OffGridInTheCity
Solar Wizard
I have an all electric camping trailer built around an MPP Solar 3048LV (3000w, 48v) AIO. I've been using a duel fuel Champion 2500w generator https://www.amazon.com/Champion-Power-Equipment-201183-Ultralight/dp/B09HN2RQ67/ref=sr_1_3 but found it lacking and just tested the MaXpeedingrods 3500w - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PBFVWFK which is a better fit.
The issue is dry-camping battery charging via the Champion -> MPP Solar. The MPP Solar's software interface let's you select 2a, 10a, 20a, 30a, .... AC charging - it's a blunt selection. At the 10a setting, I get ~550w charging w/100w background load and a kilowatt meter on the Champion shows 750w which is 650w/750w = ~87% efficiency... not bad. So in theory, I should be able to select 20a AC charging and the Champion should be able to handle 1500w continuous.....
But it doesn't work. When I select 20a (or even 10a a lot of the time) the MPP Solar causes a surge on the Champion for some reason that the Champion can't handle and goes in to surge/overload/idle, surge/overload/idle, .... cycles.
I just tried out the MXR3500w MaXpeedingrods taking the MPP Solar settings all the way to 40a AC charging which = 2100w battery charging + 600w load in the trailer and had no problems with 'surges'. The generator increased smoothly at each incremental update. I don't know what's happening with the Champion from a technical standpoint - but the MXR works smoothly in response to the MPP Solar.
The reason this is important is that when dry camping we burn 4-5kwh/day to live in all electric comfort w/hot water + shower etc. We have a 13kwh battery. At the Champion snail pace of 550w charging that's 9hrs per day of generator time to keep up. With MXR this will shrink to 2.5hrs per day of generator time - which is doable!
So I've found a good match between the MXR3500 and MPP Solar 3048LV and wanted to share the info. The MXR gas-only is not that much louder (58db vs 53db) or bigger or heavier (47lbs vs 39lbs) than the Champion - it fit right in the Champion's spot in the trailer. The duel-fuel MXR is 62lbs w/wheels and is bigger than gas-only.
Of course, it will be while before I see if the MXR holds up.... but we'll see and I'm hopeful at this point.
The issue is dry-camping battery charging via the Champion -> MPP Solar. The MPP Solar's software interface let's you select 2a, 10a, 20a, 30a, .... AC charging - it's a blunt selection. At the 10a setting, I get ~550w charging w/100w background load and a kilowatt meter on the Champion shows 750w which is 650w/750w = ~87% efficiency... not bad. So in theory, I should be able to select 20a AC charging and the Champion should be able to handle 1500w continuous.....
But it doesn't work. When I select 20a (or even 10a a lot of the time) the MPP Solar causes a surge on the Champion for some reason that the Champion can't handle and goes in to surge/overload/idle, surge/overload/idle, .... cycles.
I just tried out the MXR3500w MaXpeedingrods taking the MPP Solar settings all the way to 40a AC charging which = 2100w battery charging + 600w load in the trailer and had no problems with 'surges'. The generator increased smoothly at each incremental update. I don't know what's happening with the Champion from a technical standpoint - but the MXR works smoothly in response to the MPP Solar.
The reason this is important is that when dry camping we burn 4-5kwh/day to live in all electric comfort w/hot water + shower etc. We have a 13kwh battery. At the Champion snail pace of 550w charging that's 9hrs per day of generator time to keep up. With MXR this will shrink to 2.5hrs per day of generator time - which is doable!
So I've found a good match between the MXR3500 and MPP Solar 3048LV and wanted to share the info. The MXR gas-only is not that much louder (58db vs 53db) or bigger or heavier (47lbs vs 39lbs) than the Champion - it fit right in the Champion's spot in the trailer. The duel-fuel MXR is 62lbs w/wheels and is bigger than gas-only.
Of course, it will be while before I see if the MXR holds up.... but we'll see and I'm hopeful at this point.
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