Liking the Renogy suitcase

[dklassen]

Testing our Renogy 100w solar suitcase. With our current power needs we can pretty much run indefinitely off the grid... w/ lots of sun. No sun we could run about 3 days without recharging. That powers a Dometic CFX-50 fridge, Maxxair celling fan, desktop fan, lights, TV and whatever small device recharging we need to do. Worst case, the house batteries will also recharge when the engine is running. The Kodiak w/ the attached 100Ah AGM really works well.

 

[highdesertranger]

nice, thanks for the report. highdesertranger

 

[hausmutti]

When I charge my TT house battery with the Renogy suitcase, I need the charge controller. If I wanted to use it with a Kodiak (with the adaptor cables), I can't because it would be dueling charge controllers. I wonder if there is a way to put some sort of switch (like a water line shutoff?) on the Renogy?

 

[dklassen]

You could probably splice in MC4 connectors where the panels go into the charger. That way you can just unplug the panels from the charger and go directly to the Kodiak adaptor. I'm running about 20' of cable back to the Kodiak. Given I don't have the charge controller, I wired up a watt/amp meter where the charger would normally go.

 

[Random Painted Highway]

Glad to hear that you like your Renogy suitcase.  I ordered one today for a two week trip that we are soon taking-a trial for my wife and me living in close quarters : )  I have a Furrion port for solar into our little class c, but i had to buy an adapter for it to work, or i could use the alligator clips,i suppose, if i understand it correctly. We are light users, so i hope it works out well for us for the time being.  I have two 12V batteries in parallel for 150ah total.  Still learning, still living!

 

[VisionMaker]

You could probably splice in MC4 connectors where the panels go into the charger. That way you can just unplug the panels from the charger and go directly to the Kodiak adaptor. I'm running about 20' of cable back to the Kodiak. Given I don't have the charge controller, I wired up a watt/amp meter where the charger would normally go.

I so appreciate your comment dklassen and want to plug my RV into a Kodiak I purchased to keep two new 12v AGM's I bought going strong.  I have a 27ft Rexall.  Any suggestions on the Thin 100 watt Renogy panel and how many you might try for full charging of Kodiak?  I have a generator however would like to use the Kodiak for quiet energy and can not find anyone on Youtube who is doing this except you with (I'm guessing) a One 100 watt fold out panel. Thanks.

 

[dklassen]

If I understand your question correctly, you would have to hang the 2 AGM's directly off the Kodiak in order for the Kodiak to manage and charge them. Same with the solar panels. I have just one 100w suitcase and that's fine for my needs. It will keep the batteries topped off. The more panels you add (up to 600w) the faster it will recharge. If you want the Kodiak and the AGM's to power your RV you would need use the 30amp RV plug on the Kodiak just like you would plug your RV into shore power.

 

[VisionMaker]

Yes. That is what I'd like to do. Use the 30amp RV plug on the Kodiak to keep my AGM's toped off and run my frig.  I want to get 600w panels to keep the Kodiak charged.  What are your thoughts?  Will it do what I want. Still very very new at trying to get the right system. Thanks.

 

[highdesertranger]

here are my thoughts,

you lose a little/lot of energy in every conversion. the more conversions the more loses. you can't get around this. the fewer conversions the better = the less energy loss. my 2 cents. highdesertranger