What is best way to stress test a system in an RV?

[justinm001]

Usually the generator starts off the Coach batteries and the coach batteries get charged off the Engine alternator/battery when the main coach engine is running.

So all that has been eliminated and your generator has it's own stator charging up it's own dedicated starting battery?

He has 48v battery it's gotta be disconnected

 

[Checkthisout]

Mines 20kw

I wanna come to one of your motorhome parties. Laser light show, disco ball and pole dancers I bet. That's the only reason to have a generator that big.

 

[reader2580]

Usually the generator starts off the Coach batteries and the coach batteries get charged off the Engine alternator/battery when the main coach engine is running.

So all that has been eliminated and your generator has it's own stator charging up it's own dedicated starting battery?

I can assure you there is a separate battery and no connections to the coach system at all.

The generator has a Kubota diesel engine and has a small alternator that charges the battery. I debated using the coach starting batteries for the generator, but I went with a separate battery in case the coach batteries are ever dead. I have a battery charger that could charge the coach batteries if necessary.

 

[Checkthisout]

He has 48v battery it's gotta be disconnected

Ah right. Well, I give up for now. I am just kinda participating in the background and not making a list of the setup.

 

[reader2580]

I wanna come to one of your motorhome parties. Laser light show, disco ball and pole dancers I bet. That's the only reason to have a generator that big.

No, just overkill. A 10KW would be enough, but the price difference was pretty small to go to 12.5KW.

At any one time I could be running three 15K BTU roof airs, a 16 CF refrigerator, a 15 CF chest freezer, a coffee pot, a microwave, one or two 1200 watt food warmers, and more. Of course, not all at once normally.

 

[reader2580]

Yikes. You have done a lot of work to this coach.

To confirm, the new Gen has it's own starting battery that is charged off the generator itself?

Yes, it has a separate AGM battery for starting the generator. A Duracell 34M AGM battery if it matters.

 

[justinm001]

I wanna come to one of your motorhome parties. Laser light show, disco ball and pole dancers I bet. That's the only reason to have a generator that big.

I rarely plan on using it but figure my 6 AC units is the main reason they installed it. Since I have huge inverters I can charge my batteries fast on genny power. Basically 1% a minute.

It'll also help power a house in outage or other RVs when camping with friends. My goal is to retire soon and assist in various disasters so huge genny can help.

 

[Checkthisout]

I rarely plan on using it but figure my 6 AC units is the main reason they installed it. Since I have huge inverters I can charge my batteries fast on genny power. Basically 1% a minute.

It'll also help power a house in outage or other RVs when camping with friends. My goal is to retire soon and assist in various disasters so huge genny can help.

Wow.

Are you running a mobile meat locker?

 

[justinm001]

Wow.

Are you running a mobile meat locker?

There's a rule where commercial busses need to lower 30 degrees in 30 minutes apparently. I have a lot of couches and can seat a dozen people easily.

Helps with efficiency too as I have 15.5k acs, 15k acs and 13k acs. Can better direct cooling

 

[Zwy]

There's a rule where commercial busses need to lower 30 degrees in 30 minutes apparently. I have a lot of couches and can seat a dozen people easily.

I've worked on coach HVAC systems along with reefer trailers. When it holds 30 lbs of refrigerant, you know it can cool down fast.

 

[JRH]

This is about the closest we can come up with.
It checks most of the boxes, although doesn't walk like a duck or quack like a duck. But it is still a duck!
Careful - I hear they are venemous.

View attachment 177785

I no milky that puppy… nope… it might bite..

 

[Hedges]

The Bite from the Bill ain't the problem. It's the Claws.

MSN

 

[reader2580]

It seems silly the only way to get detailed logging from a Victron inverter is to use the cloud based VRM. I can connect my Cerbo GX to my WI-FI, but I am not sure it actually works. I tried to use the WI-FI to have the Cerbo download firmware from the Internet and it consistently failed to download. I ended up putting the firmware on a USB flash drive instead.

 

[justinm001]

There's other ways but this is by far the easiest. It's all simple and easy to setup. Once setup It's a whole new world.

 

[reader2580]

It looks like I will have to buy the Victron LTE modem and then get a data plan for it so I can get data from my Victron equipment.

 

[justinm001]

It looks like I will have to buy the Victron LTE modem and then get a data plan for it so I can get data from my Victron equipment.

No you don't. It just needs wifi or internet connection. You can even just use your phone as a hotspot.

It's easier if you use victronconnect on your phone and connect to cerbogx over Bluetooth then use the app to program the wifi but you can also use the touchscreen.

Also turn off the cerbos access point as it can cause interference. The cerbo doesn't have the best antennas so you need a good connection.

If you're having issues with connecting to wifi it has an ethernet port so you can use a wifi to ethernet device.

If using your home wifi, I'd suggest getting some mesh wifi system for your house. You can then set 1 wifi ap close to a window and then another inside your rv using its power and it'll boost the wifi outside and provide strong stable connection.

 

[reader2580]

No you don't. It just needs wifi or internet connection. You can even just use your phone as a hotspot.

I can't guarantee my phone is always going to be close enough to the Cerbo to provide a constant Internet connection to feed data to VRM.

I already have three Unifi U6 Pro access points at home. One of them is in my detached garage maybe 15 feet from the Cerbo in the motorhome. I didn't bother to troubleshoot any further why the Cerbo wasn't able to download the firmware from the Internet. I can use WI-FI just fine from my laptop or iPad while sitting in the motorhome.

 

[justinm001]

I can't guarantee my phone is always going to be close enough to the Cerbo to provide a constant Internet connection to feed data to VRM.

I already have three Unifi U6 Pro access points at home. One of them is in my detached garage maybe 15 feet from the Cerbo in the motorhome. I didn't bother to troubleshoot any further why the Cerbo wasn't able to download the firmware from the Internet. I can use WI-FI just fine from my laptop or iPad while sitting in the motorhome.

Grab one and put it in your motorhome next to the cerbo to make sure you're set... not the one by the garage. Again the Cerbo has a weak wifi antenna (and BT). I believe you can even use USB wifi adapters on the CerboGX, I know you can with BT as I use a SENA BT dongle and its 10x stronger. With the U6 pro I believe you can plug in the CerboGX to the ethernet and it'll mesh to ethernet.

You don't need constant internet connection to VRM it'll download when it gets internet again. I think you can save multiple wifi's but I'm not sure as my coach has its own wifi system. (2 U6 pros, 2 AP meshs, and 3 Beacon HDs when need to extend).

 

[reader2580]

I was able to get VRM working with my Cerbo GX today. VRM has data going back to September when I first configured WI-FI on the Cerbo GX. The issue is the only things in the logs are loss of incoming AC voltage events. Nothing logged for the times the inverter went into fault status.