Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
Jayco RV Owners Forum
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 01-04-2017, 09:57 PM   #1
Rod
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: El Dorado Hills
Posts: 21
making my own solar gen, any reason I cant plug in my shore power?

I would plug in 110v to inverter on my solar gen with 100w solar panel. will activate my pop up outlets and charge my main battery on the tongue. Am I missing anything? 1000w inverter btw.
Rod is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2017, 09:41 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
Seann45's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Saskatoon Sask Canada
Posts: 10,714
You would have to disconnect the CONverter or it would take battery power invert it to 120 then reduce it back to 12 V to charge the battery.. a thousand watts is not much if your trying to do whole house.. make sure you switch the fridge over to gas only and unplug the microwave.
__________________
Seann
2004 Chev Silverado Duramax optioned past the max. 2009 Jayco Eagle 308 RLS 900watts of solar, Lithium batteries (400amp hour), 2000 watt (4000 surge) whole house inverter.
145days boondockinig in2023 2022/151 2021[/COLOR]
93/2020,157/2019219/2018 206/2017,215/2016, 211/2015, 196/14, 247/13, 193/12

Seann45 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2017, 09:55 AM   #3
Rod
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: El Dorado Hills
Posts: 21
well, it is a pop up so I dont have much draw. Yes, I run mini fridge on propane. purpose is make my outlets hot dry camping and have use of outlets for short usage like small micro and mini coffee maker. otherwise occasional 90 watt tv use. the solar gen has 65ah with 100w portable solar. I converted to LED, so the main battery shouldnt be looking for much converter power?
Rod is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2017, 10:03 AM   #4
Site Team
 
Mustang65's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Clearwater, FL area
Posts: 5,196
What is the make/mfr/model of the SOLAR generator? Did you purchase the solar generator yet?

Don
__________________
2013 Jayco Eagle 284BHS
2012 Ford F150XLT, EcoBoost w/3.73,Max Tow Pkg.
Our Solar Album https://www.jaycoowners.com/album.php?albumid=329
Mustang65 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2017, 10:09 AM   #5
Rod
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: El Dorado Hills
Posts: 21
I am building my own with a portable smart trolling battery box. Fused with external posts
Rod is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2017, 10:40 AM   #6
Site Team
 
Mustang65's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Clearwater, FL area
Posts: 5,196
What battery are you using? You mentioned 65Ah from your solar generator, which means you can only use about 30Ah, as there is a 50% rule on batteries. The battery should not be allowed to drop below 12.0 VDC, or you will be shortening the life of the battery. So that will leave you with about 30Ah to use between the hours of 4PM and 10AM.

If you are using a normal PWM SOLAR charge controller with the 100 watt panel you will only be able to use 75watts of it, as the PWM controller works on Panel Amp output (12Volt battery voltage * 6Amps = 72 watts.

The 90 watt Tv (110VAC) = 7.5 amps from the battery to run it one hour. Average is probably 3 hours = 22.5 Ah
A 4 cup electric coffee pot (mine is rated 550Watts at 110VAC) = 46Amps for 5 minutes which is about 3.8 Ah
Internal TT items (CO alarm, radio, fridge 12VDC circuit, LED's, water pump) will tack on 2Ah
If you use the TT's central heating system, that alone will use up most of your 30Ah.
Microwave is around 900watts or 75 Amps will use up your Ah at the rate of 1.25 Ah a minute.

The 100 watt solar panel producing 6 amps on a 100% clear sunny day, no clouds, in direct sunlight all day, will give you a MAX of 30Ah (6amps from panel *5 hours of max sunlight). I can count on one hand how many days like that there are. And that output will be divvied up between the battery and what ever loads (fridge, radio, CO alarm....)

The minimum amount of SOLAR panels that I recommend is 200 - 250Watts and 200Ah of battery. With your system, if you are not traveling each day (battery charge from TV) you will need a source for additional power.

If you are planning on using your existing 110VAC outlets in the TT as mentioned earlier in a post, you will need to rewire your TT's Battery charge controller to its own 110VAC breaker so you can turn it off while using the SOLAR for supplying your 110VAC power

Enjoy!!!

Don
__________________
2013 Jayco Eagle 284BHS
2012 Ford F150XLT, EcoBoost w/3.73,Max Tow Pkg.
Our Solar Album https://www.jaycoowners.com/album.php?albumid=329
Mustang65 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2017, 12:44 PM   #7
Rod
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: El Dorado Hills
Posts: 21
Thanks Don. yes, I know some of these calcs. I may stow the micro when not on shore power. I have 100ah permanent on the trailer. so if I was to use the water pump or heater, wouldnt it draw from the 12v system ie other battery? I have another option that is to chain the batteries in parallel and have solar recharge the system and use solar gen to power items directly in or out of the TT. I have gas gen backup.
Rod is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2017, 12:49 PM   #8
Rod
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: El Dorado Hills
Posts: 21
that would be to unplug solar gen at dark and run off perm battery/gas gen
Rod is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2017, 01:08 PM   #9
Site Team
 
Mustang65's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Clearwater, FL area
Posts: 5,196
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rod View Post
I have another option that is to chain the batteries in parallel and have solar recharge the system and use solar gen to power items directly in or out of the TT.
In order to hook up all the batteries together in parallel, they all need to be the same Mfr/Model/Rated Ah or the charging/discharging will be affected. If you have the same batteries, and you do not keep them wired together you need to charge them separately, as one battery may be 12.0 volts and the other may be 12.4 volts.

Don
__________________
2013 Jayco Eagle 284BHS
2012 Ford F150XLT, EcoBoost w/3.73,Max Tow Pkg.
Our Solar Album https://www.jaycoowners.com/album.php?albumid=329
Mustang65 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2017, 01:35 PM   #10
Rod
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: El Dorado Hills
Posts: 21
So, my most efficient option is to do this: operate the solar gen during day either plugging in TT or 110v items direct to unit. the TT battery will stay topped off. unplug solar gen at night and run TT off 12v system. recharge next day via solar/gas gen.
Rod is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2017, 02:14 PM   #11
Rod
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: El Dorado Hills
Posts: 21
Rod is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2017, 02:17 PM   #12
Rod
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: El Dorado Hills
Posts: 21
I found that the PUP draws a lot of amps. more efficient to just run electronics off battery direct. either solar gen or PUP battery. with solar attached to main battery acts like a solar gen too.
Rod is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Jayco, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:36 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright 2002-2016 Social Knowledge, LLC All Rights Reserved.