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Old 03-16-2015, 06:02 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 38
So my batteries died...

I had not been out to Treasure Island in a while to work on my bus and as luck would have it the batteries are totally dead. Like 0.02v dead..

To avoid dealing with this situation again I ordered up a small solar setup for my chassis batteries. Yes I should and will have a battery disconnect but that does nothing to help in the case that the batteries actually do die. I am planning on having a battery bank and a solar array for appliance electronics but in the meantime, this is what I ordered..


1 x Renogy 50W flexible solar panel

The 100W solar panel is only $40 more so it's totally worth it, but my plan is to mount this little guy directly on top of the front escape hatch. The hatch can be titled in 4 directions (to some degree anyway) and leaves the entire surface area of the roof for my actual solar array.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1


2 x Renogy 20ft solar cables with MC4 connectors

I should have just made these myself and saved a bit of coin *oops*..

Amazon.com: Renogy 20ft. Solar Cable PV cable extension with MC4 Female and Male connectors: Electronics


1 x Renogy 30Amp PWM charge controller

I know, I know, MPPT charge controllers are waaaaay better but this is just for my chassis batteries and I'll cough up the money for a better controller when I do my battery bank. I was originally going to get the $29 10 Amp PWM controller but this is 30 Amp and has a nice little LCD display...

Amazon.com : RENOGY® 30 Amp PWM Charge Controller with LCD Display : Renewable Energy Charge Controllers : Patio, Lawn & Garden



Hopefully everything should arrive tomorrow and I can go play with it

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Old 03-16-2015, 07:34 PM   #2
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I did basically the exact same thing. Cept 150 watt panel...saves the batteries and means I wont ever need a jump. My house solar will be 24V.
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Old 03-16-2015, 09:33 PM   #3
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Nice! If the single 50W isn't enough I'll add another 50W panel to the rear hatch. I haven't decided on 12v vs 24v for the house batteries yet..
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Old 03-20-2015, 12:52 PM   #4
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Well I got things wired up...

My bus came with a Seon mobile surveillance system including a gps & wireless node. Since I don't have the controller for that and I have no use for the cameras, I removed the node from the roof the bus and ran my wires trhough that hole...That let me snake my wires behind all the panels very easily. Unfortunately this stupid "charge controller" will only charge the battery if it's above a 10V, so I have the panel wired directly to the battery until the voltage is up enough.

Also, being that I had no electricity I had to drive those self tapping screws in by hand with a screw driver



You can see the MC-4 connectors in the lower left of the overhead box and one of the Seon cameras


I mouned the controller on the back of the console behind the drivers seat. Those two black lines coming down to the left of the controller are from the solar panel


I spent quite a while trying to find a good place to run the battery wires down through the floor and into the back of the battery box..Finally I remember the air line for the drivers seat and it lines up perfectly with the battery box


Heading back to the bus shortly to see where the voltage is and reconnect the charge controller..
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Old 03-20-2015, 03:20 PM   #5
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Chassis: TC2000 FE
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I can't see the pics.

Nat
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Old 03-20-2015, 03:30 PM   #6
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Seems I cant edit my post :-/ Ill try again when im not mobile
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Old 03-20-2015, 04:08 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bearbus View Post
Seems I cant edit my post :-/ Ill try again when im not mobile
It's been longer than 90 min since you posted. The thread is locked.

PM a mod to unlock it or re post the pics.

Bansil, EastCostCB, and a few others that say site team under their names can unlock the edit boton.

Nat
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Old 03-21-2015, 11:27 PM   #8
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Well I got things wired up...

My bus came with a Seon mobile surveillance system including a gps & wireless node. Since I don't have the controller for that and I have no use for the cameras, I removed the node from the roof the bus and ran my wires trhough that hole...That let me snake my wires behind all the panels very easily. Unfortunately this stupid "charge controller" will only charge the battery if it's above a 10V, so I have the panel wired directly to the battery until the voltage is up enough.

Also, being that I had no electricity I had to drive those self tapping screws in by hand with a screw driver



You can see the MC-4 connectors in the lower left of the overhead box and one of the Seon cameras


I mouned the controller on the back of the console behind the drivers seat. Those two black lines coming down to the left of the controller are from the solar panel


I spent quite a while trying to find a good place to run the battery wires down through the floor and into the back of the battery box..Finally I remember the air line for the drivers seat and it lines up perfectly with the battery box


And finally, it's alive The voltage was up to 11.7 today but not enough CCA to turn the engine over yet. Should be good to go tomorrow
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Old 03-21-2015, 11:32 PM   #9
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I had completely over looked the fact that the roof hatches are not flat on top and I didn't have the appropriate hardware to mount the panel to the hatch so it's on the roof for now..
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Old 03-22-2015, 06:02 AM   #10
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Join Date: Sep 2014
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I'm getting a "404" when I try to view the images.
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Old 03-22-2015, 07:05 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nat_ster View Post
It's been longer than 90 min since you posted. The thread is locked.

PM a mod to unlock it or re post the pics.

Bansil, EastCostCB, and a few others that say site team under their names can unlock the edit boton.

Nat
The site administrators may be able to do that, but moderators can't unlock a post for a member to edit. Once the time limit is up, that's pretty much it.
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Old 03-22-2015, 10:07 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
The site administrators may be able to do that, but moderators can't unlock a post for a member to edit. Once the time limit is up, that's pretty much it.
My bad, Janet H can unlock the thread for you.

Nat
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Old 03-22-2015, 10:35 AM   #13
Mini-Skoolie
 
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LOL well this thread is a total fail..stupid dropbox.

Here are the pics one more time
Attached Thumbnails
20150319_165017.jpg   20150319_164506.jpg   20150320_153101.jpg   20150319_164553.jpg   20150320_153112.jpg  

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Old 03-22-2015, 10:41 AM   #14
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They worked this time.

Nat
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Old 03-22-2015, 02:53 PM   #15
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Success!
Not a total fail at all.
Hasn't even went WAY off topic... yet. ;)
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Old 03-22-2015, 03:16 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nat_ster View Post
My bad, Janet H can unlock the thread for you.

Nat
I can too, I just hadn't figured it out yet.
Taken care of now though.

So yeah- actually MY bad, sorry nat.
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Old 03-22-2015, 10:15 PM   #17
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Succcess! The bus started today

Thanks for helping a noob with posting
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Old 03-23-2015, 03:17 AM   #18
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That is good news!
They're way less fun to own when they don't start.
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Old 03-23-2015, 06:24 PM   #19
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"Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still."

Nat
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Old 03-23-2015, 07:59 PM   #20
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You may have already done it or plan on doing it but..
but you will want to protect the wires where they travel through a hole, at the very least try to smooth the hole out and then put 5 or 10 wraps of tape around the wire.
Be sure to secure the wires so they cant flop around, put some red tape on the end of each positive wire,
For the future you might want to put a switch or breaker on the positive wire near the solar panel and another one on the positive near the battery, makes it easier to turn off for testing or fiddling.
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