Second week of July I headed out from Denver to have AMSolar do an install on my 2014 FC 25 rear bed.
Install was estimated at 3 days. Got to the office at 8am and met Roger. We did paper work waiting for the Install Manager to get in. Turns out that Marvin Braun of PrecisionRV is running the shop this summer for AMSolar. I had previously talked with Roger on the phone and email and with Marvin's concurrence decided to put in the Blue Sky 3024iL controller and IPN Pro Remote.
For an inverter there is a new model from Magnum. The MSH3012M Hybrid is a 3000 watt inverter that can work in conjunction with AC power, either line or generator. What makes this unique is that it will use the available amperage from the AC line and supplement it with a draw from the batteries to supply power to the trailer. So I can run the A/C system with a Honda 2000i and the inverter will determine how much power is needed from the batteries to supplement the available 15-1600 watts of power are coming from the generator. Made a lot sense for not much delta in price.
When you get to the AMSolar shop the waiting room has a 'sales wall'.
Basically 3 sections. Right side for Charge Controllers,
Center section for remote heads.
And the left side for inverters.
Waiting room has a large library of RV related books and Oregon travel information.
Upstairs there is a sliding window where you can look out over the shop floor. Good spot to see what is happening on the top of your rig. Note the electric lift. Makes it much easier for the crew to get stuff to the roof and reduces the amount of time they need to spend walking on the roof.
My roof space allowed for 3 - 135w panels and 3 - 100w panels. The Winegard antenna takes up a lot of space. (Note that the 2015 AS coming out now use a Winegard Omni Digital antenna which is a round disk taking up much less space. Might check into getting the Sensar removed and replaced if I ever need another panel). Behind my rig is a Class A that was getting something like 1400w of panels installed.
Here's some photos of the install. Basically the first section of the roadside couch was pulled out. Magnum and breaker box installed in the forward area of the outside storage bin. Back wall of the storage area has the Blue Sky mounted. 2 of the 220ah 6V Lifelines went in the original battery box and the other 2 now fill the inside storage area under that front section of the bench seat. I still have external storage space between the two new pieces of equipment.
Seat section removed, front roadside. Breaker box and Inverter.
Magnum Hybrid Inverter
Inside the storage area. Magnum
Blue Sky in storage area back wall with Solar Panel on/off/breaker
Not shown is a SurgeGuard 30amp surge protector that also has a remote.
Wednesday afternoon the crew was done and late afternoon I did the walk through with Marvin. Lot of information was shared. If you have read the manuals in advance it helps a lot to make the walk through more relevant. You will understand more of the knowledge that is being shared.
System has been fantastic. I'm seeing high 30ah, sometimes 40ah in full sunlight. Easy to switch the refrigerator to AC during they daytime after the batteries come up on charge (pulls about 27ah) and still adding power to the rest of the system. Tested the A/C and it drawing about 160ah. Running the Honda 2000i and setting the Magnum at a conservative 10a supply setting from the generator that gives me 80ah of generator power and drops the battery draw to 80ah. If the panels are adding 37ah then net loss to the batteries is a more reasonable 50ah.
Basically with the Magnum Hybrids you have a lot of options.
Great install, wonderful folks, got to meet Lew who came into the office one morning, Greg and Deb were in and out and Marvin who is a wealth of knowledge. And everyone else on their team that worked on my install.
All in all a first class experience.
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