Comments on my electrical system

Hi everyone.
Wife and I have been RVing for many years and love it.
However some of the new fangled things I am unsure of.
Could I get some comments on this electrical setup pls.  Good, bad or average.
I am stuck with it for now but would really appreciate, a conversion into english as to what it does, how well, and its limitations. 
This is what the rig has.
Xantrex PRO Inverter XM1800
WFCO ULTRA III Deckmount Converter WF-9800 Series
Furrion F50-ATS 50 amp Automatic Transfer Switch
GO POWER Solar Power Kit with GP-PWM-30 Solar Charge Controller
Two 160 watt Solar Panels
Max power voltage(Vmp) 18.42V
Max power current (Imp) 8.84A
Open Circuit voltage (Voc)  22.77V
Short circuit current (Isc)  9.24A
And without a lie most of it is greek to me.

Any insite would be greatly appreciated.
Solar is after market and hooked up to just charge batteries
4 Interstate 6 volt deep cycle batteries.

Your inverter is a device that inverts 12 volts DC to 120 volts AC, so you can run some AC appliances off battery power (TVs, etc.) when you're not running your generator and not hooked up to shore-power. It's easy to think you can run any AC appliance with an inverter, but you really can't - at least not for very long. Microwave ovens and coffee makers, for example, may be wired to run off the inverter, but they will drain your batteries relatively fast.

Your converter does the opposite - it converts 120 volts AC, that's supplied from shore-power or your generator, to 12 volts DC. Your converter powers your 12 volt systems when running off AC power, and it also charges your house-batteries.

Your automatic transfer switch automatically switches between shore-power and generator-power, so you don't have to manually plug your power cord into a different power receptical when you want to run off generator power. If you're plugged into shore-power while your generator is running, the generator has priority.

Your solar setup is a pretty common system. The controller regulates power to the battery bank to prevent overcharging. RV solar installations are supposed to be wired to the house-batteries. They are simply an alternate method of charging your batteries when not hooked up to AC power.

6 volt deep cycle batteries are a good way to go. Just make sure to check their water levels monthly (or so) Do you know how old they are?

Kev

The numbers from your solar panels:

Max power voltage(Vmp) 18.42V
Max power current (Imp) 8.84A
Open Circuit voltage (Voc)  22.77V
Short circuit current (Isc)  9.24A

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are showing the max voltage and current you would see under perfect sunlight conditions the panels pointed directly at the sun.  Nice to know, but not very important unless you are designing a system or making modifications to your existing solar panels.

Your electrical set up is pretty good for doing some dry camping or boondocking.  You could use more solar.  As long as you don't run the microwave for more than several minutes to defrost something, or heat up something, or run a toaster, coffee pot, or the TV a lot each day you should be able to keep your batteries charged.  Running the furnace a lot in temps below about 40 degrees also uses a lot of battery power, not to mention the propane use.

The above is assuming you have good sunlight on your solar panels.  Any shade at will reduce the power coming from your solar panels to little or nothing.  A cloudy or rainy day really reduces the amount of power from the solar panels as well. 

IF you plan on boondocking or dry camping for more than a couple of days at a time you really need a battery monitor such as a Trimetric:  http://www.bogartengineering.com/products/trimetrics/ .  You want a monitor such as this to know how far discharged your batteries are and to know at any given time how many amps are going in or out of your house batteries. 

For a good primer on RV electrical systems go to these two websites:
http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm
http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volta.htm

Thanks Kevin the batteries are new August 2016.  This rig has a residential fridge, it along with the solar power are the unknowns to me.  So far the longest we have boondocked it 4 days.  We do run the genny in the mornings for about an hour while cooking breakfast.  So far so good, we have not run out of juice. This winter 2 weeks boondocking in the yuma area.  We will see???  Thanks all insight is appreciated.  Keep it coming!

Thanks Al
We do not run any "Heat" things from the inverter.  We do have the residential fridge and a little bit of tv, maybe an hour every couple of days.  Mostly lights, charge phones and the propane furnace if required. I do use the electric coffee pot in the morning so I heat out water, cook breakfast, and of course charge the batteries for about an hour with the genny.  I also add H2O or at least check every month or so.  Thanks, I was just hoping I didnt have a piece of crap or a problem waiting to happen.  Regards Wayne and Maryann

How do you hook up one of those battery monitors?

There are installation & operation manuals, plus wiring diagrams, on the Bogart (Trimetric) web site at http://www.bogartengineering.com/support/manuals/

wstuart said:

How do you hook up one of those battery monitors?

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Not detailed instructions, but a general overview.  When you buy the monitor it comes with a "shunt".  You will mount the shunt near the ground side of your house battery bank, usually within 6-12 inches. You disconnect the ground side cable from your house battery bank.  You will need to make or buy a short heavy cable to go from the battery to one side of the shunt.  Make sure the short cable is the same size as the ground cable that is on the battery.  Then you attach the ground cable that was attached to the battery bank to the other side of the shunt. If there is more than one cable attached to the ground side of the battery, you want all of them connected to the house side of the shunt.  The idea here is to be sure every bit of current to or from the battery goes through the shunt.  Now for the monitor it self.  The monitor comes with a light weight 3 or 4 wire cable which you connect to the small screws on the shunt and run the cable to the monitor you typically mount inside the RV at a place which is within easy viewing sight.

Here is a link to the Trimetric installation manual: http://www.bogartengineering.com/wp-content/uploads/docs/NEW%20TM2030%20INSTRUCTIONS04232017.pdf?boxtype=pdf&g=false&s=false&s2=false&r=wide

Here is a link to a pair of 12 inch #2 guage battery cables that may be large enough to go to your shunt.  https://www.amazon.com/Gauge-Copper-Battery-Inverter-Cables/dp/B00SFXVMYW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1505660414&sr=8-3&keywords=RV%2Bbattery%2Bcables&th=1

You only need the black cable.  However if the existing battery cable is larger than #2 (2AGW) such as #1 or #0 cable, you can run both the red and black cable from the battery to the battery side of the shunt.  The existing cable should be marked with something like 2AGW or #2. 

BTW, if you are going to boondock for 2 weeks, you definitely want to install a battery monitor.  Just running your generator for an hour each morning, may not fully charge the batteries.  After 7-10 days you may find the batteries are two low to support power draw of your residential fridge.  Especially if you have a couple of cloudy days. 

The monitor shows the percentage of battery capacity as well as the total number of amp hours you have used, or are putting back into the battery.  The monitor also shows at a glance the number of amps being discharged or charged from/into the batteries. 

wstuart said:

Thanks Al
We do not run any "Heat" things from the inverter.  We do have the residential fridge and a little bit of tv, maybe an hour every couple of days.  Mostly lights, charge phones and the propane furnace if required. I do use the electric coffee pot in the morning so I heat out water, cook breakfast, and of course charge the batteries for about an hour with the genny.  I also add H2O or at least check every month or so.  Thanks, I was just hoping I didnt have a piece of crap or a problem waiting to happen.  Regards Wayne and Maryann

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I agree with Al... our Trimetric is one of the most useful boondocking tools I've installed, and installation is pretty straightforward. Boondocking without one is like driving without a fuel gauge. Your appliances and setup seem pretty straightforward - definitely not crap. FYI, our coffee maker draws 85 amps per hour while its brewing (brew cycle lasts about10 minutes) then 10 amps per hour for the remainder of the time the warming plate is on, so while it's running is a good time to run your generator.

Kev

The inverter panel has three options for display, Power in, Power out, and battery voltage. Of course they all measure different things, volts, amps, kilo watts, I think.  I also use a volt meter right at the battery and the inverter display  is always a couple of points lower than at the battery.  Like 12.7 vs 12.5
But I do like the idea of knowing for sure.  I will put it on the list for when I head south this winter.

Thanks.