Yea it's less than I thought .
1500lbs of solar on fifth wheel roof?
- Thread starter callidus
- Start date
Yea it's less than I thought .
wopachop
New Member
With the panels extended its like the flying RV from Spaceballs.
You ever been to Texas? I've seen em going faster than that.
It's selfish really !
It’s more than selfish..it’s insane ..even if they are running a Goodyear endurance tire it maxes out at about 85ish mph top speed..if the are are running cheap “ China bomb” as we call em, they are rated for lower speed ….they can just explode when they build up heat from to high of a speed..
you can picture the aftermath for the rv and the 350 ….and any unlucky innocent driver near them…
I would have installed a split unit on the camper if you want to run on solar.
justinm001
Solar Addict
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Solar just goes over the ACs and just needed to be a bit angled as they're attached to the awnings which are a bit shorter than these tall AC units. The oem dometic penguins were much shorter so could have been flat. The angle really seems to help with solar and keeping clean too. They're sized differently too, upgraded 4 of them and have 1 new one in the box just waiting to get new #6 and install soft starts on them all so then I can finish rest of solar. Swapping 100w panels with 320w I think then having one in the front angled to help with wind.
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cs1234
Solar Wizard
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Many years back, I was almost killed (or at least seriously injured) from a giant piece of retreaded tired that flew off a semi.. I was 4 or 5 cars (other actual cars, not car lengths) behind a semi whose tire came apart almost in one entire piece and it flew through the air and smashed my windshield and the entire top of my car down to nearly the steering wheel. Fortunately, I saw it coming and ducked (but couldn't steer out of the way in time). The semi just blissfully drove away.. I had to get another car.
I took the thing home with me, it weighed nearly 100lbs.
I didn't see any questions/comments on axle capacity and tire load ratings. If you plan to stay put in one place, you're probably ok - except for the center of gravity concerns getting to the place where it'll sit for the next ten years.
When all is said and done, moving it from point A to point B has two forgone conclusions, possibly three:
1. Center of gravity - you roll it and there's goes your 7200w investment.
2. You break an axle, you roll it and there's goes your 7200w investment.
3. You blow a tire, it swerves, you over correct and you roll it - there's goes your 7200w investment.
Instead of being the coolest kid in the campground, go for what works and meets your needs.
When all is said and done, moving it from point A to point B has two forgone conclusions, possibly three:
1. Center of gravity - you roll it and there's goes your 7200w investment.
2. You break an axle, you roll it and there's goes your 7200w investment.
3. You blow a tire, it swerves, you over correct and you roll it - there's goes your 7200w investment.
Instead of being the coolest kid in the campground, go for what works and meets your needs.
justinm001
Solar Addict
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Common sense assumes OP has the weight capacity for everything including tires BEFORE considering this at all. Although common sense isn't so common anymore
And why I attempted to point it out.
wopachop
New Member
Somewhere in the video do the mention if they weighed the material?
I don’t see many either.. it may be because they don’t last long…but that’s humans doing their thing…
Totally…at least leave the pets at home if one drives like a fool…
Zwy
Emperor Of Solar
Was at The Wall at the Badlands a few weeks ago. Fella had a commercial bus that was modified to be a coach. One baggage compartment on the coach had a mini split in it. He was up working on his panels when I drove by on my e bike.
I thought it was a good setup. I'm currently back to installing the mini split on my truck camper and the roof air is being removed.
wopachop
New Member
Highway 86 in CA on a big weekend you will see people running 80mph all day long. Im always surprised how stable they look. Might also come down to the driver. If your hobby and all the money you make goes to driving toys, good chance you are decent at driving a trailer.
Ive encountered the opposite. Old couple in an RV. 2 lane highway. The guy swerves into the dirt shoulder and kicks up a 2 inch rock that lands on my windshield. I ducked. Swing a u turn and chase the old guy down. In the process i see him swinging into the dirt shoulder multiple times. Got beside him and eventually he pulled over. They called the cops on me. CHP shows up. Tells us to go on our way. Was lame though. He was not responsible for the 2 inch rock that was imbedded in my windshield. The rock was literally stuck halfway inside and halfway outside. I know glass shards hit me and the 3 kids behind me. I was ready to pull the driver out his rig. Once i saw it was an older guy i realized its just super dangerous. He looked in a daze and his wife looked concerned as well. She is probably scared for her life as they swerve down a 2 lane highway. Hitting the loose dirt shoulder. Its the road leading CA people to the river. Lots of accidents on that highway.
Ive encountered the opposite. Old couple in an RV. 2 lane highway. The guy swerves into the dirt shoulder and kicks up a 2 inch rock that lands on my windshield. I ducked. Swing a u turn and chase the old guy down. In the process i see him swinging into the dirt shoulder multiple times. Got beside him and eventually he pulled over. They called the cops on me. CHP shows up. Tells us to go on our way. Was lame though. He was not responsible for the 2 inch rock that was imbedded in my windshield. The rock was literally stuck halfway inside and halfway outside. I know glass shards hit me and the 3 kids behind me. I was ready to pull the driver out his rig. Once i saw it was an older guy i realized its just super dangerous. He looked in a daze and his wife looked concerned as well. She is probably scared for her life as they swerve down a 2 lane highway. Hitting the loose dirt shoulder. Its the road leading CA people to the river. Lots of accidents on that highway.
justinm001
Solar Addict
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Yeah it probably was a good setup but I didn't want to lose any bay space as we use the coach to carry all kinds of cargo. With my current ACs I have over 80k BTU and evenly spread out every 6ft or so. I don't know if there's any difference in efficiency with a mini split over multiple ac's considering instead of mine being adjustable I can turn separate ones on and off. Next step is to figure out the ducting and if I want it to keep ducting separate or join them somehow.
Some of my Prevost coaches have bus air which is a baggage compartment that has massive fans like a house then a huge compressor ran from the engine. Used mainly for passenger buses as they need to cool the 55 people inside but some motorhomes use them too. I didn't want because it takes up a huge bay area and only works when engines running.
Zwy
Emperor Of Solar
Huge difference in wattage used by an air conditioning unit such as a roof air unit and an inverter mini split. I can run the roof air on my truck camper off battery for about 5 hours. An inverter mini split about 4 times that.
In a coach a multi head unit would work well, ghost flow wouldn't be as much as an issue in a house. One unit mounted to the rear of the coach or in a bay.
