Battery curves - Converter vs Solar?

[AStravelers]

By the way, here's a YouTube video of a couple who has the same system we have - six 160 watt Grape panels with an FM80 controller. Watch how tilting them dramatically improves their output. It's the same output we see - both before and after we started tilting our panels.  https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DG01A51L-5Vc&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjckPCkqY3VAhUnsFQKHQRcDT4QtwIIIDAC&usg=AFQjCNGoB1NZ-EZWFkk6J0GcWgp41i0ZNQ

Everyone should watch the above video to see and excellent example of the problems with wiring several panels in series.  The RV in the video has all 6 of the panels wired in series.  The total amps from all 6 panels at the start of the video is about 37amps.  As they tilt each panel there is almost no increase in output until they tilt the last panel.  Then the output jumps from about 38 amps to 51 amps.  This also shows the affects of shading on panels in series. 

 

[Frank B]

Aha!!  One of the major reasons that I went for high-voltage residential panels! You don't have to put them in series. ;D


And, just one look at the hassle involved in tilting those panels, and I'm out!  Yeah, big roof with many flat mounted panels is a much easier way to go!  Just cover the whole stinkin' roof with panels, and then sit on the gro 89und with a cold drink in your hand!  ;D


That video, and the other one that followed it with regards to running an air conditioner off the batteries gets me thinking. I may be able to run the air conditioner just off solar if I use a soft start device on my low capacity air conditioner.  Not that one needs an air conditioner in the winter in Arizona, but it would be nice to have the ability if one gets a particularly hot day. 


So, does anyone know where I can get a soft start device for a low capacity Coleman Mach air conditioner somewhere in the neighborhood of 1300 Watts?  With a soft start device, I may even be able to run it off a 2000 watt Honda generator. It is the surge current for startup that is the killer on a 2K Honda generator.


Frank

 

[Frank B]

Kevin:


I wonder if those numbers reflect the fact that you're using 6 volt golf cart batteries - mine are all 12 volt.[/size]

[/size]

[/size]
[/size]You mean, you have 8 x 12v batteries! Now, THAT is a battery bank!
[/size]
[/size]Frank

 

[Kevin Means]

Frank... that last post didn't come across well - couldn't read the tiny font.

Kev

 

[Frank B]

Kevin:

Frank... that last post didn't come across well - couldn't read the tiny font.

I have to read those on a phone or tablet where I can zoom the view.

Yeah, the forum software does that every so often, and it seems no one knows why.  One of the sysops usually fixes posts like that, but I guess they missed this one.  I'll try again.  Here is what I posted:

I wonder if those numbers reflect the fact that you're using 6 volt golf cart batteries - mine are all 12 volt.

You mean, you have 8 x 12v batteries! Now, THAT is a battery bank!

Frank.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

So, does anyone know where I can get a soft start device for a low capacity Coleman Mach air conditioner somewhere in the neighborhood of 1300 Watts?

Take a look at yours. The Coleman Mach's on my previous rig already had soft start capacitors.  They also were rated at 1400 watts (13.5k btu heat pumps).  I think you need to get down to the smaller 8000 btu a/c units to get much under that.

This previous thread addresses those kits:
http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php?topic=97677.0

And here is a kit if you need one:
https://www.microair.net/products/easystart-364-3-ton-single-phase-soft-starter-for-air-conditioners?variant=30176048267

 

[Frank B]

Thanks, Gary.


Now I have to figure out exactly which model I have. No, correction. I have to find specs on the particular model that I have. There appear to be an almost unlimited number of variations on the 8333 Coleman roof mounted air conditioner. :-(


Basically, I need to find out if there is any way on God's green earth to run this air conditioner off a 2000 watt eu2000i Honda generator.  They make a low-power model that runs on a thousand watts, but I cannot determine from anything I can find on the web whether my machine meets those criteria or not. I may end up having to ask Coleman themselves what this means. Their website is not a great help.


And, in the final analysis, I will probably have to sell the 2000 watt Honda, and buy a 3000 watt unit from somebody else. With all the solar that I have now, I don't need the quiet generator. I just need something that will run the air conditioner on a particularly hot day if required. Extension cords are cheap, so I can put it a long way out in the desert.


Feel free to split this off into another thread.  In fact, I may repost this myself as a separate question.


Frank.