I've been searching and reading a great deal on this, learning on-the-fly. I am likely clueless about many things too. I purchased an 80 qt Edgestar Scratch-N-Dent last year and took it on its first camping trip over Memorial Day. I am now sold on fridges by the way. I borrowed a friend's GoalZero Yeti 400 and 45W of panels to run it. I knew this wasn't ideal, but should suffice for 3 days and two nights in a single camp site. It did, but it was close. No way am I shelling out the money for a Yeti 1250 though. Time to build my own.
This is a work in progress and I've already asked some questions in other threads and thought I'd consolidate them here. The goal is to build an 80-100 Ah system that will run the fridge, LED lights and charge small devices while camping. We often set up camp some distance from the Land Cruiser so it need to be portable. I also want to be able to swap this between multiple vehicles, take to swim meets, etc. I'd like to just set it up and keep the fridge running constantly in the garage.
Soooo, here is what I have purchased so far based on CruiserDrew, george-tlc and others.
Renogy 100W suitcase
Morningstar Sun Saver 10
GT 130A Power Analyzer
The idea is to put it all in a single box using a sealed AGM deep cycle battery. I picked this up the other day as a maybe. It is a MTM Dry Box Spud 7
I'm considering some Dewalt/Rigid resin tool boxes as well.
I found these other watt meter/battery minders. I ordered two of them. I bought the 100A and I think that was a mistake. It has a rather large current shunt. They have a 20A version that contains an internal shunt. I don't think my system will ever go over 10A of current. I wish the voltmeter when down lower for analyzing the solar efficiency.
Bayite DC 6.5-100V, 0-100A Digital Current-Voltage-Power Multimeter
I'll use SB50 connector for the fridge, a cig lighter and dual USB port. That should cover all my needs and can be upgraded. Mount the plugs, switches and monitors in the little top compartment. I'll add some sort of plastic/resin shelf to isolate the battery from the main wiring. I'm hoping to avoid too many holes in the box itself. The rest I'm trying to figure out. I'm OK on wire size and connectors. I do have some questions.
1. How much ventilation will I need for the charge controller? Mount it at the top of the box and prop the lid open while charging? Have a separate small box like CruiserDrew?
2. Should I run the load through the charge controller? Does running loads directly off the battery while solar charging do hinky things to the charging algorithm?
3. Can I set up an AC trickle charger that runs through the Morningstar charge controller? Say a DC 12V-6A power supply?
4. System isolation switch. Do I need to use some big old battery isolated switch rated to a brazzillion amps? Since this is such a low amp set up I was thinking a simple SPST 10-20A switch with a 10-20A breaker would suffice.
5. What is acceptable voltage drop in the wiring from the panels to the charge controller? I was hoping to have one length of cables 40ft long. 8awg will have about 2.5% drop at 12V.
I'm sure I'll have many more questions.
This is a work in progress and I've already asked some questions in other threads and thought I'd consolidate them here. The goal is to build an 80-100 Ah system that will run the fridge, LED lights and charge small devices while camping. We often set up camp some distance from the Land Cruiser so it need to be portable. I also want to be able to swap this between multiple vehicles, take to swim meets, etc. I'd like to just set it up and keep the fridge running constantly in the garage.
Soooo, here is what I have purchased so far based on CruiserDrew, george-tlc and others.
Renogy 100W suitcase
Morningstar Sun Saver 10
GT 130A Power Analyzer
The idea is to put it all in a single box using a sealed AGM deep cycle battery. I picked this up the other day as a maybe. It is a MTM Dry Box Spud 7
I'm considering some Dewalt/Rigid resin tool boxes as well.
I found these other watt meter/battery minders. I ordered two of them. I bought the 100A and I think that was a mistake. It has a rather large current shunt. They have a 20A version that contains an internal shunt. I don't think my system will ever go over 10A of current. I wish the voltmeter when down lower for analyzing the solar efficiency.
Bayite DC 6.5-100V, 0-100A Digital Current-Voltage-Power Multimeter
I'll use SB50 connector for the fridge, a cig lighter and dual USB port. That should cover all my needs and can be upgraded. Mount the plugs, switches and monitors in the little top compartment. I'll add some sort of plastic/resin shelf to isolate the battery from the main wiring. I'm hoping to avoid too many holes in the box itself. The rest I'm trying to figure out. I'm OK on wire size and connectors. I do have some questions.
1. How much ventilation will I need for the charge controller? Mount it at the top of the box and prop the lid open while charging? Have a separate small box like CruiserDrew?
2. Should I run the load through the charge controller? Does running loads directly off the battery while solar charging do hinky things to the charging algorithm?
3. Can I set up an AC trickle charger that runs through the Morningstar charge controller? Say a DC 12V-6A power supply?
4. System isolation switch. Do I need to use some big old battery isolated switch rated to a brazzillion amps? Since this is such a low amp set up I was thinking a simple SPST 10-20A switch with a 10-20A breaker would suffice.
5. What is acceptable voltage drop in the wiring from the panels to the charge controller? I was hoping to have one length of cables 40ft long. 8awg will have about 2.5% drop at 12V.
I'm sure I'll have many more questions.
Last edited: