The (failed) Moonshine Camper (2 Viewers)

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Sooo much money for a noisy thing like that. For less money and weight you could have an amazing solar setup that would run everything but the ac. Take a $500 portable invertor generator with you when it’s august.
 
Sooo much money for a noisy thing like that. For less money and weight you could have an amazing solar setup that would run everything but the ac. Take a $500 portable invertor generator with you when it’s august.

I roll with both, Champion Dual fuel 3k generator (never had a drop of gas, I’ve only used LPG) and 400w solar w/Tesla battery (both can start my AC w/o “quick start capacitor” but I’m going to add one anyway) but my solar is more expensive than my generator. As I’m sure is known, solar is about storage, batteries aint cheap, I found converting to a 24v system using a Tesla battery doubled my capacity in less space than the existing type 34 size batteries at half the cost of new 12v LiPo.

 
We camped in June and it was hot enough to want Ac. Also, if I go with this generator, I could get a heat/Ac rooftop combo and not worry about buddy heaters or a separate furnace.

So many options, it's hard to decide!

Hard to determine how loud these Cummins units are. If it's as quiet as a little hf 2500w generator, then it would be pretty quiet even permanent mounted in the camper with an insulated compartment.
 
That’s kinda why I like the portable one. Long extension cord and you don’t have to hear it. When I had the class c it was either sleep with the fans on and 12v or turn on the generator and the ac and not sleep because of the noise.


Camping is fun. Listening to an idling motor nearby while camping isn’t as much fun. That said check the dB on the AC at full tilt because it might not matter if the generator is 55 dB if the AC is 60
 
I roll with both, Champion Dual fuel 3k generator (never had a drop of gas, I’ve only used LPG) and 400w solar w/Tesla battery (both can start my AC w/o “quick start capacitor” but I’m going to add one anyway) but my solar is more expensive than my generator. As I’m sure is known, solar is about storage, batteries aint cheap, I found converting to a 24v system using a Tesla battery doubled my capacity in less space than the existing type 34 size batteries at half the cost of new 12v LiPo.


What camper do you have?

Also, very interested to hear more about your tesla battery setup. Batteries are expensive as hell I've come to realize.
 
That’s kinda why I like the portable one. Long extension cord and you don’t have to hear it. When I had the class c it was either sleep with the fans on and 12v or turn on the generator and the ac and not sleep because of the noise.


Camping is fun. Listening to an idling motor nearby while camping isn’t as much fun. That said check the dB on the AC at full tilt because it might not matter if the generator is 55 dB if the AC is 60

This model says its quieter than national park service requirements, which is 60db at 50 feet. Makes it seem quiet, but hard to know without standing next to it.
 
60 dB is a loud person talking to you directly. It’s the sound of a huge Fedex jet flying over your house at less than 500 feet. Ask me how I know.
 
What camper do you have?

Also, very interested to hear more about your tesla battery setup. Batteries are expensive as hell I've come to realize.

‘15 Airstream 27FB Eddie Bauer edition, if one calls such a camper...
295D9B46-EFF1-4CF5-B230-FEC829183AE4.jpeg


Lots of options for take out batteries from Nissan Leaf, Chevy Bolt, Teslas...I chose Tesla for many reasons but mostly because I didn’t have to invent the wheel, many others have done so making easy to follow builds on Youtube/etc. It’s about knowing needs, calculating loads and building a system around that considering space limits.
 
Rock wool or other sound deadening should cut the db level further inside the camper.
Put it on a slide or have a plan for removal/servicing. Roll out. My $0.02
 
I roll with both, Champion Dual fuel 3k generator (never had a drop of gas, I’ve only used LPG) and 400w solar w/Tesla battery (both can start my AC w/o “quick start capacitor” but I’m going to add one anyway) but my solar is more expensive than my generator. As I’m sure is known, solar is about storage, batteries aint cheap, I found converting to a 24v system using a Tesla battery doubled my capacity in less space than the existing type 34 size batteries at half the cost of new 12v LiPo.

I drank the KoolAid and bought this Champion 3500w generator to replace a 2500w that would not run our rooftop ac.
The Champion is very good!
It is slightly louder than a suitcase style 2500w but not nearly as loud as a larger rolling frame generator.
I also have not had to install the soft start capasiter in the ac and have only run the generator on propane.
Electric start and all (sat all winter and started right up this spring with no battery maintenance).
Not sure it will run heat 🤷
 
Reading more, it seems that the permanent mounted units like the Onan are super loud even with insulation, just like James said. That's a bummer, but I guess not that surprising.

There's a company right here in NC that sells Tesla batteries with converter boards and bms systems :D




BMS for tesla battery:
 
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Yeah I never understood why the 4000 watt Onan in my Class C was like $3000 or more and loud as hell but for a third of the cost or so you could get an inverter and mount it in the same spot - or run it 50 feet away in the woods - and with this one I posted below running at 52 dB versus your stated 60 dB ... that's literally 6.31 times louder dB scale is funky like that. :)

edit: not sure why the link won't work. Look on amazon: westinghouse IGen3500

I have the smaller westinghouse - igen2500 and it's super quiet.
 
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Reading more, it seems that the permanent mounted units like the Onan are super loud even with insulation, just like James said. That's a bummer, but I guess not that surprising.

There's a company right here in NC that sells Tesla batteries with converter boards and bms systems :D


233 Ah for $1300 in 23kg is about as good as it gets in price/weight.

In comparison from Battle Born:

Approx $2K for LiFeP04 100Ah x 2 set up. 100ah/14kg comparison as well

Oh sheet - just saw those 24V not 12V - so wow.
 
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Reading more, it seems that the permanent mounted units like the Onan are super loud even with insulation, just like James said. That's a bummer, but I guess not that surprising.

There's a company right here in NC that sells Tesla batteries with converter boards and bms systems :D


Where I got mine, nice guy, excuse to visit BudBuilt too...
 
233 Ah for $1300 in 23kg is about as good as it gets in price/weight.

In comparison from Battle Born:

Approx $2K for LiFeP04 100Ah x 2 set up. 100ah/14kg comparison as well

Oh sheet - just saw those 24V not 12V - so wow.
It would take 4 Battleborns and still not same spec as 1 Tesla battery module, 50% of space and weight...
 
The National Park standard is 60dB at 50' - the Onan is 69dB at 10' - I wish they had given a measurement at 50'. We've never had to sleep with the generator (always at a park with hook-up's) but I believe I could sleep with it on. It is directly under our bed (on the 5th wheel) and while noticeable inside, the HVAC is considerably louder than the generator (although the HVAC is directly overhead). The HVAC drowns out most everything; I would be more concerned with it disturbing my neighbors than actually bothering me while in the camper.

I work in telecom so I know signal levels double every 3dB; I'm not sure if that applies for sound levels or not.
 
Finally found a small rooftop air conditioner for the camper. 9200btu, <2000w max with cooling and heat built in. This is the golden ticket. Locked rotor amps = 58.4, so i need to read up on when that's seen. #Edit: locked rotor amps is the compressor start-up amperage. That's pretty high. Need to look into soft-start capacitors.

 
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that looks good! Are you getting it with heat? Our camper has an LP furnace separate from the HVAC and it COOKS!! I'm not sure heat pump/strips would work for our application but is probably a good solution for you
 

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