Thank you. We try to find cool places to camp but when its not possible, we want to be prepared to remain comfortable without having to 'race for cover' somewhere. We know we are not alone so are trying to relate how it can be done.
Really appreciating this sharing of technical real world experience! I’m excited to also find a balance of usable air conditioning in my camper builds in the future
Thanks. I think a lot of folks could get equally excited with a variable capacity 'window' unit too. I'm sure they must exist, I just haven't looked for one. They are getting quieter too.
Dispellment worked for me after seeing an ac/dc mini split that will run off panels only plus ability to be wired to electric/battery power.Your graf of night time consumption and reference of 400ah bat is getting me closer to pulling the trigger.Let me tell you I’m getting excited because I’ve been waiting and watching this stufff get better and better.The low 400 watts of continuous is bomb info.Don’t mind the 3 errors in spelling as it’s too hard to fix lol😊
Excellent and the best I've seen explained timeline diagram! I'm building a somewhat remote workshop that may be able to incorporate the mini-split set-up. Cheers! Mac
Glad to help. I think using a mini-split off grid for a shop could be even better. You can have more solar AND depending on the size of the system, you could use a 240V power system. There are quite a few mini-splits with SEER ratings above 30 but they are all 240V. Gree Sapphire is one and I have included it in my comparison spreadsheet available at WorkingOnExploring.com/TechDocs
Thank you for the video. I stumbled on to your channel about 4 months ago. My wife and I will travel the US in a converted motor coach starting next year once the conversion is to be point it's live-able and fairly comfortable. Loved the graphics and tech talk. We're going 100% solar/battery (3600W/48V 200ah) system. Perhaps we could share notes (email) as I'm about to start conversion. Anyway, I like what you're doing and maybe we'll see you out there somewhere.
Stephen...happy to help in any way I can. 48V is the way to go. I just worked a 48V minisplit into my A/C comparison spreadsheet which is posted on workingonexploring.com/techdocs (near the bottom) which you may find interesting. email me at steve.hericks@gmail.com
I also post some technical papers I have written there which you might find interesting. I should be editing and publishing more in Sept too. We'll be back in SoCal for September....where are you?
Thanks for the mention 😀. And congratulations on the 1,000 milestone. Mostly I follow off road channels and boondockers. I have followed a lot of couples for the last 10 years or so, channels under 40 grow much faster than the channels over 40 except for some of the drama inclined channels, which I avoid. From what I have seen channels grow exponentially but the first couple of years are so slow a lot of channels get discouraged and stop posting usually around 2 years. Great information on your mini split system. We have similar systems, numbers and results. Love the mini split systems. 👍
Thanks. (S) I'm pretty much unwilling to participate in the 'fake drama' that others do to make themselves more appealing. I'm to serious about things I guess but to me, life is a serious business. IMHO, those who gravitate to 'reality tv' type content can't be that smart or serious...I've always hated the 'numbers game'. Cheryl is more inclined but she's one of those women who can't tell a lie and laughs at her jokes before delivering the punch line so she has a different set of liabilities.
Haha I watched this last night.I guess I need a 400ah bat and 1k +++ solar mainly just for a heat pump.Fridge runs forever on 30# gas.I’m sure I’ll rethink this 50 more times lol
My calculation that operating my camper with 950W of solar and a ~400Ah/4kWh of battery (need) includes ALL of the camper's living requirements such as operating the 11.3cuft refrigerator for 24 /hours, cooking with and induction cooktop, pumping water, operating lights and fans, charging equipment, etc. This is also inside a super insulated shell which is necessary to reduce the A/C load to the minimum. Absorption refrigerators require ~8x more energy than a typical compressor refrigerator which will be about 10x more than my high efficiency refrigerator. While absorption refrigerators attempt to discharge the heat generated by natural convection behind the refrigerator, the ~8kWh/day they create in operation, a good bit of that finds its way inside so that adds to the difficulty in keeping cool. Something similar results from cooking with propane (since I assume you will also use propane for cooking). In either case, 100% of the energy released in the cooking process becomes heat inside the camper that will need to be removed. Because the gas flame doesn't transfer heat from the flame to the pan very efficiently, it takes ~3x more propane energy to do the same task. While absorption refrigerators and gas cooktops are certainly economical from an energy cost perspective, they are far from efficient. I certainly understand the desire to use propane rather than electricity. The alternative of buying a high efficiency electric equipment also requires purchase of all the equipment needed to collect, store and deliver the electric power. Those costs are are quite dramatic comparatively as well, (especially if you already have the propane equipment). I think from an economic perspective, it will never make purely economic sense to undertake the conversion (poor insulation in most commercial RV's make the problem more difficut). It is even difficult to make economic sense in a new build. There has to be something else motivating the change, such as a new capability. For me, I was building a new camper and didn't have existing propane equipment. I also already had a large battery. Building an electric/diesel camper to do new things is where I started my plan. There are some niche manufacturers (mostly van conversions) who are taking the same approach I did but they are never going to be cost competitive with traditional RV's.
I have wheels....I don't stay in places that would require running A/C at night....lol.....I could likely run longer if I wanted to or needed to. I only dip to ~70% SOC when I shut off. I'm about to add a 6th solar panel as well that will give me 1140W that I am already really fine without.
I love that minisplit video where you was comparing different units. That was the exact moment I decided to go with a minisplit.. thanks for helping with that decision
Y’all are a wonderful vibe to the community- learning so much thank you 🙏💜 designing a truck camper for cross country travel and off grid living and the detail you provide and experience shared☀️ premium resource🙌
I have an Innovair Low Ambient 9000k 20Seer Heat pump. I had a good bit of roof on my Overlander Conversion. It is a 1995 Isuzu NPR boxtruck. I found that the cost of having 2350 watts of solar and adding an extra battery(13.5kw total) was less than the cost of going to the 32 or so seer unit. You probably have less real estate up there and had to go the other way, but like you say, my insulation is pretty thin. I can use the mini split really 24/7 as I put mine in my upper bunk. I can close that off and go about 60 hours as it pulls from 200 watts to about 260 even in the winter. I also have a Black and Decker heat pump that pulls about 1.3kw. Though I don't have to use that unless the other one has a hard time keeping up. My issue might be that I haven't finished my insulation and much of it is stil a work in progress. I can charge my electric motorcycle on the back rack though as a bonus. With that much solar I have to be pushed pretty hard to need shore power.
Great choice with that much solar and a good mini-split. I have 5-190W panels and am going to add a 6th that slides rearward from under the last one. The thing that made me mad is right after I bought these 31" x 62", 190W panels (and built my camper around them), I discovered there were 250W panels of the same size. It really is a game changer when you can use equipment as much as you want. Insulation really is key but since you made your own interior, you can always redo it (probably). Not fun or sexy to spend time on that though..... I have a few regrets about what I've done, some I have redone and some will never reach the priority to do it. You may feel the same way if you can keep comfortable with lots of power, why bother? One thing I have done I really think is helpful with the mini split at one end of the camper is the air duct I built into the false ceiling that creates air circulation front to back. Stirring the air keeps everything at the same temp and really makes the who place comfortable.
@@WorkingOnExploring I am going to build a duct onto the front of the mini split. Kinda a housing to fit under the air output with a pipe and a booster fan at the end. I need it especially for heating as the layers of air inside begin to get really warm up high but really cold down low. A heat pump naturally wants to drop the heat but since it is in a bunk bed that is difficult. Cold air falls off, but the warm air just stays up. I have two fans up there, one high and one low, but I think actually taking hot air straight to the floor will help more.
For a while I toyed with putting the IDU in the bunk but decided it was going to be easier to condition the big space and circulate enough air through the small space to keep it comfortable than the reverse. I also thought that keeping the noise from both the IDU and fan at the back, was also a good idea. I will say that in the process I have gone through 3 fans and am about to do the fourth to get the noise/airflow right. I am more convinced than ever that sales adds LIE about sound measurements. I like my Noctua 25dBA, 1800 rpm, high static pressure fans in my hydronic radiators and think they are the way to go.
I have 1800 watts solar and 24 nissan leaf cells. I'm installing the 25 seer minisplit 9000 btu this coming weekend. I have two inverters one is a 3000 high frequency that my camper is basically plugged into and I also have the 4000 low frequency sungold power that'll be running the minisplit and my wife's hairdryer sometimes lol
My wife has the cursed 'curly hair' so she needs the dryer and straightener all the time. I have a 24V/4k low frequency EVO4024 Samlex. You sound like you need to loose one of those inverters....unless your like me and feel the need for redundancy. I also run a 800W Reliable Electric to power the fridge and generally waste power with little things. Beware, loading an inverter less than 30% is pretty inefficient. If I could, I would have bought a 3k if it was available in 24V. As it is, I run the microwave, induction cooktop and A/C all at the same time. Are you running a 6S battery on 24V? I presume you mean your battery is 24 packs/96 cells with 6S16P?.... I converted 5 of my Leaf packs from 2S2P to 1S4P so I could make a 7S battery (runs 21V-29.4V). I have 7S20P using 35 packs. The voltage range is perfect for 24V equipment. If I had it to do all over again, I would have made a 14S battery because they make 48V mini-splits that would be best used direct.
At the moment I have 24 modules in two stacks of 12. Each stack is at 24 volts then parallel with the other. I should have done the 48 volt also rather than buying all 24 volt equiptment. My camper with the lights on and a big TV and a fairly large fridge barely leaves any headroom on the 3000. I had to buy the 4000 watt inverter for the minisplit and hairdryer and the airfryer and all that kinda stuff. Sometimes I plug the 1500 watt side of the waterheater into it also. It sounds bad but I can max out both inverters pretty much unless I'm extra careful. I just found a deal on 48 more leaf cells so I'm getting them and hopefully another 8 or 10 panels so we can be more comfortable. I'm a truck driver so we are not in the camper bit a few days a month but I don't want to run outta power while home ya know
My 3000 watt inverter is a all in one with charge controller made by powmr but I have another 100 Amp charge controller also by powmr. I only have 8 panels currently and they are all on one controller so I'm set up for more panels just haven't been home much lately to mess with it
Can I ask you a technical question.. would a 220 volt inovair 38 seer 9000 btu be a better option than the 110 volt 25 seer ch brand? I know higher seer means more efficient but the 220 volt will ensure that I always have to run both my inverters. If I get do the 110 I can run off of either inverter so do you think the 110 would be more efficient since I could not have the second inverter running all the time?
1) By your arrangement, I assume your '2 stacks of 12 (packs)' are each arranged 3S4P(packs) making a 6S8P battery. With two of these batteries in parallel, you have a total of 6S16P battery bank. Your NMO cell voltages are 4.2-3.0V so your battery bank will run from 25.2- 18.0V. Your problem is obviously that your inverters will cut off as low as 20V which is probably fine because there isn't a lot of capacity between 20V and 18V. If they cut off at 21(most probalbe) -22V, you are losing a lot more capacity which is why I went to the effort to make a 7S battery (29.4V-21V). 2) Using two batteries in parallel requires that each battery have its own BMS. This is the reason for making a single battery and using a single BMS. I'm not a great believer in the importance of a BMS if you have a) good capacity balance between cell groups and b) good control of your charging and discharging cutoffs. I use an Electrodacus SBMS0
In short, I think wind generation for mobile RV applications is a bad idea. I built a 16ft diameter wind generator a long time ago so am very familiar with them. Having said that, I would never contemplate having one on my camper. You need to understand that there is very little wind at ground level and a lot of it is gusty, very little energy in wind speeds less than 8mph. It takes about 18mph to get good production out of small turbines. Given that, you will realize that the likelihood of having proper conditions (at ground level) will be rare. Those conditions will also be decidedly unpleasant. I don't seek out windy places but seek to avoid them. I do seek out sunny places so solar will always be my preferred option....
Great video of your daily power management…you’ve got some serious lithium storage capacity! I like your route overviews. What are you using to animate your route?
Since I use a macfor my photos and videos, I finally dug into keynote animations a few months back and use that to animate a line drawn on a map screen shot. Then setup the timing and export as a movie. Search youtube for keynote animations or keynote map animations.
Good job on hitting 1,000. I have me the ram 5500 truck, now time to test panel making and frame. How are your exterior panels holding up? I want composite sandwich panels but lead times are 6 months and $$$. Did you do radiant floor heating, if so I missed that video? Keep enjoying life.
I think I have a minor issue in the back wall. I think I got a little water in it from the top outside where I may have not gotten enough resin on the edge. I should have put some glass fabric in that particular top joint that was always expected to get a lot of water through it....I will dig into it when I get home and may need to redo the top 2ft. My structural strength is too much (more weight for strength that is not needed). The 5mm only I used is good and strong and the 1/8" luan ( actually 2.8mm) is too thin/weak....if I could do it again, I'd probably omit the interior grid of 5mm ply on edge and just use 2.5lb/cuft XPS (which I could not easily find at the time) (Standard XPS insulation is 1.5lb/cuft). I did put in a hydronic heating system (2 videos) and radiant floor heat is part of it but only a small part. The area of the floor to convect heat is very small ( in practically all RVs) so I also get heat with 2 fan coils and a copper wall radiator. The floor alone would have been a total bust if I had counted on that..
Hydronic floors in buildings and RVs are built and perform very differently. In a building, typically tubing runs on 1ft centers through a 4" or more concrete floor insulated from the ground. Heating occurs through conduction to objects placed on the floor and by convection to the surrounding air of the large floor. The key factor is the large thermal mass of the concrete floor that is able to not only contain a lot of heat but to release it slowly. Slow release prevents loss of a lot of heat when a door opens. It also maintains a very stable temperature through day-night cycles. The down side is that if the temp is too low, it takes days to raise. The other aspect of hydronic heating is not to use a heated slab but low mounted convective radiators that are far more responsive and don't require forced air blowing through the space. Effective floor heating is incapable of working in an RV because the floor is small and concrete floor mass cannot be carried. Trying to heat a floor without it is of dubious effectiveness. People try (I did) but it doesn't work well because it lacks the two necessary components that make it so desirable in residential construction: large surface area and large mass. While I knew my floor would contribute little to room heating, I wanted it to 'feel warm' but it really moves so little heat as to be ineffective in that too. If you were willing to make an entire floor out of something thermally conductive like aluminum, you might make some progress but I haven't seen anyone do it.
The A/C performance was good from the beginning. A year later, I discovered a leak in an SAE flare that lost most of the charge and it stopped working for a bit but was pretty easily fixed and recharged. The power system took some time. I planned for 5x190W solar panels but the original 5 developed problems and I replaced them all (under warranty). There are 250W panels available now in the same size which I wish I had ( now 6 x190W = 1140W but it could be 6 x 250W= 1500W). I've added a 6th panel on a sliding mount out the back since this video. I also changed from a PWM charge controller to an MPPT.
The panel failure was a huge disappointment we had to deal with an entire summer. Of 5 Solarland 190W panels, only one worked. I had purchased 8 panels used 4 on my previous camper for a couple years and left 4 in the shop. When I installed 5 of them on the new camper (4 virtually unused from shop storage), 6 of 8 had 1,2 or all 3 internal cell strings failed. We ended up relying on the 2nd alternator for power....this video was after that...
@@WorkingOnExploring if you ask me that's not due to your planning or experience that's a problem derived from the lack of manufacturing in this country Americans build quality because we live next door to the people who depend on our work
I have been working and raising kids since I was just a kid myself and something I have learned is the people who have true knowledge are always willing to share it with you if you're smart enough to ask
New sub here. I'm in the planning stages of a shuttle bus conversion... It's a 24 pssgr built on the F550 platform, 6.7 diesel, dual alternators and only 40K miles. My plan is to install 1208Ah of lithium @ 12V, giving me 14.5KWh... plus 900 watts of solar. AC will be a must. Have you seen the cheap Chinese 12V ACs? What are your thoughts on these units versus a "house" mini split? BTW, impressive build and very informative. I plan to use your videos as a resource as i embark on this project.
I have viewed the sale adds of 'cheap chinese' engine driven (R134a) units (fair quality but would not recommend an engine driven unit) and am also very familiar with the 'cheap chinese' mini-splits. Search my Chanel for my A/C videos and check WorkingOnExploring.com/TechDocs for downloadable info. Not a big fan of any of the 17 brands of mini-splits sold by Midea. Quality brands (Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Daikin, LG, etc) are only a little more expensive and a lot more reliable AND better performing. If I were you (having not started buying equipment) I would 1) construct a 48V power system, 2) convert your second alternator to 48V with an external charging regulator and 3) use a 48VDC Minisplit from HotSpotEnergy.com. This is what I wish I had done. I went 24V only because I was going to go from my F350 build to am M1088A1 which had a large 24v power system already. I REALLY think the 48VDC Minisplit is 'where it's at' for RV A/C. You should also watch my alternator charging video #3 that discusses dual alternator operation and how it's not what you think. TBL, I would avoid a big 12V system. The 12V A/C that is available is very expensive and not very efficient (because it's 12V = high amperage).
Thanks for the info; you sold me on 48V. Signature Solar also offers a DC mini-split that I'm gonna consider. As for the fridge, I was looking at several AC/DC models, but I've seen where some people purchase a small chest style freezer and use a temp controller to use as a fridge... what are your thoughts? As for alternator charging, I'm leaning towards the Wakespeed. My 2nd alt puts out around 160A; I will likely upgrade later on. Have yet to figure out the water heater... was leaning towards a DIY hydronic setup. Your system looks quite robust, so I may try to do something similar. This is going to be quite the project! @@WorkingOnExploring
@thomasholton8907 I doubt you can find a 48vdc fridge but look at some of the 'off-grid' or 'solar' fridges. LOOK HARD. If you can find one, I'd go for it above any other COA. I have a video on why I chose my 120VAC residential fridge and don't regret it but just like I wish I would have gone 48v, I would have looked hard for a 48v fridge of I had. There is no such thing as an AC/DC fridge. You get a DC fridge with an external AC power brick. You can do that yourself with an aftermarket one if you ever want to one. once you have the big battery and DC fridge, you'll never need or want one. With a big camper, you should want the convenience and size of an upright fridge freezer. I never considered one because I never wanted the hassle of digging to the bottom (if you have a chest freezer, you know what I mean.)
@thomasholton8907 if your alternator is RATED AT 160A, it will put out around 80A continuously. Watch my first alternator charging video on what 'rating' means.
@thomasholton8907 the strength of Wakespeed is in using datacom with smart bms equipped batteries. If you don't have it, it's a waste of money. If you're using a 48v system, you should go to a 48V alternator which will have few regulator options (Balmar).
Love the engineering aspect. Excellent charts and explanations.
Exceptional walk-through of the power and gear situation.
Thank you. We try to find cool places to camp but when its not possible, we want to be prepared to remain comfortable without having to 'race for cover' somewhere. We know we are not alone so are trying to relate how it can be done.
Really appreciating this sharing of technical real world experience! I’m excited to also find a balance of usable air conditioning in my camper builds in the future
Thanks. I think a lot of folks could get equally excited with a variable capacity 'window' unit too. I'm sure they must exist, I just haven't looked for one. They are getting quieter too.
Enjoyed your explanation of your AC/ solar system energy usage, like that graph, easy to understand.
Thank you. Strange as it seems to me, I keep hearing from people they need lots of battery to make solar A/C work. My goal was to dispell that myth.
Dispellment worked for me after seeing an ac/dc mini split that will run off panels only plus ability to be wired to electric/battery power.Your graf of night time consumption and reference of 400ah bat is getting me closer to pulling the trigger.Let me tell you I’m getting excited because I’ve been waiting and watching this stufff get better and better.The low 400 watts of continuous is bomb info.Don’t mind the 3 errors in spelling as it’s too hard to fix lol😊
Excellent and the best I've seen explained timeline diagram!
I'm building a somewhat remote workshop that may be able to incorporate the mini-split set-up.
Cheers!
Mac
Glad to help. I think using a mini-split off grid for a shop could be even better. You can have more solar AND depending on the size of the system, you could use a 240V power system. There are quite a few mini-splits with SEER ratings above 30 but they are all 240V. Gree Sapphire is one and I have included it in my comparison spreadsheet available at WorkingOnExploring.com/TechDocs
Thank you for the video. I stumbled on to your channel about 4 months ago. My wife and I will travel the US in a converted motor coach starting next year once the conversion is to be point it's live-able and fairly comfortable. Loved the graphics and tech talk. We're going 100% solar/battery (3600W/48V 200ah) system. Perhaps we could share notes (email) as I'm about to start conversion. Anyway, I like what you're doing and maybe we'll see you out there somewhere.
Stephen...happy to help in any way I can. 48V is the way to go. I just worked a 48V minisplit into my A/C comparison spreadsheet which is posted on workingonexploring.com/techdocs (near the bottom) which you may find interesting. email me at steve.hericks@gmail.com
I also post some technical papers I have written there which you might find interesting. I should be editing and publishing more in Sept too. We'll be back in SoCal for September....where are you?
@@WorkingOnExploring Thank you for your response. I will send you an email. Your content in exactly what I'm looking for to double check my designs.
Thanks for the mention 😀.
And congratulations on the 1,000 milestone. Mostly I follow off road channels and boondockers.
I have followed a lot of couples for the last 10 years or so, channels under 40 grow much faster than the channels over 40 except for some of the drama inclined channels, which I avoid.
From what I have seen channels grow exponentially but the first couple of years are so slow a lot of channels get discouraged and stop posting usually around 2 years.
Great information on your mini split system. We have similar systems, numbers and results.
Love the mini split systems.
👍
Thanks. (S) I'm pretty much unwilling to participate in the 'fake drama' that others do to make themselves more appealing. I'm to serious about things I guess but to me, life is a serious business. IMHO, those who gravitate to 'reality tv' type content can't be that smart or serious...I've always hated the 'numbers game'. Cheryl is more inclined but she's one of those women who can't tell a lie and laughs at her jokes before delivering the punch line so she has a different set of liabilities.
Haha I watched this last night.I guess I need a 400ah bat and 1k +++ solar mainly just for a heat pump.Fridge runs forever on 30# gas.I’m sure I’ll rethink this 50 more times lol
My calculation that operating my camper with 950W of solar and a ~400Ah/4kWh of battery (need) includes ALL of the camper's living requirements such as operating the 11.3cuft refrigerator for 24 /hours, cooking with and induction cooktop, pumping water, operating lights and fans, charging equipment, etc. This is also inside a super insulated shell which is necessary to reduce the A/C load to the minimum.
Absorption refrigerators require ~8x more energy than a typical compressor refrigerator which will be about 10x more than my high efficiency refrigerator. While absorption refrigerators attempt to discharge the heat generated by natural convection behind the refrigerator, the ~8kWh/day they create in operation, a good bit of that finds its way inside so that adds to the difficulty in keeping cool.
Something similar results from cooking with propane (since I assume you will also use propane for cooking). In either case, 100% of the energy released in the cooking process becomes heat inside the camper that will need to be removed. Because the gas flame doesn't transfer heat from the flame to the pan very efficiently, it takes ~3x more propane energy to do the same task. While absorption refrigerators and gas cooktops are certainly economical from an energy cost perspective, they are far from efficient. I certainly understand the desire to use propane rather than electricity. The alternative of buying a high efficiency electric equipment also requires purchase of all the equipment needed to collect, store and deliver the electric power. Those costs are are quite dramatic comparatively as well, (especially if you already have the propane equipment). I think from an economic perspective, it will never make purely economic sense to undertake the conversion (poor insulation in most commercial RV's make the problem more difficut). It is even difficult to make economic sense in a new build. There has to be something else motivating the change, such as a new capability.
For me, I was building a new camper and didn't have existing propane equipment. I also already had a large battery. Building an electric/diesel camper to do new things is where I started my plan. There are some niche manufacturers (mostly van conversions) who are taking the same approach I did but they are never going to be cost competitive with traditional RV's.
@@WorkingOnExploring your graph is awesome.
A couple of ground deploy panels and yeah more more battery I think you would be good with running it all night
I have wheels....I don't stay in places that would require running A/C at night....lol.....I could likely run longer if I wanted to or needed to. I only dip to ~70% SOC when I shut off. I'm about to add a 6th solar panel as well that will give me 1140W that I am already really fine without.
I love that minisplit video where you was comparing different units. That was the exact moment I decided to go with a minisplit.. thanks for helping with that decision
Y’all are a wonderful vibe to the community- learning so much thank you 🙏💜 designing a truck camper for cross country travel and off grid living and the detail you provide and experience shared☀️ premium resource🙌
Thank you. We appreciate the positive vibe back 😊
I have an Innovair Low Ambient 9000k 20Seer Heat pump. I had a good bit of roof on my Overlander Conversion. It is a 1995 Isuzu NPR boxtruck. I found that the cost of having 2350 watts of solar and adding an extra battery(13.5kw total) was less than the cost of going to the 32 or so seer unit. You probably have less real estate up there and had to go the other way, but like you say, my insulation is pretty thin. I can use the mini split really 24/7 as I put mine in my upper bunk. I can close that off and go about 60 hours as it pulls from 200 watts to about 260 even in the winter. I also have a Black and Decker heat pump that pulls about 1.3kw. Though I don't have to use that unless the other one has a hard time keeping up. My issue might be that I haven't finished my insulation and much of it is stil a work in progress. I can charge my electric motorcycle on the back rack though as a bonus. With that much solar I have to be pushed pretty hard to need shore power.
Great choice with that much solar and a good mini-split. I have 5-190W panels and am going to add a 6th that slides rearward from under the last one. The thing that made me mad is right after I bought these 31" x 62", 190W panels (and built my camper around them), I discovered there were 250W panels of the same size. It really is a game changer when you can use equipment as much as you want. Insulation really is key but since you made your own interior, you can always redo it (probably). Not fun or sexy to spend time on that though..... I have a few regrets about what I've done, some I have redone and some will never reach the priority to do it. You may feel the same way if you can keep comfortable with lots of power, why bother? One thing I have done I really think is helpful with the mini split at one end of the camper is the air duct I built into the false ceiling that creates air circulation front to back. Stirring the air keeps everything at the same temp and really makes the who place comfortable.
@@WorkingOnExploring I am going to build a duct onto the front of the mini split. Kinda a housing to fit under the air output with a pipe and a booster fan at the end. I need it especially for heating as the layers of air inside begin to get really warm up high but really cold down low. A heat pump naturally wants to drop the heat but since it is in a bunk bed that is difficult. Cold air falls off, but the warm air just stays up. I have two fans up there, one high and one low, but I think actually taking hot air straight to the floor will help more.
For a while I toyed with putting the IDU in the bunk but decided it was going to be easier to condition the big space and circulate enough air through the small space to keep it comfortable than the reverse. I also thought that keeping the noise from both the IDU and fan at the back, was also a good idea. I will say that in the process I have gone through 3 fans and am about to do the fourth to get the noise/airflow right. I am more convinced than ever that sales adds LIE about sound measurements. I like my Noctua 25dBA, 1800 rpm, high static pressure fans in my hydronic radiators and think they are the way to go.
I have 1800 watts solar and 24 nissan leaf cells. I'm installing the 25 seer minisplit 9000 btu this coming weekend. I have two inverters one is a 3000 high frequency that my camper is basically plugged into and I also have the 4000 low frequency sungold power that'll be running the minisplit and my wife's hairdryer sometimes lol
My wife has the cursed 'curly hair' so she needs the dryer and straightener all the time.
I have a 24V/4k low frequency EVO4024 Samlex. You sound like you need to loose one of those inverters....unless your like me and feel the need for redundancy. I also run a 800W Reliable Electric to power the fridge and generally waste power with little things. Beware, loading an inverter less than 30% is pretty inefficient. If I could, I would have bought a 3k if it was available in 24V. As it is, I run the microwave, induction cooktop and A/C all at the same time.
Are you running a 6S battery on 24V? I presume you mean your battery is 24 packs/96 cells with 6S16P?.... I converted 5 of my Leaf packs from 2S2P to 1S4P so I could make a 7S battery (runs 21V-29.4V). I have 7S20P using 35 packs. The voltage range is perfect for 24V equipment. If I had it to do all over again, I would have made a 14S battery because they make 48V mini-splits that would be best used direct.
At the moment I have 24 modules in two stacks of 12. Each stack is at 24 volts then parallel with the other. I should have done the 48 volt also rather than buying all 24 volt equiptment. My camper with the lights on and a big TV and a fairly large fridge barely leaves any headroom on the 3000. I had to buy the 4000 watt inverter for the minisplit and hairdryer and the airfryer and all that kinda stuff. Sometimes I plug the 1500 watt side of the waterheater into it also. It sounds bad but I can max out both inverters pretty much unless I'm extra careful. I just found a deal on 48 more leaf cells so I'm getting them and hopefully another 8 or 10 panels so we can be more comfortable. I'm a truck driver so we are not in the camper bit a few days a month but I don't want to run outta power while home ya know
My 3000 watt inverter is a all in one with charge controller made by powmr but I have another 100 Amp charge controller also by powmr. I only have 8 panels currently and they are all on one controller so I'm set up for more panels just haven't been home much lately to mess with it
Can I ask you a technical question.. would a 220 volt inovair 38 seer 9000 btu be a better option than the 110 volt 25 seer ch brand? I know higher seer means more efficient but the 220 volt will ensure that I always have to run both my inverters. If I get do the 110 I can run off of either inverter so do you think the 110 would be more efficient since I could not have the second inverter running all the time?
1) By your arrangement, I assume your '2 stacks of 12 (packs)' are each arranged 3S4P(packs) making a 6S8P battery. With two of these batteries in parallel, you have a total of 6S16P battery bank. Your NMO cell voltages are 4.2-3.0V so your battery bank will run from 25.2- 18.0V. Your problem is obviously that your inverters will cut off as low as 20V which is probably fine because there isn't a lot of capacity between 20V and 18V. If they cut off at 21(most probalbe) -22V, you are losing a lot more capacity which is why I went to the effort to make a 7S battery (29.4V-21V).
2) Using two batteries in parallel requires that each battery have its own BMS. This is the reason for making a single battery and using a single BMS. I'm not a great believer in the importance of a BMS if you have a) good capacity balance between cell groups and b) good control of your charging and discharging cutoffs. I use an Electrodacus SBMS0
Have you thought about adding a Vertical Wind Turbine to assist with charging the battery
In short, I think wind generation for mobile RV applications is a bad idea. I built a 16ft diameter wind generator a long time ago so am very familiar with them. Having said that, I would never contemplate having one on my camper. You need to understand that there is very little wind at ground level and a lot of it is gusty, very little energy in wind speeds less than 8mph. It takes about 18mph to get good production out of small turbines. Given that, you will realize that the likelihood of having proper conditions (at ground level) will be rare. Those conditions will also be decidedly unpleasant. I don't seek out windy places but seek to avoid them. I do seek out sunny places so solar will always be my preferred option....
Great video of your daily power management…you’ve got some serious lithium storage capacity! I like your route overviews. What are you using to animate your route?
Since I use a macfor my photos and videos, I finally dug into keynote animations a few months back and use that to animate a line drawn on a map screen shot. Then setup the timing and export as a movie. Search youtube for keynote animations or keynote map animations.
Message me if you don't find anything useful and I'll see if I can find what video I used initially.
Great…thanks for the info!
Good job on hitting 1,000. I have me the ram 5500 truck, now time to test panel making and frame. How are your exterior panels holding up? I want composite sandwich panels but lead times are 6 months and $$$. Did you do radiant floor heating, if so I missed that video? Keep enjoying life.
I think I have a minor issue in the back wall. I think I got a little water in it from the top outside where I may have not gotten enough resin on the edge. I should have put some glass fabric in that particular top joint that was always expected to get a lot of water through it....I will dig into it when I get home and may need to redo the top 2ft. My structural strength is too much (more weight for strength that is not needed). The 5mm only I used is good and strong and the 1/8" luan ( actually 2.8mm) is too thin/weak....if I could do it again, I'd probably omit the interior grid of 5mm ply on edge and just use 2.5lb/cuft XPS (which I could not easily find at the time) (Standard XPS insulation is 1.5lb/cuft).
I did put in a hydronic heating system (2 videos) and radiant floor heat is part of it but only a small part. The area of the floor to convect heat is very small ( in practically all RVs) so I also get heat with 2 fan coils and a copper wall radiator. The floor alone would have been a total bust if I had counted on that..
The radiant floor is a huge comfort factor even if it doesn’t provide much heat. Your comfort returns so quickly as soon as you close the door.
Hydronic floors in buildings and RVs are built and perform very differently. In a building, typically tubing runs on 1ft centers through a 4" or more concrete floor insulated from the ground. Heating occurs through conduction to objects placed on the floor and by convection to the surrounding air of the large floor. The key factor is the large thermal mass of the concrete floor that is able to not only contain a lot of heat but to release it slowly. Slow release prevents loss of a lot of heat when a door opens. It also maintains a very stable temperature through day-night cycles. The down side is that if the temp is too low, it takes days to raise. The other aspect of hydronic heating is not to use a heated slab but low mounted convective radiators that are far more responsive and don't require forced air blowing through the space. Effective floor heating is incapable of working in an RV because the floor is small and concrete floor mass cannot be carried. Trying to heat a floor without it is of dubious effectiveness. People try (I did) but it doesn't work well because it lacks the two necessary components that make it so desirable in residential construction: large surface area and large mass. While I knew my floor would contribute little to room heating, I wanted it to 'feel warm' but it really moves so little heat as to be ineffective in that too. If you were willing to make an entire floor out of something thermally conductive like aluminum, you might make some progress but I haven't seen anyone do it.
I have a few questions what problems did you have to resolve in those 2 weeks or did everything work perfect from day one
The A/C performance was good from the beginning. A year later, I discovered a leak in an SAE flare that lost most of the charge and it stopped working for a bit but was pretty easily fixed and recharged. The power system took some time. I planned for 5x190W solar panels but the original 5 developed problems and I replaced them all (under warranty). There are 250W panels available now in the same size which I wish I had ( now 6 x190W = 1140W but it could be 6 x 250W= 1500W). I've added a 6th panel on a sliding mount out the back since this video. I also changed from a PWM charge controller to an MPPT.
@@WorkingOnExploring that's kinda of to be expected thank you for the insight and time happy travels
The panel failure was a huge disappointment we had to deal with an entire summer. Of 5 Solarland 190W panels, only one worked. I had purchased 8 panels used 4 on my previous camper for a couple years and left 4 in the shop. When I installed 5 of them on the new camper (4 virtually unused from shop storage), 6 of 8 had 1,2 or all 3 internal cell strings failed. We ended up relying on the 2nd alternator for power....this video was after that...
@@WorkingOnExploring if you ask me that's not due to your planning or experience that's a problem derived from the lack of manufacturing in this country Americans
build quality because we live next door to the people who depend on our work
I have been working and raising kids since I was just a kid myself and something I have learned is the people who have true knowledge are always willing to share it with you if you're smart enough to ask
New sub here. I'm in the planning stages of a shuttle bus conversion... It's a 24 pssgr built on the F550 platform, 6.7 diesel, dual alternators and only 40K miles. My plan is to install 1208Ah of lithium @ 12V, giving me 14.5KWh... plus 900 watts of solar. AC will be a must. Have you seen the cheap Chinese 12V ACs? What are your thoughts on these units versus a "house" mini split? BTW, impressive build and very informative. I plan to use your videos as a resource as i embark on this project.
I have viewed the sale adds of 'cheap chinese' engine driven (R134a) units (fair quality but would not recommend an engine driven unit) and am also very familiar with the 'cheap chinese' mini-splits. Search my Chanel for my A/C videos and check WorkingOnExploring.com/TechDocs for downloadable info. Not a big fan of any of the 17 brands of mini-splits sold by Midea. Quality brands (Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Daikin, LG, etc) are only a little more expensive and a lot more reliable AND better performing. If I were you (having not started buying equipment) I would 1) construct a 48V power system, 2) convert your second alternator to 48V with an external charging regulator and 3) use a 48VDC Minisplit from HotSpotEnergy.com. This is what I wish I had done. I went 24V only because I was going to go from my F350 build to am M1088A1 which had a large 24v power system already. I REALLY think the 48VDC Minisplit is 'where it's at' for RV A/C.
You should also watch my alternator charging video #3 that discusses dual alternator operation and how it's not what you think. TBL, I would avoid a big 12V system. The 12V A/C that is available is very expensive and not very efficient (because it's 12V = high amperage).
Thanks for the info; you sold me on 48V. Signature Solar also offers a DC mini-split that I'm gonna consider. As for the fridge, I was looking at several AC/DC models, but I've seen where some people purchase a small chest style freezer and use a temp controller to use as a fridge... what are your thoughts? As for alternator charging, I'm leaning towards the Wakespeed. My 2nd alt puts out around 160A; I will likely upgrade later on. Have yet to figure out the water heater... was leaning towards a DIY hydronic setup. Your system looks quite robust, so I may try to do something similar. This is going to be quite the project! @@WorkingOnExploring
@thomasholton8907 I doubt you can find a 48vdc fridge but look at some of the 'off-grid' or 'solar' fridges. LOOK HARD. If you can find one, I'd go for it above any other COA. I have a video on why I chose my 120VAC residential fridge and don't regret it but just like I wish I would have gone 48v, I would have looked hard for a 48v fridge of I had.
There is no such thing as an AC/DC fridge. You get a DC fridge with an external AC power brick. You can do that yourself with an aftermarket one if you ever want to one. once you have the big battery and DC fridge, you'll never need or want one. With a big camper, you should want the convenience and size of an upright fridge freezer. I never considered one because I never wanted the hassle of digging to the bottom (if you have a chest freezer, you know what I mean.)
@thomasholton8907 if your alternator is RATED AT 160A, it will put out around 80A continuously. Watch my first alternator charging video on what 'rating' means.
@thomasholton8907 the strength of Wakespeed is in using datacom with smart bms equipped batteries. If you don't have it, it's a waste of money. If you're using a 48v system, you should go to a 48V alternator which will have few regulator options (Balmar).