wired for solar...sorta! (MC4s on the roof) - R-pod Owners Forum

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podwerkz

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Joined: 11 Mar 2019
Location: Texas
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Posts: 966

Topic: wired for solar...sorta! (MC4s on the roof)
Posted: 20 Mar 2019 at 8:12pm

Went out for a ride on the e-bike. Still a little cool but no wind so thats always a good thing around here.

Yep battery-to-battery or B2B systems aint cheap. Of course I could use a battery isolator but then we get into the voltage drops in those.

I think what I'm gonna do, since the WFCO is seemingly happy with the twin batteries, is mount both of them in parallel and side by side in the tongue rack. They will both have equal charge levels by tomorrow. Those two batteries along with the 30# propane bomb, I mean tank, will sure put some load up front, but my truck will handle it no problem. I will weigh it of course.

This will solve a couple of issues and maybe, create another, so again, testing continues.

Stay tuned, as they say!

r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

offgrid

Senior Member

Joined: 23 Jul 2018
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5290

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 at 5:17am

If your truck will handle the tongue weight then that solution is just fine. In fact, it reduces the likelihood of getting trailer sway. Only about 20-25 lbs of the total battery weight will end up on the trailer axle (unless you readjust with a wdh) which is the weak link structurally.

I've topped out on my tongue weight limit so can't add more propane until I get the dual GC2's off of there.

its a typical early spring day on the OBX, 60 degrees (nice) but wind at 21 kts gusting to 30 kts (not so nice).

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

podwerkz

Senior Member

Joined: 11 Mar 2019
Location: Texas
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 966

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 at 5:55pm

I have decided the BattleBorn battery will find another use. Maybe emergency/portable use with my ham equipment.

For now, what I did was install the two group 24 boxes, side by side, or, end-to-end if you prefer, but anyway, they are next to each other on the tongue rack. The two group 24 batteries just fit. Wired in parallel and working great. They are both virtually brand new and very close in ah ratings.

Resting voltage on each was about 12.74 and 12.68 after a night of stand-by use, low current draw, about a half amp total. Combined max amp-hour rating of the two batteries is about 185 ah...and we all know the rule of thumb, about 50% usable. I can live with that.

I will be moving the battery cut-off switch into the trailer, instead of outside on the other large box, this will allow the batteries to be disconnected from the pod but still connected to the solar controller.

Plus I got some work done on the 50 watt panel mount for the roof. Aluminum brackets fabricated and installed on the panel, but not yet mounted to the pod. I will add a waterproof anderson connector to the outside for the 100 watt portable panel. The 50 watt panel is mainly for keeping the house batteries 'topped-up' when in storage.

I will be installing self-drilling screws into the upper most edge of the sides, near the roof seam, where the aluminum frame is, and probably one fastener into the roof near the AC unit, into the aluminum roof spars. I will be adding VHB tape for extra security and sealing everything goot-n-tight. The 50 watt panel JUST fits between the A/C unit and the roof edge, and aft of the top-most curve of the roof.

My truck has 200 watts of solar on the bed cap and two 55 ah AGMs, inside the shell, along with a 700 watt inverter and 2 generators. I will not be needing shore power when boondocking!

When the Renogy controller arrives, I will finish all the wiring to the controller and panel, and cut a big nasty square hole for it in the upper cabinet.

This project is coming along now, after some plans were made and changed, but it's all on the right track now.

r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

offgrid

Senior Member

Joined: 23 Jul 2018
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5290

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 at 7:35pm

2 gennys? I'd love to hear the story behind that one Wink

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

podwerkz

Senior Member

Joined: 11 Mar 2019
Location: Texas
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 966

Posted: 21 Mar 2019 at 11:08pm

You can never own too many generators. I own five!

Turns out that for simple battery charging a small, quiet inverter generator is a nice thing to have. But inverter generators pollute the RF spectrum with noise in the near field. Ham radio reception on the HF bands suffers. Regular open frame jobsite gensets are noisy to the ears, but a lot quieter in the RF spectrum.

Depending on what I'm doing at the time, I will choose which one to fire up.

Of course, running the A/C or a microwave, I will run the big 4000 watt unit. But if replenishing the house batteries and NOT using the radio, I can run the little 1000 watt inverter generator.

It's a trade-off, and besides all that, with the crappy ethanol gas we have to buy now when traveling, it's nice to have options when one of the generators refuses to run when the carb jets get plugged up.

What a pain that can be!

So yeah, one big one, one smaller one. Kinda like hammers or screwdrivers. Pick the right tool for the job at hand.

r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

offgrid

Senior Member

Joined: 23 Jul 2018
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5290

Posted: 22 Mar 2019 at 6:57am

For me, the fewer gas engines I own the better. They are a PITA for mainatenance. I got rid of my gasser chainsaw, lawnmower, and weed eater long ago. All electric now. No starting problems, oil to change, plugs and carbs to foul. My only internal combustion engines are our 2 vehicles and the Honda 2K genny.

I'm looking forward to swapping the Prius for a Bolt or Hyundai EV soon, then I'll be down to only 2 ICE's! Unfortunately, EV's aren't up to towing an rPod just yet. LOL

I agree on the crappy gas problem. Consider converting one of your gennys to dual gasoline/propane, starting problem solved, and no stinky gas smell. I did that with my Honda 2k, only ran it once on gasoline for an hour. I put an Easystart on the a/c, and the little Honda runs everthing just fine.

I bring a 100 ft 12awg extension cord and place the genny and a propane cylinder as far away from myself and my neighbors as possible. I would think that signal attenuation with distance would take care of the rf noise issue as well.

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

podwerkz

Senior Member

Joined: 11 Mar 2019
Location: Texas
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 966

Posted: 22 Mar 2019 at 9:40am

Ironic....yesterday I watched youtube videos of guys pulling a camper with a Tesla. I left a comment that they should install a Tesla battery pack in the camper floor and double the range!

https://youtu.be/LaZhXXHRmGg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB2E-nQE7iY

For my dino-juice genny, I'm planning on attaching an exhaust extension to the big genset and run the generator inside the pickup topper, as a 'quiet box' of sorts. Yes I will have fans and safety measures in place.

As far as the RF noise....yeah distance helps, and so does grounding, the use of toroids, ferrites, and other noise suppression items, but it turns out the long extension cords act like a very effective 'antenna'...propogating the noise even farther at HF frequencies. And that cord is often within a few yards of the primary antenna.

At one event, our 160 meter antenna was located 600 FEET from our camp and our generator. Six hundred feet of high quality RF feedline. That was a pain to roll out and set up, but it cured the problem. The genset was close to camp, but, no junky RF noise from the gensets at all!

r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

offgrid

Senior Member

Joined: 23 Jul 2018
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5290

Posted: 22 Mar 2019 at 4:44pm

The rig would need to have its range doubled, because its energy consumption is going to be doubled or more. Tesla packs are only about 3 inches thick so if you had a 3 inch lift kit, removed the tanks from under an rPod, installed 80kWh or so of packs, and then remounted the tanks your clearance would end up the same as is on a standard rPod with no lift kit. But, you'd now have an rpod that's about 800 lbs heavier than it was, so the Tesla TV probably wouldn't be able to tow it, not to mention doubling the price of the pod. Unhappy

So, we're not there quite yet...

Besides, if we could build and tow a trailer like that with an EV I'd like to have a 400Vdc inverter so I could use energy from the trailer battery to run the trailer when boondocking. You could even run your a/c boondocking without a genny then, probably for 3-4 days straight.

Or, how about adding a traction motor to the rPod controlled by a strain sensor on the tongue so it went from drive to regen braking based on the force the trailer is pulling or pushing on the tow vehicle?That would basically make the trailer invisible to the tow vehicle, literally you wouldn't know it was even there.

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

podwerkz

Senior Member

Joined: 11 Mar 2019
Location: Texas
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 966

Posted: 02 Apr 2019 at 12:40am

I have finally finished most of the 'boondocking' infrastructure.

Two group 24 lead acid batteries (about 180ah) on the tongue. These power the house systems, lights, fan, fridge, water pump, etc. They are charged with the factory WFCO converter/charger and a 50 watt PV panel on the roof and small lead-acid compatible solar charge controller which will be off-setting light use, fridge electronics, etc.

One BattleBorn LFP Battery (100ah) installed in the under-seat cabinet, along with a seperate 10 amp LFP charger for on-grid charging and a 100 watt portable panel feeding into a Renogy LFP compatible solar charge controller. This LFP battery will power the ham radios and one 300 watt inverter.

Yes all circuits are protected by fuses or breakers. I made extensive use of Powerwerkz connectors, fuses, cables, and meters.

I removed the TV which was in always in the way....I never watch TV, especially when camping...and I am getting rid of that 45 pound boat anchor of a dinette table. Well, some of it anyway, I hate that thing, its heavy, and always in the way...so I ordered a pair of RV style pedestal poles that will be a lot lighter. I will be mounting the existing table top on those two pedestal bases.

I have also mounted the two rear stabilizer jacks on save-a-jacks, and added the jack-e-up unit up front. I also ordered and received a PahaQue r-pod visor, which is gonna be nice on those sunny days.

It has been a lot of work and money involved in getting this all installed and working, but hey, I want and NEED the pod to be able to be used without hookups like my other trailer.

With the 200 watt PV system and two 55ah AGMs on the tow vehicle, I should be good to go!

r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

offgrid

Senior Member

Joined: 23 Jul 2018
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5290

Posted: 02 Apr 2019 at 1:24am

Sounds kewl. Where did you end up locating the Battleborn battery and the inverter? How about the connector for the portable solar?

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

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podwerkz Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 11 Mar 2019 Location: Texas Online Status: Offline Posts: 966	Topic: wired for solar...sorta! (MC4s on the roof) Posted: 20 Mar 2019 at 8:12pm
	Went out for a ride on the e-bike. Still a little cool but no wind so thats always a good thing around here. Yep battery-to-battery or B2B systems aint cheap. Of course I could use a battery isolator but then we get into the voltage drops in those. I think what I'm gonna do, since the WFCO is seemingly happy with the twin batteries, is mount both of them in parallel and side by side in the tongue rack. They will both have equal charge levels by tomorrow. Those two batteries along with the 30# propane bomb, I mean tank, will sure put some load up front, but my truck will handle it no problem. I will weigh it of course. This will solve a couple of issues and maybe, create another, so again, testing continues. Stay tuned, as they say!
	r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Posted: 21 Mar 2019 at 5:17am
	If your truck will handle the tongue weight then that solution is just fine. In fact, it reduces the likelihood of getting trailer sway. Only about 20-25 lbs of the total battery weight will end up on the trailer axle (unless you readjust with a wdh) which is the weak link structurally. I've topped out on my tongue weight limit so can't add more propane until I get the dual GC2's off of there. its a typical early spring day on the OBX, 60 degrees (nice) but wind at 21 kts gusting to 30 kts (not so nice).
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

podwerkz Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 11 Mar 2019 Location: Texas Online Status: Offline Posts: 966	Posted: 21 Mar 2019 at 5:55pm
	I have decided the BattleBorn battery will find another use. Maybe emergency/portable use with my ham equipment. For now, what I did was install the two group 24 boxes, side by side, or, end-to-end if you prefer, but anyway, they are next to each other on the tongue rack. The two group 24 batteries just fit. Wired in parallel and working great. They are both virtually brand new and very close in ah ratings. Resting voltage on each was about 12.74 and 12.68 after a night of stand-by use, low current draw, about a half amp total. Combined max amp-hour rating of the two batteries is about 185 ah...and we all know the rule of thumb, about 50% usable. I can live with that. I will be moving the battery cut-off switch into the trailer, instead of outside on the other large box, this will allow the batteries to be disconnected from the pod but still connected to the solar controller. Plus I got some work done on the 50 watt panel mount for the roof. Aluminum brackets fabricated and installed on the panel, but not yet mounted to the pod. I will add a waterproof anderson connector to the outside for the 100 watt portable panel. The 50 watt panel is mainly for keeping the house batteries 'topped-up' when in storage. I will be installing self-drilling screws into the upper most edge of the sides, near the roof seam, where the aluminum frame is, and probably one fastener into the roof near the AC unit, into the aluminum roof spars. I will be adding VHB tape for extra security and sealing everything goot-n-tight. The 50 watt panel JUST fits between the A/C unit and the roof edge, and aft of the top-most curve of the roof. My truck has 200 watts of solar on the bed cap and two 55 ah AGMs, inside the shell, along with a 700 watt inverter and 2 generators. I will not be needing shore power when boondocking! When the Renogy controller arrives, I will finish all the wiring to the controller and panel, and cut a big nasty square hole for it in the upper cabinet. This project is coming along now, after some plans were made and changed, but it's all on the right track now.
	r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Posted: 21 Mar 2019 at 7:35pm
	2 gennys? I'd love to hear the story behind that one
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

podwerkz Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 11 Mar 2019 Location: Texas Online Status: Offline Posts: 966	Posted: 21 Mar 2019 at 11:08pm
	You can never own too many generators. I own five! Turns out that for simple battery charging a small, quiet inverter generator is a nice thing to have. But inverter generators pollute the RF spectrum with noise in the near field. Ham radio reception on the HF bands suffers. Regular open frame jobsite gensets are noisy to the ears, but a lot quieter in the RF spectrum. Depending on what I'm doing at the time, I will choose which one to fire up. Of course, running the A/C or a microwave, I will run the big 4000 watt unit. But if replenishing the house batteries and NOT using the radio, I can run the little 1000 watt inverter generator. It's a trade-off, and besides all that, with the crappy ethanol gas we have to buy now when traveling, it's nice to have options when one of the generators refuses to run when the carb jets get plugged up. What a pain that can be! So yeah, one big one, one smaller one. Kinda like hammers or screwdrivers. Pick the right tool for the job at hand.
	r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Posted: 22 Mar 2019 at 6:57am
	For me, the fewer gas engines I own the better. They are a PITA for mainatenance. I got rid of my gasser chainsaw, lawnmower, and weed eater long ago. All electric now. No starting problems, oil to change, plugs and carbs to foul. My only internal combustion engines are our 2 vehicles and the Honda 2K genny. I'm looking forward to swapping the Prius for a Bolt or Hyundai EV soon, then I'll be down to only 2 ICE's! Unfortunately, EV's aren't up to towing an rPod just yet. I agree on the crappy gas problem. Consider converting one of your gennys to dual gasoline/propane, starting problem solved, and no stinky gas smell. I did that with my Honda 2k, only ran it once on gasoline for an hour. I put an Easystart on the a/c, and the little Honda runs everthing just fine. I bring a 100 ft 12awg extension cord and place the genny and a propane cylinder as far away from myself and my neighbors as possible. I would think that signal attenuation with distance would take care of the rf noise issue as well.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

podwerkz Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 11 Mar 2019 Location: Texas Online Status: Offline Posts: 966	Posted: 22 Mar 2019 at 9:40am
	Ironic....yesterday I watched youtube videos of guys pulling a camper with a Tesla. I left a comment that they should install a Tesla battery pack in the camper floor and double the range! https://youtu.be/LaZhXXHRmGg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB2E-nQE7iY For my dino-juice genny, I'm planning on attaching an exhaust extension to the big genset and run the generator inside the pickup topper, as a 'quiet box' of sorts. Yes I will have fans and safety measures in place. As far as the RF noise....yeah distance helps, and so does grounding, the use of toroids, ferrites, and other noise suppression items, but it turns out the long extension cords act like a very effective 'antenna'...propogating the noise even farther at HF frequencies. And that cord is often within a few yards of the primary antenna. At one event, our 160 meter antenna was located 600 FEET from our camp and our generator. Six hundred feet of high quality RF feedline. That was a pain to roll out and set up, but it cured the problem. The genset was close to camp, but, no junky RF noise from the gensets at all!
	r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Posted: 22 Mar 2019 at 4:44pm
	The rig would need to have its range doubled, because its energy consumption is going to be doubled or more. Tesla packs are only about 3 inches thick so if you had a 3 inch lift kit, removed the tanks from under an rPod, installed 80kWh or so of packs, and then remounted the tanks your clearance would end up the same as is on a standard rPod with no lift kit. But, you'd now have an rpod that's about 800 lbs heavier than it was, so the Tesla TV probably wouldn't be able to tow it, not to mention doubling the price of the pod. So, we're not there quite yet... Besides, if we could build and tow a trailer like that with an EV I'd like to have a 400Vdc inverter so I could use energy from the trailer battery to run the trailer when boondocking. You could even run your a/c boondocking without a genny then, probably for 3-4 days straight. Or, how about adding a traction motor to the rPod controlled by a strain sensor on the tongue so it went from drive to regen braking based on the force the trailer is pulling or pushing on the tow vehicle?That would basically make the trailer invisible to the tow vehicle, literally you wouldn't know it was even there.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

podwerkz Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 11 Mar 2019 Location: Texas Online Status: Offline Posts: 966	Posted: 02 Apr 2019 at 12:40am
	I have finally finished most of the 'boondocking' infrastructure. Two group 24 lead acid batteries (about 180ah) on the tongue. These power the house systems, lights, fan, fridge, water pump, etc. They are charged with the factory WFCO converter/charger and a 50 watt PV panel on the roof and small lead-acid compatible solar charge controller which will be off-setting light use, fridge electronics, etc. One BattleBorn LFP Battery (100ah) installed in the under-seat cabinet, along with a seperate 10 amp LFP charger for on-grid charging and a 100 watt portable panel feeding into a Renogy LFP compatible solar charge controller. This LFP battery will power the ham radios and one 300 watt inverter. Yes all circuits are protected by fuses or breakers. I made extensive use of Powerwerkz connectors, fuses, cables, and meters. I removed the TV which was in always in the way....I never watch TV, especially when camping...and I am getting rid of that 45 pound boat anchor of a dinette table. Well, some of it anyway, I hate that thing, its heavy, and always in the way...so I ordered a pair of RV style pedestal poles that will be a lot lighter. I will be mounting the existing table top on those two pedestal bases. I have also mounted the two rear stabilizer jacks on save-a-jacks, and added the jack-e-up unit up front. I also ordered and received a PahaQue r-pod visor, which is gonna be nice on those sunny days. It has been a lot of work and money involved in getting this all installed and working, but hey, I want and NEED the pod to be able to be used without hookups like my other trailer. With the 200 watt PV system and two 55ah AGMs on the tow vehicle, I should be good to go!
	r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Posted: 02 Apr 2019 at 1:24am
	Sounds kewl. Where did you end up locating the Battleborn battery and the inverter? How about the connector for the portable solar?
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold