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Old 10-17-2018, 09:49 AM   #1
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My Lithium/Solar Upgrade is Complete

My Lithium/Solar upgrade is complete so I thought I would post some pictures in case it might be helpful to someone else thinking about this. I did not do this myself, but spent a bunch of time with the guys that did, my primary takeaway is that I was glad I did not try doing this myself.
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Old 10-17-2018, 12:03 PM   #2
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That installation looks like artwork to me. It’s a shame to hide it.

Let us know how it performs after you get to use it. You are going to enjoy your solar powered Airstream. I have the same four solar panels with the same Victron 100/30 controller and continue to be impressed by their performance. I’m sitting under an overcast sky with nearly complete tree canopy as I type and am getting up to 80 Watts of solar and 6 Amps at the battery.
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Old 10-17-2018, 12:17 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AirMiles View Post
That installation looks like artwork to me. It’s a shame to hide it.

Let us know how it performs after you get to use it. You are going to enjoy your solar powered Airstream. I have the same four solar panels and Victron 100/30 and continue to be impressed by their performance.
Thanks! Job was complete last Wednesday and we left Friday to dry camp for 4 days at Cades Cove Campground in Great Smoky Mountain NP. The first 2 days, we ran microwave a couple times per day maybe 5 minutes total each day otherwise everything else dc usage but made no special effort to conserve. The system would draw down into the mid 80's on remaining power in the morning and the solar had it back to 100% by dark. The last 2 days we ran the Dometic Blizzard NXT 15,000 BTU on FAN ONLY for 10 hours Sunday night and 9 hours Monday night, everything else roughly the same usage. I ran the generator (Honda 2,000) for 3.5 hours Monday and left Tuesday morning with 51% Battery life remaining. The system worked flawlessly!
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Old 10-17-2018, 12:36 PM   #4
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Is Cades Cove is a shady place? I know most of the campgrounds in the smokies are shady. I spent some time in the area earlier this summer. Today I’m at Jeff Busby Campground on the Natchez Trace Parkway. That’s near your home. You May know the shade conditions here. Very little open sky to be found. But still my batteries should be fairly well charged by nightfall.
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Old 10-17-2018, 12:50 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by AirMiles View Post
Is Cades Cove is a shady place? I know most of the campgrounds in the smokies are shady. I spent some time in the area earlier this summer. Today I’m at Jeff Busby Campground on the Natchez Trace Parkway. That’s near your home. You May know the shade conditions here. Very little open sky to be found. But still my batteries should be fairly well charged by nightfall.


We camped last weekend at Rocky Springs further south on the trace. We snagged a sunny site and managed to keep the old batteries charged. I'm installing a lithium this week and we may head to Jeff Busby Saturday.

My setup is nowhere near as nice as the op's! It does look like Art!
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Old 10-17-2018, 12:56 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AirMiles View Post
Is Cades Cove is a shady place? I know most of the campgrounds in the smokies are shady. I spent some time in the area earlier this summer. Today I’m at Jeff Busby Campground on the Natchez Trace Parkway. That’s near your home. You May know the shade conditions here. Very little open sky to be found. But still my batteries should be fairly well charged by nightfall.
I love driving the Natchez Trace, but I have never stayed there, how do you like your campground?

I would say our site was around 50% tree covered. Here's a picture of our site, although its hard to tell from the picture.
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Old 10-17-2018, 12:58 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV View Post
We camped last weekend at Rocky Springs further south on the trace. We snagged a sunny site and managed to keep the old batteries charged. I'm installing a lithium this week and we may head to Jeff Busby Saturday.

My setup is nowhere near as nice as the op's! It does look like Art!
I’ll probably be at Jeff Busby through the weekend so I’ll be watching for you. I’m in the last campsite and there will be room next to me. We can have a solar system race!😊😊😊
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Old 10-17-2018, 01:01 PM   #8
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Question. What is the component just to the right of the fuse?
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Old 10-17-2018, 01:02 PM   #9
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I love driving the Natchez Trace, but I have never stayed there, how do you like your campground?

I would say our site was around 50% tree covered. Here's a picture of our site, although its hard to tell from the picture.
This is a great campground. Tree canopy looks similar to your picture. Swing over here this weekend and we’ll have a mini-rally on the Trace.
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Old 10-17-2018, 01:04 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by AirMiles View Post
I’ll probably be at Jeff Busby through the weekend so I’ll be watching for you. I’m in the last campsite and there will be room next to me. We can have a solar system race!😊😊😊
I would love to be there, unfortunately, I will be in a HOTEL in Louisville, KY.
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Old 10-17-2018, 01:14 PM   #11
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Question. What is the component just to the right of the fuse?
Are you referring to the Lynx Distributor? If so, I believe it monitors the condition/status of the fuses.
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Old 10-17-2018, 01:17 PM   #12
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Very nice - very similar to my install. You are going to enjoy the 600ah and having full residential power whenever, wherever you like.

Who did the work? Looks like AM Soar....

Did they located the equipment in the front or rear of the trailer? (just curious)
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Old 10-17-2018, 02:26 PM   #13
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Very nice - very similar to my install. You are going to enjoy the 600ah and having full residential power whenever, wherever you like.

Who did the work? Looks like AM Soar....

Did they located the equipment in the front or rear of the trailer? (just curious)
Gateway Engineering did the work for me. We located the equipment in the front bedroom, and I used this as an opportunity to convert from a queen bed to twins.
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Old 10-17-2018, 04:32 PM   #14
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My Lithium/Solar Upgrade is Complete

Quote:
Originally Posted by ghaag View Post
Are you referring to the Lynx Distributor? If so, I believe it monitors the condition/status of the fuses.


Not that. I am thinking it's your shunt, all of mine are dumb and don't have 12V+ going to them. Yours must be one of them smart 'un's

Very nice install.

I just installed my BB 100ah battery and Boondocker charger. $1,100 worth of stuff and it only took 1:30. Kind of a fast, expensive weight loss program.

As soon as I powered it up, the Trimetric went straight to 40amps charging, climbed to 14.5 volts then idled back to 1 amp. All in about 2 minutes. Now THATS what I wanted!
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Old 10-17-2018, 04:35 PM   #15
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Not that. I am thinking it's your shunt, all of mine are dumb and don't have 12V+ going to them. Yours must be one of them smart 'un's

Very nice install.

I just installed my BB 100ah battery and Boondocker charger. $1,100 worth of stuff and it only took 1:30. Kind of a fast, expensive weight loss program.

As soon as I powered it up, the Trimetric went straight to 40amps charging, climbed to 14.5 volts then idled back to 1 amp. All in about 2 minutes. Now THATS what I wanted!


That’s great!
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Old 10-18-2018, 12:35 PM   #16
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Yes it is a shunt , but does not necessarily smart , it just allow high current to pass and still have low current sense connection .
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Old 10-19-2018, 11:41 PM   #17
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Really nice upgrade.
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Old 10-20-2018, 10:28 AM   #18
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Not that. I am thinking it's your shunt, all of mine are dumb and don't have 12V+ going to them. Yours must be one of them smart 'un's

Very nice install.

I just installed my BB 100ah battery and Boondocker charger. $1,100 worth of stuff and it only took 1:30. Kind of a fast, expensive weight loss program.

As soon as I powered it up, the Trimetric went straight to 40amps charging, climbed to 14.5 volts then idled back to 1 amp. All in about 2 minutes. Now THATS what I wanted!


Victron BMV feeds the positive into a connector on the shunt so you only have to run the one wire to the display panel, rather than having to find a fused DC+ where the panel ends up. It was a good assumption that positive is readily available where the shunt is, rather than expecting it where the display is
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Old 10-24-2018, 09:19 AM   #19
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Can I ask a round about cost not counting the remodel of the bedroom?
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Old 10-24-2018, 09:54 AM   #20
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Who did your install? I had Marvin Braun, Precision Solar in Casa Grande Az do mine In February of this year. It’s like sprouting wings metaphorically speaking as you gain so much freedom without sacrificing quality of living. Enjoy. ��
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