Maast
Compulsive Tinkerer
Whats the latest best value DC-DC charger from the starter battery to the house bank? The latest I remember seeing was a 50A from Renology but that sucker is 300 bucks, is there anything out there thats a better value that doesnt require connection to the ignition switch?
Havent been posting much lately, I'm doing a 6.0L Chevy Express 3500 Extended van build for a late-20s homeless couple that are living out of a almost dead 1995 car thats past its last legs. They've been doing work for a few years for a neighbor and one day I got to talking to him and learned they were living in that beat to snot car for 4 years and their story broke my damn heart - lost job, lost kids, and it just got worse from there.
Bought a 15 pax express van on a public surplus, ripped out the seats and have been doing hot water/shower/sink/portapottie/bed/stove/diesel hot air heater build and I'm now at the power systems. The OEM van alternator is a 145A output and the house bank is 280AH LFP from leftover new cells I was testing before I went with the BYD modules.
Havent done solar panels yet either but I pretty much know exactly what I'm going to do there.
BTW, I'm not a complete sucker for a sob story. I've got a huge job going where I'm building a 95 foot 8' high retaining wall across my back hard and filling it w/ about 18000 yards of fill to level it up so I can build a shop back there. I'm hiring him @ $15 an hour to move and spread dirt and help me build the wall but 75% of his pay is being held by me to recover the cost of the van & build and I'm holding the title until he gets to 80% of the cost (though I havent told him the 80% part).
I spent 6 months sleeping under pine trees when I was 20 so I realize just how hard it is to get back on your feet when you have no address and no good way to get clean enough for a job interview, safe place to stash your stuff, or the ability to get to work consistently on time. 30 years ago and it still puckers my butt when I think just how close I got to going down for the count before I got back on my feet. Can't imagine having a family in that situation.
At any rate I'm trying to keep the costs down and keep the total under $2500. I've been able to do a lot w/ ebay and craigslist but $300 for a single component sticks in my craw. Aliexpress'll take too long.
Any thoughts?
Havent been posting much lately, I'm doing a 6.0L Chevy Express 3500 Extended van build for a late-20s homeless couple that are living out of a almost dead 1995 car thats past its last legs. They've been doing work for a few years for a neighbor and one day I got to talking to him and learned they were living in that beat to snot car for 4 years and their story broke my damn heart - lost job, lost kids, and it just got worse from there.
Bought a 15 pax express van on a public surplus, ripped out the seats and have been doing hot water/shower/sink/portapottie/bed/stove/diesel hot air heater build and I'm now at the power systems. The OEM van alternator is a 145A output and the house bank is 280AH LFP from leftover new cells I was testing before I went with the BYD modules.
Havent done solar panels yet either but I pretty much know exactly what I'm going to do there.
BTW, I'm not a complete sucker for a sob story. I've got a huge job going where I'm building a 95 foot 8' high retaining wall across my back hard and filling it w/ about 18000 yards of fill to level it up so I can build a shop back there. I'm hiring him @ $15 an hour to move and spread dirt and help me build the wall but 75% of his pay is being held by me to recover the cost of the van & build and I'm holding the title until he gets to 80% of the cost (though I havent told him the 80% part).
I spent 6 months sleeping under pine trees when I was 20 so I realize just how hard it is to get back on your feet when you have no address and no good way to get clean enough for a job interview, safe place to stash your stuff, or the ability to get to work consistently on time. 30 years ago and it still puckers my butt when I think just how close I got to going down for the count before I got back on my feet. Can't imagine having a family in that situation.
At any rate I'm trying to keep the costs down and keep the total under $2500. I've been able to do a lot w/ ebay and craigslist but $300 for a single component sticks in my craw. Aliexpress'll take too long.
Any thoughts?