Old school solar tech system

Wow as i new member i am impressed by the new technology posted here.

I was the first rv dealer to install solar on all my Foretravel coaches used a tiny 32 watt ARCO solar panel. 1987.

When i redid my current 97 U320 Unicoach i hesitated starting 10 years ago and finishing a year ago about using li-ion but the available Northstar batteries were $6k each.

So i went with the currently available best tech from then until now. For my crazy idea of retaining the true four weather coach build from Foretravel i installed 3 new east-Penn (mk) gel 8d batteries.

Replaced the heart freedom non sine wave inverter/charger with a magnum energy MS 2812 with an added Battery temp monitor add on.

Then a ME-ARC control panel and a Magnum pt-100 solar controller and a ME-AGS networked auto gen start.

I replaced the 4 button HVAC controller with newer Dometic 10 button wall mount thermostat and replaced the Dometic heat strip ducted roof airs circuit board to the newer generation one to network with the auto gen start and to fullly integrate fully automatic dual setback HVAC and gen start as needed.

Setup will auto start the HVAC setup from various temp sensors for both heat and cold and battery charge conditions as needed. I have an aqua hot system in the old coach.

Added 3 lg neon 365 watt solar panels on the roof feeding at 42 volts off the roof for safety into a midnight solar junction box. I only used 3 out of the 6 available circuits.

To keep the red-top AGM chassis batteries always charged i add a Blue-seas ACR 500amp magnetically latched battery combiner. Either bank receives a charge it auto connects the banks. Either bank discharges it auto disconnects the banks.

With the Magnum and the batter temp sensor the system auto adjusts the battery charging voltage to be the correct amount per the temp at the batteries.

I have been rving long ago at way below zero and was a colorado river rat at 120 degrees. Li-ion currently will not work at either extreme.

10k Diesel gen still has glow plugs. 25 years old. The ME-AGS is the only unit that can be set to run the glow plugs for 25 seconds then start. Auto repeat 3 times if no start.

The Power Trace 100 can take 6000 watts and 240 volts and up to 100 Amps and is a large heavy duty solar controller with dual cooling fans and extensive temp monitoring internally as does the MS-2812. Victron was 2400 watts when i was putting the system together and a 40 pound single transformer unit in their Molotov pass II units. The MS- 2812 is a 2800 watt continuous output inverter/ charger with dual transformer and weighs 55 pounds from the heavier build.

Older Victrons were dual transformer and 90% efficient also. They changed to a single smaller transformer for their 93% efficiency.

At least this was true when I built this. Looks still to be true.

Mounting the MS-2812 vertically on a large storage compartment wall gives it enough air volume to not derate in super hot weather as quickly.

BTW as far as I know Victron are not made in Netherlands. Engineering staff is there 35 people. Units were made then in India. Original Victrons were not ul listed. They are now.

Like I said i went with old tech even though its much more expensive to retain the all weather auto HVAC and charging system.

Most rvs are not made for river hot or below zero so those needs would be a lot easier. My roof ac’s have heat stripes in them not heat pumps. Will work below freezing.

Nice setup. All very good choices for 4 season use.

I am not sure if they still do it, but at one time, magnum really wanted people to mount the inverter on a metal plate and practically have it away. Even offered extended warranty to customers that used it. Helped with heat dissipation. IMHO, those are a better inverter than the victrons, especially if you compare the labels of "3000" vs reality.

The Netherlands always use other country to beult the stuff
But all design are from the Netherlands.

Victron Energy is a Dutch company specialized in the design and manufacture of products for battery-based energy systems. Since 1975, Victron Energy has grown from a one-office technology startup to become an international enterprise with nearly 1,000 different products sold worldwide.

So the main office is still in the Netherlands.

You need to understand how the Netherlands work.
We are people that trade and make stuf over the world.
Really without us ,new cpu can not even be beult.
Same that a lot people do not know that new York its own by the Netherlands and is trade for Surinam eiland in that time.


Same for India .
We have big roots from thare and we still use it today for make stuf .


Small country that almost own the world .
And is one of the founders of the EU today

Sorry its offtopic but some historisch thinks people have to know about the Netherlands.

O and we own the nord sea to make more land .
1/3 of our land we have beult our self to move the sea out of the way.
With just windmills

Nice beult by the way its looks great and nice to read some history about the setup.

Suijkerbuijk said:

The Netherlands always use other country to beult the stuff
But all design are from the Netherlands.

Victron Energy is a Dutch company specialized in the design and manufacture of products for battery-based energy systems. Since 1975, Victron Energy has grown from a one-office technology startup to become an international enterprise with nearly 1,000 different products sold worldwide.

So the main office is still in the Netherlands.

You need to understand how the Netherlands work.
We are people that trade and make stuf over the world.
Really without us ,new cpu can not even be beult.
Same that a lot people do not know that new York its own by the Netherlands and is trade for Surinam eiland in that time.

Same for India .
We have big roots from thare and we still use it today for make stuf .

Small country that almost own the world .
And is one of the founders of the EU today

Sorry its offtopic but some historisch thinks people have to know about the Netherlands.

O and we own the nord sea to make more land .
1/3 of our land we have beult our self to move the sea out of the way.
With just windmills

Nice beult by the way its looks great and nice to read some history about the setup.

Click to expand...

Completely understand the challenge of trying to mfg in the EU. They regulate things to death. The VAT tax makes mfg in the EU ridiculous and has hollowed out the economy.

In the US, there tends to be two viewpoints of life:
1) The trade deficit with the far east matters a lot.
2) The trade deficit with the far east does not really matter at all.

For people who are in category (1), Victron equipment comes from the far east, so not all that different than made in China.

Where the core company is based matters a little, but not all that much. It is where it is built.

As I stated i understand their corporate setup. What I objected to 10 years ago is that their multipass ll inverter/chargers were being sold without the required for insurance purposes UL listing.

Euro testing as i understand it goes by the engineering drawings and a hot wire test over the assembled boards.

UL requires 2 physical units. $50k cost roughly.

My fellow rv owners and I thought that the Netherlands actually were the manufacturing was performed.

My Magnum MS 2812 SPECIFICALLY states that their product is not non sparking. First page of manual.

I have seen Victrons installed in engine compartments of gasoline engine boats. Owners not aware of the dangers.

Outback and others make sealed units for the fire safety.

After I brought this up Victron offered UL listed units for an additional $158 fee.

Thats why no rv manufacturer installed their products as to get a certificate of habitability from most states required that all installed equipment be UL listed

May I make another suggestion? On any li-ion installation use marine UL 1427 listed marine wiring.

Marine cabling is coated in PVC not rubber. Will not support combustion. It chars when exposed to open flame and unlike rubber coatings does not drip off exposing bare wiring.

A shorted li-ion battery cell burns hotly. A shorted non li-ion battery does not. So welding cable is not unsafe with them.

As far as I know li-ion cells are UL listed. Not the cases themselves.

I have seen accidents where a li-ion battery was either struck or the cables shorted out resulting in a fire.

I was in the burn ward long ago so I am very cautious about these kind of facts.

Very little extra money to buy made up marine cabling.

Caflashbob said:

As I stated i understand their corporate setup. What I objected to 10 years ago is that their multipass ll inverter/chargers were being sold without the required for insurance purposes UL listing.

Euro testing as i understand it goes by the engineering drawings and a hot wire test over the assembled boards.

UL requires 2 physical units. $50k cost roughly.

My fellow rv owners and I thought that the Netherlands actually were the manufacturing was performed.

My Magnum MS 2812 SPECIFICALLY states that their product is not non sparking. First page of manual.

I have seen Victrons installed in engine compartments of gasoline engine boats. Owners not aware of the dangers.

Outback and others make sealed units for the fire safety.

After I brought this up Victron offered UL listed units for an additional $158 fee.

Thats why no rv manufacturer installed their products as to get a certificate of habitability from most states required that all installed equipment be UL listed

May I make another suggestion? On any li-ion installation use marine UL 1427 listed marine wiring.

Marine cabling is coated in PVC not rubber. Will not support combustion. It chars when exposed to open flame and unlike rubber coatings does not drip off exposing bare wiring.

A shorted li-ion battery cell burns hotly. A shorted non li-ion battery does not. So welding cable is not unsafe with them.

As far as I know li-ion cells are UL listed. Not the cases themselves.

I have seen accidents where a li-ion battery was either struck or the cables shorted out resulting in a fire.

I was in the burn ward long ago so I am very cautious about these kind of facts.

Very little extra money to buy made up marine cabling.

Click to expand...

Victron do have it .
Not all models.

For the rest.

Yes. Now. As I posted after I poked them 10 years ago. I wrote their engineers then.

If anyone has damage from a non UL listed device or appliance your insurance may not pay and i understand they may sue you for damaging their insured property.

None of us probably have ever had or used a non UL listed appliance or device in the USA in our lifetimes.