Rubicon Solar Power Experience

[george_tlc]

^ the water is what boils off if a battery is overcharged, not the acid. So, you just add distilled water to get the level back up to the marked level. You do NOT add more acid.

cheers,
george.

 

[LS1FJ40]

Since this thread is basically the end all, be all to solar and batteries on here I thought I would post this.

I had a 65W Siemens panel running through a Monightar SunSaver controller to an Interstate Batteries Group 27 Marine Lead Acid battery. It couldn’t keep up with my cheapo Edgestar 80qt fridge.

So I did the logical thing. Bought a new, bigger panel rather than diagnose what was actually wrong. I figured the panel was 10+ years old anyway.

Put the new panel on and some days it would be fine. Other days no. So, I wondered if the battery was bad. Got it checked out. It was fine. So I would throw my charger on the battery and things would be ok for a couple of days.

Well, today I had some time so I started trouble shooting it and checking all of the connections. Disconnecting everything and reconnecting everything.

And then I get to the negative post on the battery. Oops. I had torqued it down tight as hell. Later finding out that 12lbs/ft is the proper torque number for screw posts. So the post was loose in there. Thus not giving me a good ground some of the time.

Well, I went to my friendly Interstate Batteries and picked up a new Group 31 and shoe horned it in. Kept the old Group 27 for a dual battery system on my son’s 80 series and solar setup.

Apparently you can just torch the lead around the bolt and push the lead in to fix it.

Ordered new tinned copper lugs to replace the regular copper lugs. And ordered a hydraulic crimper.

Now I just need one of @LandCruiserPhil’s battery hold down thingies when they become available.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Thought I would update this thread with the 2018 Rubithon event and some controller updates.

I'm still using the Victron 75/15 controller with blue tooth, but when I updated the firmware and app software last month, it changed the format of the "history" function. So now you get a running month worth of data. You can see the power ramp up the days I was on the Rubicon trail and running my 2 fridges full time in fairly hot weather.

I also used the output function to get a running consumption reading that I thought was pretty cool. You can see the 2 fridges were using 660-720 Wh per day-That's roughly 50 amp hours per day of power to run 2 medium sized 12 volt refrigerators and maybe 3 cell phone recharges.

The 180 watt panel worked great. The max I saw from it was 176 watts so very close to spec. The batteries would be in the "absorb" phase, and thus full by 1030am each day and then basically float the batteries until dark. During the day, the panel powered the fridges directly.

And in the morning, the lowest voltage reading I saw on my "house" battery was 12.3 volts, so very happy with the overall set up. It's really terrific to never worry about power consumption and battery charge. I had a period of 4 days straight where the truck never ran, the batteries stayed fully charged and the beer/white wine was always cold at the end of the day.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Here is a pic of camp where you can see the solar on the roof, tilted the 10 degrees up for maximum efficiency this set of dates.

Here's a pic of the travelling position of the panel and how tight it is to the roof.

And I'm not sure what was going on here!

And 1 more thing. I saw a very decent solar panel deal on Ebay. Let me say I got my 160 watt panel from "Fred480v" and it's been a great panel. This one is about the same size and weight, 200 watts and only $185 shipped to you. Not affiliated in any way, but wanted to pass along what I consider a good panel and a great price:

1- 200 Watt 12 Volt Battery Charger Solar Panel Off Grid RV Boat 200 watt total | eBay

 

[LS1FJ40]

This is good info Drew.

Question about the Vitron. It’s not waterproof. I have my Morningstar Sun Saver mounted under the hood. I’ll have to run new wiring to th inside to mount the Vitron, correct?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

This is good info Drew.

Question about the Vitron. It’s not waterproof. I have my Morningstar Sun Saver mounted under the hood. I’ll have to run new wiring to th inside to mount the Vitron, correct?

Yes-You will want to keep it inside the cab, or mount it like I did so it's portable and can be installed anywhere with powerpoles or your connector of choice.

I think I mentioned before, but I have 8 gauge wiring into the cab to an interior fuse panel. The controller is wired into the fuse panel and sees that as the battery. A waterproof wire comes down from the roof and plugs into the controller. The mounted controller is attached to the grab bar but can easily be moved around as needed, or moved to a different truck.

 

[ewillis]

This one is about the same size and weight, 200 watts and only $185 shipped to you. Not affiliated in any way, but wanted to pass along what I consider a good panel and a great price:

1- 200 Watt 12 Volt Battery Charger Solar Panel Off Grid RV Boat 200 watt total | eBay

According to that link, you might be missing a digit...and a comma

 

[woytovich]

480v solar | eBay Stores

 

[Cruiserdrew]

According to that link, you might be missing a digit...and a comma

OK-that's weird and someone must have hacked the site. He charges $185 BIN. I'll recheck the 480v store and see if they fix things, because obviously those are silly prices. It appears $1000 has been added to each price. Must just be a mistake.

 

[terrx]

Maybe that's the new trade war pricing.

 

[RFB]

Hi Andrew, sounds like you have a good setup and some real world experience and success.

In oz my 80W panel pushes a solid 5A if not more into my batteries while in full sun. I've seen up to 6A while the panel is cool, the battery needs topping up, the sun is full pelt, though I do have an MPPT charge controller so that tends to do a little better. A decent cable length lets you move the panel out where the sun can hit it most of the day and still have the vehicle in a more shaded area. I have the charge controller at the vehicle end of the longer cable so that any voltage drop occurs on the longer 'unregulated' run and the charge controller can compensate. I just have a few feet of cable from the charge controller to the battery. Anderson SB50 connectors to mate everything together. Then you can have an couple of cables to mate together as extension cords.

Certainly anything in the 5A range will do just fine with a modern fridge, engel, arb. Keep the fridge in shade and provide airflow around it so that it can shed heat while running and your good to go 24/7.

It's great to be able to make camp, set things up and not have to worry about battery condition over several days use even in hot weather. Given that most evenings the temps will drop, the fridge will cycle less and battery AH use drops. Up comes the sun and heat, but then the panel is topping up the battery and as you found it only takes a few hours and then the panel more than keeps up with the daytime demand. Plenty of extra power to charge other gadgets etc.

Much better than a noisy/smelly generator that needs to be topped up etc.

cheers,
george.

was just reading your SC install step by step is the only option for running a dfferent fan other than the TRD supplied by using the deisel clutch fan setup offered by witsend, or is here another way around using ringed fan and spacer?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

480v solar | eBay Stores

Just for the record, he's back to $185 for a 200 watt well made panel. A great deal in my book.

 

[Rob Faucett]

I'm about to go full crazy town. Stand by . . .

 

[Rob Faucett]

Awesome new MPPT controller with bluetooth control for $99

 

[Rob Faucett]

If I roll with the 75/15 and put a 15 amp breaker ahead of the MPPT then don't need to worry about the panels generating more than that? Or does the MPPT have that breaker already?

 

[planomateo]

I can't find the thread with the info about a container for the MPPT. Anybody?

This one?

Awesome new MPPT controller with bluetooth control for $99

 

[Rob Faucett]

This one?

Awesome new MPPT controller with bluetooth control for $99

Thanks! Thought I'd checked that one. Appreciate your time.

 

[Rob Faucett]

What does the connection to your battery look like? Just a ring connector? Or something fancy?

 

[boydmick]

was just reading your SC install step by step is the only option for running a dfferent fan other than the TRD supplied by using the deisel clutch fan setup offered by witsend, or is here another way around using ringed fan and spacer?

Sorry for the random reply...

There are several fans that can be used instead of the TRD ringed fan. The 3FE fan fits and an early 4Runner fan fits. Neither moves as much air as the original 3FZE fan.

That's the benefit of the modified diesel clutch. You can use the original fan without contact with the radiator. Many threads in the 80's section...

And Now, back to your regularly scheduled program.....

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Back from Rubithon 2019. With basically the same system. Same batteries since 2015! Still working perfectly, no complaints from the BlueSea ACR. Ran 2 refrigerators like the last 2 years. I've left the solar on the roof the last 12 months. Charges the battery every day to absorb voltage and then floats until dark. I think that's the secret to long lasting batteries. And weirdly my starting battery is a cheap costco battery from 2013. I think the constant charge is what keeps them going. I top the water in the cells every 3 months.

What is interesting is that at least 50% of the trucks I saw at Rubithon are now running some sort of solar. It makes a huge difference when you sit in one place for several days.