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Marvin Braun, proprietor of Precision RV, is an RVIA/RVDA Master Licensed Recreational Vehicle Professional and a permanent RVer. He and his other half cope with and make use of solar energy daily. Marvin stays up to date with the most recent innovation, including hybrid inverters and lithium battery systems. He sets up systems on all classes of RVs including recreational vehicle, fifth wheels, travel trailers, Airstreams and even more.
Execute the greatest high quality workmanship possible. Deal consumer education and learning on care and upkeep of their brand-new solar setup. Supply the best quality parts in the industry.
Before April of 2018, our only boondocking experience in the first 20 months of traveling the country in our motor home, was 3 nights at a state park in Rhode Island, and one night at a truck stop parking area in Laramie Wyoming. The weekend spent in George Washington State Park near Divine Superintendence Rhode Island was invested outside, playing in a lake, delighting in the warm summer climate, and our only electric demands were for the lights.
The furnace draws a great deal of energy, and running all evening would eliminate any type of solitary 12v battery in a matter of hours. That had not been the minute we made a decision to get even more batteries or anything like that, it was just our only experience with outdoor camping off grid for any kind of amount of time with our Cyclone.
Windy Country appeared to have the market collared on Amazon motor home Solar, so I selected them. To obtain the power out of the batteries, I included 2 standalone electrical outlets directly to the inverter, one in the kitchen area for our Instant Pot, and the other in a simple spot to access for charging and whatever else we needed it for.
Also though the sunlight never ever sets in Alaska, we definitely fought with the 3 panels on the roof since it was cloudy and over cast most of the moment. Fortunately we could bill the batteries a couple of different means: Solar panels, when the sun occur to be out Generator, when the motorhome's engine was keeping up the aboard generator We took a trip in the Summer House from April 15th to August 25th and in those 4 months I definitely discovered a lot regarding powering a recreational vehicle solar off the grid.
Maybe an added battery (and much better batteries), another panel or 2, and be more conscious of the size and size of circuitry I used for the various links throughout the system. Overall it was a wonderful inexpensive remedy that worked. The main takeaway from that experience was we did NOT want to hinge on 2 separated outlets; we desired our RV to function the exact same whether it was plugged in or otherwise.
I was investigating panels, inverters, inverter/chargers, fee controllers, batteries, electrical wiring, breakers, battery displays, etc. There is a wide range of info out there, yet it was all in some international language that talked in terms of watts, ohms, volts, amps, scale circuitry, crossbreed, assist, bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and the list goes on and on!
We have the ability really quickly to utilize a whole lot of electrical energy. When analyzing the process, and what we intended to accomplish with the system, I kept reflecting to our solar goal statement from the Summer season Home, we desired our motor home to work the same whether it was connected in or not! My disclaimer: I am great with DC electric systems, however know just enough regarding air conditioner systems to be harmful.
This blog is NOT implied to be an absolute resource for powering your motor home, however more to record our develop and trip to being energy independent. I mentioned above, our 40' toy hauler 5th wheel came from the manufacturing facility with a single 12 volt battery. We had changed it in the previous year, and honestly hadn't truly utilized it for a lot given that we were always connected in.
With that being said, our 50 amp recreational vehicle has 2 x 120-volt hotlines going into the RV's primary a/c distribution panel. They are divided right into 2 "lines", Line 1 and Line 2. Line 1 is the key part of the panel. It feeds 120 volts of a/c to the essential circuits of the RV.
Victron Multiplus Inverter/Charger Most of the installs that I was complying with, all seemed to return to a pair of different manufacturers, Magnum and Victron seemed to be blazing a trail. Several of my pals were utilizing Victron components with a great deal of success and full marks, so I selected their tools for the core of the system.
But we will reach that later! Lucky for me, a friend of ours is a Victron Dealership, and I had the ability to get a good bargain on the meat and potatoes of the system. 2 x Victron 12/3000/120 -50 Multiplus Inverter/Chargers These hold true sine wave inverter/chargers, and fill in the existing converter charger currently in the recreational vehicle.
However space was a costs up there, and the inverters had specific air gap requirements. The Generator has a sheet steel shroud separating it from the remainder of the compartment, so I decided to reduce that shroud down 6" to obtain the additional room I required. I cut around the shroud, dropped it down, and put pop rivets to hold it in area.
According to the Victron Manual, the inverters can be mounted flat or vertically, so I chose to mount them horizontally on their sides on the wall. In doing this, I satisfied all of the needed air spaces. The original wall surface was just" bit board, so to support the 70lbs that each of the inverters evaluate, I included an item of" plywood across the rear of the wall surface behind them.
Considering that we are speaking solar system, of program we needed solar panels. There are several different choices out there for solar panels; in the end I picked to go with Continuous Resources for a few various factors.
Among my pals has one that was split throughout installation, and it still worked well! Something I suched as about the specific panels I opted for is that I might obtain the same specs in a square or rectangular panel. In the end, I went with all rectangles, however had I intended to (or when I wish to) add even more panels, I can obtain the various forms and make far better usage of my roofing space.
We hadn't tilted when, and 1 set of the turning braces set you back greater than the complete collection of the Z brackets. So I went budget plan on the installing brackets. A close friend of mine that helped me mount a lot of the system taught me a terrific method to mount the panels.
We pierced pilot holes, put dicor in the red, screwed them down and after that covered the base of the bracket and bordering roof with dicor. The eternabond tape offered it an included layer of water seal, and safeguarded the rubber from being tore if the steel Z brace took place to wiggle or relocate at all.
It is necessary to have a plan in position for the circuitry. When you begin taking care of reducing and crimping lugs onto the cables, it gets very costly, and you do NOT desire to have to kink, cut, and crimp once again. That will certainly cost you $5 or more for each time you overestimate wire size and waste a cable lug.
Considering that I was installing 2 inverters and 2 cost controllers, it was essential to keep those 2 systems different. I made use of red and blue cord labels to recognize wiring so I would not obtain them confused. I also applied the same red and blue stickers on the components themselves to assist keep things straight.
Obtain a great set of cutters and a pole dancer for hefty scale circuitry. Hydraulic kinking tool. I was lucky adequate to have a good friend helping me with the majority of the installation that had this crimping device, and when he left, I struggled to discover a crimping device to complete the job that really did not involve just beating the lugs with a hammer.
I obtained it off Amazon for much less than $30, and it made making my connections between the panels much less complicated. It does not have to be incredibly fancy, however the ability to measure resistance/continuity and both AC and DC voltage is vital.
From Home Depot I got a water-proof electrical box regarding 8"x8"x6". I covered the whole base of the box with dicor and screwed it down. Irvine Full Service Rv Repair Near Me. To complete the box, I applied a bead of dicor completely around package. I pierced 5 holes right into the box: 4 x Little holes, one each for electrical wiring originating from the panels with climate evidence fits to maintain the aspects out 1" hole in the lower leading the cables via the roofing right into the wall surfaces of the motor home Inside package the 10 AWG wires from the panels were interlaced onto 6 AWG wires for its trip with the recreational vehicle to the solar fee controllers Victron elements all work effectively together and share information.
Along with all of this electrical wiring, the Inverters and the Battery screen included voltage sense and temperature sense cables that needed to be linked to the battery bank as necessary. Allow's start with the solar circuit. I am running 6 x 200 watt panels set up right into 2 x 3 panel legs wired in series.
I found it extra affordable to run 2 separate smaller controllers than 1 bigger controller efficient in taking care of the amount of power coming from the panels. Furthermore, considering that the 2 strings are running independent of each various other, if there is shade or absence of angle to the sunlight on 1 of the 2 strings, it will certainly not prevent the power manufacturing of the various other string.
Maintain in mind; when the panels are in sunshine, they are generating electrical power, so I used the circuit breakers in this placement to offer me the capacity to isolate them totally from the rest of the system. From there the wiring faces the solar fee controllers in the front area near the battery financial institution.
Once again the point is to not only shield, however to offer me a place to isolate the system if requirement be. The last leg of wiring in the solar circuit goes from the breaker into the favorable and negative busbars that are straight connected right into the battery financial institution. Let's keep selecting the DC (12 volt) system.
A DC system is extra similar to the sort of electric system found in an automobile. The RV's 12 volt system has its own defense and control in place, so I did not customize it any kind of means; I just powered it from the favorable and negative busbars from the battery financial institution.
This component of the circuit can run very high amounts of electrical energy relying on what you are powering, so this requires substantial protection. From the Battery Financial institution, I ran significant 4/o circuitry right into a 400 amp fuse. This devastating failing fuse is meant to safeguard the wiring in between the inverters and the battery bank.
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