M116A3 Build

[eLink]

Excellent!

[lfhoward]

Well done! It so nice to have a heater when you're camping, isn't it?
Bruce

It really is. The Propex is just works. It’s quiet, clean, dry heat on a thermostat that functions off grid. It really makes the M116A3 a four season camper.

[lfhoward]

Got my Jeep and trailer a little muddy today.

[lfhoward]

Did a little maintenance today since I had only 30 minutes to devote. I removed the battery cables and cleaned up some corrosion on the positive terminal of one of my three batteries wired in parallel. I’m not sure why this one battery corroded as all three are the same age. Any sense that this indicates a problem with that particular battery? After getting the battery box put back together, I oiled all the door locks. Some of them were getting hard to put the key in, so it was time. Not exciting, but necessary. Washing all the mud off will come later.

[bdosborn]

I used to use a battery terminal protector spray on my golf cart batteries, it helped cut down on the corrosion a lot.

Terminal Spray

Bruce

[featherliteCT1]

A while back, I installed new, right out of the box, 2 AWG copper terminals on my 230 amp lead acid battery bank. Soon thereafter, while charging at 20 amps, I noticed that the terminals were pretty warm to the touch. So, I cleaned the terminals with a piece of 3m scotch brite pad. Then the terminals were fine. I was surprised that even new terminals need to be cleaned before use.

[lfhoward]

Bruce and Featherlite, thanks for the suggestions for keeping my batteries corrosion free. I will see about getting some of that spray for the terminals. The long game is to replace all three batteries with a lithium iron phosphate unit that is small enough to fit in the side compartment! That way the tongue box can be for tools and other odds and ends instead of 150 lbs of lead.

[lfhoward]

I washed the mud off today. Looks pretty good now!





The Jeep got a wash too.

[lfhoward]

Today we got to deploy the auxiliary Renogy 100 watt solar panel on a sunny day and compare to our old 140 watt panel on the roof. The roof panel is capable of 120-130 watts (9-10 amps) at noon on a sunny day, but with shadows from trees and clouds, the best I saw today was around 4-5 amps. The mobile Renogy panel though easily put out 5-6 amps if I put it in a sunny spot and kept it pointed towards the sun.



So, here are some thoughts…
Permanently mounted panel:
- Always charging all day long, although not necessarily optimally
- Relatively safe from “walking away” since it is bolted to the roof

Mobile panel:
- Can potentially bring in more amps if positioned well, even though it is a smaller 100 watt panel
- But it only charges when I have it deployed and am here in camp to keep an eye on it

I see pros and cons for both, and think they complement each other well. I would like to replace the tired 140 watt roof panel with a 200 or 210 watt panel of the same size. For the mobile panel, I would love to have two of them so I can put them together in series for less voltage drop along the wire. I would need newer MPPT charge controllers for both of these options as well. (The 140 watt’s MPPT is maxed out and the Renogy has a PWM controller on it currently.) Looking at Victron Smart 75/15’s.

[wlivesey]

Today we got to deploy the auxiliary Renogy 100 watt solar panel on a sunny day and compare to our old 140 watt panel on the roof. The roof panel is capable of 120-130 watts (9-10 amps) at noon on a sunny day, but with shadows from trees and clouds, the best I saw today was around 4-5 amps. The mobile Renogy panel though easily put out 5-6 amps if I put it in a sunny spot and kept it pointed towards the sun.



So, here are some thoughts…
Permanently mounted panel:
- Always charging all day long, although not necessarily optimally
- Relatively safe from “walking away” since it is bolted to the roof

Mobile panel:
- Can potentially bring in more amps if positioned well, even though it is a smaller 100 watt panel
- But it only charges when I have it deployed and am here in camp to keep an eye on it

I see pros and cons for both, and think they complement each other well. I would like to replace the tired 140 watt roof panel with a 200 or 210 watt panel of the same size. For the mobile panel, I would love to have two of them so I can put them together in series for less voltage drop along the wire. I would need newer MPPT charge controllers for both of these options as well. (The 140 watt’s MPPT is maxed out and the Renogy has a PWM controller on it currently.) Looking at Victron Smart 75/15’s.

Why choose? Keep the panel on the roof and add the portable panel when needed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lfhoward]

The most recent project for my trailer involves an electrical system upgrade.



I’m documenting the details of the LiFePO4 battery design and build in the Electrical Secrets section so more people can see it. Click below to follow along.
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=73849

I’ll put photos and details of the installation in my trailer here once the battery has been assembled and bench tested.

[lfhoward]

Hi All,

After a detour of 9 pages in another thread, I have a 156 Ah LiFePO4 battery!!



Please go here to read about my process of putting it together from raw cells and testing it:
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=73849

The battery has 50% more usable energy storage than the three lead acid cells in the tongue box now, and it only weighs 40 lbs! It will be able to fit into the side compartment of the trailer. That will free up the tongue box for tool storage and get 150 lbs of weight off the trailer hitch.


The installation that is coming up will include some rewiring, and I’ll include those changes here.

[lfhoward]

Out with the old:


In with the new:


Nothing is actually hooked up yet, but the new battery nestles quite nicely in the side compartment. There is little room to spare. An analogy might be a V8 swap into a small car. There is room for everything to breathe though and the inverter will still fit in front of the battery where it was before. We have several days of rain here so it will be several days before I can get back to finishing this project.

[lfhoward]

If anyone is interested, I put my lead-acid batteries and compatible chargers in the for sale section.

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=73937

[lfhoward]

Over the course of this week I got the new LiFePO4 battery into the trailer and rebuilt the electrical system.


Here is the electrical compartment.


View of the battery from above.


Screenshot of the BMS showing balanced cells and 13.34 volts / 90% full.


Got to give a shout out to BatteryHookup.com for a great battery. It proudly wears their sticker.


Forward of the battery is the fuse box, 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter (black) and Victron battery charger (blue).


The Victron BMV712 battery monitor is mounted by the back door on the wall.


In the opposite compartment to the battery I’ve got the two Victron MPPT solar charge controllers. One is for the panel on the roof and the other is for the auxiliary panel I can put outside.


As part of the electrical redesign I installed a waterproof connector for the external solar panel.


A 210 watt panel for the roof is on order, with a wait time of 5 weeks. It will replace a 15 year old 140 watt panel of the same dimensions. I’ll post up photos when I get it!
I can’t wait to get out camping next!