Chad Heiser

5 hours ago, asitool said:

My experience is that Magnum customer service has become terse and unhelpful... relying on distributors for first line tech support. Victron has been much more helpful for me. I have an MSH 4024 and a Victron Quattrom 24/5000 and can tell you the Victron is in a class of it's own. I was a die hard Magnum guy... not anymore...

I have always had good luck with Magnum tech support, including quick turn around times the one time I sent something to them to update the software.  I think Victron makes some excellent products, but I have no personal experience with them.  If/when I go to a new system I am currently leaning toward a complete Victron suite of products though.  This is mainly so I can have that GUI remote.  Of course I just bought a new trailer this year and put a full Magnum suite of products in it, so that Victron set up will probably have to wait a while.

1 hour ago, Buscrusher said:

Thanks for the tour of your truck and trailer! It really enjoyed meeting you and your bride and to get to actually set eyes on a really nice setup! Don't know if/when things will ever come together to get my own rig, but I can still dream! 

It was nice meeting you as well.  We just got home after a very nice, but short trip.

At JGW RV park outside of Redding, CA visiting my wife’s family for the holidays.  We have a really nice site along the Sacramento River with a tall hedge separating our site from all the others.  Very private and plenty of room for the HDT, 5er and Jeep.

2 hours ago, Alie&Jim's Carrilite said:

And your idea is now stolen!  

Thanks!

I stole it from someone else, so no worries.

PS:  I should have shown you my set up at the WCR.  I had it all there and cooked my potluck contribution on it.

As has been stated, double regulators won't work properly.  If you search google or YouTube for this issue, you will find many different ways people have resolved this issue.  

I have the Weber Q 2200 grill.  I removed the regulator and replaced it which a male quick connect.  Now I can run a hose from my DRV female quick connect directly to the grill.  I then put female and male quick connects on the appropriate sides of the Weber Q regulator and bought a short quick connect gas hose.  This way I can reinstall the regulator and set a 1 gallon Coleman bottle on the ground and run the short hose between them if need be.  I didn't want to hang the small bottle off the back of the regulator (like stock configuration) because I wasn't sure how the quick connect would handle the torque of the bottle and regulator hanging from it.

2 hours ago, Big5er said:

Steve, unfortunately there are very few states that prohibit "holding" a cell phone. Only about 10 states have gone so far as to ban "holding" a cell phone. Most cell phone laws are sadly unenforceable simply based on how they are written. Texas recently passed a law banning texting and driving. The law spells out exactly what a text message is.

Officer: "Sir, you were texting and driving".
Violator: "No sir, I was not. I was playing Candy Crush and driving (or entering an address on the GPS, or surfing the internet or watching youtube, etc.)"
Officer: "Oh. Well you can go".

Sadly, how many of us have a small computer built into the dash board (a radio that is more than a dial and a volume knob) and use it as we drive down the road? Is there really a difference between channel surfing on that touch screen radio and holding your phone? Distracted driving is distracted driving and a lot of us are guilty of it even without using the phone. It seems that phone is just the latest whipping post of "feel good" legislation. 

This is one thing CA actually fixed in the law.  As of January 1 this year you can't have the phone in your hand at all while on the road (even while stopped).  In addition you can only interact with a mounted phone with a single touch or swipe (i.e. answer or hang up from a call).  Anything more than that is also a violation.  

It has made enforcement very simple and we right numerous tickets for it every day in my city.  Just because there is a law doesn't mean people are going to follow it without a little encouragement.

AGM batteries have advantages over wet cell lead acid batteries, but they are more expensive so you are paying for those advantages.  They are basically set it and forget it type installs.  You really only need to check connections once a year or so.  With wet cells, you need to regularly check fluid levels.  AGM's can also accept a charge at a higher/faster rate than wet cells.  They also typically have more life cycles than wet cells.  AGM's do not off gas like a wet cell does so they can be installed in the same compartment as your electronics or even in your living area without fear of hazardous gasses causing issues.  There are other differences as well, but these are the highlights.  I had wet cells in my last RV and I have AGM's in my current RV.  They both have their place.  It really comes down to what will work best for your situation and what you can afford. I personally prefer the AGM's.

As for 6 volt vs 12 volt, that comes down to the space you have and the wiring you are willing to do.  As long as the batteries are true deep cycle batteries and are not hybrid RV/Marine batteries, there is no significant difference between two 6 volt batteries in series and an equivalent 12 volt battery.  The wet cells in my last RV were 6 volts.  The AGM's in my current RV are 12 volts.  My 12 volt AGM's have the same basic footprint as two 6 volt batteries sitting end to end. Look at the ratings of the batteries and go with whichever gives you the best bang for the buck in the footprint you have available for installation.

There are a couple of things you need to do.  First you need to set the incoming power level for your Magnum charger.  I would change it to 10 amps or maybe 7 amps, depending on how much charging you want the Magnum to do to your batteries.  It is probably set at 30 amps or maybe even 50 amps right now if you have never changed it before.  The Magnum is very smart, but it has no way of knowing what power is available (what you are plugged into) unless you tell it ahead of time.  I usually leave mine st to 30 amps so I don't have to mess with it when I move between 30 amp and 50 amp camp sites.  The only time I actually change mine is when I am in a situation like you and I am plugged into something less than 30 amps.

The second thing I would do is turn the hybrid inverter on.  It will stay in standby mode until it is needed.  Plugging into a 15 amp power supply is one of the things the hybrid inverter is intended to help with.  I don't know what all 120 volt appliances you have in your coach, but most of them are probably drawing a little power all the time (like TV's, dish boxes, residential refrigerator, microwave clock, etc.).  These draws, along with the charger draw on the Magnum, combined with whatever else you are turning on are more than likely overwhelming the 15 amp circuit.  This is causing the voltage drop and the subsequent activation of your EMS cutting the power due to low voltage.  With the hybrid inverter turned on, it will supplement the 15 amp power source with inverted 120 volt power from your battery bank to supplement the power in the coach.  It will take over powering 120 volt appliances on your sub panel and leave the full 15 amps from the shore power to power the appliances on your main panel.  The inverter will also be smart enough to shut off its internal charger while it is supplemting power in hybrid mode.

You do need to be careful that you don't run in hybrid mode and supplement power too long because you could draw your batteries down.  If you pay attention to the Magnum remote, it will let you know where you are at on state of charge.  If you get too low, start shutting things down and allow the Magnum's charger to run for a while to bring the batteries back up to an acceptable level.

Nice Job.

Sitting in the Winnemucca KOA on my way to the WCR.  This is a newer KOA right off I80.  It is easy in and easy out and the sites are decent size.  I have enough room for my 42' 5er and my (short wheelbase) T2000 end to end (unhitched).

No updates to report.  Real (paying) work got in the way of my buddy coming over and helping me on Friday (for free), so we didn't get it done.  We will try again this Friday.  If that doesn't work then I will have to wait until after the WCR.

1 hour ago, HERO Maker said:

Chad, apparently swapping those floor tiles (if you have the long wood looking ones) is very easy.  Taking 6 extra with us tomorrow as we leave Indiana.

That's my understanding.  I'll find out for sure on Friday.  I've got a little more than a box of extras.  We bought 5 or 6 (I forget exactly) at the time of purchase as spares.  We had a couple of issues with a broken light lense and the door side slide that scratched a few tiles.  DRV happily sent out a bunch more tiles at no cost to replace the scratched ones.

Just an update, my buddy is going to come by Friday to help swap out some of the floor tiles in my trailer so hopefully I will be able to post more information after that.  I will make sure to take some pictures and ask questions about the process.

We do not do anything special to the Splendide units that came in our DRV.  We did not even get the parts you talk about above to stabilize them.  They were factory installed and did not come with the shipping bits and pieces.

I'll be happy to share, but I won't see my buddy until after Memorial day most likely, so it won't be for a few weeks (we are camping this weekend and then leaving on a cruise to Alaska).  I'll get with him after we get back.  

I will also be replacing a couple of the planks in my floor that my door side slide scratched.  I hope to have my buddy come over and help me with that before the WCR so I should get some first hand knowledge as well.

Brad,

I have some extra "Planks" of the flooring DRV installs in their units.  I will bring them with me to the WCR so you can see them.  They are flexible, individual planks and I think they would be a lot easier to install than the interlocking type of flooring.  I also have a very good friend who is in the flooring business.  He just redid all the flooring in his motorhome with some type of laminate that looks like wood.  I will talk to him about how he did it and we can discuss it at the WCR. 

You can't go wrong with either.  I look forward to hearing what you think of the set up.  That Victron GUI remote is really nice.

I'll have my Mobley next week.  Hopefully I won't have any issues getting it activated (like needing to have a new SIM sent out).  We'll see how it goes.

2 hours ago, Jack Mayer said:

I use an ATT Homebase (and other stuff) for Internet access "on the fly". But you might use the Mobley....I'm about to order one. That would give you unlimited data and "always on" Internet from your not always used" trailer. You need to retire.

I've been thinking about getting a Mobley.  Ive been following the thread on them.  I definitely wish I could retire, but that's still a few years off.

3 hours ago, DKRITTER said:

I find this absolutely fascinating but I don't have a clue what you're saying.

 

 

Solar and power in general in RV's is fascinating to me as well.  I am self taught on most of this stuff.  I did have the advantage that my dad was an electrician and I used to work with him when I was a kid, so I have a basic electrical background.  It really isn't that complicated though and I'm happy to answer any questions I can.  There is still a lot I don't know, but each new project forces me to research and learn.

3 hours ago, Jack Mayer said:

Chad, what is your phantom draw averaging on that coach?  Are you doing anything to manage that, or are you like me, and ignore it

I'm designing a system at the moment with three (or 4) PAE 4448 inverters in parallel. Solar managed by multiple arrays of panels with PT100's. Have you used any external applications to monitor things? I'm trying to decide if I want to use the Magnums or go to Victrons for this project....any thoughts?

 

Jack,

I am like you and ignore the phantom draws with the solar I have now.  Actually, my trailer is still so new and has been used so little so far that I haven't calculated what my phantom draws are yet.  Based on my testing so far, I don't know that I ever will either.  I am definitely producing enough power to not worry about them.

I am not using any external applications currently.  I am interested in the Magnum ME-MW-W MagWeb but I do not have an always on internet solution in my trailer currently to take advantage of it.  It does have some limitations and doesn't appear to integrate with the PT-100 yet though.  This is one area where I think Magnum is somewhat lacking.  They provide a wealth of information through the ME-ARC, but they don't have a great solution for getting this data to another device.  If remote monitoring is really important to your system, it might push me over to Victron.  I think they have more access, but I would have to research it more to confirm exactly what they can provide that Magnum does not.

I really wish Magnum would come up with an app or similar product that put all the ME-ARC functionality on an IOS or Android app through Bluetooth or WiFi.

Yes I am aware of those menus.  For this test, I was more interested in tracking the actual readings than the cumulative ones.  I'm still only part time and don't use the trailer every day.  When it isn't in use, it sits indoors in my shop and I isolate the PT from the batteries and the array so it doesn't give me a no sun fault code (it will give a fault if the controller doesn't detect any power on the PV input terminals for 24 hours).  In my dark shop, the panels aren't exposed to sun so the code happens after the first day.  

I'll go down and get my power generated to date information after work tomorrow.  That will only be the power from this last trip and my first test.  The rest of the time it has been in the shop.  

As I said earlier, I wanted to reset the meters to get just the data from this trip, but I forgot to do that before I left.

The transfer switch I am using is a small 15 amp transfer switch from Magnum Energy.  It is only on the refrigerator circuit.  The transfer switch is plugged into my small Magnum CSW 1012 inverter (like the diagram in the link).  The breaker for the refrigerator circuit in my sub panel feeds the AC In side of the transfer switch and the AC OUT side of the transfer switch goes directly to the refrigerator plug.  My large inverter, my generator or shore power (Whichever is available) energize the sub panel which sends power into the AC IN side and passes it through to the refrigerator.  When I don't want to use one of these sources, I turn on the small inverter and it then passes power through to the refrigerator plug.

In essence I have three transfer switches in my system.  The first is in line between shore power and my generator.  The second is built into my large Magnum 3012 Hybrid inverter.  The third is the small transfer switch described above.  These three switches all work together to seamlessly pass power to my residential refrigerator based on the power source that is available with no intervention from me.

10 minutes ago, J-T said:

Hi

You put allot of though into this system.

I like the idea of the second inverter.

I'd like to ask 2 questions.

Was throwing the breakers in the panel to isolate the fridge a consideration?

On standby there is a 1.2A @ 12v difference between the standby draw of the 1012 and the 3012. If my (old) brain recalls correctly you have a transfer switch between the 2 inverters that will draw power?  When designing a system for myself I'm wondering how closely I should pay attention to ghost loads. 

Thank You

Thanks for the compliment.  I did put a lot of thought into the design and components.  It really was a natural progression from the previous system I designed and built in my last trailer.  

To answer your questions:

1.  No I did not consider flipping breakers to isolate the refrigerator.  Residential style circuit breakers are not really designed to be used as regular on/off switches.  The contacts in them can degrade over time with repeated switching.  In addition to this, typical RV circuit breaker panels are not usually located in easy access locations.  The ones in my current trailer are down low in a cabinet near the floor.  I have to get down on my knees to get access to them and to see which breakers are for which circuits.

2.  The transfer switch does not draw any power from the system.  It simply changes contacts to the appropriate circuit based on which one has priority and whether or not it is energized.  It is a passive device only reacting to input from other devices.

You do need to be aware of "ghost" loads when you are running off battery power.  In order to preserve battery power, you should be aware of what the draws are on the battery bank.  I do not use both inverters at once, so I do not have duplicate inverter "overhead".  This is also one of he reasons for adding the second dedicated refrigerator inverter.  When traveling, there is no need to energize all the appliances in the trailer through the whole house inverter.  None of these appliances will be used while running down the road, so why power them just to keep the refrigerator running?  This helps eliminate unneeded draws from the battery bank when they aren't needed.  It also gives me redundancy in my system just in case.

On 4/3/2017 at 7:06 PM, RickS said:

Thanks Chad! Just wondering with such a new SC and having fans wondering if it was audible. Liked the comment about about you being so far north.....made me laugh!! You should be able to get solar energy from street lights a night.  

This time around, I did pay attention to the fans in the PT-100.  They never kicked on.  The temperatures were fairly cool all weekend though, so the basement compartment where the PT is mounted never got warm.