Geo Pro Stock Solar System - Page 3

RedRoverComeOver · 06-03-2021, 09:58 PM

Went through 4 days of cloud cover/rain in a '21 G19BH (190W panel) and never hit 100% any of those days. Did get down to 38% battery and connected Jeep with it running for about 15 minutes two nights. Mainly turned off individual lights since having them all on simultaneously is too bright for my taste and went with one or two on or off while watching movies on TV with my phone and external HDD drive connected to Geo Pro USB power driving the movies. We had the heater on since it was 40s at night and 50s during the day.

Wish water lasted longer...most of it ended up in the gray tank thanks to someone washing dishes without paying attention to usage. Time to break out the paper and plastic for the next trip to see how that goes.

NJKris · 06-04-2021, 06:04 AM

RedRover, acccording to GoPower manual, you will seldom see display hit 100% when using mostly solar to charge. Hoping you were able to plug in right after trip to drive it up to 100%. The current from the hookup to the Jeep is minimal and very slow to charge.

RedRoverComeOver · 06-04-2021, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJKris

RedRover, acccording to GoPower manual, you will seldom see display hit 100% when using mostly solar to charge. Hoping you were able to plug in right after trip to drive it up to 100%. The current from the hookup to the Jeep is minimal and very slow to charge.

I was told the connection could provide power but noticed it didn't make too much of a difference as you said.

Had the Geo Pro 2 1/2 weeks and haven't plugged into shore power since. My storage location has a good amount of sky clearance and always check percentage when I visit to put finishing touches on it. It's always 100% and typically turn on the lights and play radio when I'm working about. Keep the inside fridge off (0), doors open and a fridge bar on the light switch. Also have the inverter off and only used one to let my daughter charge her phone. I initially shrugged my shoulders when she asked why the plugs didn't work.

Also have the external fridge off and will take out this weekend which should give me extra space for something like a generator if we determine we want A/C. We'll see how fans go once it gets warmer.

Going to see how many water containers I can stack in there after I get the fridge out and verify the depth. With just the front space I see, I'm guessing a minimum of 10.5 gallons with three of my containers. That's approximately 87 lbs. minus the fridge weight difference.

I'd rather have water than A/C and outdoor showers would help with gray water tank filling up. May be able to put another three containers towards that back space, but have to do the math after the last of my stuff gets here this weekend, and get a new trailer weight with the base load. Should have 400 lbs. or so to play with and should be no issue.

NJKris · 06-04-2021, 06:46 PM

Sounds like a good plan. I would not want an outside fridge either. I keep my beers in a cooler with good quality cold packs. Trailer weight goes up quick with just usual pots/pans/other supplies. I bought a couple generators to have A/C when needed, but so far have not used them, since we have been using mostly parks with full hookups. Get those batteries charged up quick after discharging that far, plug in somewhere if you need to. The longer they sit not going back to full charge, the shorter they will last. 50% is the general rule, but if they are true deep cycle batts like golf cart batts, you can go lower as long as you charge them right after.

I have a Rigid portable fan that uses the heavy duty batts the portable power tools use that works really well when you don't have hookups for A/C.

RedRoverComeOver · 06-04-2021, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJKris

Sounds like a good plan. I would not want an outside fridge either. I keep my beers in a cooler with good quality cold packs. Trailer weight goes up quick with just usual pots/pans/other supplies. I bought a couple generators to have A/C when needed, but so far have not used them, since we have been using mostly parks with full hookups. Get those batteries charged up quick after discharging that far, plug in somewhere if you need to. The longer they sit not going back to full charge, the shorter they will last. 50% is the general rule, but if they are true deep cycle batts like golf cart batts, you can go lower as long as you charge them right after.

I have a Rigid portable fan that uses the heavy duty batts the portable power tools use that works really well when you don't have hookups for A/C.

Understand about the batteries but figured the drive back from wherever is already charging the battery. Unfortunately I don't think running an extension cord a few stories down a condo will work in my situation so stuck with the green new deal.

I have a 12V fan and that Rigid looks interesting as long as I have a couple of batteries already charged. How long does one battery last and what kind of usage?

NJKris · 06-04-2021, 08:16 PM

I can get 2 nights sleep out of one battery if I keep fan on low. Sometimes that's all you need, to stir the air so you don't lay there sleepless and sweating. The fan speed is completely variable with the knob. If you turn it up to hurricane speed, it's not going to last a night. I have two batts, the bigger ones.

The converter charger in these things is pretty powerful. Even if you ran that extension cord to trailer for a few hours, the bulk charge mode would boost batteries up high enough that solar could finish the job more easily. Maybe the ground floor neighbor would let you plug in! I can't imagine plugging in for a few hours would bump up his leccy bill by more than a buck!

RedRoverComeOver · 06-04-2021, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJKris

I can get 2 nights sleep out of one battery if I keep fan on low. Sometimes that's all you need, to stir the air so you don't lay there sleepless and sweating. The fan speed is completely variable with the knob. If you turn it up to hurricane speed, it's not going to last a night. I have two batts, the bigger ones.

The converter charger in these things is pretty powerful. Even if you ran that extension cord to trailer for a few hours, the bulk charge mode would boost batteries up high enough that solar could finish the job more easily. Maybe the ground floor neighbor would let you plug in! I can't imagine plugging in for a few hours would bump up his leccy bill by more than a buck!

Thanks on the fan info. Will see how the current setup works and if we need to supplement, may try that since having an external battery source won't sap the RV batteries.

Unfortunately our association is really strict on all kinds of things and plenty of nosy neighbors with nothing else to do will rat me out. Won't be too much longer before I leave the sate behind anyway.

idaguy · 06-04-2021, 09:31 PM

We have a 2021 Epro 19rd with the 100 watt roof panel, and 2 deep cycle batteries. Just spent 3 nights, Memorial Day weekend, on sunny Cascade Lake here in central Idaho. We dry camp as often as we can, which means no "trailer parks". Since we bought the trailer last year, we've boondocked about 7 times. We used the lights as much as we wanted, kept the water pump on most of the time, heater a couple times when needed, ran the awning in and out a couple times everyday. I can honestly say the only issue we had was filling the grey tank and had to bucket empty. Wish it was larger. I have a generator we used with our old Keystone camper, but haven't needed it except for air conditioner. I've been really impressed with how the solar panel keeps our batteries charged. Oh yeah, almost forgot. Our 700 watt coffee maker works great with the inverter, but original toaster was too hot.

RedRoverComeOver · 06-04-2021, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by idaguy

We have a 2021 Epro 19rd with the 100 watt roof panel, and 2 deep cycle batteries. Just spent 3 nights, Memorial Day weekend, on sunny Cascade Lake here in central Idaho. We dry camp as often as we can, which means no "trailer parks". Since we bought the trailer last year, we've boondocked about 7 times. We used the lights as much as we wanted, kept the water pump on most of the time, heater a couple times when needed, ran the awning in and out a couple times everyday. I can honestly say the only issue we had was filling the grey tank and had to bucket empty. Wish it was larger. I have a generator we used with our old Keystone camper, but haven't needed it except for air conditioner. I've been really impressed with how the solar panel keeps our batteries charged. Oh yeah, almost forgot. Our 700 watt coffee maker works great with the inverter, but original toaster was too hot.

I'm expecting similar performance when there's sun here and hopefully will have it next weekend.

Looks like you also have a 13.5K BTU A/C. What generator are you using? Starting and running watts? I'm looking at one with 2.5KW starting and 1.8KW running but have seen approx. starting watts ranging from 2.8-3KW which is under what I've read. I'm eyeing that one because it's about 40 lb. while the next one up hits 100 lb.

idaguy · 06-05-2021, 11:46 AM

I'm using a Champion 4375/3500 generator. It's not as quiet as an inverter, and is considerably heavier, but has all the power I ever need. Where I go camping the noise isn't an issue. Got it a couple years ago when we didn't have a camper with solar panel.

idaguy · 06-05-2021, 11:50 AM

I'm pulling my Epro with a Ram 1500, so I put the generator in the back and don't have to worry about weight in the camper. also, truck has air bags on back, so everything stays level for towing.

NJKris · 06-05-2021, 12:00 PM

I have a pair of the 2k watt champion inverters. If I don't need A/C, I can take only one of them. For A/C, I would need both. They are 50lbs each so not a bear to handle. There are a million threads/posts on this already, just use search window. Some folks also add a soft start system to A/C unit to allow them to fire up A/C with less power. But for the cost, I'd rather have the 2nd generator and increased power generation capability.

RedRoverComeOver · 06-09-2021, 12:01 AM

Guess this is a temporary good start to fill the void of the worthless, to me, fridge that I don't plan on using. Still have to weigh to see what the difference is.

NJKris · 06-09-2021, 08:12 AM

Looks like you got the Rigid fan!

Ed from Riverside · 06-09-2021, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bikendan

Because it's not a true deep cycle battery for RV purposes.
DP means Dual-purpose and it says RV/Marine on it.
I have the same battery, only it's a Group 27.
It also has a Cold Cranking rating for boat motors. This is useless for RV application.
It's kinda of like a motorcycle for road or off-road usage. It's not good at either.

Mine came with 1 12v"DP" battery, So i switched it out and installed 2 "DC" batteries. No issues and down to 75% over night but like others, Low usage by bed time and thats with the 12V fridge running all the time. Few hours of sun next day and were 100% but your mileage will vary.... I also carry a 4200-3600 Gen as backup just in case.

RedRoverComeOver · 06-09-2021, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJKris

Looks like you got the Rigid fan!

Good eye, thanks to you. I wanted something else that didn't rely on RV 12V and the 18V batteries with AC backup seemed okay. Went for 4A batteries and like it's pretty quiet on low.

NJKris · 06-09-2021, 04:54 PM

Puts out some wind when you crank it up! I love the way you can hang it upside down from virtually anything. On hot days, I hang from my awning arm. I plug it into extension cord, then plug into side of RV when we are on shore power. Nice to have a breeze lying in my gravity chair! I have 2 of the 4.0Ah batts too. Expensive but worth it.

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