Best Of
Re: Filling Fresh Water Tank While Boondocking
Here is an image of the Nautilus system. To fill your tank from a bucket or jerry can you would connect a small hose to the city water connection and place in your can or bucket. Then turn the knobs as shown where it says SANITIZE and then turn on the pump and it will siphon the water from your can into the tank.
Re: Norcold n180.3 discontinued
A 100 amp hour LiFePO4 can be bought for less than $300. A 200W solar suitcase for less than $200. The chest type fridge we installed on a slide sells for less than $300. We also bought a small, light 700W propane generator for $250 to charge the battery when solar is not keeping up, but have only used it a few time in nearly 30K miles of T@Bing. So, a little over $1000 for limitless use of a 12V fridge.Alfiris2 said:I just don’t see how I could make a 2 way work without spending a lot of money on rooftop solar panels and a lithium battery.
How does that compare to the cost of the 3-way replacements you've considered?
Re: Stove top issue
@cottonmouth, thanks for the post. Just ran out and removed battery from ignitor as we never use the interior stove, preferring outdoor camp stove.
Re: Different Battery Voltage shown in Victron components?
My guess would be a voltage drop from the VE.Bus Smart Dongle. Could be wire size or a bad connection somewhere. I had a situation where water got into an inline fuse holder. It resulted in corrosion causing a lower voltage reading. I'd suggest checking all the connections before digging deeper into a cause.
Re: Lithium Battery Stops at 90%
My understanding is that it calculates SOC by measuring the current going in and out of the battery (net consumption) and subtracting that from what you've set as the battery capacity. When the battery is initially connected to the SmartShunt, the default SmartShunt setting assumes that the battery is fully charged and synchronizes to 100%. We've seen lots of inaccurate SOC readings because the battery wasn't fully charged when connected to the shunt.MarineFriend said:I guess my question now is how does the system calculate the % charged?
and how do I know it's accurate?
Re: Low voltage from rooftop solar panel - looking to confirm diagnosis
Voltage from a solar panel should be higher than the battery rating. A typical voltage will be over 20V's when in sunlight and not connected to a controller. Have you checked the voltage coming from the panel?Jfrei said:Are you saying the issue is that at the panel you should be reading a higher voltage?
Re: In Southern California - Need referral to RV shop to remove and/or replace Norcold 3Way Fridge 3163
John at EPS (619) 871-1084 did our Alde fluid conversion for us. I think he is near Santee Lakes but does mobile repairs and service. He is Nucamp trained and did a great job for a very reasonable price.
I think he did the work in 2022, so not sure what his current situation is, but I would definitely recommend him.
Re: Lithium or a Generator ?
300a of lithium plus 350 watts of solar keep me going indefinitely, even with poor solar performance. Generators should be (banned) a thing of the past!
Re: Lithium or a Generator ?
Agree with the two posts above. We went with two 100Ah LiFePO4's a while ago, but if I were to do it today, I'd go with a single larger LiFePO4 of at least 300Ah.
This past winter I upgraded my 100W rooftop solar to 310W and also use a solar suitcase to allow for camping in the shade. We use to carry a small 700/900W propane generator for emergency battery topping off, but like @dlb, no longer have a use for it.
Re: Low voltage from rooftop solar panel - looking to confirm diagnosis
That 5V difference is between the solar panel output and the battery. I believe it uses the open circuit voltage (Voc), not the maximum power voltage (Vmp). The mppt monitors the Voc before any current is flowing, so there's no voltage drop. That rating is usually above 20V, so the 5V difference is not unrealistic even with a lithium battery and low light. Once the load is applied the voltage drops, but it's programmed to not shut down until there's a 1V difference.
