Daveh

On 7/16/2020 at 12:44 PM, rpsinc said:

I have a Teton and my current plan is to mount the outdoor unit in the front storage area, put it on a platform with a corner swivel, so that when we get to the location, I can open the storage door, pivot the unit outside, close the door, and the hoses(yes I said hoses) will then run through the door with a cut out and slide similar to some that are in use for shore power cords, to close off as much access in that door as possible, mostly for critters prevention.

I have discovered that hoses are now available for these line sets.  I want to install a baseboard unit in the bedroom and in the rear.  The line set to the rear will run in conduit under the rig.  Likely I will use EMT to protect it from physical damage.  That EMT could also facilitate other things, cables, etc.

I will remove the roof ACs and may replace them with triple glazed fixed windows for light only.  Not finalized that part of the plan yet.  Even toying with the idea of wrapping that 14" square opening with some LED strip light and using the AC switch power to run it for some minimal light or perhaps "ambiance".

Hmmm My notifications got messed up I guess. I did not see these. RPsinc what is your source for these hoses. I like your idea.

10 minutes ago, rls7201 said:

If you elect to go with a well insulated van conversion, a 8K AC with a 2.4KW ONAN generator will work. Set up the generator to run off the van fuel tank and you'll have enough fuel to go for a week or better. That's how Roadtrek has been doing it for many years.

Richard

Right if you go with something like that the problem becomes much more manageable and that would be a great solution. The living space desired really drives the answer.

If you are starting from the "ground up" as you say I would, obviously, buy a van with a good air conditioner system. One of the problems is that RV AC are not that great. If you are getting just a small unit, then a single or double AC unit may be fine, but in a larger unit you will need at the very least a double unit and that puts a big draw on the electric.  If we knew some of the specifics like the size you were thinking of and the items Kirk asked about we could give you better advice. Many of us are either adding or changing our our typical RV AC units as they are much more efficient. 

The other thing I would add to John's advice is that if you look at the gas generators I kind of like the option of two 2000 watt inverter generators. I am thinking of the Honda's. You can use them seperately or they can be paired into a 4000. That way they are easier to move around and when you don't need to go all out  you can use just one of them.

Another thing I would consider is that (again depending on the number of ac units), I would add a lithium battery bank and a good hybrid inverter such as made by Magnum or Victron. The benefit of a hybrid unit is that it can  supplement the generator with power from the battery system at peak draws. As John mentioned ACs cause problems when the compressor kicks on and it is at these points the power generally fails. The batteries could also then serve as a backup should a generator fail but that will require a larger bank  and you would only get a few hours. That would be a high risk, to dogs and batteries situation, and you would want to avoid it.

The other possible component is to add solar which could charge the batteries and wit a larger battery bank prevent you from operating the generator 24/7.  Operating ACs off of solar is not a reasonable solution in very every circumstance but it can be a nice supplement. 

Are you going to be with your dogs all the time? If not I would really design my system to have backups and some type of alert. There are products sold that will provide you texts or the like if the temp gets to high.

Soooo, tell us the size unit you are thinking of and we can give better assistance. The first line of response for sure is buy a unit with a built in generator or get one or two gas powered inverter generator. You don't necessarily need to by one of the Honda EU series but I would start by looking up the Honda EU2000 and 3000. That is generally the reference standard for any inverter generator.

If you want to know more about the Rv electrical systems work in general I have always liked Jack Mayers site. It tells you how all the pieces fit together.    http://www.jackdanmayer.com/rv_electrical_and_solar.htm

There were already airgaps toward the back of the compartment where the legs go through and for right now I am just leaving the front compartment door open all the time. Runs efficiently. For when we hit the road my primary plan is to install an approximately 20" x 20" inch aluminum register/grate into the front cabinet door that I can close to prevent airflow while moving. If I lose efficiency my additional plan is to  cut into the cabinet floor and possibly also adjacent to the grate/register on the cabinet  front  and installl duct or booster fans to enhance the airflow. If I need those I will need to figure out how I can trigger them coming on automatically with the fan of the outdoor unit. Some type of relay set up. I am hoping I don't need to get into that.

I came really really close to using randy's location. Honestly I was still going back and forth until the day I began installation. My wife has a standup desk at the back of the fifth wheel and I decided that putting the IDU there would just be too cold for her. I ended up putting it above our entrance door and then running the line along the outside to our front generator space which locates the outdoor unit.

The industry is just crap.

"I really want to go to AZ and experience that. Everyone tells me though that the low humidity makes it bearable. Half the battle is removing humidity when cooling. "

Still feels hot but not that suffocating clammy feeling and your not drenched in sweat when doing things outside. Much more tolerable than the Michigan summer heat I am used too but get me up around 95 or above and I am in the AC. Hot is hot.

We were not planning on being in Arizona this summer but due the Covid we have stayed in place. I have a 12000 btu 120 volt minisplit. I assume it is not at maximum efficiency as  I was unable to complete the install as my line set ended up two feet short for my desired location and I was forced to put the outdoor unit and the lineset in a position that is fully exposed to the Arizona sun. I hope to complete the install this week but that means taking the AC offline for a few hours and it is really hot. We have had quite a few days where the actual temperature is between 103 and 105.  We are at about 3700 feet elevation so most of the highs are in the high 90's. This minisplit is soooo quiet and easily outperfroms the Dometic 15k.  Our unit will stay at 75 or below unless the temp gets over 95. The it will start creeping up and if it gets to 79, we generally put on the Dometic and the both of them together handle things very easily. We have a 39 foot Arctic Fox fifth wheel with 3 slideouts.  I am thinking of getting rid of the Dometic on the roof to use the space for Solar. In our normal fullltiming, which avoids temperature extremes, we would never use the Dometic. Oh, we are in direct sunlight. As soon as the sun goers down the minisplit will take the unit all the way down to 62.

Thanks Tireman.

I have also looked at these.      https://www.newpowa.com/collections/rigid-solar-panels/products/newpowa-200w-24v-monocrystalline-high-efficiency-solar-panel

Hmmm.    I was looking at those last night Glenn. Small world. Good price on used here.     https://www.santansolar.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw5vz2BRAtEiwAbcVIL9Jcdz-QhZzPWjRXJhLsWM48bZ4HobKssd7Zmy4y7SO0YSZKNGMRmhoCtpsQAvD_BwE

Your ownership of property would just be one indicia of residency they look at multiple factors. 

If you are under 65 and expect to use the ACA to get health insurance then you need to be careful as to your residency/domicile  as the price and avaialability varies greatly by state.

Yes I would do an internet search focused on heavy duty drawer slides. Some of those are rated quite high for lbs.  Things get really expensive when you start to look at specialized premade equipment focused just on slideouts. I wish I had your skills Glenn.

By the way. I got my 12,000 btu miniswplit installed yesterday. I am in love.

Looks nice Did you have that powder coated?

Good to know. Thanks Glenn. 

1 hour ago, GlennWest said:

I fabbed a steel support off the rear chassis. I recently installed one on a freinds unit that works with me. Fellow welder. He had a reciever hitch on his from factory. We reinforced it but question if needed. Welders tend to build heavier than necessary. Built a steel angle iron shelf for it to bolt to. Drove wedge onto tube to elimate any movement and tacked it. Solid as mine. He insisted on powering it from outside service pole dispite what I said. Kept throwing breaker. GFCI. Went back and ran line from his breaker box and all was well. Welders are also very hard headed. I should know. lol. On mine, I had a flat pad welded to my chassis for bumpers at rear of my Teton. Four botls holding it in. Removed and bolted steel tube to it after welding pad on it. Welded my frame to this. This paid off for me since I ended up with two units back there. I had considered putting it in generator area up front. But knew I would be going with a volt or leaf battery pack later and needed that room for it. You would have to supply a air intake and exhaust. It would be consealed though.

I am thinking of buying a basic and smaller  hitch cargo carrier and modifying that. I may wait until this summer as there is a welder that does some work for our park and I may hire him to design something more specific. I did think a carrier would be a good starting point but maybe he would rather do it from scratch.

My other option is the front generator area. I am concerned about airflow though? I know I would need to have it open unless I put some type of grate over it. The other thing I was considering was putting a hole in the bottom of the generator area so when we were stopped I could lower the unit  with linear actuators. I am worried though that the copper tubing and stuff will not allow this movement and create a leak?

Glenn where have you installed the outdoor unit portion?

1 hour ago, GlennWest said:

I need to apologize to you. Don't know what I was thinking when I stated 5200 watts on my roof. 4k is doeable, maybe a little more. I can get 12 300ish watt panels or 10 400ish watt panels. I might could find some narrow panels for the center if worthwhile and that would give me more, Again my apologizes

Still A LOT. I am thinking of pulling my ac unit (Such junk).  Interested in how your project goes.

When I first got my Calb LifePo4 cells about 6 years ago I had them all hooked up on a table where I was balancing them and testing them. Dropped the wrench. Holy S***. I happened to have a piece of wood nearby so I could very quickly knock the wrench away, but what a display. Really scared me. Whenever I mess with my batteries now it feels like a diffuse the bomb scene from Mission Impossible. Thank goodness my wife did not see it. I never said a word. The cell survived. 

Well then he is quite far along. So then he would have 1 pack and he could use a single shunt-----probably the BLK. That is much simpler. I got thrown off with the three pack talk.

Yes the terminology is getting confusing. I would call your set up 1 pack made up of three packs in parallel.  If the three packs are connected they should be in voltage balance. You probably still want to separately monitor the voltage on each 48 volt "component" battery but I would think you could do that rather inexpensively without the need for a separate shunt etc. Just use one shunt.

Why are you keeping the as separate packs? Can't you just parallel wire them into one pack.

8 minutes ago, Daveh said:

Depending on your setup there may be a place for something like this in your system. https://www.magnum-dimensions.com/smart-battery-combiner.   My concern is that your packs will get out of balance.

 

Doesn't look like that is an option for 48 volt packs. https://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/353276/battery-combiner-for-2-mixed-48v-banks    I would just want to know exactly what was going on in each pack. You could rely on the BMS but won't your low voltage cutoff be lower than what you normally would want to run your batteries down too. That is where the victron and magnum shunt monitors are nice because they will alarm the pack at a voltage above your low voltage cutoff based on amps used.   

Depending on your setup there may be a place for something like this in your system. https://www.magnum-dimensions.com/smart-battery-combiner.   My concern is that your packs will get out of balance.