Looking for a suitcase solar setup to extend a 2xbatt RV

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I'm not sure the nice cables add another $300 :D

Either way, i seem to be arbitrarily setting a $~400 max on this at the moment.

Need to just decide the best power/reliability and i guess warranty? for the money now. I'm just not familiar with any of the names here, it could be Joey Bob's Chinese emporium for all i know.
 
Could just buy the one from Harbor Freight and when you are done with this trip, return it. That is what a lot of folks do. Or you can do what the tweakers do... just steal it. HF doesn't prosecute theft unless it is over $1K or theft by employee.

 
Interesting though, though if i was returning i could do the same with Amazon :D

I see the HF one doesn't include the controller, brings it closer in line with the other kits i see once you add one.
 
Go Power is Canadian based and as of April 2021 it became a part of Dometic which made it a standard RV product on some of the popular RV's like Jayco. I know that it wasn't manufactured in China, but it was another Asian country. Saw one for sell for $499, but then shipping added another $109. It weighs 51 pounds.

Harbor Freight sold me some 6 ton jack stands which failed with my 3/4 ton truck on it. I had just crawled out from underneath, walked about 20 feet away, and heard it crash into the concrete driveway.

 
Go Power is Canadian based and as of April 2021 it became a part of Dometic which made it a standard RV product on some of the popular RV's like Jayco. I know that it wasn't manufactured in China, but it was another Asian country. Saw one for sell for $499, but then shipping added another $109. It weighs 51 pounds.

Harbor Freight sold me some 6 ton jack stands which failed with my 3/4 ton truck on it. I had just crawled out from underneath, walked about 20 feet away, and heard it crash into the concrete driveway.

They look like they'll be nice, but i just can't justify their price for this project, so i'm having to get the best i can for up to $~400.
 
If it's a Harbor Freight solar panel please don't mount it on the roof of a RV.
Too late in my case. I got two of the 100W monos on the roof. They charge the battery when sitting under a parking lot light.

The problem with the jack stands was the center piece was cut wrong. Of course NO other company has ever had a jack recalled. Never. [/s]
 
Interesting though, though if i was returning i could do the same with Amazon :D

I see the HF one doesn't include the controller, brings it closer in line with the other kits i see once you add one.
Shesh! What kind of controller are you buying?

A cheapie $10 controller from Amazon has been running two cheap Wal-Mart 12v "deep cycle marine batteries" on two HF 100W mono panels for two years now. The solar controller from HF is junk and they come back too often. My daughter always tells people not to buy it. She gives them the Amazon link to the one she uses.
www.amazon.com/Controller-Intelligent-Regulator-Paremeter-Adjustable/dp/B08NFSCZ4V/

WARNING! Lots of words, so don't read if it's too much verbage:

A lot of people ask my daughter what her setup is in her truck since she is running sort of what they want to run, namely cheap 12vdc LED lights, 12vdc shurflo 2088 water pump, a cheap Thompson 7cf residential 110vac refrigerator, a little 110vac TV that came with the camper & the old extra DVD player, cellphone charging (I replaced and rewired all of the duplex outlets in her truck camper with USB/duplex outlets along with adding a couple extra outlets). The TV/DVD player and the 700W microwave are now on switched outlets (due to phantom draws, because the lousy things aren't really off unless the outlets are off). And she has one HF 2000W inverter running (freebie because it was returned to the store and the return system said to trash it). Got a second inverter the same way but I currently have it pulled out because I decided to replace the attached 30 amp electrical cable with a detachable Marinco Park Power setup. Than "necessitated" a rewire of the electrical connections (AC & DC) in that little area. Made it all much neater now. When it warms up enough to work on the camper, I will put the second inverter back in, along with the two extra batteries. The "old" batteries are new enough that we should get a semi-decent pro-rate on them when we swap them for new ones so there are all new batteries in the bank.

Oh, and she charges/plays her little Nintendo Switch on her cheap solar setup when she takes the camper to spend the night in the store's parking lot on those times when they schedule her normal 4PM-Midnight shift and then want her in the store the next morning at 8AM or 9AM. Still need to add two more of the cheap Wal-Mart 12v "deep cycle marine batteries" to the system (which she tells everyone they need four batteries not the two that she runs). This should get the refrigerator thru the night after a cloudy winter day. Right now, it's coming up about 30 minutes short before sunrise (okay, ONCE it came up 30 minutes short of daylight, I suspect it was because she ran the LP furnace for a couple hours to take the chill off before taking a shower). The only time the refrigerator runs all night is when she takes it to work to stay in overnight and when we took the truck to NC and back. The parking lot lights that we parked directly under kept the batteries charged overnight (love those monocrystalline solar panels). The refrigerator wasn't turned off at all because we had food in it going to NC and coming back, there was 4 gallons of Mayfield ice cream in the freezer. Going East, we spent 1 night out in a CG and 2 nights in parking lots. Coming back West, we were plugged in every night except 1 (different route = more places to stop). The truck camper hasn't been plugged in since fall 2021 (when we last ran the microwave in a campground).

All in all, it's not too shabby a result for a system that cost us under $400 all total including the batteries and the few cables to connect the batteries together on a cheap old Lance truck camper. Using the old battery cables, that I had kept from when we had the Eagle05 bus, to run from the battery bank down to the inverter, was a godsend as it kept the cost way down. ITC member coupons with an employee discount stacked on top meant the 100W mono solar panels cost a little under $70 each.

But ignore me. I'm sure the system doesn't work at all. It's too cheap. Ask any of the RV solar gurus. They will tell you that everything I used doesn't work at all. And I have the "wrong" batteries. I have the "wrong" solar panels. I have the "wrong" controller. I have the "wrong" inverter. I have been told that my system won't work. It's too cheap. And if it does work, it won't work for more than a week. I don't care. It's a little camper that we mostly take to town, or out to the wildlife refuge, and spend all day there. Adding the solar and batteries, at a price we could afford, means we can use it, park it, and never plug it into an electric outlet. If it's not working, then it's magic.

I did my research and read many reviews from people who actually bought and used the products that I ended up buying. Some people are very biased when it comes to what to buy. And I have noticed that people on forums are very willing to spend other people's money. No matter what you buy, read the reviews from the people who have bought what you are wanting to buy. No matter what brand it is, there are going to be people who love it and people who hate it. Take notes, because you will find some good tips for using those products. Amazon has great reviews, even if you don't buy from them, chances are they have what ever it is you are planning to buy. It's a good site for researching reviews. Sort the reviews by the "newest to oldest", not the most popular, because manufacturers often make changes to their products and what may have been a problem at one time, could have been fixed now.
 
Heh, the HF controller is just under $80 :D

Thanks for the other controller link, i'll see if that'll work (y)
 
I genuninely don't think i have any power inside (except lights and furnace) when on 12v. I don't know how it'd tell if this is correct or not.
I have the LHS25WE (2018) and i'm surprised there don't appear to be any outlets of any type that power on when in 12v mode.
 
The problem with the jack stands was the center piece was cut wrong. Of course NO other company has ever had a jack recalled. Never. [/s]

The problem with my failed Harbor Freight jack stand wasn't just the teeth were cut too shallow for the latch mechanism to catch properly, the teeth were casted with missing chunks of metal out of them of which were beautifully painted over at factory.

Close up of the Pittsburgh failed jack stand teeth. Next photo was the jack stand that didn't fail next to another brand that I used to finish my tire rotation.

KIMG0477.jpg
KIMG0475.jpg
 
Also notice that the latch disengagement lever is in the up release position on the Harbor Freight jack stand when it's engaged.
 
I genuninely don't think i have any power inside (except lights and furnace) when on 12v. I don't know how it'd tell if this is correct or not.
I have the LHS25WE (2018) and i'm surprised there don't appear to be any outlets of any type that power on when in 12v mode.
The lights, furnace and absorption refrigerator use 12V supplied by battery when not connected to shore power or via the converter when plug into shore power or generator. The converter changes 120V to 12V.

The outlets require 120V so will only work when on shore/generator or if you have an inverter.

Jennifer
 
The lights, furnace and absorption refrigerator use 12V supplied by battery when not connected to shore power or via the converter when plug into shore power or generator. The converter changes 120V to 12V.

The outlets require 120V so will only work when on shore/generator or if you have an inverter.

Jennifer
Thanks, I think the fridge is only shore power or LPG, unless you know otherwise?
 
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