Chad Heiser

Take the "[IMG]" out of the URL for the photo links (both in front and at the end) and they will work.

Northern AZ's diagrams are fine. Although, I prefer the the Midnite Solar Baby Box with MNEPV breakers over the DC Circuit Breaker set up. I put Midnite Solar Baby Boxes with MNEPV breakers (appropriately sized) in all my solar installs now. They act as both circuit protection and shutoffs. The MNEPV breakers are directional in a DC circuit. They come labeled with a + on one side of the breaker and a - on the other side of the breaker. The + side of the breaker always connects to the highest potential of energy. On the battery circuit, that would be the battery side. On the PV circuit, that would be the panel side. I don't know if you just missed it in your diagram, but you want 4 AWG wire on both sides of the Baby Box for the battery side of the circuit. You also want 4 AWG lugs instead of the 6 AWG lugs in the parts list (#14) to go with the upgraded wire size. I would also change to the proper rated circuit breaker for the MPPT 150/70 (at least a 70 amp, but more likely an 80 amp instead of the 60 amp in your parts list). You are sizing the breaker for the wire (4 AWG) and the output of the solar controller. I install 365 watt REC panels often. (I have a large number of them on hand). They are large panels (approximately 40" x 80"). I always install six panel mounts (z-brackets) per panel (three on each of the long sides). The panels will flex too much with just four mounts on an RV. If the panels are going to be mounted perpendicular to the roof, then the brackets will need to be adjustable to help compensate for the typical curvature of an RV roof. If they are going to be mounted parallel to the roof, then this is not a concern. Also, because of their physical size, it may be difficult to keep the panels close enough to one another to connect them in series with just the pigtail connectors that come on the panels. It depends on what other protrusions are already on your roof. This means you may need some additional MC4 connectors to build jumper wires to interconnect the panels. Your diagram doesn't really cover how you plan to make the roof entry (get the 10 AWG wires through the roof). I would use something like this. This would replace #5 and #7 in the parts list on your diagram. Those items are just strain relief like you see sticking out of the item I linked. You will still need something to mount those strain relief in. The item I linked is all you need to make the penetration (penetration cover and strain relief in one). Finally (if you don't already have one) I would add a battery monitor as well. Something like the Victron SmartShunt. It will let you know the state of your batteries and will talk to the MPPT to help coordinate the charging and better maintain your batteries. You can create a local Bluetooth network for the Victron components to talk to one another with the Victron Connect app.

Here is a quick update on the rally. According to Ambassador RV Park, we have taken all 43 RV sites they have available for the week of the rally (this includes our group site). I have the names of all the people with reservations at the park. There are still a few of you with reservations that have not completed the Rally registration form on the HDTWCR.com website. If you are one of those people, please follow this link to complete the rally registration form. As it looks right now, first time attendees outnumber returning attendees. Just over half of the rally attendees will be first timers at the WCR this year. I am looking forward to meeting a lot of new people. I am working on the rally schedule. If you are attending the rally and have something you would like to present to the group, I am always looking for new seminars. If you have questions about what that might entail, or are interested in giving a presentation, get in touch with me. Once I have the schedule flushed out, I will post it. I am meeting with the T-shirt shop this week and am waiting to here from our dinner outing venue. Once I have those things lined up, I will send out links to all attendees to pay rally fees and order shirts. If you couldn't get into Ambassador, but still want to attend the rally we would be happy to have you. There are some other venues nearby where you can stay if you are interested. Canyon County Fairgrounds or Abundant Life RV Park are a couple of nearby choices. If you decide to attend and stay at another venue, you still need to complete the registration form on the rally website using the link above. Just indicate in the notes at the end of the form where you will be staying.

You cannot wire the Multiplus direct to the alternator. A 3KVA Multiplus should be fused at 400 amps and requires very large wire to power the DC side of it as a result (typically 4/0). Your two batteries are not really enough to fully power a 3KVA Multiplus either. The recommendation is 400 amp hours of available power, but it can be done with less if the AC loads are not excessive. Additionally AGM batteries (especially with only two in the system) are not good for powering high draw continuous loads. Their discharge curve will result in excessive voltage drop as the battery discharges and will cause the inverter to shutdown (due to low voltage) before the batteries are actually discharged (to 50% state of charge). Most people running high draw continuous loads like an RV air conditioner do it from lithium batteries. Their discharge curve is more of a straight line and they don’t suffer from the same (as much of a) voltage drop that AGM batteries experience as they discharge. I don’t know what the continuous power rating of your alternator is, but I think it will be hard pressed to keep up with the DC draw of a 3KVA Multiplus at full load (or even partial load). This means your batteries will most likely continue to discharge (even with the engine/alternator running) while the inverter is powering a high draw appliance. I would need more information on the alternator’s continuous output rating, the wire size and distance from the alternator to the batteries and the actual draw of the air conditioner while running to give a more d definitive answer on this though. Your air conditioner will require an easy start on it to prevent the initial start up surge from overloading the Multiplus also (assuming it is a typical RV air conditioner).

I have financed multiple RV’s through Essex Credit/Bank of the West (they are one and the same). They were very easy to deal with and had good rates.

Good to hear from you Jim. Scott will be missed.

Not at all. I’m happy to help.

Yes, the Multiplus II was designed specifically for 50 amp RV’s in the American market. It can be wired in ahead of the 50 amp power panel in an RV and power all the circuits with either pass through shore power or from the inverter (obviously only up to its power generation capabilities when inverting). I have installed several of them and it makes the installation process fairly simple. The user does have to pay attention to what they turn on in the RV when running on inverter power so you don’t overload the inverter or drain your batteries too quickly. The inverter will pass through both legs of a 50 amp power pedestal, but it does not invert on both legs independently though. When inverting, the inverter combines L1 and L2 internally similar to how a 50 amp to 30 amp dog bone connector works when plugging into a 30 amp power pedestal.

Ambassador is working on sending out confirmations to those who have sites. Based on the information I have, I believe you are good to go.

Your numbers are a bit off. A 15 amp at 120 volt load is 150 amps at 12 volts. The inverter will pull 150 amps of 12 volt to produce 15 amps of 120 volt. It will actually pull a little more due to inefficiencies and conversion losses.

2022 West Coast HDT Rally Monday June 13th, 2022 (arrival day) Monday June 20th, 2022 (departure day) Ambassador RV Resort - Caldwell, Idaho. http://www.g7rvresorts.com/idaho/ambassador/ The rally is a go. I did things a little different for the rally announcement this year. After the rally announcement last year (but prior to the actual rally), I developed the West Coast Rally website (HDTWCR.com). People who visited the website throughout the year (and were interested in the rally) had the option to sign up for a rally email list. All past rally attendees were also automatically added to the email list. My goal was to give those who put some effort into learning about the rally (went to the website and signed up for the email list) and previous attendees a little bit of a head start on registration before I made the general social media announcements. In theory this seemed like a good idea. Well, we all know that theory and reality don't always mesh. As I planned, I sent a rally announcement out to the rally email list this past weekend (beginning of January). Recipients were told rally registration began on Monday, January 3. They were instructed to begin calling Ambassador RV Resort to make campground reservations on the 3rd. Once they had a campground reservation, attendees were then instructed to go to HDTWCR.com and complete a registration questionnaire. I then planned to make a general social media announcements about the rally today (Wednesday, January 5). Last year the rally sold out in a week after I made the general social media announcements about the rally. I thought maybe that was a fluke due to travel restrictions being lifted around that time. People were also generally feeling cooped up at that time because of the previous year of COVID. This was partly why I developed the website and the rally email list. I wanted a way to give interested parties and past attendees a bit of a head start on registration before the general social media announcements (after the rally sold out so quickly last year). Well, I guess it wasn't a fluke last year. This year, the park sold out in two days - just from the email list announcement. 😲 Ambassador RV Resort is a very nice park, but they have limited transient rental sites (a little over 40). The majority of the park is rented to long term residents. The rally is now occupying all of the available short term rental sites for the week of the rally. If you are interested in attending the rally, there is some hope. The park does have a waitlist you can get on by calling them. You can also stay outside the park and come in each day for the rally if you would like. There is a fairground with basic, full hookup, sites a couple of miles from Ambassador and there are other RV parks and hotels in the area. I will keep everyone up to date with Rally news here, so check back in. You can also go to HDTWCR.com for the latest information. I am still working on the rally schedule and outings. Once I have those set, I will post them. If you have a reservation at Ambassador and haven't completed the registration questionnaire, please do so. Here is a link to the Registration Form. I'm still waiting for about half of you with reservations to do that. If you are going to stay at another location, you still need to complete the Registration Form. This is how I know you will be attending. Simply state in the notes section where you will be staying. At least half of the people I have received registration information from so far are first time attendees. There should be a lot of new faces at the rally again this year. I am looking forward to seeing you in June!

A 365 watt panel is approximately 40" x 80". So you could get two of those on an 8' x 8' square. That's 730 watts rated output. Expect 80% of that in ideal conditions (mid summer, high noon) for flat mounted panels. Expect 50% or so in winter. Now you are looking at 360 to 580 or so watts depending on time of year. A typical solar day is 5 hours of full production. Now you are looking at 1800 to 2900 watts of production a day (for ruff numbers). Figure out what your loads are going to use and compare the two numbers (production vs. usage) to get an idea of what they can do.

KodiakJack posted a good link. I have some very similar information on my website. Here are the highlights: Both in series and parallel connection, plugging a panel of a lower power rating to the array drags the whole output power down. The lower the rating, the higher the loss of solar generated power. This, however, is much more evident for panels connected in series. If you want to get the maximum power from your solar array, you should only connect similar panels. Mixing different panels, whether connected in series or in parallel, ALWAYS reduces the installed wattage. If you don’t have any other option than wiring dissimilar panels, you should know: For series connection – the same current rating of the panels is more important. For parallel connection – the same voltage rating of the panels is more important. Mixing panels with close ratings is not horrible, but when you start mixing panels with large differences, you will greatly affect the overall output of the array.

I am registered for the rally now (in addition to having my site reserved). Looking forward to it.

I’ll help keep that pressure on when we get there. 😎

I use eWallet by Ilium software. It is an app on my mobile devices and a program on my computer that syncs my stored information to all the devices. It uses 128 bit encryption and allows you to store all kinds of secure information. I use it for passwords, email information, banking information, identification information, etc. it is quite powerful and easy to use. It will even enter username/password information for me when I browse to sites I have created cards for in the app. I have had the app for years now and have hundreds of cards stored in it. I don’t know if I could get by without it in today’s digital world. It definitely makes my life easier only having to remember one password (for the app).

Your welcome. Assuming everything was wired correctly, it would be a programming change only. The programming change isn’t something an end user should typically try though. It is fairly specialized and requires several steps to accomplish. It can be done remotely through VRM, but if something fails during the remote process it will require someone to physically touch the system programming with a specialized communication device and a laptop. It isn’t likely to fail, but it can happen. The system would be nonfunctional until the programming was corrected locally if the remote process failed. I also wouldn’t feel comfortable doing it remotely without knowing the physical wiring configuration is correct. It most likely is, but I would want to confirm it. I have done the programming remotely on systems I have installed. This way I know the physical configuration will support the program set up. (It works quite well.) I have yet to have one fail, but I like to have backups in place just in case. If we do meet up, I could do the programming change in a few minutes after confirming the wiring configuration will support it.

See you in a couple of weeks.

I am going to give a somewhat long answer to this to try to explain what is correct and why it is correct. If you are plugged into 50 amp, the AC current limit should be set to 50 amp. A 50 amp RV pedestal will provide two legs of 50 amp, so each inverter will have 50 amps available to it. I think I remember you guys telling me your inverters are programmed to work independently. If that is the case, then anytime you plug into less than 50 amp, you should set the AC current limit to half of whatever you are plugged into (15 amp for a 30 amp pedestal, 10 amp for a 20 amp outlet, etc.). This is not ideal, but it is the best way to mitigate potential power issues. This is because in those types of power sources there is only one leg of power providing all the amperage. When the inverters are programmed to work independently (in parallel) like yours, then that single leg of power gets sent through both inverters. This is not my preferred way of programming dual inverters because it potentially limits power in the RV and causes potential issues with the power assist feature of the inverters. Here is why I am not a fan of programming dual inverters in parallel. When plugged into a single leg source of power, you can’t necessarily predict which leg of your 50 amp panel (or which inverter) is going to be using power unless you have memorized all the circuits in your coach and which legs they are on. If you set the AC current limit to 30 amps on a 30 amp pedestal and you draw 20 amps on line 1 (inverter 1) and then you turn something else on and try to draw 20 amps on line 2 (inverter 2) you will blow the breaker at the pedestal because you are now trying to draw 40 amps. With the inverter AC current limit set at 30 amps, the power assist feature never kicks in on either inverter because neither inverter saw more than 20 amps pass through it. In that same scenario with the AC current limit set to 15 amps (half of the available 30 amps from the pedestal), inverter 1 will pass through 15 amps and power assist to provide the additional 5 amps needed on that leg. When the load on leg two is then turned on, inverter 2 will also pass through 15 amps and power assist to provide the additional 5 amps needed. In this case, you won’t (theoretically) blow the pedestal breaker. Victron power assist is typically set to a factor of 2. This means that the inverter will assist up to twice what the AC input current limit is set at. Set it at 30 and the inverter will try to provide up to 60 amps (30 amps of pass through power and another 30 amps of assisted power). In that particular case the inverter would actually overload because it can only handle up to 50 amps of power total. When the AC current limit is set to 15 amps, the inverter will provide up to 30 amps (15 amps of pass through power and 15 more amps of assisted power). When the AC current limit is set to 10 amps, the inverter will provide up to 20 amps (10 amps of pass through power and 10 more amps of assisted power). And so on. Now back to your specific situation with dual inverters programmed to work independently (in parallel). As I described above, you need to set the AC current limit to half the available power when plugged into single phase power (30 amp pedestal or less). So when plugged into a 30 amp pedestal and the inverters are set to 15 amp AC current limit, you have a total of 60 amps available in the rig. You have 15 amps of pass through power available on each leg (inverter - for a total of 30 amps) and up to another 15 amps of assisted power from each inverter (for an additional 30 amps). In order to get all 60 amps, your loads between line 1 and line 2 have to be perfectly balanced (which rarely is the case). If the loads are out of balance, then you may end up with less than 60 amps available and you may overload one of the inverters. I personally prefer to program dual inverters to work in opposing phases so that they work together. When you program the inverters to work in split phase, then they work like a 50 amp power pedestal and always proved 120/240 volt power. If the inverters are programmed this way, when plugged into a 50 amp power pedestal you would set the AC current limit to 50 amps (same as the independent programming). When you are plugged into less than a 50 amp power pedestal, you set the AC current limit to the same as whatever you are plugged into. This is because the inverter on line 1 will pass that full power through and the inverter on line two will only invert power in a 180 degree power phase. So inverter 1 passes the full shore power through and inverter 2 is always inverting (180 degrees out of phase from inverter 1) and has no shore power available to it. This way your system will always have 120/240 volt power even when the source is only 120 volt. By doing this, inverter 1 will provide up to 60 amps (30 amps pass through and up to 30 amps power assist, but really 20 amps for a total of 50 amps which is the limit of the inverter), or twice what the AC current limit is set to. Inverter 2 will provide up to an additional 3000 watts of power or up to 25 amps on line 2 of inverted power. In this case that is up to 85 amps (really 75 amps) of total power, regardless of how the loads are balanced. You also get the added benefit of being able to run 240 volt appliances from any power source (which may not matter if you don’t have any 240 volt appliances, but the ability is there). When programmed this way, inverter 2 is always drawing from the batteries when plugged into less than a 50 amp power pedestal. Inverter 1 will pass whatever shore power is available to loads and use whatever power is not being used by loads to charge the batteries. If you are running high continuous loads, you could potentially drain the batteries even when plugged into shore power. That could happen with the other method of programming as well though. Inverter 2 will only act as a charger when plugged into a 50 amp pedestal. When plugged into anything less than 50 amp (120 volt only source), it will only invert, not charge. Hopefully this all makes sense. I’d be happy to talk with you in more detail over the phone to see which programming method would best meet your needs. There is a little bit more, but these are the highlights. I’d also be happy to meet up with you guys in Tennessee. We can talk more about that as it gets closer.

The rally starts on the 23rd. I plan to arrive at Deer Run on the 22nd. I have an appointment in Elk City Oklahoma the 13-15th and then planned to just hang out and meander over to the rally between those dates.

As Dan said, it will be the East Coast HDT Rally at Deer Run RV Resort.

A 3K Victron or Magnum inverter would be my choice. (Personally, for me it would be a Victron.) It will provide plenty of power for a 30 amp RV. I have a 5th wheel in my shop right now that has two air conditioners, a 13.5k and a 15k. I can run both AC’s (both equipped with micro air soft starts) at the same time with a Victron Multiplus 3K inverter/charger. You will have to pay some attention to what you try to run at the same time, but overall it will provide plenty of power for a 30 amp RV. The Victron also offers a ton of connectivity options that very few other manufacturers offer.

Maybe some other time. I will be in Crossville, Tennessee in April for a rally if you might be in that area around that time.

I have a friend who got turned around at the border with recreational doubles (from Idaho into Oregon). He was pulling with a pickup at the time and was obviously recreational (5th wheel double towing an ATV).

This inverter is an inverter only, it doesn't have a charger. It will be hard to find an inverter/charger in the size (small) you would use to dedicate just to a refrigerator. Adding a basic battery charger would be simply and it could plug into an existing outlet in your rig. Based on your question, I am assuming you want to dedicate a battery bank and inverter to the fridge only, nothing else. It isn't the most efficient way to set the system up, but it is possible.