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Forum
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RE: Small Solar for Storage Battery Maintenance
The panel we were considering is now being held up due to the new tariffs. They said that if they go ahead the estimate is for the $130 panel to cost $175. So we'll start looking at alternatives.
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CA Traveler
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05/18/12 03:52pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Slide out with or without storage compartments?
Thanks for the info - I'm retired so I'll be on the road a lot, so you're saying that a slide w/o attachments compartments is the way I should go?I'm just suggesting that you can carry more stuff with pass through storage and you might want a dual access storage slide. Mine comes out 5' on either side. Some rigs don't have this capability - think drive train front to rear.
We try to load/unload the storage slide when the house slides are in but that doesn't always happen. Per post above house slide storage will not have any access issues.
Both DW and I have extra stuff and we're gone for many months. Camping equipment, tools, food and it all adds up.
Just giving you alternatives and there are many tradeoffs. You'll spend most of the time inside so that becomes a big priority over outside storage.
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CA Traveler
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05/18/12 03:38pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Slide out with or without storage compartments?
Those are 8' vinyl fence posts for storage.
http://i369.photobucket.com/albums/oo134/catraveler/DSC04593s.jpg
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CA Traveler
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05/18/12 02:48pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Slide out with or without storage compartments?
The "best" is pass through storage with a storage slide to make access to the center items easier. The only real drawback is that house slides may extend over the storage doors.
For a weekend warrior with more limited stuff slide storage would be best.
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CA Traveler
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05/18/12 02:44pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Victron BMV-600 - Which side of Shunt to put Chasis Ground?
It the past there has been confusion of just what this shunt is measuring. It measures amps in/out of the battery and nothing else. It does not measure the amps from solar or a charger that get diverted to say house lights. ie The amps delivered by solar or house charger will be greater than the battery monitor display based on the amount of house divereted load.
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CA Traveler
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05/18/12 12:21pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Victron BMV-600 - Which side of Shunt to put Chasis Ground?
Oh that is interesting. Let's see if I have this correct. CA Traveler, for your install:
1) The negative of the battery bank is connected to the chasis ground thru the shunt. No other connections to the negative of the battery bank.
2) I presume that somewhere else you have a ground bus (or similar) that is also tied to chasis ground?Correct. The chassis ground cable ties to a common ground for the chassis and all house negative loads.
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CA Traveler
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05/18/12 12:07pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Victron BMV-600 - Which side of Shunt to put Chasis Ground?
In the above pic 2 of the shunt wires are for detection of the shunt voltage (which is displayed as amps) for the Trimetic 2025RV battery monitor. The third wire is for the meter ground. The fourth unseen is to the positive terminal for the meter 12V supply and voltage display and the fifth unseen wire is to the positive terminal for the chassis battery 12V display.
There is no question that the shunt needs to be installed on the negative battery post for this application.
BTW The 2 wires for the shunt voltage detection have no other loads in the display. This is to ensure that the meter has the correct amps and the meter draw (a few milliamps) is not a factor.
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CA Traveler
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05/18/12 11:05am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Victron BMV-600 - Which side of Shunt to put Chasis Ground?
Think of it this way: If you connect the chassis ground cable to the negative post what connects to the shunt?
In the picture below the larger chassis ground cable is connected to the shunt and the smaller cable connected to the - battery post is the connection for the second parallel battery. There are no other connections to the common - battery terminals. Your shunt may have different meter connections but the principle doesn't change.
http://i369.photobucket.com/albums/oo134/catraveler/ShuntDSCN1866-Small.jpg
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CA Traveler
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05/18/12 10:58am |
Tech Issues
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RE: CUMMINS C 8.3 DP- JUST TOLD I NEED A NEW HEAD/HELP?
If I liked the rig and was planning on many more miles on the rig I'd replace the head.
Don't think of it as costing about $5K but saving $5K from the last estimate!
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CA Traveler
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05/17/12 07:58pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Parallel or Series Solar?
Yes, check the 200W panel voltage. The generally lower $/W larger panel cost can offset the higher mppt cost. But then you've already purchsed the Tristar.
The very first post in this thread includes a parallel test. However, that test completely convered the cells and may not represent the same results that would be obtained with a more real world shading test. Later the serial test was repeated with different shading (1' away).
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CA Traveler
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05/17/12 09:54am |
Tech Issues
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RE: THE UGLY
Yeah...we have "Love Bug" season down here in Florida. It's a good idea to AVOID Florida when they are IN SEASON... They swarm twice per year. The first swarm oocurs Aug-Jan, the second swarm is from Feb-Jul... AVOID these times of year, and you should be OKAY!
:BI'm sure that they swarm only when I'm there. :B
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CA Traveler
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05/17/12 09:43am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: THE UGLY
Dan Dan Dan - You're in Zion and thinking about bugs??? Nothing worse than those Florida Love Bugs - Now are we done with bugs???
Kick back, relax, enjoy the ride into the valley and enjoy.
PS The bugs will be there when you return to Florida where you can cover them up with more Love Bugs!!!
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CA Traveler
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05/16/12 08:43pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: CUMMINS C 8.3 DP- JUST TOLD I NEED A NEW HEAD/HELP?
In theory a Cummins Coach Care facility understands that they are working on oil/grease/dirt inside your home. Worth considering and even more so for a rear radiator.
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CA Traveler
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05/16/12 04:48pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: removing bad battery switch
Ok, yes, it was the emergency start switch that runs from my dash to the solenoid right next to the battery. Thank you, I will connect it as it was originally hooked up. Many thanks!The solenoid likey also serves as the battery isolator. Use a voltmeter and make sure the house batteries are charging while driving.
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CA Traveler
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05/16/12 04:11pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Small Solar for Storage Battery Maintenance
The estimated wire run is 27' or 54' of 10ga wire for a 1.9% drop panel to battery.
I suggested using a combiner box with a loop of slack wire to add a second future panel if desired. This would increase the wire drop to 3.5%. Since these are 12V panels and PWM controller I thought that would be acceptable.
The initial emphasis is for storage but with the possibility of expanding in the future. So part of the evolving plan is for learning. An existing voltmeter helps in that direction. A larger initial CC is also a possibility. The storage area is in Sacramento which is very warm during the summer.
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CA Traveler
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05/16/12 12:37pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: more newbie questions
The 50' hose that winds up flat on a reel is an excellent solution for filling the tank as it takes very little storage space compared to a normal hose.
It is not as damage proof as a regular hose so I wind it up when done.
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CA Traveler
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05/16/12 08:23am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Battery Shorting and can't find problem
Mark cables with red for positive and Black for negative with colored electrical tape. Mark inside of battery box or compartment with color code.And then take pictures before you take it apart.
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CA Traveler
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05/15/12 07:05pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Ground Fault Keeps Tripping
My RV charged just fine in my garage on a GFI outlet until I replaced the converter with an inverter/charger. As soon as I plugged into my house power, the outlet tripped.
My RV has a Prosine 2.0 inverter/charger, and it has an option to defeat the internal automatic neutral bond which caused the GFI outlet used to feed the RV to trip. I set the option to defeat the automatic bond and no more external GFI tripping.Sounds like a faulty installation to me. For a built in inverter the AC output neutral and hot should be isolated from the rest of the rig by a ATS and the neutral and ground for that output circuit should be bonded in the inverter. This bonding will not in any way effect the shore GFI because of the ATF isolation.
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CA Traveler
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05/15/12 03:20pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Ground Fault Keeps Tripping
From many posts on these boards moisture is the leading cause of a GFI triping. Typically those areas are the refer, HW, outside plugs and then sink area plugs.
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CA Traveler
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05/15/12 08:53am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Ground Fault Keeps Tripping
My bet is on the fridge. Unplug it and see if it still trips - if it doesn't then replace the heater in the fridge.Good suggestion and leads to something I should have suggested. The main rig breaker is off and so no power. But the fault can be on any plugged in or connected device. Following my suggestion if when removing the main panel neutral the problem no longer existed then the problem is one of the devices/plugs/connections in the rig.
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CA Traveler
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05/14/12 10:07pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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