Thanks Jim, already had all these components prior to buying my camper, just repurposing but completely agree!
Truck camper install question.
- Thread starter JoeyJ55
- Start date
In that case, carry on!
You might be able to sell it. In a truck camper space is at a premium so a smaller physical sized controller may work out better.
It’s a relatively small controller and I have a perfect cubby under my fridge where I normally keep dog treats and pickup bags. I can wall mount it, still store in it and by opening the door, I can access the display and controls.
That'll work. Don't forget the overcurrent protection before and after the solar charge controller.
Yes Sir, I basically built this entire system for a 20ft shipping container shop project a few years ago and have since upgraded it so repurposing everything to this project. Breakers, fuses, shunts, meters and inverter shut off are ready to rock so new wiring and placement is really the only thing “new”. I’ll also be installing a 30 amp female outlet from the inverter in the power cord dog house to act as a manual transfer switch to keep me honest, that and probably some remove before flight tags, lol.
Good deal. I wasn't sure how experienced you were. Better safe than sorry.
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
Code requires things be 6’+ away from water/plumbing unless GFCI protect is in place. which makes that description seem ill advised…
Not sure which code you’re referring to but in a truck camper, virtually nothing is 6 feet from plumbing. With that said, this unit is going back into the exact same area as the original and doesn’t protrude near as deep into the sink space as the original unit. 110, 12 volt, water, sewer and propane are all routed in that area and all 110 circuits are GFCI protected from the factory.
I’ve had several RVs over the years that had gen sets added after the fact. They all had an outlet run from the gen set to the power dog house. Very hard to screw up, unlike me, lol
If experience is directly related to age? I’m VERY experienced but if not thanks for keeping me honest, lol. That’s why I’m here.
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
Interesting point. I’m dumb and didn’t think of that fact. NEC btw and I think it’s 6’ minimum distance from an outlet not on the wall of the counter and 24” from a GFCI outlet of a wall above the countertop. But I’m not an electrician
I’d want the incoming on a GFCI myself being under a sink. Not just the branched circuits.
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All good, everything is to RV industry code. Any shore power supply “should” be adherent to NEC and be GFCI protected as an outdoor receptacle as is my portable genset. Not to mention an aftermarket surge/power protection device. The output of my inverter also has GFCI built in so in my mind adding another redundant item would be unnecessary and just one more item to troubleshoot. Thanks for the input though!
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
Ok. I didn’t realize RVs were required to have 30A GFCIs now. Cool.
Sorry for any confusion, they do not. I was referring to any shore power post that you might connect to. As an outdoor receptacle, by code they are required to be GFCI protected. There are also inline plugin devices that act as an additional protection for surge, bad power, bad wiring etc.
Been a while but wanted to circle back to say that I got everything installed just in time for the 3rd annual Truck Camper Adventure Rally in Quartzite AZ in February and my 4 days there were a great test for the system. I’m happy to say it worked exceptionally well. My last night there, I purposely ran everything I could to discharge the battery during the day and overnight. About 3:30am the low voltage alarm woke me up so I went out and cranked up my portable generator and the 45 amp charger on the new Progressive Dynamics panel charged my Valence back to 100% in about 20 mins. During normal overnight use I never dropped below 70% SOC and recovered to 100% by 11am. Temps were low enough at night to require running the furnace so combined with refer and TV use I’m a happy camper! Max charging was 20 amps from the setup which I’m very happy with considering the panel is flat mounted and the time of the year. Looking forward to seeing what it puts out this summer!
Thanks again for everyone’s input!!
Thanks again for everyone’s input!!
Zwy
Solar Wizard
If you're heading to the Rally next February, I might have to come and join in.
JoeyJ55, I'm couldn't follow what your solution was to integrating the TC's converter in with the new solar system. When you plug into shore power does the converter work with your solar input to charge the battery as well as power the ac side of the box? You wouldn't need the inverter plugged in so there shouldn't be a conflict there? I'm putting a dual input MPPT charge controller in but the converter bypasses that and will charge directly to the battery. Does that sound right?
pchad, in my particular installation I am not using an ATS/automatic transfer switch so think of my system as 2 separate systems. Shore and solar. Unless I manually trip my solar panel breaker, my solar is always charging my batteries. My converter has a dedicated breaker now so when running off my inverter/solar that breaker is off so the system is not trying to charge the battery with it’s own power. I only turn that breaker on when connected to shore power and only if I need to charge/recover the battery at a higher charge rate than what solar might provide. Think rainy day. The output of my inverter provides a direct wire connection as well as dual 120 volt plugs. I have romex run from the hardwire output on the inverter over to my power cable doghouse and to a metal 30 amp RV gang box . When I am running off of the “solar” system, I simply plug the 30 amp house power cable into that outlet. I’m now running completely off of solar and as long as the converter circuit breaker is tripped, the charger is not creating a charging “loop” and is only being charged by the solar charger.
When I need/want to connect to shore power/generator, I simply unplug the house power cable, insuring that my inverter is switched off (not critical) and just plug the house power cable into shore or gen set.
The big check list item is remembering to trip the charger breaker when running off solar. I rarely need to use the 45 amp house charger so I keep that breaker tripped unless I really need it. My solar tends to more than provide, weather considered.
I’ve recently added a second Renogy Wanderer charge controller to the battery bay and use it with a portable solar panel when needed. I’m currently in the White Mountains of AZ among Ponderosa pines and have been running completely off the single roof panel going on day 3. I am running my fridge off propane though. Afternoon rains limit my harvest so as you’ll find, you need to be realistic and flexible.
I hope this better explains my setup but if not please feel free to quiz away.
When I need/want to connect to shore power/generator, I simply unplug the house power cable, insuring that my inverter is switched off (not critical) and just plug the house power cable into shore or gen set.
The big check list item is remembering to trip the charger breaker when running off solar. I rarely need to use the 45 amp house charger so I keep that breaker tripped unless I really need it. My solar tends to more than provide, weather considered.
I’ve recently added a second Renogy Wanderer charge controller to the battery bay and use it with a portable solar panel when needed. I’m currently in the White Mountains of AZ among Ponderosa pines and have been running completely off the single roof panel going on day 3. I am running my fridge off propane though. Afternoon rains limit my harvest so as you’ll find, you need to be realistic and flexible.
I hope this better explains my setup but if not please feel free to quiz away.
