OldMan

Someone said something, but it went in one ear and out the other.

37 minutes ago, chirakawa said:

Thanks. I've been using lithium batteries in RC vehicles for years.  They can be very unstable.  This lithium iron battery seems to be the answer for that.

Indeed. Glad I could help. Let me know how your project goes, OK?

7 minutes ago, chirakawa said:

Tell me more about these lithium-iron batteries.

Not a helluva lot. This will explain more and in truth, I'm reading it myself.

What I know is the cell chemistry has somehow been re-formulated with the idea of making it more stable and not prone to catching fire, like lithium ION batteries have been prone to do (iPhones, laptop computers). That page I linked to will help you a great deal.

It should be known, the lithium batteries made for RV solar systems  now, are almost all lithium-iron.

Same great price, lower liability exposure!!!

12 hours ago, oldjohnt said:

I found

That's the same thing I found (NOT saying there aren't some out there) which is why for ease and availability and price and possibly less shading concerns subject to roof real estate and possibly less heat problems and less weight per panel, if I had to have 400 watts Id at least consider using TWO 200 Watt probably 24 volt probably wired in parallel Panels. They are so readily available at less then a dollar per watt. I'm running three of the 24 volt 235's in parallel now on my small 29 foot Class C and have room for even one more.

 Study your roof layout shop around and do your homework and I'm sure you will do fine

John T

I'm not looking for  them, the OP was. I'm not even doing a roof mount.

I'm getting three 250s but it will be for a class A. OP will do fine with a 360, I believe. But to take advantage of it, he has to use lithium-iron batteries. Lead-acid batteries cannot provide the amp hours he seeks, and that type of battery cannot become a thing of the past, fast enough. You can even get lithium-iron starter batteries, as in starting your car.

Oops. My bad. And of course, you like that.

I've looked around and there are very few 400-watt panels around. Can you possibly get by with 375??

Edit: If you're willing to go direct, here is a good buy.

10 hours ago, mkvacik said:

You got me looking at panels there, I am normally very cheap, but I really want to build a system that is going to bounce down the road for years to come without issues.  I guess I doubt my knowledge enough to risk buying stuff like this without at least having the experience of at least one person to go off of and the exact unit I want.  
I am looking at 300 watt 60 cell panels, and can't find anything there comparable yet, but it is probably there if I look long enough.  

Look for the ones that say "Free Shipping." Hold 'em to that.

In addition, there is the tariff, which you and I will pay at the seaport. If you're not near a seaport, especially the West Coast, your shipping costs will rise. Often when they free shipping, they also mean "sea shipping." IOW, on a ship. To a port. Lowest cost to them.

9 hours ago, hemsteadc said:

You get what you pay for.

Oh please. American solar companies source ALL their crap in China (try to find an American-made photovoltaic cell, lithium iron battery cell, charge controller OR inverter, INCLUDING Magnum and Victron, not made in China...I'll wait) and gouge Americans.

I no longer think that way. They want to gouge, I don't have to buy. Some s-head American the other day was trying to convince me of my wrongness. I laughed.

By the way, Doordash will now deliver Burger King to your door.

On 1/21/2018 at 8:40 AM, Kirk Wood said:

You can get 12V-dc sets as well as electric coffee makers and such but they also use a lot of 12V power. 

We'll have that Coleman drip pot that sits on the stove. Looking into 12vdc boob toobs, only need/want one. We watch, but not every night. I'm a big radio guy. Ball games. Weather. Sports talk. Shortwave. CB. Ham.

I'm still doing the energy assessment. Part of it is difficult. For example, as you mentioned, TV. At least it's not the electron sucker of yesteryear, with a big honkin' cathode ray tube. Not sure it'll be that big, though I have a 37" right next to me and that's how I watch it. We'll see. I watch a lot of TV on my computer. Ball games in particular. But there are things not yet possessed. My energy assessment, FTM, will have to be theoretical.

Of course, lots of music. LOUD music. If only in my ears. I AM a musician, after all. Ifn you don't believe me, check out the music if you dare. I produced, wrote the instrumental, sang the backing on "Mumbo Jumbo,: and played all the guitar. And engineered the original recordings. Enjoy.

This is a book. I'm sorry. I've proofed it 15 times (yes, I am anal about language, sue me). I hope it's good enough.

On 3/13/2017 at 8:55 AM, lockmup68 said:

I know many use the Magnum MSH3012 inverter/charger, but what about the 3000w Victron? I've always heard Victron was super expensive, but it appears cost was is on par with the Magnums now. Thoughts? I did some searching, but my google-fu is failing me.

Victron Multiplus 3000 12v

Self-censor. Woulda liked to have said it but so many are so VERY thin-skinned. I really miss usenet. You didn't read that, but you can read this, if you're not bored, or even if you are.

For me, Victron, Magnum and the like, actually discourage the use of an entry-level approach to quality solar installations. My controller and inverter together are a bit more than $500. After seeing the $1.5K price tag for the Victron unit, I gasped and closed the window. It scared me.

The implication appears to be (among the wealthier, here)  if you're not using all this cool, highly UN-affordable stuff, you might as well stay home. Hear me out, all you rich people.

I'm a poor mofo. Yes I am. I found myself having to come up with all manner of ways to afford the fairly honkin' solar system I would like to have (though compared to some here, it's miniscule). That's why I've gone to Chinese companies, looking for discounts. I do my best to use the current political situation in the US to my advantage (sometimes I get the sympathy vote from the Chinese), especially since solar panels have become such a pain point for RV owners, who are not usually wealthy. Yes, I'm a commie. Devious...ultimately cheap, but not wanting to sacrifice...for what I want for my family. Sue me.

With regard to solar and the required system components, it has turned out, to my own level of personal chagrin, I can get all but the panels, with relative price equality (when you disregard the panels), right here in the States. *DOH*

In fact, most of it will come from Amazon. I can get 3.2vdc, 50ah LiFePo4 cells with which to build the bank. $155 ea, shipped. I need eight, but hey, cost of doing business. A pair of plain, ol' trolling motor battery boxes for the banks. I can saw off most of the lids and install BMS in opposite ends of the boxes, which will be held together with fasteners and some black JB Weld, but use part of each one to house the BMS. BMS is must have for LiFePo4 battery banks.

Solar charge controller, EPPT Tracer with coach-mounted charge indicator. $180 shipped, including a battery monitor to put in the coach. 3000/6000 watt inverter for the AC stuff. 3000/6000 pure sine wave inverter. Roughly $400 shipped. Hence my buying here. But I still would not have known, had I not taken the side trip to alibaba.com. Learning there enables me to look for things (and their prices), here.

But now, now we get to the panels. Oh, the beautiful, lovely panels.

Only the panels, themselves, are a deal from China, and here is why: I can find panels with free shipping. That's right, you read right, the Chinese have taken the tariff and flipped ol' so and so the big, Asian bird. I LOVE IT!!!

Read it and weep.

I say again, I am totally willing to help anyone who asks, even you rich guys, but you don't need my help. You can afford the high-priced spread.

Hell, I'm so ignorant, myself, sometimes I scare myself. But I want to help if you'll ask. I won't even bitch if you don't take my sage, professional and gold-plated, advice. After all, we all still stink. ;-)

On 1/24/2018 at 6:55 PM, Ridgekid said:

Hi Classmates. We have moved forward at a faster pace cleaning out the house.  Local flea markets are keeping me busy with deliveries.......

most of the furniture is already sold.  Buyers kind enough to let us use it till we move out.  Can’t do that until April 1.  Then put the house up for sale.

We plan to go to Florida after the sale to change domicile.  

We are currently outfitting the TT with stuff we wanted for being full timers.  Leaning towards boondocking in Arizona next winter.  

That’s all we got for now.  

If you don't have it, solar, solar, solar. If you can afford it, overbuild your system. Just means you can run more stuff, longer.

11 minutes ago, ALLOY said:

 

My buddy was looking for 4 LED lights for his truck. He got such a deal on Aliexpress that he was able to buy 6 for the cost of 1 Rigid (also made in China) LED.  A year later 2 were working, brackets were rusted, powder coat was peeling.  Then he bought 4 Bright Source LED (made in China) from a local supplier who flies to China to check quality at 1/2 the cost of Rigid.  Once these warm (have to let LED warm up to test Lumen output) up the light output is a less than Rigid because the control board is not as good but 2 years later all are still running and look good.      

There's a moral to the story but I can't think of one.

I just use Super Bright LEDs

Way too rich for my blood. I'm building a scalable system with room for more power, but inverters like that are overkill for my system. Oh, and I'll never afford any inverter mentioned in this thread.

I'm also sourcing the panels and controller from China. Bang for your buck, man. Where do you think Renogy and SunPower get their panels? Heck, Sunpower is a Chinese company with sales offices in the states.So I cut out the middleman and get better prices. I have a longer blog post I've written and saved as a text file if anyone wants to read my whole rationale.

On 1/4/2018 at 5:58 AM, trailertraveler said:

I am curious as to how many watts of solar panels you have room for on a 21 foot trailer. I am guessing that there is an air conditioner, TV antenna and at least one roof vent and possibly a vent for the refrigerator. I have a 160 watt portable setup and as Kirk mentioned it is only capable of providing minimal charging even when in full sun. It does serve to top off the batteries after using the generator for a bulk charge.

It's not written they must be mounted on the coach. Some folk use solar panels on frames so they can move the panel back toward the sun.