Quote:
Originally Posted by nautipelican
New to camping - Got boondocking reservations a couple nights this coming fall on north ridge of Grand Canyon. Would like to be properly prepared for it.
1) When you leave the campsite all day to site see do you drop the AFrame or leave it up??? Leave solar charger on or pack away???
2) Would I be able to permanently mount a renogy100 on an AFrame, or would it be too difficult to orientate??
3) Would the existing systems in a 2018 T12RBST work OK With the renogy (one battery, and WFCO)???
4) Is there complete instructions with the renogy on how to wire it into our system??
Thanks for your input......
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A-frame...you're gonna have to sacrifice a lot of sun on a steeply pitched roof. In this case, either you build a Rube Goldberg mount or you go free-standing. Keeping the camper closed all day will become a real pain in the ass about 20 minutes into the first trip.
I'd go free standing. But you need a sturdy anchoring system to hold the panels in the wind. Perhaps "
screw anchors?"
Then there's the small matter that your roof is made of tissue paper and bubble gum. It took a lot of ingenuity and stainless steel thru bolts to mount mine on the roof of my PUP and not ruin something. The roof is THIN fiberglass, 1/16" plywood (as I said, tissue paper), light framing, another layer of 1/16" plywood, and the ceiling covering. In other words, damned near nothing. I used 1/4" bolts with a 1 1/4" solid shank, fender washers and stacked washers, nylock nuts, and lots of silicone to get it so I hit the solid shank on the bolt just when the nut snugged things just right. It took a bit of experimenting to get the length just right. Then a dremel cutoff wheel to trim and smooth the bolts inside the camper.
Find a convenient place to mount your solar charge controller...perhaps inside on the front wall of the camper. (I mounted mine in a weather-proof box outside.) As close as possible to the battery. Wire the charge controller output DIRECTLY to the battery terminals. If you remove the 120 volt outlet that's likely mounted on the inside front wall of the camper, you can look inside and see how the thing is made, avoid wires, and so on. Drill thru the front wall behind the charge controller mounting point, thru the outside wall, then use sealant to seal the hole, or get fancy and add a "
gland" to route the wire out the outside wall. A gland may not work if you drill thru diamond plate. Silicone seal is more than good enough.
Mount a quick connect to the outside of the rig in a convenient location. Same wire routing concepts as above, but you could come out of, say, the "road" side of the camper to keep the activity area clear of wires. Use 10 AWG wire for all connections to maximize performance with a single 100 watt panel (but 12 awg will do) over shorter distances...say 25 to 50 feet from the RV to the panel.
IF AND ONLY IF YOU, AND
ONLY YOU, WILL HANDLE THE SOLAR GEAR, you could use
conventional extension cord and AC connectors to connect your panel to the charge controller. Short extension cord with FEMALE connector on the charge controller input, short extension cord with MALE connector on the panel, and "any" length standard 10 AWG or 12 AWG extension cord between. There is no danger at the charge controller end, but if someone makes the mistake of plugging the panel array into 120 volts, that's the end of the panel.
A plastic tag could be added with a warning to not plug into 120 volts. I'd do this in a heartbeat, but I know that nobody else will be messing with the solar. It's a bad idea if you have kids or "stupid" friends.
But you could always adapt an extension cord with proper 12 volt solar connectors. I like extension cord because it is durable and meant for hard duty on the ground.
Now the good news. You DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING SPECIAL to separate solar charging from converter charging. They can run in parallel simultaneously and continuously. Plug in the camper while the solar's on? NO PROBLEM...assuming you wire the solar charge controller straight to the battery.
SOME, not all, "solar on the side" setups have the solar wiring installed in other ways, and this can lead to conflicts while plugged in. But if you go straight to the battery, it's no different than using jumper cables on a car and then the car starts....charging from the alternator and the other car's battery...or using a heavy-duty battery charger/jump starter to charge the car battery and start the car. No harm no foul. Couldn't be easier and more trouble free.
I've been running solar for years on the roof of my PUP, and with very judicious use of power and in sunny Colorado, I go to bed fully charged each night. I do NOT use the lights. I have a propane mantle lantern and a couple of Costco mega LED lanterns. I save my power for the furnace, pump, and other uses, plus the inevitable parasitic losses. I NEVER run out of 12 volt power. You can see my panel on the roof, and my charge controller is in the plastic electrical box mounted to the front of the rig...couldn't spare the space inside, because we climb into and out of the beds in that space and would break something with our feet.
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