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What would you do, 43' toy hauler, Schneider, Victron, Sol-Ark, dual 3K M, 15K Q or 12K Sol-Ark.

What would you put in your 43' toy hauler if you already had some of this equip.

  • Sell the CSW 4048 and buy a stackable larger Schneider, XW

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • Put the two multiplus 3000s in and run at 12VDC parallel

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Sell the 3000's and buy a pair of matching 5k Multi's, run in 12VDC parallel

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • 15k quattro (EU voltage) and put an auto transformer on the output

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • Sol-Ark 12k

    Votes: 1 50.0%

  • Total voters
    2

Jennifer

Joined
Nov 15, 2019
Messages
1,043
So..... in my box of toys I have a complete Schneider CSW4048 system for 48VDC, have the SCP, the over priced battery monitor, the gateway, the matching charge controller etc... bought it because I was told I could stack them and was going to put two in parallel. They have removed that feature so it's now stuck at what it is.....

I also have, two new in the box Victron 12VDC Multiplus 3000's.. .bought back before I realized Victron fudges with the numbers and they are not true 3000 watt and I didn't know they don't rate them like every one else, my mistake i guess. Also have their new 450vdc charge controller and all the extra goodies..

I have a 43' toy hauler..... now the question, knowing all that.... what is the recommendation, what would you do:

1: Sell the CSW 4048 and grab something I can stack like one of their larger XW's, and use all the extra stuff I have of theirs and spent money on.
2: Sell off ALL the Schneider stuff and go totally Victron by doing one of the following
2a: Put the two multiplus 3000s in and run at 12vdc (which I despise the thought of), running the 3k's in one gen per leg config, possibly adding an auto transformer for balancing.
2b: Sell the 3000's and buy a 15k quattro (EU voltage) and put an auto transformer on the output and never have to worry about overload.
2c: Sell the 3000's and buy a pair of matching 5k multi's and run them similar to above.
3: Going to a Sol-Ark 12K, thanks Schism for responding below with that suggestion.

Toy hauler has 2 AC units, has the 5500 watt Onan, I have bluetooth easy starts for the AC's etc....

Personally, after some experiences with Schneider, and dealing with their support, they can rot in hell. Victron, i LOVE, I love the community etc... so I'm tempted to stay Victon in it but not sure the 2 3k's would be sufficient and I really do not like the idea of running them at 12V, although that's what most do...

What do you reckon folks, really I do not see that CSW4048 being able to power a full time dual AC rig so dumping that's probably a given...... so the real choice is dual 3k multi's, dual 5k multi's or a 15k quatro with AT...

I have 16 100Ah Battle Born batts so can run in any voltage config but would prefer 48.

Note: I am specifically not mentioning solar, charge controller, roof availabiltiy etc as to not confuse the issue, all I'm concerned about is provided the inverters were able to get the power needed, what are your thoughts (PS but if you rally want to know I'll be doing 600 watt Trina's, probably 6 or 7 but again this is about AC).

Your thoughts?... thank you in advance

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Thank you all for your input…. wow crickets much, I didn’t think it was that easy to stump you all. :oops:
 
my vote would be solark 12K. no auto transformer needed.
Hey thank you for posting, funny you say that..... I explained the situation to Northern AZ Wind and Solar who I buy most of my gear from and that was EXACTLY what they said as well.... I watched a few videos on the unit but figured I was already so invested in the V and S stuff... but those Sol-Ark's are REALLY taking off. I watched one video where someone put an auto transformer on the out put of his Sol-Ark but not through it... not sure what he was trying to do there, maybe solve inrush on motor loads.. That's a big inverter but no bigger than the Quattro I guess, more width than front to back, and much smaller than 2 Multi's... I REALLY appreciate your reply, interesting, now you're making me think about adding them to the option list as well... see this is why I love you all.

Thinking more... that 12K Sol-Ark is RIGHT at the sweet spot for a 50 amp RV service...granted that's with every light on in the place, the built in vaccum going and the TV at full blast... lol

 
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I REALLY love the Victron ecosystem and love the thought of a 15k Quattro in there... so now all you Sol-Ark fans... what does the Sol-Ark 12K do for me that the Victron 15K doesn't.... (other than built in switchgear and SCC).

Man the Sol-Ark is freaking HUGE, a bit big for inside a cargo bay of an RV I think.

Great discussion, thank you...
 
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my vote would be solark 12K. no auto transformer needed.
Wow.... you're really tossed a huge ass spanner (wrench) into my plans.. LOL... you're really tickled that Sol-Ark option again... looking at more vids etc... seems like it would be a REALLY nice option..... thanks again for reminding me that option is out there... may be worth moving all my Victron stuff into my AirBNB cabin I'm building (I live near the Grand Canyon), selling the Schneider stuff and going Sol-Ark 12K like you suggested.. hmmmmmm VEDDY VEDDY INTOOOORESTINK!!!!! I need to do more research about how that Sol-Ark would handle the processing of the 50am system and the onboard Onan 5500 genset.
 
I was in a similar boat you were a while back, I have a 45' Momentum 381M and I ended up going with 2x MPP LV6548s. Each one power a leg in the breaker panel, for a combined 13KW output. It works very well, but doesn't quite have EVERY feature that the Victron or Sol-Arks have. But it was a whole hell of a lot cheaper! Lol
 
I was in a similar boat you were a while back, I have a 45' Momentum 381M and I ended up going with 2x MPP LV6548s. Each one power a leg in the breaker panel, for a combined 13KW output. It works very well, but doesn't quite have EVERY feature that the Victron or Sol-Arks have. But it was a whole hell of a lot cheaper! Lol
Thanks... looking at them now....are you a dual or triple AC rig, does it run all three or two no worries? thank you. My rig is black and I'm in AZ so that's why I'm looking at large.. it feels like you're sitting on the surface of the sun in a black toy hauler with black windows in AZ summer. I know Will liked them, his main con was as he puts it "High idle consumption. If you wish to have your inverter on 24/7, you may want to invest in a victron or xantrex (but they will cost 3x-5x as much money). Because the idle consumption is high on these all-in-ones, you will need at least 400 watts of solar panels attached to your system to offset the loss. If you do not plan to have your inverter on 24/7, this is not a problem." and as a full timer in the unit, that may be something to look at, it/they will be on 24/7 365. https://www.mobile-solarpower.com/all-in-one-122448v-packages.html
 
I have 2880w of solar on the roof, and 6kw on the ground for a total of 8880watts. I do have 3 ACs as well and it handles them flawlessly. See this post for the loads I have put on it, you would be amazed.

Post in thread 'The "Meg" Build' https://diysolarforum.com/threads/the-meg-build.20572/post-316880

They do have a 63w idle consumption each, and my rig has a standalone 75w consumption with NOTHING on. (Only things running is the wifi router, the one control system, and the microwave light etc.) So I have ~200watt constant draw, but with almost 9kw of solar and over 13kw of battery, i don't even notice it.
 
I have 2880w of solar on the roof, and 6kw on the ground for a total of 8880watts. I do have 3 ACs as well and it handles them flawlessly. See this post for the loads I have put on it, you would be very amazed.

https://diysolarforum.com/threads/the-meg-build.20572/post-316880

They do have a 63w idle consumption each, and my rig has a standalone 75w consumption with NOTHING on. (Only things running is the wifi router, the one control system, and the microwave light etc.) So I have ~200watt constant draw, but with almost 9kw of solar and over 13kw of battery, i don't even notice it.
Thank you for your detailed response... I'm also planning on doing a ground mount and pedestal for the rv... great info thank you.
 
Anytime. I had to do my own kind of pioneering to learn a lot about the RVs because I was kind of treading into territory that very few people have done. Let me know if you have any questions.
 
Wow.... you're really tossed a huge ass spanner (wrench) into my plans.. LOL... you're really tickled that Sol-Ark option again...
I think its a great unit. Now granted I don't own one personally, I have dual 3kw Growatts and if i wanted the extra 6kw and the extra gridbuy back and time shift features its a no brainier that I would have installed it.

Victron makes some great equipment, however they are not without their own issues, and IMHO they dont justify the 2-4x cost increase over some of the competitive offerings and currently don't offer an equvialnt piece of hardware and what you could build wouldn't be anywhere close to the same cost.

Being in your situation I would sell the existing system minus the 48v battery pack and use that to offset or fund the cost of the Solark.
 
I think its a great unit. Now granted I don't own one personally, I have dual 3kw Growatts and if i wanted the extra 6kw and the extra gridbuy back and time shift features its a no brainier that I would have installed it.

Victron makes some great equipment, however they are not without their own issues, and IMHO they dont justify the 2-4x cost increase over some of the competitive offerings and currently don't offer an equvialnt piece of hardware and what you could build wouldn't be anywhere close to the same cost.

Being in your situation I would sell the existing system minus the 48v battery pack and use that to offset or fund the cost of the Solark.
Thank you for your post... very good info... much appreciated.
 
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