Randyretired

This was an excellent write up in its day but needs to be updated.

I think health plays a big part of when to give up RVing. We still spend a lot of time in our RV but health problems have slowed our travel considerably. We are not full time but we only travel to 2 places now and that may be just one soon. After that we may stop completely.

The two six volt batteries depending on size are around 200ah. With lead acid it is recommended to only use half of the capacity for longevity. This means you truly only have 100ah. 2 LifeP04 batteries with 200ah will provide 400ah total if you use all of it. Using all of the capacity isn't usually recommended. For one you don't want to wake up to a dead battery. The BMS will cutoff and some are not easy to restart. So I plan on 80%. This would be 320ah or roughly 3 times the battery power you now have. Before I would purchase a new charger I would measure the voltages the old charger produces. My old converter will charge to 14v. That is nearly a full charge and is a full charge given some time. Different manufacturers have different recommendations so you might see what the new batteries require. LifeP04 do not need to be fully charged often like lead acid. In fact the batteries will last slightly longer if not fully charged. Long term if not fully charged there might be some balance issues but it all depends on how the BMS is setup. Again check with the manufacturer to see what is needed.

Crosstrek on the bed of the truck. Carried at an angle with the nose of the car over the short sleeper. Sometimes carry a small RZR across the bed under the front of the car with the roll bar removed.

You had a post on this on 11/22 about grounding the panels. Yes I think grounding the panels to the RV ground/ frame should work.

I considered day cabs but instead bought a small 42" sleeper. It is very maneuverable and will turn circles inside my pickups. We carry a Subaru so left it tandem. This truck was part of a 2 truck company and had many added options including air lockers. In Colorado we can just register as a recreational truck or MH. Ours is recreational. Of course each state has its own requirements. A regular drivers license is all that is needed.

We rarely go to campgrounds. We prefer it to be less or not crowded at all. We typically boondock or stay on private property.

We are just outside Grand Junction and you are correct Colorado does not require upgraded licenses. I tow with an HDT with regular drivers license. I have heard the upgraded license required in other states including Texas isn't difficult to pass. Unless there is extenuating circumstances that would not stop me. I don't know how to get a Colorado license without an address like is available in Texas. Colorado vehicle registration isn't cheap.

I would also like to add that as long as the charge controllers combined are within the total amp capacity of the batteries I cannot think of a reason that this isn't a good idea. With LifeP04 it would take a really powerful charger or solar array to push to many amps. The controllers I use are all different sizes.

I have 2 Epever controllers and an Outback controller. On occasion I will add the inverter/charger. It works great. Since the controllers are voltage regulated these keep the voltage needed or as high of voltage as the solar will support. On occasion I have seen one controller working a little harder than another but I don't see that as a problem. Each controller has different panels and the panel voltages vary significantly.

The idle draw is a consideration if you boon dock. Another item is if you might add other loads. I have an Xantrex. I am not a fan and will look for something else next time. Inverters are typically most efficient when operating near capacity but the surge and the possibility you might forget to shut off the ice maker could influence the size. You could measure the amp draw and if your gauge is capable the surge to better estimate the load. Refrigerators vary a lot. Our fairly new energy star uses only 1.2 amps but older refrigerators can use a lot more and of course size matters.

Do not depend on the RV sales people to select you tow vehicle. Do your own research. Most feel it is wise to oversize the tow vehicle some. A fully loaded truck isn't comfortable especially in the mountains.

Another thing you might look at is to see if the load on L1 and L2 is reasonably balanced. If most of the 120v appliances are on just one side that can cause the 50amp park breaker to trip. As John noted the load on L1 or L2 should not exceed 80% or 40amps.

I can't speak for Florida but in Colorado I have had vin inspections done by the local police dept and by a auto dealer. If the vehicle is sold by a dealer or inspected by a dealer even an out of state dealer a local inspection wasn't needed. May be worth checking into.

We changed to a residential refrigerator when our 4 door RV unit failed. New cost for the RV refrigerator was over $4,000 and none would fit without modifications. We bought an 18cuft residential refrigerator that is energy star rated for $500 on sale. For another few hundred dollars I added enough to the solar to run it. Better and bigger refrigerator and we save a little on propane. Never going back to a RV refrigerator. This is much better. The replacement cost if (when) this refrigerator quits will be affordable. It uses about 1kwh a day.

The conversion from 12v to 120v requires 10 times the amps from the batteries. When on shore power there should be a circuit that patches the 120v through instead of the inverter using batteries. This means the amps will be reduced by a factor of 10.

I have experienced about the same. In the summer power from solar is plentiful but then comes winter. During the late fall and winter more power is used. We use the lights more and of course heat and so on but the solar is producing far less. The long nights stress the batteries and the short sometimes cloudy days produce way less. For off grid most solar systems need to be massively sized to scrape through winter. We are into to the longest days of the year now and solar is at its peak.

Our RV did fine until I added the mini split. We have a place setup to park but by code the 50amp needed GFCI since it isn't in an RV park. So now I can't run the mini split or I have to change the breaker, which is a against code.

I think the problem the OP had is going to be seen more and more as all new outside receptacles, even 50amp now require GFCI. This makes it really difficult to keep the batteries charged in some RV's. Along with problems like spider webs and other ground faults some appliances just do not play well with GFCI. Locating these problems can be frustrating.

This is caused by a ground fault and is a common problem with RV's. Usually it can be found and fixed but it may be time consuming. The fault could be something like a damp spider web somewhere or an electric hotwater heater element or ?. RV parks do not usually have GFI protected receptacles for this reason.

The mini splits most of us use are residential units. I am not familiar with any made for RV's. We have a different brand mini split but the automatic change from heat to cool left us with cold or hot periods and never seemed to work correctly. When it is set to just heat or cool the fans varied as needed and would shut off if it wasn't needed at all

I have never been this busy until I retired. I know it is self inflicted but I keep doing it. I am working on building another house. This is the 3rd since retirement. When this one is done I will have to slow down and actually try to relax. I was able to retire young but my age is catching up and I can no longer do this.

It is tough to keep up with the laws in each state. While some are allowing constitution carry others like Colorado are enacting more restrictive laws. Some counties are also enacting laws in the county that are more restrictive than state laws. Gun laws are rapidly changing.

Sizing a solar system is somewhat complicated. It depends on how much you need or want to power. For instance what appliances will need to be powered. In our RV we have a residential refrigerator and we use a drip coffee pot. We also have TV but the big draw is a mini split AC. So our power requirements are substantial and we often spend months boondocking. If your requirements are modest then of course a smaller system will do. Another consideration is the time of year and general location. Short winter days only produce limited power but long summer days are solar friendly. It may be helpful to try and figure out what you will want to power and what time of year you plan on powering these things and talk with some professionals. Often the limiting factor on an RV is the amount of room for solar panels. If you have more than just modest requirements I usually recommend to install as many solar panels as will reasonably fit. The panels have come down in price and are relatively inexpensive. Batteries and the electronics are not inexpensive and can get very expensive quickly.

When charging at night I sure hope the wind is blowing. I would hate to think we are using fossil fuel to charge all those cars. Is that why it is so cheap.