Exterior Battery Mounts for Solar System - Rear Bumper?

[PhirstTube]

Hi all,

I have a 2016 1007UD, while it is a great little unit....it is a great littleunit.

I sleep with a CPAP and I have also figured out my desired AH needed to satisfy camping off-grid.

Originally I was looking at adding our AGM batteries to one of the storage boxes inside the unit, but this took up so much of my space. My next idea was to have my solar controller and my 2000w inverter installed into the bin that contains my fuse box/breaker/water pump and 30a cord. I was THEN going to mount my AGM's...which now that they are outside do not need to be AGM...on each side of my spare tire on the rear bumper. I was going to have two plates welded on there to house them. Run the power from the controller back to the supply of the inverter.

Has anyone else come up with intersting layouts for thier solar system? Im keeping this system separate from the 12v system. I am using my 30a > 110 adapter to plug the 30a shore cord into my pure sine wave inverter to power my outlets for my cpap and phone charger.

[Colorado]

Welcome from Colorado Springs.

Anything can be made to work. Post a picture of the front and rear (bumper) of your camper. This would help visualize possibilities....

[PhirstTube]

Here ya go!

[Colorado]

Here’s how I would go about it. First get several LOADED weights: 1) Just the tongue weight (jack down) axle off scale, 2) Just Axle on scale, trailer on truck or jack off scale. 3) Total weight unhooked on scale.

Once you have those numbers you can subtract the battery from the front and add it to the rear. You want to make sure you have enough tongue weight if you move the batteries to the rear. I would extend the frame in the rear with enough room to add the batteries and even a little storage.

[PhirstTube]

Complete noob question. Where does one acquire this type of scale?

[Colorado]

Originally Posted by PhirstTube

Complete noob question. Where does one acquire this type of scale?

Everyone’s a Noob when they start…. This is a cat scale, so it’s certified. I would find a moving company that has a scale. If there’s a farm in co-op up there LONGMONT they’ll have one. The problem using the truckstop scale is they’re going to be busy and you need to take multiple weights. you don’t have to go through that hassle, but because pop-ups tend to be light you don’t want to lose your tongue weight because that will contribute to trailer sway.

https://www.truckstopsandservices.co...ls.php?id=1725

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C...e-gws-wiz-serp

[bankr63]

You didn't say how many batteries you want in your array. 2? 4? Size?

My first impulse would simply be to weld a bit of plate into the existing battery box location to extend it wide enough for double the space. If that is not enough, I would go to the back bumper weight. The 1007 isn't particularly tongue heavy, so an extra battery would be fine there. If you need two sets, then the back bumper would be okay, but they will get very shaken back there.

If you want to go inside, you might consider increasing the dead space inside the step ups to the bunks, You might be able to eke out enough space there for batteries that is not currently used, but your step up would increase. There are lift cables in there too though (only one cable in the front box), so it might not be feasible.

Also, have you checked with your CPAP manufacturer to see if they have a 12v adapter for your machine? Most of them don't actually run on 120v, so converting 12v to 120v so that it can be converted back to 12v (or less) is highly inefficient.