|
|
Post Reply 
|
Page <12345 11> |
| Author |
 Share Topic Printable Version Google Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Windows Live Yahoo Bookmarks reddit Facebook MySpace Newsvine Furl Topic Search  Topic Options
|
fwunder 
Senior Member 
Joined: 04 Oct 2013 Location: New Jersey Online Status: Offline Posts: 1676 |
 Topic: SOCPosted: 21 Jul 2020 at 5:22am |
|
Thanks offgrid. I'm not ready to throw in the towel.
BTW, 12 hours since I disconnected solar. No loads in pod save CO detector. Voltmeter shows 12.68v
|
|
|
2014 RPod 178 => MyMods and Buying Habits
2008 4Runner Limited 4.0-liter V6 Yes, those are wild ponies dining on grass while dumping tanks! |
|
 |
|
|
offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 5:31am |
|
Those are exactly what you would expect. Your batteries and loads are fine. You're just consuming energy making O2 and H2 out of water. Look at it this way, once your batteries are charged you don't care what happens to the additional energy, its wasted anyway. The issue is battery maintenance and longevity, not energy consumption or production.
If you wanted to do something interesting you could make a diversion charge controller which instead of shutting off the solar output diverted it to run the fridge once your batteries reach full charge. Off grid homesteaders often do that sort of thing with excess solar or wind energy.
|
|
|
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
|
|
|
|
fwunder
Senior Member
Joined: 04 Oct 2013 Location: New Jersey Online Status: Offline Posts: 1676 |
Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 5:37am |
|
Wow. That's a cool idea. Why waste all that energy?
New charge controller will be here Friday. As well as temperature probe. Should be interesting. I can find no way to reset or change controller parameters. |
|
|
2014 RPod 178 => MyMods and Buying Habits
2008 4Runner Limited 4.0-liter V6 Yes, those are wild ponies dining on grass while dumping tanks! |
|
|
|
|
offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 6:09am |
|
Is there an AGM battery setting? If there is you could check those setpoints, they are usually lower than for flooded batteries.
To make a diversion controller you'd need a charge controller with a dry contact output that closed when battery SOC reached its setpoint. Morningstar makes one as do others. Then you'd need to get into the fridge source selection switch and jigger it so the contact output from the controller switched it to 12V electric and it reverted back to propane the rest of time. That would void your warranty from Dometic if you still have one. It would be fun but the fridge uses so little propane that its not really worth the effort. The other thing you could do is add an inverter and connect that to the 120Vac water heater element. Use the charge controller in diversion mode to turn on the inverter. That would probably be pretty easy.
|
|
|
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
|
|
|
|
fwunder
Senior Member
Joined: 04 Oct 2013 Location: New Jersey Online Status: Offline Posts: 1676 |
Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 6:31am |
|
There is an AGM setting. I'll try that his afternoon in full sun.
I have submitted another ticket to Renogy but it's been a week since i submitted my last ticket, so I'm not betting on a response. The controller I have coming is the "New Edition" of the controller I have. I ordered it 10 days ago and tried, unsuccessfully, to cancel order cuz I was mad at them. I'm kinda glad I'm getting it now just to do a side-by-side comparison. The original reason I went with the Voyager PWM was because it's waterproof. I have a crazy idea of mounting a 100W panel on my 4Runner roof w/controller at battery box on Pod. Figured it would be a fun project and would pump a few amps into Pod while towing. When not towing or camping, I'll use the setup to maintain battery for our electric fence around our bee hives. As far as the diverter goes, I got two ideas: 1) Campgrounds should setup a plug where we could feed the grid with our leftovers. 2) Use it to operate ice maker and blender! Should have plenty leftover amps @ end of day, just in time for Happy Hour blender sports!! |
|
|
2014 RPod 178 => MyMods and Buying Habits
2008 4Runner Limited 4.0-liter V6 Yes, those are wild ponies dining on grass while dumping tanks! |
|
|
|
|
offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 6:48am |
|
Putting a module on the TV is a fine idea. I was thinking of placing one at the rear of my Highlander tilted up at about 15 degrees to act as a spoiler while towing. It would probably save as much energy as a spoiler as it makes as a solar module.
 If you put the controiler on the TV and connected it into the TV 12V system and left your 7 way connected while camping you wouldn't need to add an additional connector to the trailer and it would maintain charge on both the TV and trailer batts.
My wife wants to try bee keeping, if its Ok with you I'll PM you on that topic. Didn't realize you needed to fence off the hives but it makes sense. Your suggestion number 1 would require an expensive grid tied inverter (lots of regs on those). I really like suggestion 2, as long as there's battery backup so I wouldn't have to wait for a sunny day to imbibe my adult beverages..... |
|
|
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
|
|
|
|
fwunder
Senior Member
Joined: 04 Oct 2013 Location: New Jersey Online Status: Offline Posts: 1676 |
Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 8:17am |
Electric fence just makes us feel better. It's supposed to be for black bear which we do have around. I honestly think the black bear I have seen would get a good chuckle out of it. My wife is the beekeeper. I'm just the help. From second harvest a few days ago. 270 lbs. from four hives. A good year.   |
|
|
2014 RPod 178 => MyMods and Buying Habits
2008 4Runner Limited 4.0-liter V6 Yes, those are wild ponies dining on grass while dumping tanks! |
|
|
|
|
StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6417 |
Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 8:22am |
|
Sweet!  I like the idea but would not like to have to risk the stings. There are some beekeepers that live near me. I see honeybees in my yard on the clover blossoms and on the other flowering bushes and plants all the time. I leave them alone and they leave me alone. |
|
|
StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
|
|
|
|
fwunder
Senior Member
Joined: 04 Oct 2013 Location: New Jersey Online Status: Offline Posts: 1676 |
Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 8:27am |
|
Ha! Yes, she is braver than me!
 |
|
|
2014 RPod 178 => MyMods and Buying Habits
2008 4Runner Limited 4.0-liter V6 Yes, those are wild ponies dining on grass while dumping tanks! |
|
|
|
|
offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 21 Jul 2020 at 8:32am |
|
We have bears too., lots of scat around. And raccoons, coyotes, neighbors have even seen a panther, they say.
I don't think an electric fence would slow a bear for more than a millisecond.... Very cool photos. Thanks!
|
|
|
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
|
|
|
|
Post Reply
|
Page <12345 11> |
| Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |
SOC