Questions about trailer solar systems and charging off the tow vehicle, and shore power

dwh

Tail-End Charlie
Just remember, the Smartsolar has bluetooth built-in, the Bluesolar you gotta buy an extra dongle.
 
That's a good point, if I can't run the boiler, and the PWM can keep up even at it's limits for what I can use, I suppose the Inverter should be replaced first. And the PWM is really easy to get to even after the trailer is buttoned up. Thanks for the amp recommendation, I wasn't sure how to calculate that. Although it looks like the smartsolar series jumps from 15-30.
 
235w ÷ 11v = 21a
(Worst case scenario - dead battery, full solar)

A 20a should be plenty. You might lose an amp or two if the battery is dead and the sun is direct on the panel and the panel is at freezing temp...otherwise you'll never exceed the 20a limit.

Copy that, thanks. And the reminder about the dongle. I might go blue solar just because they are cheaper and closer to the amp rating I need. Back to the drawing board.

ETA: Strike that. They make a Smartsolar 100/20.
 

john61ct

Adventurer
75/15 SmartSolar will do just fine

go to 20A if it doesn't cost much more, but you'll very rarely get significantly more Ah per day actually into your bank
 

dreadlocks

Well-known member
yep, I've got 40A of solar on a 30A controller now and its still hard as hell to max it out because in the real world conditions are not ideal, and if they do its for very fleeting moments.. that top 25% is very hard to tap into, you need like a sun tracking setup and to minimize all other potential losses (heat/wiring/latitudes/etc) to get >75% rated output consistently and for long parts of the day.. then how long will your bank take over 15A in bulk? A really long time is spent in absorb and if your panel is getting full power its all going to waste when the battery is only interested in a fraction of that unless you just start turning on loads because you can basically run em entirely off solar, like fans and stuff.

Mobile Solar rigs are difficult with camping, constantly changing locations, geography, weather, forest density, etc throw so many variables at you that you have to design a system that works in the worst-case scenarios if its something you need to always perform, which is many times bigger than most people have the capacity of carrying or willing to spend..
 
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Alloy

Well-known member
Fumes can damage electronics.

Orientation is determined by cooling design

Yes, fumes will damage electronics. I've seen many metal battery compartment corroded due to acid vapor. Even item that are 5'-10' away affected buy the acid vapor.

AGM batteries might suit this application the best
 
The Iota and IQ4 module have arrived and according to the manual, can be mounted in any orientation provided they have sufficient clearance, which they will.

Installation instructions are vague...Do I want this plugged into the bank directly, or to the main cutoff switch?

AC input is obvious, but I'm trying to figure out what length I'll need for the 10 ga wire to the bank.
 

dreadlocks

Well-known member
typically you dont want anything but the battery on its side of the main cut off.. this way you can unplug shore power, shut that off and you know everything is off for short storage or working on the electrical.. this way you dont have to pull battery cables and worry about em floating around hot.. thats your "i know nothing is hooked up to batteries" switch.. like this if you plug into shore power the charger will act as a power supply and you can run 12vdc stuff but the battery wont be a part of it.

however having said that, if you want to shut that switch off to kill all appliances and other loads.. but keep maintenance on the battery, you can hook it directly up to battery.. just depends on the behavior you want.. there's no right or wrong way as long as you know how it works.
 
Yeah I was looking at both options. Called IOTA and they said either is fine, no technical reasons not to do either, and their customers have done both. Working on mounting the unit now.
 
Whelp, first obstacle encountered...(second if you include my own ignorance). The female plug coming from my shore power isn't a standard plug. It looks similar, but is smaller, like the ones they used to plug into computer towers. Is that something I can get an adapter for or do I need a new cord coming from the shore power box?

Perils of working in bad light, I pulled it out far enough to realize it was a female plug but not enough to see it wasn't a regular three prong. :/
 

dwh

Tail-End Charlie
From the pic, IIRC, the shore power runs into a junction box. The cord for the inverter/charger 120v input also runs into that box. As does the 120v output cord from the inverter/charger.

So, in that box, I would guess the shore power cord and the cord that feeds TO the inverter/charger are wired together, and the cord FROM the inverter/charger is wired to the receptacle.

To connect the power cord for the inverter/charger to the shore power cord, they likely just lopped off the male end of the inverter/charger's power cord.

Pull that receptacle out and see if I'm right. If so, lop the male end off the Iota's cord and use it to replace the inverter/charger's cord.
 

dwh

Tail-End Charlie
Butchering the cord is no biggie...there are about a million of the things laying around.
 

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