New and confused

[seedsca]

Hi all. First post here. I have recently moved in to a fifth wheel with my wife. We are off grid and are looking to make our electricity more reliable.<div><br></div><div>I currently have two 12v 220ah deep cycle batteries hooked up in parallel for a total of 440ah (thinking of doubling it soon). The converter (40a) that it came with is no good, it think. I have ran a Honda 2500 generator for over 10 hours and it will still not charge the batteries.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Now I'm running a battery charger I got at Sears. This is inconvenient and it does not do multi stage charging.</div><div><br></div><div>What I'm looking to get is a three stage converter/charger. I think I've seen some kind of option where the charger detects the battery being low and starts the generator.</div><div><br></div><div>Also I plan on getting an inverter as I don't have one yet. Most of the fifth wheel runs on 12v, but my wife has some kitchen stuff that runs on 110.</div><div><br></div><div>I was thinking of getting the <a href="http://www.xantrex.com/power-products/inverter-chargers/freedom-sw-12v_newgen.aspx" target="_blank">Xantrex freedom SW inverter/charger</a>&nbsp;with this <a href="http://www.xantrex.com/power-products/power-accessories/automatic-generator-start.aspx" target="_blank">AGS</a>,&nbsp;but am not sure if it's the right fit. You guys know of this one? It's kind of spendy, but I hear good things about this company. I could always just get the inverter and charger separately (is there an auto gen starter that would work for that?)</div><div><br></div><div>The idea is to eventually also hook some PVs to this and move this system and us to a property where we'll be building our home so I plan on setting up a bigger system than what I currently need.<br><div><br></div><div>I hope my coffee fueled rant makes sense...</div></div><div><br></div><div>Thanks</div>

 

[akrvbob]

Hi seedsca, welcome to the group. I wish I could be more helpful, but I live in a van so this is a little out f my league, but I do know something about it. It looks to be just about ideal. First xantrex has a very good reputation, not perfect but very good. Their 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter is the gold standard among vandwellers/RVers who install their own inverters. I see this one has a 2000 watt pure sine wave so it is probably top quality. You want to have pure sine wave for a whole-house inverter. Many of your items will be fussy about the quality of the power and the Xantrex makes very clean power. I also see that the controller has multi-stage charging which is critical to make your expensive batteries last as long as possible. I don't know naything about the pricing, but it looks like a great choice. <br><br>If you can put about 500 watts of solar on your roof, that will meet all your needs during the day, and you will need to be a little frugal at night. I know of some really great deals on solar panels, what part of the country are you in? Bob<br><br>

 

[blars]

The old-style converters are pretty much worthless for charging a battery, unless you spend several days on shore power after doing a day of boondocking.&nbsp; Even with a three-stage converter/charger I found running my generator for a couple of hours a day wasn't enough to keep my battery charged.&nbsp; My 450 watts of solar is, even on a cloudy day.<br><br><br>

 

[seedsca]

blars: I have noticed these chargers are only meant for shore power. Oh well<div><br></div><div>akrvbob: I've been thinking of solar, but need to get this going so my wife and I can be comfortable while I do the research. I also do plan on having a generator as a backup so this stuff would not be bought for nothing. I live in Southern California about two miles, as the crow flies, from the beach. South facing hill, just perfect for solar.&nbsp;</div><div>I've been looking at getting four of these B grade panels nd-224uc9bx from sharp. Also the batteries I mentioned are not 220ah, they are 98ah each.</div><div><br></div><div>Any thoughts on solar possibilities? I know I should size my system, but I would like to get as large and dependable system as possible without breaking the bank so as to have it serve me later on.</div>

 

[dragonflyinthesky]

<P>What does that battery charger run off? An electric cord?</P>

 

[Guest]

Welcome seedsca, glad to have you on the forum...<br>Bri<br><br>

 

[seedsca]

Thanks guys! I am happy to have come to cheaprvliving.<div><br><div>lonfu: I have <a href="http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_02871234000P?prdNo=3&amp;blockNo=3&amp;blockType=G3" target="_blank">this charger</a>&nbsp;(I see I payed way too much) running right now and it charges my two batteries in half an hour. I feel as using a newer converter/charger would keep my batteries going better for longer. The Xantrex freedom SW per instance seems to be a good choice as I can have it detect the level of the battery and start the generator. I see that some calculations and a much smaller amount of money would do relatively the same with a timer. I do want the multi stage charging. So your saying that <a href="http://www.solar-electric.com/pomax12vo75a.html" target="_blank">this converter/charger</a> would not charge at 75amps?</div><div><br></div><div>The problem with charging from my alternator is that my truck has a 7.1l engine and would not be cost effective, would it?</div></div><div><br></div><div>Any thoughts on the panels I mentioned? I tried to look it up and it just confused me even more.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks again all</div>

 

[seedsca]

Awesome! The trailer plug is rated at 120v and 30amps. So sounds like the best thing would be to return (I just bought it) the Sears charger and get the one from the link I posted. They are the same price and the second one charges at 75 vs. 60 amps, and it also has multi stage charging.&nbsp;<div><br></div><div>I'll keep the solar on the back burner for now I think, and will tinker with timers. I like that idea.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The 30amps limit should be fine right?</div>

 

[seedsca]

Thanks for the response, I think I'm somewhat getting it. However...<div>If my gen outputs at 19amps it should be ok with the 30amp capacity of the rv. Then the converter or charger would output 75amps through the battery cables, right? So my only concern would be putting a fuse and making sure the cables from the converter or charger are rated at 75 or more amps, right?</div><div><br></div><div>While charging I would need to be careful not to exceed the 30amp or 125% capacity of the rv by using a microwave, blender or some such energy hog that might put the amperage over the edge...</div><div><br></div><div>Or am I just plain missing something?</div><div><br></div><div>Also any ideas as of the quality of <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;...6qSkz8yl8E3Eg&amp;sig2=IevG3sm8ZKu7hk5pH_FFZg" target="_blank">these</a> pannels? I'm thinking of buying four and using a charge controller to charge the 12v batteries. Any input would be appreciated as I'm not that technically inclined with the solar stuff. I know what to do (I think), but when it comes to specifics it gets a little foggy.</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks guys</div>

 

[akrvbob]

I am not an RV guy (I've never owned one) so I can't add much to this thread, but a few things I can add:<br><ul><li>Deep Cycle batteries don't like a high charge rate. Don't charge them at more than 10% of the amp hours of the battery bank. So if you have a 400 ah battery bank, don't charge them at more than 40 amps.</li><li>I'm not familiar with the Sharp B modules, but I know several people who have bought 205 watt B blemished panels from an outfit in Phoenix and Miami and they have been very happy with them. Website here: http://www.sunelec.com/ </li><li>Be aware that the high wattage panels are too large to go by UPS/FedEx, they have to go freight which makes shipping much more expensive. Also be aware they will come with an MC4 connector, but that isn't a problem, you just buy an extension cord and cut it to get to the wire underneath. Also be aware most places will only ship them in pairs. Be sure before you order them. </li><li>Also, some panels have very high voltage, up to 100 volts. Even some good 50 amp mppt controllers won't go above a nominal 48 volts, so be sure of what you are ordering. </li></ul>\Bob <br>

 

[seedsca]

Ok some advice please. I just stumbled upon what I think is a great deal. I'm being offered a <a href="http://xantrex.com/documents/Invert...e_2.0_User's_Manual(445-0089-01-01_rev-C).pdf" target="_blank">Xantrex ProSine 2.0 Inverter/Charger</a>&nbsp;for more than half it's going price. It's refurbished, but hey.&nbsp;<div><br></div><div>On the topic of what we've been talking about. This should work fine, right?</div><div>I have two concerns. The peak efficiency is in the mid %80. That does not sound to exciting. Also, I'm not sure how I would hook up the solar panels later. Would I need any other equipment, or just go from panels to charge controller to battery? Including breakers of course.</div><div><br></div><div>I'll provably be plugging the inverter/charger directly from my generator so as to bypass the inhouse wiring.</div>