New Project, Solar for Class C

[HueyPilotVN]

Update:

Several of us have been chasing around for a solution as to why the new system was not working nearly as well as the old one, especially given that it has 300 amp/hours more battery capacity than the old one.

First, I ordered and replaced the Invertor needlessly thinking it was damaged in the fire. It was not.

It was performing as if only one battery was in the loop.

We changed out each battery one at a time and all of them seemed to individually work when attached to the Invertor, but not with the full rated capacity when connected together.

We upgraded all the cable to 4/0, checked all the lugs, added a second ground strap, and removed and replaced and tightened all the connections.

I ordered another 300 A/H battery, thinking maybe the fire had caused internal damage to one of them. The price has dropped considerably since I bought the original ones, from $1199 to $899.

I finally found the problem. It was operator error.

The four charge controllers are networked with the 3000I acting as the Master controller at address 0, and the three others acting as address #1, #2 and #3.

The default address setting from the factory is setting for all of them as a Master at #0.

I was the problem in that I had neglected to change the dip switches on all of the three slave controllers from address #0.

Only the Master charge controller was working correctly.

Problem solved.

Since I bought another LIthium battery, I will replace the twp AGMs that power the coach DC.

I am also adding a Lithium charger conversion to the Convertor/charger as well as a dedicated battery monitor for the front coach 300 A/H battery.

I guess that we learn by our mistakes.

 

[HueyPilotVN]

Performance Update:

Several people asked me to give a real world review of the actual performance of the system in the heated environment of the desert.

First, this is a rather long post so you might want to go to the end for the answer.

The original Bubba Edison Solar Power Electric Company, (Bubba1). consisted of 1,600 watts of solar, 3 (300 AH LIthium batteries in the back and one up front for the coach DC supply.

1200 Watts was for the back system and 400 watts was for the front battery.

After the fire destroyed the first RV, I started over with the replacement RV of the same make, model and floor plan.

The new system, (Bubba2) incorporated upgrades based on the performance of the first one.

The new system still has 1,600 watts of solar. The most that I could easily mount on the roof, however the entire amount of solar now directs its output to the rear battery bank and none to the front chassis battery.

There are two reasons for this.

When I installed the first one I did not have the lithium charger conversion added to the convertor/charger and I felt that i needed the solar to top off the coach battery due to incomplete charging of the lithium battery.

The second reason for directing all the solar to the main bank is that I eventually replaced the bottom charger with a lithium one and having 24/7 AC power now keeps the coach battery at 100% all the time and does not need the solar and would in fact be wasted as it would stay on float.

The new system now receives all the 1.600 watts at the main battery bank which now consists of 4 (300 AH batteries.

This has increased the solar input and storage capacity by 25%, from 1,200 watts to 1,600 watts and from 900 AH to 1,200 AH in the back.

I still have the 300 AH battery for the coach DC, but it is charged by the convertor/charger fed by the battery bank powered Invertor thru the main electric panel all the time.

Now that we got thru the upgrades, here are the real world results.

With the larger system I was able to run the 15000 Air conditioner at 98 degrees for 6 hours reducing the SOC down to 35% the other day while working on my list of other projects while in storage with no input from shore power of generator.

At that point I thought that was low enough and I had two options.

1. I could just leave it alone as I was finished working. It was fully recharged by just the solar the next morning when I returned at 9 AM.

2. The second option was to start the generator to continue running the Air. With the generator running the AC would run and the reverse charging feed from the Invertor/charger would charge the bank at 149 amps.

If the sun was out the 1,600 watts would also contribute 138 amps for a two feed total of 287 amps. The charging current would come from two different sets of wires. the battery cables from the invertor to the bank and wires from the charger controllers directly to the bank.

Bottom line, At 98 degrees outside i was able to run the Air Conditioner for 6+ hours and could continue during a short recharge cycle.

I have now also come up with a new practical joke.

If I am staying with a friend or relative with the RV, I will plug in a regular long extension cord to a 15 amp outlet with no connection at the other end. (dead cord hidden thru wall).
At the end of my stay I will tell a story about having electric motors on my axles and being able to go 1,000 miles on a charge of my larger battery bank.

I will then tell them to be sitting down when they get their next electric bill.

 

[Dusty Traveler]

I enjoyed, your post about as we have a Li3 2021 Coachmen Galleria system 630Ah. I have learned a lot but I'm still learning as they are different systems. I'm sure the joke you played has had a few in shock.

In our system, you can add another 630Ah pack and you have 300 plus watts of solar. I drive the van once a month and with the solar off I let the system die down between 32% and 35% SOC before driving and recharging up 100% SOC.

I learned a few things, like connections with shrink wrap need to be extra-long. The Van when charging the HOUSE will also change the Engine Battery so no other charger is needed. The system will stand alone for 10 hours with 12V A/C running on top of VAN.

I enjoy a came out as I enjoy morning hosting and the whole until is incredibly quiet and I sleep well with the night air passing through in the Florida winters of the year when temps drop into the 60s.

Sad will have to jump out of the 170WB and find a 144WB in MB VAN. Coachmen is not making them. Any suggestions on a good new MB Lithium Ion?