110 watt LED Lamp/ 100 amp/hr Battery: How Long Can It Run?

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Yes Bogart makes **excellent** stuff.

That Trimetric can coordinate 2* 30A controllers, even though PWM give superb control over the stop-charge via endAmps.

I agree, the Trimetric is fantastic.

I did not know that it could work with two charge controllers. Do you need two shunts?

[john61ct]

SC-2030 http://www.bogartengineering.com/wp-...-2030-Rev2.pdf

No, the SC is basically dumb, all the custom charge intelligence is in the Trimetric.

Only one bank gets current tracked, that's where the shunt goes.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by john61ct

SC-2030 http://www.bogartengineering.com/wp-...-2030-Rev2.pdf

No, the SC is basically dumb, all the custom charge intelligence is in the Trimetric.

Only one bank gets current tracked, that's where the shunt goes.

Your link is dead. But you did point out my err. I meant the TM-2030 not the SC.

[john61ct]

Permalink

https://www.google.com/search?q=bogart+manual+sc-2030

[PNW_Steve]

https://www.solar-electric.com/bogar...y-monitor.html

[rtdillon1960]

Look on Amazon for current meters for RC heli. They are adequate for the voltage and sensitive enough. 20 to 60 dollars. They also have percent of charge, amp hours used, etc. Makes calculations easy.

[scloughcarroll]

Solar is a fickle beast, so many opinions and misinformation out there.

IMO I would say go for the solar for your work lights but would be hesitant to use a solar bank to power a welder or any high output tool on a regular basis.

I had a similar plan to run an aux high output alternator to run my Aircon and charge batteries as I drove, I eventually abandoned this plan in favour of an auxiliary Inverter generator mounted under the bus to power airconditioning and high-draw appliance and a solar system designed to be self-maintaining from its panels for the specific draw needed for day to day operations with no need to pump extra juice in on a regular basis from a charger. I also planned my panels and system to ensure I could hit a string of cloudy days (5-7 in a row) and still not be running my batteries to 50%

The issue I found with the alternator was that it would only work when the bus is running(obs), good for when you are driving but kind of a pain when you need to run your diesel engine to power your air conditioner when stopped and puts unneeded idle time on your rig.

Now you could use it to charge up those batteries and then use them to power your AC, but the issue with this is that you're running a 120V appliance which draws over 1000W from a 12V system. You need a BIG battery bank to make this work in the long term without damaging the bank, not saying you can't do it but my 800AH 12V bank is going to cost me over $2000 already, not to mention weight, so maybe you go lithium, but then your costs will double. You could also choose to use a 24-48V system but this does nothing to limit cost.

Personally, my plan is to have my solar system running all my day to day items, fridge, lights, interior power for computers and TV etc. My lights, my fridge, cell chargers etc everything I could get 12V I did, only sensitive electronics on the inverter. I can get away with a 700w inverter and will have oodles of power leftover (I'm aiming for a 10% or less daily draw off my batteries) if you're doing a 50% draw overnight that's not maintainable.

I found a 3200-watt inverter generator for $1500 and going to build a custom vented and sound deadened box under the bus to run it, it comes with remote start to get it going from inside the bus. I can run this while driving without adding much noise to the mix and run my AC when stopped the same goes. I will also be wiring this inverter gen to run a few interior outlets for high draw appliances like a blender. This way high output draws never have to touch my batteries saves me in inverter costs and ensures my bank is never being overdrawn.

I've got a fantastic fan and lots in insulation and windows, so aircon is needed only on the hottest days, and when driving (for me personally) I did not want to build my system around a unit I would only use a couple of months out of the year.

As far as running power tools and welder, the same thing you're going to need more than a 1000W pure sin inverter, and a big battery bank, not to mention your solar arrays.

IMO getting an inverter generator and taking some time to make a sound deadening enclosure is well worth it when running high draw tools and appliances, running lights etc is great on solar but if you want to have a system capable of running those loads for long periods of time and on a constant basis your going to need to invest lots of time and money building a system, and it's going to be a heavy beast.

Personally, for my building process, I got an old noisemaker, 4000W to power my tools, it's loud but using some wood around it to deflect the sound into the ground and add some earplugs and I work in silent comfort LOL

[rtdillon1960]

Interconnecting a welder to the bus power system is asking for trouble IMHO. The huge load that this represents will cause 1 of 2 responses.
1) Cause you to design such a huge system it not moveable.
2) Eventually destroy your system from overloading it with the welder.

Since you are asking for opinions I'd follow the recommendation of the post above mine. Put small recurring loads on the Inverter and battery, put Large intermittent loads onto a separate circuit directly tied to the generator. (AC, blenders, hot plates, microwave, etc.) This circuit/outlet should be labelled inside the bus and you need to be careful about ground interconnections between the inverter and the generator. Letting out the magic smoke is embarassing.

For a Welder I would pick up a used gas powered unit and place it on a trailer behind the bus.

This opinion is worth exactly what you paid for it and I wish you all the best whatever you decide.
RT D

[Unpluggedone]

Way to go lights from Solar. Your calculations are correct and you can expect 50-100 hours from a 100 amp-hr battery as long as you have no other loads

[rtdillon1960]

Here is an example of an inline meter you can use to measure Lower voltage circuits and easily calculate how long a battery will run the load:

https://www.amazon.com/Precision-Det...xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

[ddcam]

Thats the welding answer! Been using those in my 4x4 club for years!!!!!