Magnet18's 1983 310

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by PeterH-350LE

how did the 310 like that 89 north of Flagstaff? Pretty wild, huh? But maybe not as bad as when I pulled the trailer through there. I thought it would fly of the hitch more than once.

Where are you going after this week of boon docking?

Musta redone it since then, no problems with the roads today, smooth sailing for the most part! Coppermine road from gap to page was literally brand new.

Next 2 weeks we have a full hookups in silverdale, i think the RV will be parked 50 yards from the border of Zion national Park. Super expensive, but it's a splurge for the wifes birthday, and her family is flying in for a few days in there.

[Magnet18]

Nothing like working on the motorhome in pretty places

Hooked up the relay for the air compressor, no more pulling up the battery compartment

also wired in the enable/disable switch for the air horn, no more pulling the relay every time we stop so the dog doesn't annoy the neighbors

Also replaced the grow light over the counter with a paper towel holder, since we no longer live in a cave (barn), the light isn't really needed

[PeterH-350LE]

Originally Posted by Magnet18

Nothing like working on the motorhome in pretty places

Hooked up the relay for the air compressor, no more pulling up the battery compartment

also wired in the enable/disable switch for the air horn, no more pulling the relay every time we stop so the dog doesn't annoy the neighbors

Also replaced the grow light over the counter with a paper towel holder, since we no longer live in a cave (barn), the light isn't really needed

Rob, did you ever get around to installing the new Isolator?

[Magnet18]

I think our plan for the rest of 2021 is after zion, to head to Oregon, bend area sounds nice. No hard plans yet for the route there, first need to decide on the around vs through nevada, then we'll wing it and see how we feel. May push through in one weekend, may take 3. I've decided I hate trying to make a reservation more than 200-300 miles away, too much stress if something goes wrong.

Then we'll leave the airstream somewhere in oregon for a month, either a storage facility or with a mechanic, need to feel out what's least risk of vandalism/theft.

Then return just after memorial day and spend the month of june in oregon, thinking maybe July in the olympic peninsula, and august undecided, probably home by labor day to clean the rig up and head to arkansas in October, then home for the holidays.

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by PeterH-350LE

Rob, did you ever get around to installing the new Isolator?

Not yet, still on the list, might tackle ot one afternoon this week since I'm in an electrical project mood. As we boondock I'm scoping out and figuring out how the batteries are interacting.

[cmadmaxman]

Sounding like a great trip Rob. We rode the Harley through Zion back in 09.

Great park to spend some time in. Other parks in the area as well to take in!

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by cmadmaxman

Sounding like a great trip Rob. We rode the Harley through Zion back in 09.

Great park to spend some time in. Other parks in the area as well to take in!

For sure, so much to see in southern Utah!!
We considered sticking around the area for a few more weeks and then heading to Oregon after we return from the trip home, but we've both decided after about 6 weeks of it that we're already pretty tired of desert and ready to get somewhere green.

[Magnet18]

Batteries seem to be doing okish, but my current weak link is the 40yo wiring causing voltage to sag to 9 or 10 volts at the cigarettes lighter outlets.... Honestly not that much of a surprise.

Ordered this power station, 1440 watt hours for only $950 after tax, about 20% less than the standard cost of a lithium battery from the likes of renogy or battleborn (usually about $1/watt hour just for the battery), plus a 1200w inverter, plus a charge controller for both solar and AC in, and it's capable of fast-charging 80% in 1 hour or 100% in 90 minutes.

Looked like the best deal I could find. I'm not wanting to commit to a full lithium/solar install on the airstream, as we will likely only be fulltiming in it for about another year, and this solution can be moved from rig to rig

https://ecoflow.com/collections/rive...-extra-battery

[Magnet18]

I did the math and that combo I ordered is a steal, I'm wondering if they screwed up their pricing. It's 10% more power than their biggest unit and it's like 30% less $$, the price per watt-hour on that one model doesn't line up with the rest of their lineup or any of their competitors. (Mostly jackery, yeti is in the market but they charge double because they're a status symbol)

I've been watching prices for a couple years, that one seemed to be too good a deal to pass up when I saw it this morning

[Magnet18]

In the meantime until I get my hands on that, MacGyver is my middle name, and 200 watts out of this little 300 watt inverter seems more than sufficient for our work computers and external monitors to keep the day jobs going, which means kicking the generator on for probably an hour at lunch and again at dinner. Today I only ran it 30 minutes at lunch and it is just getting close to needing kicked on again now at 5pm

[Magnet18]

Making plans for after I get the new battery bank
I think that with a couple of these
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials...okup-guide/all
And a couple of these
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YY7KQZP...ing=UTF8&psc=1

I can make my whole setup DC including the computers, which both charge over usbc, and the monitors, because they have a 19v input and ucbc-pd goes up to 20v 100watt, and completely skip the inverter to 110 ac and then convert back down to DC steps.

Should help that bank run all day and eliminate the inverter and it's cooling fans

[kidjedi]

Originally Posted by Magnet18

I can make my whole setup DC including the computers, which both charge over usbc, and the monitors, because they have a 19v input and ucbc-pd goes up to 20v 100watt, and completely skip the inverter to 110 ac and then convert back down to DC steps.

FWIW, I "converted" my 24" LG television to DC using this...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06W525LJ7

It's a simple upconverter, so I just have it run from a 12v source (the trailer) to the television. I don't know how much it would affect more "sensitive" equipment, but I've never had an issue.

I actually broke the screen on my original 24" TV, so I had to spend a decent amount of time searching for another 19v TV, so I could keep the same idea going. I've been using this setup for at least three years.

[martin300662]

Certainly more efficient than using an inverter up, then a transformer back down!

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by kidjedi

FWIW, I "converted" my 24" LG television to DC using this...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06W525LJ7

It's a simple upconverter, so I just have it run from a 12v source (the trailer) to the television. I don't know how much it would affect more "sensitive" equipment, but I've never had an issue.

I actually broke the screen on my original 24" TV, so I had to spend a decent amount of time searching for another 19v TV, so I could keep the same idea going. I've been using this setup for at least three years.

Nice! I would love to find a premade USB c solution similar to that, usbc in 19 or 20v out, that way there isn't even the efficiency lost of boosting 12v to 20v, but that premade looks a lot easier and I could easily hook a couple of them into a cigarette lighter output to run the monitors

[kidjedi]

Originally Posted by Magnet18

Nice! I would love to find a premade USB c solution similar to that, usbc in 19 or 20v out, that way there isn't even the efficiency lost of boosting 12v to 20v, but that premade looks a lot easier and I could easily hook a couple of them into a cigarette lighter output to run the monitors

I'm not sure if you're using it now, or considering it. I worry about the "cigarette lighter" unit working correctly for your (our) needs (I would love this to work for a multi-monitor configuration for my mobile workstation editing rig). I see this from the manufacturer: "-Will charge Nintendo Switch but does not support "Charge-and-Play" in TV mode. " Obviously not your specific need, but makes me wonder why, and if it has to do with the power handling capacity. Also... I would think even with the "premade unit," the efficiency is still lost going from 12v (the motorhome batteries) to 19v (the device)... just in a more convenient package!

[Magnet18]

Originally Posted by kidjedi

I'm not sure if you're using it now, or considering it. I worry about the "cigarette lighter" unit working correctly for your (our) needs (I would love this to work for a multi-monitor configuration for my mobile workstation editing rig). I see this from the manufacturer: "-Will charge Nintendo Switch but does not support "Charge-and-Play" in TV mode. " Obviously not your specific need, but makes me wonder why, and if it has to do with the power handling capacity. Also... I would think even with the "premade unit," the efficiency is still lost going from 12v (the motorhome batteries) to 19v (the device)... just in a more convenient package!

I think that one is just a power limitation of the little cigarette lighter thingy. Just an example, not necessarily the exact one I'll get

[Magnet18]

Looks pretty... But the fine coating of sand on literally everything is a huge drawback

[Magnet18]

The weeks generator usage totaled exactly 20 gallons of fuel. At that rate, not even counting the campground fees saved, the battery bank should pay for itself in about 10 weeks of boondocking

Yesterday, thought we would travel but instead spent the day laying around sleeping off the vaccine side effects.

Today, exactly 150 miles through some very pretty scenery, and I somehow managed to get 6.9mpg, no complaints here

[Magnet18]

The watchman

[Waipio Rim]

So, you're at Zion NP? One of my favorites, on my return-to list.