Using a Renogy Solar Suitcase in Zamp Plug

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by JeffKim

With our Audi Q7 weight and space is at a premium (especially with our Newfoundland who takes up most of the rear seating), so a standard generator and fuel (propane I suppose is a possibility) is a big stretch. We hope to make the Alaska run someday and then having a generator might make more sense. I saw this car generator, basically an inverter you jumper cable to your car and it weights 11lbs. Seems like a viable option.

Hi

Running your car battery into an inverter wastes power in that inverter. You then run 120V AC over to your converter / charger. It wastes power converting the 120V back to 12V to charge your batteries.

A set of jumper cables would be a better ideal. A DC/DC converter would be an even better idea.

Either way, running the TV engine for 4 hours while charging the battery is not going to make it very happy. If you don't run the engine, the battery in the TV will go flat very quickly.

Bob

[JeffKim]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

Running your car battery into an inverter wastes power in that inverter. You then run 120V AC over to your converter / charger. It wastes power converting the 120V back to 12V to charge your batteries.

A set of jumper cables would be a better ideal. A DC/DC converter would be an even better idea.

Either way, running the TV engine for 4 hours while charging the battery is not going to make it very happy. If you don't run the engine, the battery in the TV will go flat very quickly.

Bob

The idea is that the car engine powers it via the alternator. I think they claim the car engine is more efficient, less polluting, and quieter than a gas-powered generator. (But looking at their citation, I think they are vastly exaggerating the fuel efficiency.) The inverter is 90% efficient. But even if it's less efficient than a dedicated generator, the weight and space savings would be significant for us. Anyways, just a thought.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by JeffKim

The idea is that the car engine powers it via the alternator. I think they claim the car engine is more efficient, less polluting, and quieter than a gas-powered generator. (But looking at their citation, I think they are vastly exaggerating the fuel efficiency.) The inverter is 90% efficient. But even if it's less efficient than a dedicated generator, the weight and space savings would be significant for us. Anyways, just a thought.

Hi

Your car alternator running at near idle is maybe 10% efficient. The car engine uses a lot of fuel at idle. If you put your foot to the floor, the car engine does Wonderful things. It can produce (say) 100 HP. Since you put < 1 HP into your batteries, the other 99 HP are not doing anything useful.

There's also the minor issue of the cost of the rebuild of your car's engine after you run it at idle for hours and hours.

From lots and lots of threads here on the forum. The typical reason you need a generator is:

We just woke up this morning and the lights don't come on. The batteries went dead overnight. We need to get them charged back up to have breakfast. The ice cream is melting in the fridge..... You have to fire *something* up there at the campsite to get them charged.

Your converter / charger only puts out just so much. Your batteries only accept charge at a certain rate. You will be running your "something" for many hours to get them back to full.

Many folks after doing that once head out and get a shunt based monitor so they can fire up the "something" the day before and avoid the mess in the freezer .....

Fun

Bob

[Native143]

Originally Posted by JeffKim

With our Audi Q7 weight and space is at a premium (especially with our Newfoundland who takes up most of the rear seating), so a standard generator and fuel (propane I suppose is a possibility) is a big stretch. We hope to make the Alaska run someday and then having a generator might make more sense. I saw this car generator, basically an inverter you jumper cable to your car and it weights 11lbs. Seems like a viable option.

I use the Car Generator and I love it. I have an SUV so I will not carry a generator nor gas in it. The critics say why, just hook up an inverter etc. Why? Because the Car Generator is simple to use, barely uses gas, recharges batteries in an hour, and just works!!! And I want easy and don't have to figure out other connections instead. Read the reviews.

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by SouthForkAS

Don’t forget to unplug the attached controller before exposing to sun
Attached controller to batts first

Yes, I read that in the Renogy manual.
My question is why?
1. Are they concerned about damage to the panel/controller?
2. Are they concerned that a spark might cause a battery to explode in your face?

BTW, I saw that happen. The short story is that a company was charging a 12v wet cell in a wood box on the ground, intending to power some electronics. Evidently, the box was not vented, because I heard an explosion like a 12 ga. shotgun, raced over to find the tech pouring water in his eyes. He didn't want medical attention since he felt flooding his eyes was sufficient. Later, he had to leave anyway because his clothes dissolved.

[RJKSr]

These are our experiences ... We have had a 100W Renogy suitcase with case for quite a few years. Purchased it to use for a small, SOB camper. For our 2017 Serenity, I used an adaptor which others have mentioned. However, in 2018, after two failed sets of Interstates, I purchased two Crowne industrial 6V 240AH lead acid batteries which are substantially larger, but still fit in the battery box with the Zamp outlet removed. It's just as easy to use the clamps. We have 3 80W Zamp solar panels on the roof, but if we are boon docking, we will take the Renogy to supplement, especially helpful if the site has some shade at times as it can be easily moved around. Last year I retrofitted the Renogy charge controller to a newer model that is both waterproof and can be set for Lithium batteries, which is helpful if boon docking with our HAM radio equipment because we use lithium batteries for power. Newer suitcases already have the latest controller. So definitely the Renogy suitcase has been and continues to be quite helpful for us.

We also carry a small Honda 2000w generator when boondocking because you cannot always count on good weather and sun to maintain your battery charge - lead acid or lithium. Example, it rained much of 7 days we camped in the Smokies. Can use the generator in some sections of the campground during certain hours and we that did to recharge. Have occasionally used it to power our microwave, but we normally use other cooking options when boondocking. It could power one AC unit with softstart, but we don't count on or need AC when boondocking. Some want to power AC and they have much larger generators which I would now have difficulty lifting in and out of the truck.

Our solar setup and 1000w inverter can power our small 4 cup Mr. Coffee coffeemaker, but we mostly use a percolator when boondocking. It can power our floor fan to help cool the trailer if it has been closed up, but only for a short time if we want to maintain our battery charge into the evening. We considered converting to Lithium, but it is far too costly to retrofit as at a minimum we would have to replace our trailer's converter, solar charge unit, and add more solar panels to effectively recharge two lithiums in a reasonable time frame. Several have told me I would need to increase the wire size from the batteries to the distribution center as well. We are on our 5th year of our lead acid batteries which still seemed healthy at the end of this season, and could purchase a lifetime of those for the cost of a lithium conversion. Newer trailers are pre-set up for a lithium conversion, so converting may make better sense.

Those are our experiences. Hope they help.

[JeffKim]

Originally Posted by Native143

I use the Car Generator and I love it. I have an SUV so I will not carry a generator nor gas in it. The critics say why, just hook up an inverter etc. Why? Because the Car Generator is simple to use, barely uses gas, recharges batteries in an hour, and just works!!! And I want easy and don't have to figure out other connections instead. Read the reviews.

Thanks for the testimonial! I was wondering about the one hour charging and thought I'd do some math. (I may have made some errors with electrical conversions, assumptions, punctuation - anyone, feel free to correct me.):

For our purposes I'd use it most likely to top off our batteries if there isn't sufficient solar. From the shunt readings I've found we use about 25% of our batteries per day without any solar. This includes prudently running the refrigerator, Starlink, two computers, water pump, lights, etc. For example, we don't leave Starlink (40W/h) running constantly, at most 10hr/day.

I have 4x100Ah of lithium batteries, so we're consuming 100Ah/day. The Car Generator produces 1000W or 83.3Ah (12V). So, with efficiencies of 90% for the CG and 95% for the charger, I'm looking at 71Ah from the CG going into the batteries. Then, recharging (topping up) would be something like 1.4 hours/day. If I believe the CG gas consumption numbers (EPA subcompact 2.0L (cough, cough) of .16 gallons/hr (idle under no load) then that's not much gas (.22 gal).

Let's say it's more like the large car 4.6L (.39 gal/hr, no load) and make it .5 gal/hr with a load which would still be .7 gallons for the 1.4 hour charging. Sounds pretty reasonable to me and makes the CG a decent option. I don't think idling the car that long would make any difference to its longevity.

Aside from that, plugging in the DC/DC charger (15A for our TV) would help as well (more load, more gas I know).

[CampRaves]

I also recently purchased the 200w Renogy Solar suitcase which comes with a built in charge controller. You can connect directly to the Zamp plug with this connector which works great for easy set up.

Just be sure the suitcase you have has a charge controller otherwise you will need to install a charge controller before plugging into the Zamp port.

I personally chose the solar suitcase option instead of mounting panels because it provides the ability to move your panels to sun if you are parked in a shaded area.