Increasing boondocking time

[Milo1952]

I want to increase my boon docking time without having to sell a body part to pay for the upgrade.
My idea is to purchase 2 Re-lion 100 LT batteries and upgrading to a lithium charger on my Airstream. I would like to put 2 solar panels on my roof but do not want to incur the expense of a total solar install.
Would it not be possible to install 200-400 w of solar on the roof and running an external wire to the external port on my trailer and simply using a solar controller?? have nothing against solar suitcase except that it can have its own legs and walk away. Has anyone done this ? I hate the thought of baby sitting my trailer while charging. I travel with Champion dual fuel generator.

[daleyocum]

Originally Posted by Milo1952

I want to increase my boon docking time without having to sell a body part to pay for the upgrade.
My idea is to purchase 2 Re-lion 100 LT batteries and upgrading to a lithium charger on my Airstream. I would like to put 2 solar panels on my roof but do not want to incur the expense of a total solar install.
Would it not be possible to install 200-400 w of solar on the roof and running an external wire to the external port on my trailer and simply using a solar controller?? have nothing against solar suitcase except that it can have its own legs and walk away. Has anyone done this ? I hate the thought of baby sitting my trailer while charging. I travel with Champion dual fuel generator.

You can certainly do that but why not use the solar prewire already in your trailer? There's pair of 10gauge wires coming down from the box on your roof to wherever they culminate in your trailer, probably wherever the DC "rats nest" is. You'd then add a solar controller in that same area and a switch to turn them off. Done.

Keep in mind that 400w on the roof is about the same as 200w on the ground that you can aim towards the sun and get out of the shade.

The bigger issue is moving to Lithium. You'd want to upgrade your power converter to one that is Lithium compatible and make sure your new solar charge controller is Lithium friendly. You'd also likely want a DC-DC converter to step up you tow vehicle's charge voltage to the higher voltage the Lithium's like if you want to charge your batteries while you drive. All this is because Lithiums sit at a higher voltage than AGM or wet batteries and thus need some special attention. Most people that go to the expense of Lithium also add a battery monitor like the Victron BMV-712 to help watch over them.

Anyway, it's easy to add solar, it's the Lithium side that gets involved if you do it right.

[waninae39]

with std lead acid, the battery can only be used down to 50% capacity. as you use more, the battery life is permanently shortened.

with lion, you can go down to 10% capacity, with NO affect on battery life.

Yes you need a suitable converter. the lion also weigh but a fraction of the lead acid.

lion is the future

we move to BB lion a few years ago. this gave us additional AS carry capacity
we moved to using the victron 3k converter /inverter

[AirMiles]

Yes you can easily put two 100 watt panels or four 100W panels or six 100W panels on a 30’ Airstream cheaply by using the factory prewire on a 2017 and up Airstream. If you self install the system, 600W can be installed for about $1,600 by copying the installation on my 2018 27’ Airstream. Read through the “Solar Show and Tell” thread for the details.

[Dexterpix]

Hi,

Lithium is great if you like spending money and need to have the "latest and greatest". But for less than the cost of 1 lith battery you can add 200w of solar thru the pre wire thats factory installed. Upgrade to 2 6volt LA batteries. A little fab work on the battery box ( about 30$ in aluminum L chanel and some new pop rivits) Some 3m VHB and some Silka flex. It took about 2 hrs to install everthing myself. Some times simple is just that simple.

Good luck either way, enjoy the journey.

Joe D

https://www.renogy.com/200-watt-12-v...SABEgIZt_D_BwE

Save 5% with email

https://www.batteriesplus.com/productdetails/sli6v225s

Save 10% with email

[nvestysly]

Adding solar, with all its incarnations, can get complicated in a hurry. Back when flooded lead acid and AGM lead acid batteries were the choices for power storage the decision on how to add solar was less complicated. Now that Lithium ion is in the picture there are more details to consider but we are fortunate that most lithium battery options are available as drop-in battery sizes such as Group 24, 27 and such. Prices of lithium batteries still command quite a price premium over conventional batteries but the available Ah and low weight are certainly a big plus!

So, how to proceed? Lots of options. We don't have solar on our trailer but we may add that in the future. In order to prepare for solar, in conjunction with adding DC-DC charging from our tow vehicle, we used the Renogy 50A DC-DC converter. Works like a champ to allow "real" charging from the tow vehicle.

You can check out the thread HERE, and specifically look at the cost associated with the Renogy product in post number 26 HERE.

[pcskier]

If you don't want to sell a body part, install 400 watts on the roof and just switch to 2 six-volt golf cart batteries for now, instead of $2,000 in Lithium batts (plus the cost of 200 watts of solar and a controller.)


Like Airmiles said, for the cost of one and a half lithium batteries, you can add as much as 600 watts of solar, a controller, batteries...the whole enchilada. (If you self install...you didn't state if you planned on doing so yourself. Mounting the panel up yonder is the hardest part, so if you planned on doing that with two, just do it with 2 or 4 or 6. The rest goes inside the trailer by the rat's next (usually left front corner of your trailer).

[ROBERT CROSS]

Bring more beer ...

Plus 360w Zamp portable solar charging thru the 7pin, 2 BB's, Boondocker charger, Victron monitor. $3.2k plus my install....You can spend more, others do spend more, others are happy spending more, we are happy with what we spent, and how it performs.


Bob
🇺🇸
Bob
🇺🇸

[pteck]

An upgrade doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. Nor does it require wholesale replacement of the original system.

I'm a proponent of augmenting the original system.

Priority order of upgrades if you want to do it in stages:
1) 2x 6V flooded lead acid batteries in the battery box
2) 200W on the roof. Optionally, a 100W portable solar suitcase.
3) For additional capacity and high draw devices, add an "accessory" battery bank