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Old 05-03-2015, 07:25 PM   #21
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RadioShack is going down the tubes. Just saw our local one had closed. I believe they filed for bankruptcy recently.
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Old 05-03-2015, 10:58 PM   #22
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Here's a thing I learned today. I plugged in my spiffy Zamp 120 into the port on the side of my spankin' new camper and...within two hours my battery was dead.

Zip. Zero. Nada juice. Having run nothing.

So, taking a tip from you folks here, I popped the lock on my battery, switched connectors, repositioned the solar panel and got back to my other projects. 2.25 hours later, my battery was fully charged again!

I think there's something wonky with the built-in port. I'm choosing to ignore it for now.

Our biggest question is...how do we get our outlets to work when we're off the grid? I thought that once I had the battery charged up, the outlets would work (as well as the lights).

Nope.

What am I not doing? (I'm sure there is a lot!)

Thanks to all for your help and wisdom.

Polly
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Old 05-03-2015, 11:33 PM   #23
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Glad it worked out. To run your 110v outlets you'll need to be plugged into shore power, on a gen set, or install an inverter (converts 12v DC to 110v AC). At the moment, your batteries will only power 12v devices. Ie., lights, control boards for the fridge, water heater (on propane), furnace, radio, sides, power awning, etc etc.

If those devices are not working on 12v you may have a battery disconnect switch somewhere in your rig. I would also check your power distribution box to ensure all breakers are in the "on" position.
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Old 05-04-2015, 07:39 AM   #24
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Polrobin,

Radio Shack is going out of business in some places but may have sale specials therefore.

Buy a cheap little multimeter from somewhere like Harbor Freight and check the Zamp inlet on the camper to see if it is in fact connected to the batteries.

Multimeters can be used for lots of helpful electrical checks. My HB one cost about $6.

If there is 12V at the Zamp inlet see if its polarity matches that of the solar panel lead - it should be +ve to +ve when plugged in. (If it seems to be +ve to -ve then the solar will charge the batteries back to front but there should be some sort of protection built in to protect from that.

If all that is OK I am stumped.

My guess is that the Zamp inlet is not connected to the batteries and it could be that a fuse or a switch must be on to make that happen.

Let us know what you find.



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