Stuck In Solar Limbo

[jpcjtrtj]

SLA is sealed lead acid -- mine were 2 92 ah agm group 27 batteries purchased in November; I got half their value, which was a decent price rather than keeping them in my garage forever.


Her trailer has a Zamp connector for her solar panels. https://www.amazon.com/ZAMP-SOLAR-ZS-SOLARPORT-Waterproof-Solar/dp/B07GNMPZZG

Her panels are the harbor freight ones; and they have this plug https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TFSS78H. Check the polarity if you use this. I'm not all that impressed with those connectors, but they could be perfectly fine. It's also the same connector the trickle charger uses.

It looks like the new Airstreams use Zamp too. For my AS, i ran two 10 AWG solar wires from the positive of the battery and negative from the shunt in the cabin into the battery box thru the old battery sleeve. They have MC4 connectors on the end to attach to my panels. So, I open the battery box, pull them out and connect... i can take photos tomorrow.

I also have made an MC4 to Anderson Connector adapter that I have been thinking about using on the end because it is a little easier to connect and disconnect than the MC4 connectors. I used the 50 amp Hyclat version of the Anderson connectors https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H4LRJYV

 

[jpcjtrtj]

LoLoHo Solar upgrade. !3K$ with 4 Battleborn batteries. I'm sure they got the LoLoHo promotional discount.

https://amsolar.com/airstream-trailers. AM solar. They have another page with wiring diagrams, but there is some good video on here.

https://www.mobile-solarpower.com/raw-lifepo4-deals-page.html. Will's info on EVE Cells. I used the Alie Express link to BlmPow.

https://overkillsolar.com/support-downloads/ Overkill Solar Manuals

As far as threads on here, I didn't keep track; I just read everything i could find on EVE cells, pack compression, EVE batteries, fuses, etc.

 

[jpcjtrtj]

Here is my setup for boon docking and MC4 cable hookups from trailer and Hyclat Anderson to MC adapter

 

[PeteW]

Here is my setup for boon docking and MC4 cable hookups from trailer and Hyclat Anderson to MC adapter

LoLoHo Solar upgrade. !3K$ with 4 Battleborn batteries. I'm sure they got the LoLoHo promotional discount.

Thanks for all the information, links, and pictures. I could have sworn I answered your first post and the next one with the loloho video link. I looked it up and watched it and a couple of follow up videos they made. I'm probably just sleep deprived. We've been spending a lot of time this past couple of weeks with our adult children and grandkids. One of our sons is visiting from Brazil. He's here with his girlfriend and her daughter. We are really enjoying all the activity, but it's wearing us out. Hahaha
Anyway, everything calms down on Sunday when they leave. I just did not want you to think that I don't appreciate all of this material and the time you've taken to share it. Thank you! Thank you!

That's frustrating. If the laptop outage lasts a while I've have good results with bluetooth keyboards for touchtyping.

FYI, look who's typing on his new Bluetooth keyboard! The darn thing works great.

My laptop is still in the hospital, but I have it on good authority that it should be good to go tomorrow. Apparently it picked up a nasty virus. I'm not admitting to anything!

Anyway, Thank you again.

 

[jpcjtrtj]

I just went down the rabbit hole of transfer switches and inverters thinking I would wire up one to run the outlets on the AS... After three days of reading and watching videos, I decided just to wire the inverter as a stand alone plug that will be accessed at the front of the unit. If I wired it into the AC panel, I would have to add a transfer switch and then I'd have to run the converter power to the Transfer switch. Then, I'd have to figure out how to only power the outlets, and avoid the microwave, fridge, and AC. One way is turning off those circuits when the inverter is on . . . Another way is creating a subpanel just for the circuits. My brain started to hurt. Instead, we can run an extension cord if we need to or add a dedicated outlet for the inverter only, but the complexity of running it through the AC panel just doesn't seem worth the time, effort and trouble for us. If I wired a 3000 watt inverter and had a larger battery bank, it might be worth it.