Recent content by Reed Cole

If the Orion is your main method of charging you'll definitely want something more robust like around 100A. I charge my 200ah battery directly from the alternator via the starter battery and a relay. I'm not usually driving for hours at a time so it's a good way for me to rapidly charge...

If you routinely drive for 20-30 hours without stopping then I would definitely set it to 13.6v. Really, you should probably just get a proper charger with a higher output. Even if you're getting 30A that's only .075c for a 400ah battery bank. Not a lot of bang for your buck, and you'd only...

A video testing the ampacity of different kinds of wire would be cool.

My 1200w Giandel inverter has a 5 watt idle draw. Been reliable for about 4 years now. Mostly with low draw but occasional power tool use.

What's dirty power? Isn't that only an issue with AC?

[delete]

Living in a cold damp metal box is not only uncomfortable but also unhealthy, sounds like a great place for mold to grow. Beef up your electrical system a little, mainly by adding alternator charging, run some fans constantly and your heater more often(all night), the benefits far outweigh the...

Yes, running a roof vent fan is the number one way to prevent moisture from accumulating in a van. I'm a bit shocked that you weren't doing this all along.

6A sounds slow. 100/6=16.666 hours to fully charge your 48v battery bank. 400w of solar is also anemic, especially since the panels will likely be mounted horizontally. Your best bets would be to either add a second alternator that outputs 48v, or a 12v to 48v DC-dc charger that is powered...

That's good, I don't think the CMU blocks in your original idea would work very well. Stacked vertically like that and they wouldn't have any stability on their own so you'd be relying on the wood framing to hold them in place. A board on the bottom weighted down with sand bags stacked...

You can refill the 1lb propane bottles from a 20lb or 30lb tank, if you can store the tank at your mum's or something. Save you from installing a tank. I wonder what it would be like using your current stove in the summer, wouldn't it get super hot in your van?

Just get a charge controller for a 12v system, or change everything to 24v. No point in screwing around with weird work arounds.

Originally the problem manifested while the inverter was in use, so it doesn't seem likely to me that the root of the problem is the inverter needing to be pre-charged. Also, it's only a 1500w inverter, isn't this typically only an issue with higher capacity inverters? Wouldn't a short circuit...

I don't think you're off track. Though relying on your gut feeling for things that can be quantified without much difficulty is a bit odd. While I appreciate that you are dealing with physical constraints of the van it would be unfortunate to sink a bunch money into this and then it doesn't end...

What can't you get your head around? When combining panels in parallel they should have a similar voltage. If your existing strings are 3 x 20.4Vmp then your new one should be close to 61.2Vmp. Higher would be better than lower, as lower would reduce the output of your roof mounted panels.