OverTheTopCargoTrailer 7 x 16

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Hey MtnDon

Glad you survived the mountain
Thanks for all the good advice .... I was thinking a 30 amp also but
Somehow Bruce got lost somewhere with his 2 x15

I was reading your thread on propane , really good - did not know about DON'T Transport SIDEWAYS ,
But I never do that ever anyway !!

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=10186.0

Crazy Jerry has a 180,000 Btu Jazuzzi water heater in the trailer for 7.5 GPM
My faucet only uses 1.2 GPM to save water -
I have it connected to 2 x 20 tanks & was surprised last year I used hot water at 120 deg F in my tanks
To heat my trailer 40- 80 gallons - water kept trailer warm 3 days
I have pictures on my blog
I have a outdoor heater - fixed up with a dryer vent - vents outside 4" round hole
With the low water flow my flue gas is maybe 120 deg - 130 max
No gas smell or anything inside the trailer
For only $650 you can't beat that deal with a stick

Will try for picture for you latter

Jerry

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

What you think MtnDon

The indoor model was $895 plus $200 for a nice vent,
outdoor model was $650 - $15 dryer vent

wh1.JPG (92.41 KiB) Viewed 2325 times

wh2.JPG (80.76 KiB) Viewed 2325 times

this is a dryer vent, I cut it short & installed some slits & KABOOM !!
works like a charm vs the $150 stainless steel interior model $450 more
it looks a little tacky - but nobody see me talking a shower

wh3.JPG (89 KiB) Viewed 2325 times

[MtnDon]

Hey MtnDon

I was reading your thread on propane , really good - did not know about DON'T Transport SIDEWAYS ,
But I never do that ever anyway !!
Jerry

My propane dealer has photos of an incinerated pickup that was transporting a cylinder on its side....


.... Somebody does look at user profiles I guess.


Looks like you will never have a cold shower. And there should be plenty capacity to warm up the place.

I have used a typical RV water heater with pilot light for our hot water needs. Put an extra 2 to 3 inches of XPS foam around the tank and just the pilot gives us all the hot water we need, as a rule.

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

I think I can take a shower for 1,800 gallons , unless I run out of water after about 28 hours.

But your plan is good too - just does not go with my OverTheTop concept


I'm reading this now, small buildings under 200 sq ft

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=641.0

In San Jose we ONLY have 49,000 illegal garage conversions
Our motto is just don't get caught

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

I love this guy DK1393 From your other forum


Re: need help with my off grid system
« Reply #6 on: April 01, 2013, 10:43:26 AM »
I did some readings this weekend. The system was fully charged when I got there. It was at 14.2V.  We spent the night and in the morning it was 13.2V.
I checked the batteries . The specific gravity was 1.250-1.260 for all the cells. The electrolite temp was 39'. 

after a days use it dropped to 12.2V and I used the gen to charge them back up.

Using a load calc. chart I estimate my daily watt hrs per day to be 937. That is figuring a loss factor of .8.

All the reading were take under no load conditions

Don can you send me his batteries ?Isn't that like about 125% of full charge at 14.2 volts ??

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

MtnDon

This is blasfamy - the inspector is always GOD , u will burn in hell

LOLROTF

The sad truth is a lot of inspectors are A holes.
The code enforcement Nazis are the worst, generally the much older building guys are better
Because maybe they figured out its really their job to help you
Besides they can smell if you try to bullshit them


MountainDon
Administrator

Re: Heating $ Cooling by code
« Reply #6 on: September 14, 2012, 06:38:58 AM »
Also, don't expect the local inspector to be absolutely correct in his/her knoweledge or to be interpretting the code correctly. It's up to you to know what code you should be using and what it states. An inspector is human and as such can and do make errors or may have an agenda of their own. Know the rules and be diplomatic when challenging them.



If only now I had a $1 for every time a Realtor or seller looked me straight in the face & swore on a stack of bibles
"All this work was done with permits by a licensed contractor" and is to code


Jerry


There is some really good stuff & smart folks on that forum , heating and cooling by the code

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=12500.0


Gotta get off to bed now - its dark out
And my hoods not safe

[MtnDon]

I love this guy DK1393 From your other forum
Don can you send me his batteries ?Isn't that like about 125% of full charge at 14.2 volts ??

batteries were probably still "warm" from being on charge. A false reading; that is one reason why voltage can be a poor indicator of state of charge. I do prefer a good hydrometer. Doesn't work with AGM though.

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Damn MtnDon

And I was just gonna order 12 of those 14.2v batteries from you
It's funny about how some people take measurements, I would say his charger was still on ?

But dc is harder then AC voltage to figure it out ...

I really like your other forum - most are very serious & helpful over there
I'm really impressed with the pool of knowledge about houses.

Gotta run and PU some more penny's for my OTTCT project.


Jerry

[MtnDon]

Damn MtnDon

And I was just gonna order 12 of those 14.2v batteries from you
It's funny about how some people take measurements, I would say his charger was still on ?

something like that

But dc is harder then AC voltage to figure it out ...

DC has some differences and the way batteries act also influences that. Batteries will hold an elevated voltage for hours after coming off charge.

I really like your other forum - most are very serious & helpful over there
I'm really impressed with the pool of knowledge about houses.

Thanks for the kind comments. We try. I don't own it but have been an admin for some time.

Gotta run and PU some more penny's for my OTTCT project.

Jerry

[MtnDon]

Question for you Jerry...

During this time of experimenting to get a solar powered A/C operational you must have ideas bouncing around in your head about how to keep the beer and salsa cold and the Gelato frozen. I've seen where Bruce has used both portable and built in DC refrigerators using the Danfoss compressor. I have one of the original ARB's that still works fine. But it is a tad small for more than a weekend. I was wondering what OTT ideas you have considered. Build a custom fridge/freezer using a Danfoss like is available from Norcold?

http://www.suremarineservice.com/SCQT4408-L.aspx

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Hey hey MtnDon

I disconnected 1 panel this evening and now am pulling about 110 volts , still at 9 amps
3 x 255 now. so now Bruce can sleep like a baby, still don't know about Where to put his 2 x 15 breakers.

I have a YOU GUESSED IT ......63 Q ARB Cooler about 2 years old .....LOVE IT TO DEATH
It does not work as good as they advertise down to 0 deg F & I called them on it
So they explained it to me ...... They take a stastical average of the freon tubing :-))
If you were at 100 deg , I'd be surprised if you could maintain Freezing when that hot ?

This model is in stock ONLY ONE HOWEVER
http://www.suremarineservice.com/SCQT4408-I.aspx

I have found the SWEET SPOT of mine set at 23 deg F , at that temp it keeps frozen stuff frozen
And unfrozen stuff unfrozen, so it really works as both fridge & freezer, mostly I keep frozen stuff close
To the metal casing & lower down. it uses between no lower then 250 watts and 500 watts when it's 80-85 outside.
If you made a 2-3" vented foam cooler box one could for sure get better results - maybe 50% better
Just keep the air intake open & install another vent fan.
Under my cooler it's very cold - so I know it's loosing mega BTUs

Even making a 3" Dow blue cooler box would be cheap and killer effective.
It could enclose a regular plastic cooler box.

Also I understand that dry ice is not much more expensive then regular ice
But lasts much much longer.

I have looked at boat ac coolers " cost up the wazoo" and most use water not air


Jerry

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

MtnDon


As a FYI I noticed my panel wires are actually only #12

I was able to get #8 stranded marine 105 C wire into the MC4 connectors
Maybe that's why I was getting a plus 10% in volts ?
Besides I only have a 3-4ft run to my charge controller.

On the interior I'm using some Anderson Power pole connectors
I have better tools to smash the connectors super tight with a $50 hydrolic tool.

I got new idea for a diff wiring diagram , will get it posted in a few days to see what you think
Of my crazy plan

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

MtnDon


I would say I'm having strange problems with the outback charge controller....
While no fuse went off it's data record reset itself again when hot
With 3 x 255 today I only got 460 volts vs 650 with 4 panels in the loop.
Mostly it was running in MMPT - float all afternoon, then went to bulk after 90 minutes at 50% AC cycle on / off

When the AC starts its at 13 volts as it runs it goes down to 12 volts after 15 minutes.
With 3 panels I'm pulling 35 amps recharge vs about 45 amps before with 4 panels - the inverter uses 55-59 amps to run 500 watt AC.

Would you think the 400 amp hours Battery would be part of the issue as being to small ? Maybe
I have to wait to add extra charge controller - at this point till I order one & connect it

I have the feeling one would need about at least 1250 panels - watts & 2 controllers to run smoothly ?
Any experience in that area ? 5 panels putting out 150 each = 750 watts for over 60 amps at 12.8v

Too bad none of these sh** solar companies put out real world test data


Here is what's coming , besides sky high rates.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323838204579001290288855268.html

[MtnDon]

re batteries and whether or not what you have is a problem point. If the solar was not operating and the A/C was on, how would that work? Or rather how long would it take to deplete the batteries to half? Do the batteries get very warm? Hot? If they get very warm the temperature sensor will force the CC to reduce its output to the batteries. That in turn will make the CC waste power and run the fan more and more. I have never run or been involved with a system where the CC was running so close to maximum amps so much.

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

MtnDon

If the cc was not running I would guess battery voltage would drop from 12.7 to 12 volts in 20 -30 min or less
At some point the inverter would kick off because battery voltage was to low , maybe 11.7 ?
Not sure what the factory setting is

Also 400 amp hour bat rated at 20 hours will not give you 6 hours with a 50 amp load,

On a 50 amp load, my guess battery would give you / be rated more like 250 amps rating.

You must have some larger loads at your cabin ? Or know some folks with small AC systems
What size system to they have ?

Thanks

Jerry