (not polycrystalline) solar panels. I am very happy with them and will add another 200 watts of panels on my roof this Spring and hope to get my battery capacity as close to 1000 watts as possible.
If you want to see my setup and are in the Springs, give me a holler. Labor accounts for about 1/2 of the cost of a solar install. My install would have cost me about $7000 and I have about $3000 in mine with all of the bells and whistles.
While 3k is a lot of money, I bought stuff over several years I didn't get all of my panels up at one time. I'd buy 2 panels a year and keep adding to them. I started out with 2 12 volt batteries and each eyar added a pair of golf cart batteries. My solar controller was oversized so I could upgrade the system. My inverter was larger then my battery capacity for a couple of years but no big deal. I'm the same way with my RV stuff. I bought a flush wand for my water heater last month, this month I bought 2 oak rv remote control holders, next month I'm buying new bathroom/sink/tp holder hardware. I try to do something each month to my camper to make it better. Sometimes is a cheap toothbrush holder. Other times it involves installing a 12 volt aviation jack outlet on the outside of my RV so I can use my 12 volt water pump to pull water out of a 7 gallon water container and pump it into my gravity tank. takes about 5 minutes or so to put in 28 gallons using garden hose quick disconnects on the water container lid instead of the lid's original on/off spigot.
I love working and improving my RV. New 150 watt stereo with Dvd PLAYER and bluetooth is awesome for the 2 foot square base speaker in my ceiling and the 3 main speakers and 2 surround sound speakers-not to mention outside speakers and bedroom speakers.
Also installed LED strip lighting that is remote controlled and has hundreds of light combinations and thousands of different collars.
My camper had very little 120 volt ac power plugs. I've doubled the number for convenience especially charging phones, shavers, batteries, ham radios, and flashlights. I also have a great power panel on my center console arm rest between the two rear reclining counches. It has an on-off switch, has a cig light power outlet, has 2 Usb PORTS, and a volt-meter. LOVE IT
Currently using a suicide plug cable to run my 800 watt generator when I plug it into my RV. I use a cable with two males plugs and plug one male plug into my outside outlet and the other one into the generator. Having 2 male plugs means its a suicide plug if one unplugs itself accidentally.
I'll get a 20 amp outdoor plug installed one of these days but will wire it directly to my 80 amp progressive dyamics converter.
RV's are fun and I love the fact that the smallest modification can bring a big smile to my face.
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