12v for the Minimalist Weekender

[tony.latham]

Ends up they can’t handle the heat we have here in AZ in the summer.

I can't either!

Tony

[KTM_Guy]

Ends up they can’t handle the heat we have here in AZ in the summer.

I can't either!

Tony

It’s a dry heat.

Todd

[DoctahDeane]

I’m going for a super simple 12v system for my build, and I have a few questions:

1. Is 12 ga adequate from the battery to the box?
2. Is a 30 amp breaker too large?
3. Will 16 ga work for all the appliances, including the vent fan?
4. What size fuse for the LED lights?
5. What size fuse for the vent fan?
6. What size fuse for the ports?
7. Do I need to ground the (-) to the trailer frame? If so, what size wire?

The battery and charger will be housed in a vintage cooler mounted to the tongue.
The longest wire run will be out to the galley.
Thanks for your input.

This is a really helpful post. Thank you, pretty much what I'm after. Couple of questions:

1. Battery charger - simple is fine for me, is the Genius brand shown a recommendation (or do you have one?)?
2. Further down, there's a photo of a battery (Duracell) with the standard +/- posts but sitting next to the post is a smaller "stud" that makes connections to other items clean. I have not seen that before but it looks very clean. Is it an add on or is it an optional connector for a deep cycle battery.
3. This one might sound weird but if I "breach" the wall between my sub-floor box where all this stuff will sit and run cables under the trailer (safely, enclosed) - what is the best way to protect where I've actually gone through the body of the trailer? Epoxy and caulking? Seems like maybe there might be some sort of space station airlock type thing I could use out there, somewhere....

Clocks go ahead tonight, camping soon

[tony.latham]

is the Genius brand shown a recommendation (or do you have one?)

I have the Noco Genius G3500 and like it a lot. It's maintaining the battery in the teardrop as I write this. I bought a second smaller Noco to keep my ATV battery alive.

Tony

[DoctahDeane]

is the Genius brand shown a recommendation (or do you have one?)

I have the Noco Genius G3500 and like it a lot. It's maintaining the battery in the teardrop as I write this. I bought a second smaller Noco to keep my ATV battery alive.

Tony

Great, thanks!

[tony.latham]

Great...

If you are going to hard-wire it, think about getting one of these with the charger.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LWQ35Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Tony

[DoctahDeane]

Great...

If you are going to hard-wire it,

Thanks, I will, for sure. Do those eyelets go over the battery terminals or do they attach to something else that is over the terminals? I know this is a basic question but I've seen a couple of photos that seem to show what looks to be an add-on, that's next to the terminals and to which extra stuff attaches, assuming the charger clips go to the terminals....

I'm also looking for a battery monitoring solution/gauge of some sort if anyone has a lead, that would be great. No pun intended. Well, maybe a little.

[DoctahDeane]

I thought I had a deal at $170 for this flexible 100-watt Renogy ETFE panel. This is a ridiculous price right now at $135.

https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Extremely-Flexible-Monocrystalline-Renewed/dp/B07W7TQL2B/ref=sr_1_13?keywords=renogy+flexible&qid=1570643437&s=digital-text&sr=8-13

Renogy has the same 5/25 year guarantee for them as their glass panels.





Tony

At $1.75 a watt it's a deal, yet $1.35.. Ya baby! I bought solar in the early days at close to $4 a watt for a hard fixed panel and thought that was a deal! I bought my 130w fixed panel at $.78 a watt a it's a bear to store that I use now.

I just looked on Amazon and seems this can be had for $157. Thanks for the pointer. Do you see any advantage in going with the 160w version? Yes of course it's more, but not a LOT more (around $250). My question is really about speed of charging I guess. If the capacity accelerates the topping off of the battery, that'd certain ly seem worth it - especially over time.

[tony.latham]

Do you see any advantage in going with the 160w version?

It's probably a matter of having the space.

I added another 30-watt panel on my tongue box.



130 watts --for our needs-- is a lot.

On Flash, we had two folding 30-watters and a 20 watt panel on the tongue box. It was more efficient since we could follow the sun with them but we didn't set the folder out until our voltage was dropping off. (So how efficient was that?)



I'll be really curious to monitor our power production and usage this summer.

Tony

[DoctahDeane]

I thought I had a deal at $170 for this flexible 100-watt Renogy ETFE panel. This is a ridiculous price right now at $135.

https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Extremely-Flexible-Monocrystalline-Renewed/dp/B07W7TQL2B/ref=sr_1_13?keywords=renogy+flexible&qid=1570643437&s=digital-text&sr=8-13

Renogy has the same 5/25 year guarantee for them as their glass panels.





Tony

I got one of these panels today - the 160W version but it's too wide for the top hatch area (the hatch lift handle on mine is pretty big). Looks like the 100W version is narrower, so I'll measure that out but before I do all that - any thoughts about having the panel NOT attached? It would be great to have the additional 60W and sine positioning the trailer to capture the sun will involve a bit of monkeying around, thinking maybe just store the panel "somewhere" and pull it out and use on an as needed basis. Is this a crazy idea?

[tony.latham]

any thoughts about having the panel NOT attached?

You'll get more juice out a panel that is at 90º to the sun. As long as you keep it out and keep moving it.



The negative side is figuring out where you'll store it and how you'll prop it up. I made my folder using the legs off a cheap tripod. It works well. (Thanks for the help, Bill Osborn).

I built this tongue box around my folding panel system.



We like to leave camp and hike or fish, so with the panel on the roof, it's always making juice and that's why I chose to put the new one on the roof.

Either way, it works.

One big issue with roof-mounted systems is running the cables. Here's my solution but I designed it in before I finished the roof.





I really like the way Mike did his cabling through the fan:





Tony

[DoctahDeane]

any thoughts about having the panel NOT attached?

I really like the way Mike did his cabling through the fan:





Tony

Oh yeah, that's beautiful, thanks for the idea. I am going to return the 160 and get two 50w panels which will fit on either side of the roof vent (like his) I hope daisy chaining them is no big deal. Thanks for the suggestion, this will be nicer!

[DoctahDeane]

2. Is a 30 amp breaker too large?
Yes. 15 amps for 12 ga.


Tony

Tony - you recommended to me and I bought a little fuse dongle that goes between the charger and the battery. According to this discussion, looks like I ought to have a breaker between the battery hot post and the fuse block, too? If this is true, any suggestions about a good one to get? Have all the parts except for this, big party this weekend if the driveway is warm.

[tony.latham]

2. Is a 30 amp breaker too large?
Yes. 15 amps for 12 ga.


Tony

Tony - you recommended to me and I bought a little fuse dongle that goes between the charger and the battery. According to this discussion, looks like I ought to have a breaker between the battery hot post and the fuse block, too? If this is true, any suggestions about a good one to get? Have all the parts except for this, big party this weekend if the driveway is warm.

For sure you need one right at the battery. Any inline fuse holder will work fine. Just fuse it for the wire size.

T

[DoctahDeane]

OK thanks again. Will post a photo or two when done. Hope everyone is OK. Community feels important these days