Smitty77_7

I have no problem with the question/request for info sharing:)! I still get a roll of the DW's eyes each time I use it, but I've coined the term 'Permanent Part Time Full Timers' in describing what we're currently doing. We have a Vacation home in California, that we visit off and on during the year with times varying from a few weeks, to usually a max of 2 months at a time. With year by year variations of total time visited of 3-5 months. Usually we do a longer visit, and then a shorter visit to the home during the year. Doing the math, we're typically spend a few months in AZ and NM in January - March timeframes. Then we spend a 4-7 months usually somewhere in the Western States:)! We also had a site at Park of the Sierras in Coarsegold, CA (Escapee COOP), which we elected to sale when we changed our Domicile to SD as we shifted into retirement. We're on the waiting list at Evergreen in Chimacum, WA Escapee COOP. We recently bought a deeded lot in Pacific Shores, Newport, OR. And we continue to scout out a Arizona or New Mexico location for our Forever Home, or possibly another Escapees COOP with a Park Model - not rushing this, but have it on our radar. So add that to the responses from others. To me, 'Full Timer's' - is as much a state of mine, as it is technically 365 Days in a trailer, fiver, B, C, A - whatever... I assure you, our 'State of Mine's', and hearts, are Full Timer's:)! (And yep, OK for others to not see us as such... But hope they allow me to get the roll of the eyes when I say 'Permanent Part Time Full Timer's!'. Best to all, have fun, be safe, Smitty

OP - With the 5G starting to slowly (SLOWLY) roll out, I would not invest too much money in a hotspot at this time. Unless, you feel it's OK to do so to get you out say 2+ years of usage. If you want to save some funds now, I'd suggest looking for a used Unite Explore 815S, used or refurbished in the $65-90 range. Run with that for a few years, and then buy a 5G capable HotSpot when the rollout has evolved far enough to make sense to do so. As like Dutch, and others here too, I saw no reason to upgrade to the latest Nighthawk, a far more capable piece of equipment then the Unite Explore 815S is. If my device were to break today, I'd probably go ahead and spend the money on a used or refurbished Nighthawk in the $150 + or - $20 range, but only because we crave high download speeds. And I'd be willing to approximately double the costs of investing in the Nighthawk. Which I'd suspect would support me well for two or so years until I believe I'd be ready to start looking for 5G capable gear. It all depends upon how much you want to spend.... No comments on the ATT plans, as that has been covered. The data provided by Technomadia is always good info:)! In reality, both of the above devices, especially with external antennas (Does not have to be on the roof as I have. You could get the Netgear directional MIMO antenna unit you put on an inside window.), should yield great download speeds in good coverage areas. Best of luck to you, have fun, Smitty

We use Blue Ox locked pins on the hitch to the RV. We did use the same pins, keyed the same, for the toad. We did not learn about the forces of the pins on the knuckles working outwards - before we lost a 'lock' and a pin fell out. (No damage to the coach. Minor abrasions to the rubber part of the bumper to our CRV. One bent Stirling arm. (Replaced the full unit, as we did not have time to send in for a rebuild.). And very lucky in the minimal damage all up:)!) We now know which way the force of the pins work while driving. And place the Solid base of the bins on the inside of the knuckles. And, we now use Circle Clips, vs locks. We went wit the Circle Clips for two reasons: 1) No key required, and that might allow us time to disconnect the Toad if ever needed; 2) A good quality Circle Clip, seemed to be the most robust to us in staying power... A side note. I've watched many people who pull in to a fuel stop, rest stop, or go into eat say at a restaurant. Then leave, WITHOUT walking their rig, and or Toad connections... Since day one. Due to San Diego Trailer Supply (A very long 6-7 decade company here in San Diego.), telling us the importance of at each stop - inspect your rig, ALL OF IT! We've never had a problem with someone messing with the RV and or Toad connections to the RV. But, we do know that 'Stuff happen's!'. We could have a pin with a lost clip/lock, and find it. We could have a pin where someone deliberately played with it. We could have safety cables disconnected... YOU JUST NEVER KNOW!! And it takes lest then 60 seconds to do a quick 360 walk around visual inspection... Safety is not an accident, it is a habit.. Best to all, Smitty

One of our favorite getaway four day weekends, was to renew our DL's. We flew from San Diego to Denver, rented a car, drove to Cheyenne to spend the 1st evening. Next day we drove to near Spearfish and stayed in a cabin at the Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort. Got our receipt, and elected to take a drive over to get our DL's renewed in person, and drop in on Americas Mailbox to say hello to the gang. Third day we cruised around and visited our favorite places in the region. Fourth day up early and pedal to the medal run back to the Denver airport, for an evening flight back to San Diego. We found the cost to fly into Denver was so much less, it covered the costs of our hotels, so a wash. And we had a blast... This was late October 2018, and an early blizzard was hitting the region. The drive from Denver to Cheyenne was blanketed in snow, and we were lucky that the day we drove in, the semi's started rolling again as a whiteout, and iced I25, had cleared. What was really cool, is that when went to Budget to get our car, by pure luck the gent helping us was the Manager. We said we were from San Diego, and were apprehensive about driving in snow/ice conditions. Asked if he had any AWD vehicles we might be able to rent. He said give me a minute, went out and talked to one of his staff, and came back in. Said lets get you paper work done, I have a vehicle coming up now for you. We did the paper work, and he asked me if I wanted Sirius/XM activated in the car, said he could due if for the four day rental for $20 for us. I said sure (Did not know that that was a discount, should have been quite a bit more.). He said our car was out front, let me walk out and familiarize you with the vehicle. WOW!!! He'd upgraded us from a reserved Altima, to an Audi A8L with Quatro... My wife and I had more fun driving, flipping a coin at times to see who was going to drive, that car!!! It really made the trip effortless. And I admit on a stretch North of Cheyenne the next day, open long sweeping stretch of road where we could see for miles, I opened it up just a tad... 115MPH felt like 65MPH in our Honda:)! Poised, suspension auto set into sport mode. And even with an occasional spurt above posted speeds, we averaged a manually calculated 28MPG for the trip... Yep, the scenery was as always fantastic, but we both feel the A8 upgrade made this a unique trip experience for us:)! ----- One thing I need to confess, is I can't keep accurate count of the years as I should. Earlier that year, we drove thru Cheyenne in our RV, on the way to Fort Collins area and two month stay in Colorado, hitting various regions of the state. It would have been was to do a one or two day detour to South Dakota on that trip, and for out overnight receipt. But I thought it was next year that we needed to do our DL's renewals... I blew the math on the years:)! But, it made for a great experience for sure:)! Best to all, have fun, be safe, Smitty

I've the Maximum Signal Unit. And when needed, it has supported us well in extreme fringe coverage areas. We also have a WeBoost Sleek, and sometimes find it can seem to help us a bit better in not such fringe coverage areas. But most of the time over the last two-three years of travel, our number one help has been from a roof top Mobile Mark MIMO antenna, feeding either our ATT or Verizon MiFi's. If you are using a phone for data, vs a MiFi, the MIMO antenna will not be of much aid. If you have both a MiFi, and want to maximize phone signal for other reasons. I could see the Sleek and MIMO antenna being a good combination. (And the Sleek can double as a toaster for you, as our unit sure gets hot. If you go that route, be sure to put some insulation/protection between your device and the Sleek cradle.). Another good thing about the lower costs of the Sleek, with reasonable boosting of signal in less then fringe location - is you might find it will bridge you to the land of 5G ahead. New amps, 5G capable, will becoming out more and more frequently. The Sleek - could cover you needs well enough until those units are available. And note, the sleek is easy enough to move to the Toad, truck if towing - to enhance signal while out and about. (We have an older version of then Wilson Sleek, we keep in our Toad to have in case we need it:)!). And yes to Gord being responsive and supportive in initial setup of their equipment:)! Best to you, and all, Smitty

Also look at the full system of fluid. Other sources of fluid lost are at the registers inside of the coach. If you have a engine loop, another source. And, a chafed hose anywhere along the run. And yep, a bad radiator cap can lose fluid without any signs of moisture... My leak, just repaired, was on one of the tank penetrations threaded sleeves. It was not obvious to see while inspecting them, as it was hidden behind the tanks insulation. And the lowest point on our (A HydroHot 500 series, which is basically the AquaHot 450D.), was where the exhaust penetrated the basement floor. Ours at first never leaked out and to the ground. The hot exhaust would evaporate any leaking. And ours only leaked while under the higher BTU heat, thus tank pressure build up, while running on Diesel. We limped alone using electric element, and short bursts fo Diesel heating, for about 7 weeks. Before we stopped for our annual yearly coach maintenance in the Junction City area:)!. I noticed the problem, based upon the normal usage of our Diesel, while taking showers. I was having to top off the expansion tank every 5-8 days. Where as usually it would be about every three weeks while traveling. So knew something was going somewhere!!! Suspect your era AH 450, has brass threaded sleeves, vs the nylon/plastic threaded sleeves in our era Hydro Hot, so good chance your not having a problem with the sleeved threaded fittings going into the tank (Temp Sensor, Level Indicator, etc.). Best of luck to you. And please close the loop back on what you determine, as it could help others in the future. Smitty

For serious off grid camping. Do continue your off grid electric arsenal to add a battery monitoring system. The Bogart unit recommended, had been a well used and understood highly regarded unit. Victron is not a new kid to the block, and also have a good rep. One has more goodies then the other to play with, and only you can decide which one you'd want to run with. And remember that the voltage being reflected is 'non resting' voltage. Suspect the battery Voltage to SOC chart you're looking at is referring to 'at rest' voltages. Which because of the way we boon dock, is not very easy to obtain:)! Once you get you choice of energy monitoring in place. You can then go thru various systems and disconnect them, to see where you are consuming Amp Hours in a non value added way. Trim this down as much as possible. And then go thru some energy auditing days of camping, especially overnight, and learn your actually energy consumption. This will allow you the ability to decide how to mange your battery to balance usage vs charging:)! Best o luck to you, Smitty

Our Webber Q is going strong. Grill size is large enough to cover our needs. About three years ago, our spark starter went out. And when I got a new one sent, it was not for the right version of Q that we have. Admit I maybe possibly procrastinating on this, as I'm just lighting it by hand now:)! We keep a few of 1 pound canisters available for use with the Webber and our Larger Heat Buddy, for times we may want to move them to a different location. But we primarily use a hose connected to our large LP Tank, as the only demand left within the coach for LP - is the stove top. It's the end of the 2nd year of travel since last filled, and still showing a glimmer of 3/4 full. When the Webber Q goes out, or if I get burr in the behind to change before then:)! I'll take a good look at the Traeger. Below is one unit that I've seen used by a few RV'er's - but they also have two other 'portable' units too. Best of luck to you, Smitty https://www.traegergrills.com/shop/grills/town-travel-portable-series/ptg/TFT17LLA.html#gclid=Cj0KCQjw0dHdBRDEARIsAHjZYYAyuvOIOMF63h89wh0ILdFdTAf4UNMMzCNU4hG5NsAHvA9xwKhO__AaAs97EALw_wcB

Derek - I like to see you having fun as you're doing your doing this:)! My wife and I have a goal, to do our very best to leave as little inheritance as possible:)! (Though I admit, we continue to help our only child/adult along in life. So she is sort of getting an advance inheritance now. When it will make the most difference for her getting established and set up for her future retirement.... So we're really not zeroing out her potential inheritance, as we're assisting her on major things today. And she is responsible, and the DW and I both agree - that if she was not, and was a deadbeat, we'd not be rewarding her in such away:)!). And for the record, and the theme of this thread. Yep, we're still in. I do have a few buckets stashed to the side, for either total market pull back, or sector's I like pull backs - opportunities... Best to all, Smitt

For someone wanting to get back into market after sort of idling on investments, take a good look at ETF's, especially sector ETF's. As they avoid risk of a single stock having a momentary negative blip. Multiple apples in the basket, so to say:)! And I've shared this on other threads on this board (As this board, and many of their member's, were incredibly helpful as I developed an approach to overall retirement for my wife and I. So I always like to pay it forward, and share what we ended up doing. As it could help others too. And it's just not response to a specific question i posted. The ability to go back and read older threads, many times several years old, added perspective too. And I was researching just as things started shifting back into gear, after the 07/08 dip downward:)!). One condition my DW had, as she is both afraid of and not interested in learning about investing - was that if something happened to me, where I could no longer manage our finances, things would be pretty much on Auto Pilot for her. If we could not set things up to be this way, then she wanted to keep working (Even though one of the reasons we pulled up retirement about 3-4 years early, was due her having a very bad back problem, impacting her ability to walk without pain. Very much improved, with surgery - so that is good:)!). So we put the primary bulk of our investments/401K's/Roth 401K's with a Financial Planner. He is just now 41 years of age! So should be around for awhile. (His goal is to retire at 55, and he is doing well to do so. And, he has brought in a few other's under him, so we'll have time to decide if we want to remain with one of them when he does retire.). I worked closely with him on our different options. And went about 65% of our above bucket of funds in a mix of annuities and to also fund a hybrid cash accumulating life insurance policy on me (To replace my pension, as we did not do survivor's benefit hit for the DW.). That 65% income, along with the life insurance, has her set financially for the long haul. The other about 35% I've got set up to like this: 25% is in more speculative investments within the funds available under/through our Financial Planner (He is high enough up the food chain, that he has funds not readily available to say a beginning Financial Planner.). The other about 10%, I retained in my TD Ameritrade account. I did this so that I could 'keep in the game', to make sure I keep up on investing in general. I'm relatively aggressive with these funds, even with he 50% of which I keep into Longer Term holds, to lower Cap Gain's hit. I've harvested the gains, with admittedly some very intelligent offsetting losses ( :)! ) over the 6 or so years we've been retired. We use those funds to make modifications and improvements to our coach. So far, so good on that front... I do a mix of ETF's, individual bonds (Took a nice ride on the Tesla bounce down, and up, from Elon getting his hand slapped. As an example of not day trading, but pretty close to it. After Market purchase after hearing the news. And then I jumped out a preset 15% gain price point.). I have some place holders in a few DRIPS too. I like how RV/Derick(SP?) is searching for the next big thing/move... And, this could be a good one he's into now:)! Rambling over, for now:)! Best to all, Smitty

RV - So, if they could get Tesla to power their growing lights in the farming buildings - you'd be doubling down on this investment:)! (The gent that helped us with our home solar system, just spent four hot months near Palm Springs, installing solar to four brand new commercial buildings - custom built and set up for MJ growing.) It's an interesting cycle. Lots of hype going on now, so some of this cycle will be the 'pumping up' gang... But no question it is a growth industry. If the Fed's ever lift the private consumption of legalized MJ, as soon many states have, that would also provide a good pump to the upward swing too. It must be my age now, you see I find. -- === ++++ What the heck was I going to say? Oh yeah, I find my short term memory is not what it used to be:)! I read the Coke looking into the trials of brew, and meant to research Auroa more later that day, to see if I wanted to jump in. Flash forward until I see 4-5 days later that it's already had a large upswing, and then later that day I first read your post about you getting in:)! As I missed the first larger move up, where I would have taken enough off the table short term to cover the bulk of my initial investment and go long term on the balance. I decided to wait a bit for a dip downward. If it comes, I'll consider it again. I do have some ETF exposure, so not completely out of this party. Good to see you still doing what you feel is right for you - hope this is another Tesla for you:)! Smitty

I agree about posting to IRV2 Monaco Owner's board. Batteries are the easies to find. So that is 'Point A'. Where an Inverter is located, could have changed from OEM days. (And yes, in that era on that level of coach, an inverter was most likely stock. MSW vs PSW, but still an inverter.) Wherever the current Inverter is in this coach, is 'Point B'. (And OP, I suspect you know this - or you would not be offering to work on this problem for this person. But, added the Captain Obvious statement for those who may read this thread in the future.) Tracing the "BIG FAT WIRE" from Battery to current Inverter location - should find an inline larger BUSS BLOCK type fuse. Yep, in those day's for that coach probably a single 300A, most likely Xantrex, fuse block/buss amp. And if OEM, this should be a relatively short run, of under 2 maybe up to 4 feet fun... Please close the loop back, and lest us know what you determine. Best, Smitty

Prep work for good off grid coffee: -1250 W of 48V Solar Panel -800 AH House Battery -MS2812 Inverter -RVWATERFILTER STORE - series of filtered water -Burr ground coffee -Technivorm Moccamaster Coffee Maker with Thermal Carafe, 10 cup Guilt free Thermal Carafe of coffee for two... Never needing to say I'm sorry, for the power it consumes.... (And, the above was tongue in cheek. As I admit, I carry an old copper clad percolator coffee pot too... And I could see, where the mentioned presses would probably yield a better brew then ur percolator. But grew up watching the coffee perc up into the glass top on the lid, and it remains of of my childhood, so we'll use that from time to time when making coffee over a fire, or even our stove top in the coach... Maybe 4-6 times a year:)!) To each their own... And may the brew be with you:)! Smitty

10-4! Missed that as I read you post:)! Still would take a reading of the battery, or if you have jumpers that will reach it, and or battery boost from House to Chassis, might give that a shot too:)! Looking forward to your Root Cause find!! (Suppose you are too:)!) Smitty

I'd check the battery too. Make sure they have the voltage you feel they should have. Possibly a dead, or too low battery. If it is the Saleman switch inside the front door. They usually don't interrupt the engine chassis battery feed, more the house stuff off of the house batteries, are controlled by this switch. (At least as I understand it:)!) Best of luck to you, Smitty

Not posting as often on this thread, but drop in at least monthly:)! I was telling the DW, that this thread is like a well 'Diversified Investment' - when it comes to opinions and thought processes of the various poster's. (And that to be clear, is a complement and salute to a well balance group of posters on this long running thread:)!). I also reflected with the DW, that perspectives shift (Rightly so.) as our lifecycles shift too. While still earning and preparing for retirement, the thought process and approach to investing - is usually different then after the shift into 'retirement mode' drawdown, preservation, staying ahead of inflation, and sure - still keeping some skin in the game of 'investing' too:)! The bulk of our investment assets are no longer in individual stocks, or mutuals that are heavy into stocks. A repeat of info sharing, is that part of getting my DW comfortable in us retiring when we did, was 'taking a substantial portion' of our total money like assets and parking them in various annuities and hybrid life insurance products. This gave her the peace of mind, to signup to us retiring. (I did push this up a few years earlier then we had first planned, due to her having some pretty significant back issues. Wanted to get us out and going earlier - while she was still able to get up and about. Luckily, a corrective surgery has really helped her quite a bit - so we're really not as hindered by her back now:)!). We did retain our real estate holdings, and I did keep a small percentage of our $$ assets in our TD Ameritrade account. I semi actively invest these, and use the profits for funding improvements to our coach, and subsidizing our yearly travels. On the bulk of our funds with our Financial Planner, I did direct him to due similar as Barb is doing. We removed 50% of our dividends from being 'reinvested', and have them building up for future opportunities to leverage in ahead. (While I do not see a near term major devastation drop ahead, I do expect some pullback/mini corrections in 2018. And who knows what might happen in current world, and USA, to cause a possible more dramatic pull back... Ask me in 2020, and I'll tell you what you should have done... Ramblings over for now, and best to you all. Really appreciate those of you who actively share your perspectives.... It really is a useful thread. (Shared a link with a buddy of mine who is nearing retirement, as a reference of what I called 'good reading'!). Best to all, Smitty

We do not go out of our way for KOA's to stay, or to avoid:)! We've found some of their parks to be top notch, and priced accordingly (But to be fair, everything in some area's of high demand are 'priced accordingly'.) For example, we spent two nice days at the KOA outside of West Glacier, as we were 'jockeying' for position to nab a site in Apgar. Anther two KOA's we've had good luck with, is the Richfield, UT location, where new owner's took over and opened many of the sites up gear specifically for ATV'er's. As well as added more cabins. And the on the I50 going thru Nevada, we found the Ely KOA to a good place to stay too. As with many parks, some are better then other's. And KOA's are no exception. We do not automatically renew our membership. We look at our planned travels for the year, and if we feel we'll stay in at least two parks that year, we'll renew as either go to the first park, or make our reservation for the first park. Best to all, travel safe, Smitty

We kept our old OEM unit as a spare, and added the SF 4048. Higher pressure, good GPM, and quieter then the OEM Flojet. I you can rebuild your old unit, that could be your spare:)! And yes to higher GPM and pressure filling the Grey quicker:)! Smitty

I have a thread on IRV2 Class A forum asking for thoughts about applying Zep to our very damaged 3M film. The 1st owner of the coach looks he had it detailed with a gent that did not know the proper usage of a buffer. We had some of the black paint knocked off of the edges of basement handles, and when you looked at the front of the coaches 3M film, you could see the swirls of the buffer in a few areas. When we bought the coach in 2010 from consignment at Holland Motorhome of then San Diego, the Service Manager called and talked with 3M about the condition of our film. Took a few pictures, and sent it to them. He was honest about how it looked like it had been hit by an orbital buffer with compound. So 3M did not authorize the removal and replacement of the film (Which I understood, as it had not been properly taken are of...). The Service Manager said that the harder outside layer of the film, had been removed completely in some locations, and compromised in others. So the film has always been softer on the outside layer. For the 7 years we have the coach, I've stripped the area with a good washing of Dawn detergent, and applied multiple coats of paste wax, which seemed to fill in he finer surface scratches. While on the road, I used Protectoral on it to remove bugs, and also sort of replenish the wax finish. But I'm thinking of stripping it again, and apply Zep coats to it, to see how this might hold up. Probably test a small area first, to see how it adheres and reacts with the softer surfaces of the film. If good for a few months, the strip it again, and apply three coats. Any opinions on this, yah or nah, would be appreciated:)! (Hearing the success of it going over decals well for some of you, was good to hear.) Best to all, Smitty

Here you go Derek - Another Musk/Tesla move within the industry... https://www.thestreet.com/story/14073247/1/this-battery-patent-application-could-change-the-game-for-tesla.html?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO&yptr=yahoo Best, Smitty

Derek - I thought of you today... and salute your ride on Tesla!!! You may recall I've been in and out of Tesla a few times as this thread has been working up to page 25:)! I put a sell order in for $304.24 yesterday, for 75% of the current shares we had in Tesla, not expecting to see it until late Wed or early Thursday. All had been held for Long Term gain treatment... And for you sir, with all that you have had going on, I'm happy your long ride has gone so well. Sure, some down time during this period, and probably more dips ahead too. But as you've pointed out, you two have worked hard to position yourselves that this is really not 'Live on money.', it's going to be more like 'Grand living on money:)!' when you decide it is time to sell. I've not commented before, but have read a few of your posts about moving possibly out of the country. Panama (East Side) and Costa Rica are places where we've heard many US Patriots are quite happy to live in. Shifting back to stocks, as you also may recall, I'm a fan of Musk too. If Space X goes public, I'll gladly jump in with the IPO gang. Keep your posts coming, here and elsewhere. I may not respond all the time, and admit I'm sometimes a week or two late in reading them, but I do get caught up at least montly. ALWAYS enjoy your research on posts, and the info you share along the way, and your attention to detail on adding links. A benefit to the board. Best sir, Smitty By the way, I also place some funds in CAT during their post IRS/FBI raid dip. As well as we still retain Qualcomm, now going on 15+ years for a bucket of the shares. Have been in, out, in, out of Apple more times then I can recall. Long, and many, many Short Term rides. (And just a reminder, these are the funds that are not tied to our retirement stability. We use post tax gains for RV modifications, helping our daughter, donations, and occasionally a non box wine night too!! DNP, AWK, evil BAC have also been good stocks. (DNP as a short of parking lot in DRIP format, and BAC another combo of Long Term hold's as well as some 'churning' Short Term gainers... I find that where as I would maybe spend 5 hours a week 3-4 years ago on stocks, now I'm spending an hour on Sunday AM reviewing, and then setting up entry and exit points and then seeing what happens the next week... So not near as active as I was when first retiring. Suppose it is the cycle of things:)!

Chad - I understand your thought process completely. And like the redundancy this provides... And at that price, as you said - Why Not? Thanks for responding, Smitty

I looked to see if I could find it, but did not:)! What is the Magnum Hybrid 3012 'at idle' draw? I had planned to add a dedicated fridge inverter during our install, but after checking the MS2812 vs the unit for the fridge, I was not really saving enough AH draw warrant doing so. (Plus, the DW has shows she records late at night and early in the AM, so I would have had to have another unit for at least the DirecTV Genie too.:)!) Your battery bank is sized 20+% higher then ours - and we have plenty of capacity to cover the higher idle draw (not really idle, but using that term) for overnight times. (Day time, the majority of the time the Solar kicks out plenty to cover all coach power needs, except for AC.) Or, did you and others that have the dedicated Fridge inverter, do so to cover contingency? The way you have your's set up, any source can feed the fridge. So if something did happen and knock out one of your inverters, at least you can keep the vital ice make functioning (We can be civilized as we travel!). Was if more for 'just in case' that you added the second inverter? The reason I ask, is as I mentioned when we do Phase II of our system, I've been kicking around adding a second unit. The Hybrid 3012 came out a few months after I went with the MS2812. I could see an option where I'd add the Hybrid 3012, and retain the MS2812 as a redundant unit. (The Hybrid can save you money when on a meter in a park.) TIA, Smitty

Chad - You commented that perhaps it is 'overkill' as far as what you have done. And I agree with you that I see a very small, but probably high profit/cost, of manufacturer installed higher end Solar systems. Also agree that the majority of RV'er's are not in need of higher end/capacity solar capability. That being said. When my wife and I talked about this upgrade, we came to the conclusion that we'd want to accomplish two things with our Solar install: 1) Be able to boon dock without watching too closely the power consumption. While having adequate Solar to replenish the batteries without needing to run a generator for hours a day. 2) Also have lots of extra contingency power, and again more then adequate Solar to replenish - for in case of a longer term need of being 'off grid'. (When not traveling, we quite often are in the San Diego area visiting our vacation home, friends and remaining family too. Fires, rolling brownouts, blackouts - have all occurred in the last 4-5 years. And the area is earthquake country, as well as with all of the military installations - prime for 9/11 type activity.) So when we budgeted for our coaches battery bank, inverter and solar upgrades - we oversized many areas as 'contingency planning'. (When not traveling, we keep our coach fully fueled, water full, food and supplies stocked. We consider it our land 'lifeboat' in case of emergency.) I share this, as a 'robust' system like yours (And our's too, though now four years later not quite as robust as yours. MS2812 and related modules. 800AH of X's 4 Lifeline L16's. 1200W of 48V Solar panels feeding down thru MidNite Classic 150.), I feel have other applications then just going out and having fun RV'ing. Having our RV's also ready for 'just in case' situations are also a part of many of the RV'ing community:)! Best again to you, and all, Smitty

Super informative, and top quality gear all around!! I too will be checking your diagrams for our 'Phase II' update of our Solar:)! Enjoy for awhile. Oh, and I might suggest that since you have the ice maker - the 'tour guests' should bring the mixes:)! Best to you, and all, Smitty