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Maiden Voyage

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offgrid View Drop Down
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Joined: 23 Jul 2018
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    Posted: 15 Apr 2022 at 3:17am
Electrical usage by the pump and tongue jack are negligible because the operate on a very low duty cycle. Ditto for the fridge on propane because it has a very low current requirement. LED lights aren't bad, but the fans (bath, furnace, or other ones you might add) use quite a bit. As does the TV.

We used fans in the mid Atlantic and watched a movie in the evening, and consumed around 30-40 amp hours a day, so you will probably be less. Bear in mind that you don't want to bring lead acid batteris down below about 50% state of charge so a single 100 ah battery in your case might last about 2-3 days with no recharging.

I suggest you get a multimeter with clamp on DC current measurement capability. Clamp it around one of your battery cables and turn on one load device at a time. Record the current each item consumes. Then you can make up a table of current and expected daily hours of use. Multiply the two together for each item then sum for a total. A spreadsheet is handy for this. This way you will quickly get to know what is consuming electricity in your particular case and what you don't need to be concerned about.

As for portable solar that's a great way to start out. You can clip to the battery but you'll still need a charge controller and please install an inline fuse at the battery + terminal for safety.

Also if you are running more than a few feet (so you can place the module in a sunny spot) use some heavy gauge wire to keep the resistive voltage drop down. It's only a 12V circuit so voltage losses can be quite significant.

For a 100 watt solar module you can use 12 gauge wire for a 25 ft run, or 10 awg for a 50 ft run. You can use a 20 amp fuse for the 12 awg or a 30A for the 10 awg wire.

A 100 watt module will provide about 25-35 amp hours per day anywhere in the country on a sunny summer day if unshaded and oriented south at about 20 degrees tilt. This doesn't need to meet all your load demand, just extend your battery life while you are boondocking for a few days.

You can always add another solar module later if you find your consumption to be much higher. By getting a controller that can handle 2 modules now and choosing a heavier wire for your cable run you wouldn't need to change those later.





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