Recent content by Gibsito

My TriStar TS-45 PWM has been online for almost 14 years without so much as a hiccup. Also, the manual that came with it is very impressive. It's not only a "how to" document, but practically a course on solar power. I installed that in my truck camper in the winter of 2009 while boondocking...

Agreed, and even adding an extra 25% for "edge of cloud effect" it's at 26.7A, still below the 30A current threshold. So I couldn't understand why the controller would have a 390 watt limit. But I guess if input exceeds that it will just be ignored anyway, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Thanks for the advice. I'll give that a try next time I'm putting a system together. But if that is the case, it would definitely be in their best interest to make that shipping estimator more accurate so they don't lose sales over it.

Well - honestly, I went with what I knew from previous installations, and thought I would have to split these panels up to different parts of the roof due to vents, etc. But as it turned out I did find a spot where I could mount them all together, so a single 400w panel probably would have...

Very true. And the components are so much less expensive than they were when I put my first system together. I paid $2/watt for panels back in 2009, and $0.89/watt with this current system I'm working on.

Thanks for the replies, greatly appreciated. I am going to use the 2s2p configuration so thanks for suggesting that. It does make a lot of sense. The Panels are mounted and connected to each other, and now I need to complete the wire run down to the charge controller. Lots of fun. I really...

Thanks for the info, aaroncgi. All good to know. I ended up going with Weize 12v 100ah batteries (2), as I was lured in by the included low temp sensors at a price that was equal to Litime's, which doesn't have the sensors. LiTime advertised a good discount for Black Friday but they had...

I'm looking for more info on the warranty as well. Weize does have info out there on it, but it's a little fuzzy. The ten-year warranty is for defects in material or workmanship. I say it's "fuzzy" because they don't say if you have to pay to ship the battery back to them (California office)...

Ten awg will work, but I use 4 awg wire between the charge controller and batteries. I also have about a 6-foot run. I like to minimize voltage drop as much as possible. What kind of wire are you using? If it's aluminum or copper-clad aluminum (CCA) I'd definitely use bigger wire. Otherwise...

I'm getting a couple of 12v 100ah lifepo4 batteries for my 5th wheel and have run across Ampere Time batteries, which I am considering going with. But while searching around I also see Litime batteries, which have the same case markings as Ampere Time, but are less expensive (Ampere Time is...

I'm planning a 400w solar setup for my 5th wheel and am confused about solar panel and controller compatibility. I am looking at four HQST 100w mono panels (to be wired in parallel) and an EPEVER Tracer 3210AN MPPT controller (30A, 100V). The specs in the listing for the controller say max PV...

Hi - My name is Gary and I'm here to learn more about solar. I'm especially interested in Solar for RVs and am currently planning a system for my 5th wheel. I put my first system together in 2009 to go on my truck camper and it has worked great without a hickup for 13 years now. I put another...