Chad...you are simply AMAZING! I’ve got no clue what your professional background is (other than the generic “Navy”) but I’m always impressed with how calm, collected and generally supportive you are in every challenge you, Tara and Daisy are faced with. You are an inspiration.
I've watched so many videos on this topic, and this is the first one that actually covered everything in an comprehensive way about how each component works together. Thanks.
Please do not feel skeptical on being technical. I feel like you guys are the only channel that go this in depth with installs. Love that vids! Please don’t quit UA-cam!
The fact you were able to explain exactly what you did with no notes is impressive. Wow. It's equally impressive how your wife was able to create this video piece by piece since it was all jibberish to her. Oh, love your cable management. That's the sign of a respectable IT guy. I'm also in IT so I appreciate that stuff. Well done video!
I only have a million questions, i saw the begining of this video when it first came out but I didnt understand much of it BUT I just bought a 3500w puresinewave and 470ah batts with solar panels and it makes sense now, your a genius !
I did this same thing about 15 years ago. Newer inverters and Lithium batteries are game changers. Darn pricey though, and you chose the value option on the batteries. One thing I would add is a shunt to keep tabs on the battery capacity. Nicely done.
Yea.. went cheaper on the batteries knowing those could be easily upgraded in place later. We already have the Victron BMV-712 (shunted) Battery Monitor - (amzn.to/2NUyGUS) sitting in the office ready to install when I get some free time. Of course there will be a video on that as well.
Excellent video. Thanks for all the minute details and tips. My husband just finished installing an IC 2000 in our Raptor 5th Wheel. He appreciated how detailed you were on your video. We follow you weekly and can't wait to get on the road ourselves. Thanks for your service and thanks for great instruction!
I love the way you planned this all out and executed it. Great explanation of everything too. Great job on the video. I enjoyed it... but I'm a geek, so....
Great video. Excellent finish work on your clean install with great tips and tricks. Many will find your detailed work very helpful. You're one handy dude. More importantly and rarely seen is an extremely detailed and smart install. One little tip is to add large washers to the thru bolts in the battery box. Large washer will help keep the bolts from ripping out of the box while cornering, hard braking, or bumpy travel by spreading the load and compressions over a larger area. Tip 2) Many home, auto and DIY specific brick and mortar retailers rent or loan specialty tools. Check with your retailer before you buy any tool you're likely to use just once. Cheers from Seattle!
I am in the process of doing the same thing on my Travel Trailer but on a smaller scale. I have BB Batteries and all Victron components. Both are top quality. Your install looks fantastic.
For your followers, or anyone who actually heard what I heard (?), please let me be picky and correct one thing you said. Its the teacher mentality in me. You said that you cannot have 2 charging sources. Actually you can. But, you were talking about your original converter and the logic of leaving it in place but turned off. Which you did. The issue is not having 2 sources, rather two specific sources. The converter which shouldn't charge the batteries while running off AC provided by the new inverter which is getting its power from the same DC source. If that could be done, we would have perpetual "motion". However, two or more charging sources, such as converter OR inverter / charger and solar charge / controllers is perfectly okay... if consideration of settings is ah... ah... considered. Great entertainment for me stuck inside on a very hot Sunday after. Very nice work, Sir
Really enjoying your videos. My wife and I are looking at the full time RV lifestyle in two years when our youngest graduates and goes on to college. Love all your how to vids, and the office was a huge WIN for us.. We will both be working from the office while we travel. Thanks again and keep them coming.
By the way, lots of earlier generation residential solar panels are around second-hand, you just need the roof space for larger panels and some heavy-duty mounts (Amazon). I picked up 4 280-watt Canada Power panels for $50 each on Facebook locally, used 3 for an off-grid battery/inverter project for my backyard shed/workshop and will use the fourth on the next (larger) fifth-wheel RV. The shed project enabled me to install a 30 amp plug, where I connect the RV while it is stored next to it to power up lighting and charge batteries while learning a lot about off-grid power for the future RV project. Great job by the way, great episode.
First off I love all your video's They a Great, you give me a lot of ideas. As I watched you install your inverter system it brought back a lot of memoirs. I installed a Inverter in my 5th wheel in 2015 and installed everything you did but my inverter is a Xantrex Freedom SW Series 3012 | 3000 Watt Inverter/Charger and I installed a Zamp 450 watt solar system. Everything has been working great. I love my solar system. We boondock a lot. What's great about the solar is it charges as I drive down the freeways so when we get were we are going to camp my batt are all charged up. The only time I have to use my genset is when it is cloudy or I run the A/C.
This is virtually a timeless tutorial. Enjoyed it very much and big high five to you, Chad. Your planning and preparation made it step thru so logically and safely. So well done! 👍
Enjoyed your video. I just purchased a 38' 5'r and am moving out of the Class A. I had installed 1500W of solar on the Class A and will probably do the same on this one once we get everything else in place. Have a Magnum 3012 Hybrid and am planning on using it in the 5th wheel. As I already have the Magnum I am going to make a transfer box that will enable me to use half the panel for the Inverted loads while on batteries or the generator and the inverter will only function as a charger when hooked to utility power. I can rearrange loads in the panel to accomplish breakout this way without having to use separate breakout panel. I realize this will be a little out of balance leg to leg but the 2 AC units are the major items and they will run on one leg with no problem. This way I can do all wiring right at the 50A incoming line without needing to get to the distribution panel. One thing I noted when following your video is the 17 Gallon Battery box you indicated will not fit the T105 Trojans. The next box up at home depot is the 27 Gal and it seems to be right. You might measure yours as I think it is the 27 gallon Tote unless HD used to have a 22. Regardless really enjoy your videos. Keep em coming!
I think you're right.. must be the larger box. We've since upgraded to battleborn lithium and no longer need a box so we sold the box along with the batteries. Thanks for watching!
Not to be a nudge, but the RJ11 is a 2 wire connector, RJ14 is a four wire connector and the RJ25 is a six wire connector. The first two are the same width, the third is slightly larger and all are used in home telephone systems. The RJ45 is the eight wire connector, but only when used for data (aka ethernet) - if it's used for four phone lines, it becomes and RJ61 (even though it's the same plug....). (I work for a local telco after I retired from the Navy.) Great video as always, and you've given me much to think about on my own inverter installation.
This is perfect for me…. I’m right in the middle of this same project. I’m going with Lithium but you’ve answered a couple questions I had, plus the location of your inverter is a game changer for me…. I was wondering where I’d locate mine and I think I may be able to do the same. Thank you so much for all the work that went into this production. High regards!
Super important to disconnect the Convertor. I just discovered mine was not disconnected. I had a steady 34amp draw with everything turned off. This draw was the convertor using the batteries to charge the batteries through the inverter. Endless loop.
I just wanted to thank you both for all your informative videos. I’m researching all aspects of rv’ing ( not full time ) and have been binge watching you and a few others. Many thanks, safe & fun travels to you.
Kudo's to you for an amazing job. I envy people with skills like yours. I'm 64 and don't know half of what you know about electrical. Now you can watch Lucy. Take care and be safe.
Wow what a complex job that install was. At least to a lay person. Great work on explaining what it was you did even though it was all over my head I enjoyed watching it. Thanks and keep up the great work.
Well put together. Love how you broke it down. I fit into the category of a little info is dangerous with electrical stuff. There always seems to be something else to know about that could cause harm or disaster with electrical. Just when I think I know enough to get started, someone starts talking about phase or sine wave... lol Keep the vids coming
You may have already addressed this. Go power recommends having the IC2000/3000 turned on before plugging it into shore power. They also have a built in transfer switch which will auto switch over when plugged in. The other thing I like is the power sharing, though it is only on leg 1. When plugged into a less than 50 amp source, you can dial down the input amps, so it will not over draw the source, and if it needs more, it can then borrow from the batteries. Thanks for the video, even if it was a year ago.
Very nice clean and well thought out install. You will find that running off those batteries will drain them pretty quick. Solar will help keep the batteries much happier. Solar has come way down in price so I don't think it will be as bad as you think especially if you're doing the install. Excellent video...thumbs up.
Yes! Solar and Lithium are in the future for sure! Love doing these projects myself too. What's that saying" The only way to know it's done right is.... 😊 Thanks for watching!
Great video. I will say be careful using your inverter when you’re away from shore power. The batteries will drain really fast and if you need to raise your landing gear and leave... it won’t happen.
Appreciate this video; did the same thing on my Voltage but recently sold it and purchased a Momentum and need to do it all again. This time, I'm also adding more solar, all Victron components (Inverter, Solar, BMS), and Battle Born Lithium batteries. One of the things I had not yet purchased was the EMS (been using the portable one) but have added it to the list. It's always good to see these type of installs on similar rigs and I like the way you used the 50A pass through to simplify the fuse box wiring.
That 50A passthru is awesome! Can't go wrong with Victron. We recently had a relay go bad in our 2K GoPower and they swapped it with the 3K no charge. We've also upgrades to 300Ah of battleborn and added the BMV-712 battery monitor. Solar maybe sometime before next summer.
I just checked the MultiPlus 3K hoping it could do the same but it doesn't appear to have that option; the second leg is only hot if the AC is connected. I'll have to pick and choose which items I want available from the inverter. Regarding solar, Arizona Wind and Sun is a good resource; just tell them what you are looking for and they will design a package for you that includes everything.
That's a real downside to that inverter, having to chose what to power and move things around. There are a couple of Magna inverters also that do 50A passthru.
Awesome and a different approach then most I've seen. I like the way you broke it up into individual projects and did all the non-disruptive ones first. I have a 600A inverter just to run one or two outlets for TV, etc and it has been sitting in my garage for 2 years! LOL This may be the incentive I need.
I don't even have a 50 Amps rig and this video kept me watching the entire time. That was amazing work Chad!!! I also want to sincerely congratulate the five potatoes that disliked this video 😉
We have a 2016 Momentum 397th. and I have been watching your you tube video. I am in the middle of installing solar, on it. When you install your solar you might look in to running your wires from the roof down through the cabinet in the master bed room, next to the bath room. That is where I am running mine, .
Where we Camp in the High Mountains of Montana. We use 2-200 wattSolar Panels with 8 Lithium Ion Deep CycleBatteries. Mostly just set-up for Hunting Camp or Lake Fishing. Rarely start the Onan and power everything without AC involved. Always have excess power for Late night movies or any and all lighting. Initially I used Sealed V-tanks & Sealed 8D Batteries. No off gases so I just removed the ventilation hoses and it worked well for the time. A lot of extra weight in the Sealed Batteries was eliminated in the Lithium Ion conversion. And I sold the Sealed batteries for Half Life as they have 10 year life span on average. Depending on cycles rates and keeping usage under 50% to lengthen over all life. Use low wattage everything to get more life.
Have you considered working with Grand Design to share your upgrade ideas?? Maybe they can prewire some of it “Prep”in some of there upcoming coaches. Just a thought. Not that it doesn’t look fun to do yourself. I have watched all your how to videos. They are awesome. That rig is bomb. If for some crazy reason you do a giveaway on it. I would love to be the first to put my name in the hat. My little family would enjoy the hell out of it. I would enjoy the upgrades!!!! I could only dream......Safe travels. Enjoy your videos!!!!
In fact, we have suggested a "boondocking package" to GDRV and they are working on it. 😎 We think it should be called the "Changing Lanes Boondocking Package", but I think they were working on this idea before we suggested it... 🤣 Thanks for watching, Ram! 😊
Great video. Great clip of Doc Brown haha! I applaud your crimping comment. Those hydraulic crimper are expensive, but so worth it. Hope you are doing well during this strange time. Stay well and hope to see you guys on the road one day.
Thank you for making the videos. I just discovered your channel searching for advice on how to do exactly what you have done here. I never thought of leaving the converter in my RV but I like that idea. We are taking a trip to Las Vegas and Pomona CA next month and will definitely be doing this upgrade before we go as we have the same frustration with making coffee in the morning and watching a movie at night when parked close to others at the racetrack or campground.
I am purchasing my first RV this year. I have really enjoyed your content. I like the concept but as you discussed some of the directions of the wires it got very confusing. The process of feeding the wires through with the "slack" in the wire I would like to clarify, you basically used the existing wire as your snake? Attached the new wires and I assume another string or something to retrieve the original wire? Seeing as this is almost 3 years later, what would you suggest to do now? I have not even picked my RV up yet, it is used but, your information has clarified items I need to inspect. Thank you.
Good job brother, I am hoping to get something like this done on my trailer soon. I have just been nervous and wanted to get as much information as possible before taking the project on. I work remote and this will allow my family and I to travel for longer. I currently just have one fold-able solar panel that keeps our batteries topped in addition to some battery generators for everything else. We don't like to asphalt camp.
Solar power is something that interests me but when it come time to seal the roof do the panels pose a pain in the process? Also what are your thoughts about the portable solar panels that can be set out on the ground pointed at the sun? Pros and cons to both I’m sure. Input please! Great videos !!! Thanks very much!!!
Thanks for the great information, must be a former Navy Electricians Mate. Fair Winds & Follows Seas...wait, you’re full timing it, so I’ll stick to Ride Safe...from a FTCM(SW) USN(Ret).
Nice job and well planned out; love the idea of doing as much as possible without "killing" all coach power, then, it's minimal down-time (power-wise). Good work. Be Safe!
Wow! Lots of info! This is great! I really love your channel. My wife and I look forward to RVing full time at some point in the distant future. For now we enjoy lots of weekend camping in our 28’ travel trailer... when we go full time, we plan to upgrade the truck and get a 5th wheel toy hauler. It’ll be nice to have my HD Street Glide along with us!
Good job dude....I've done it before with a Xantrex system....I think I like your system more than mine. I mentioned this upgrade to an rv salesman and he looked puzzled.
Pretty over the top. Pretty crazy. But an outstanding video, nonetheless.....great job, Chad. But I wouldn't recommend anyone try this unless you are a certified electrician. This is most definitely a "Pro-Skill Level" project. What really surprises me is that this is not one of the options you can elect to have installed at the factory. I would think you should be able to purchase several large roof mounted solar panel arrays along with a massive battery bank and have it all professionally installed right at the factory where they could do this fairly easily. I would think anything that extends your boondocking timetable is a good thing.
Very nice job. Ours came with a residential fridge, so they had an Inverter stock. But it wasn't plugged in to an outlet, it is hardwired near our ATS.
Yea.. fairly common to not have an inverter with the RV fridge. I'm curious about the wiring of the stock inverter with a residential fridge... Are any of your outlets or TVs powered when disconnected from shore power? Or does it just power the fridge?
@@ChangingLanes ours is a WFCO 1000w pure sine wave Inverter. But I just realized there is 2 (+/-) 1/0ga battery cable, a copper ground, there is hardwired AC cable and also an outlet AC plug that is plugged into a single-gang AC outlet I didn't see before. The wiring isn't exactly easy to follow. Our fuse/power center is closer to the rear of our Toyhauler near the axles, inside. Generator is same place as yours. Our batteries are above curbside level-up jack inside the small compartment up front. And our ATS and Inverter are inside the understorage behind the generator area. Lol
@@ChangingLanes damn u and ur video.... LoL. Making me add to my to-do list. Seriously though, thanks for the clear and informative video. Made me rethink this and I have low trust with the manufacturer. My background is in 12volt electrical and I work in electronic manufacturing now. So this being done right is high on my personal priority. Definitely going to investigate more now :)
I geeked out on this latest video... I like the pass through 50 amp. We currently are in a 30 amp camper and I have all the equipment (Magnum Hybrid 3012) to install. Now we are looking at upgrading to different RV and its going to be 50 amp, and I am not crazy about doing a break out panel for the 30 Magnum. May sell equipment now and look at a 50 as well.
I have been watching you guys for some time . Thanks for the inverter stuff. I have shore power and converter, but need to have it switch on its own . And I'm going to check out your batteries as well.
Awesome video, very helpful, my wife and I are getting ready to move into our cyclone full time, and I will be coming back to this later down the road to do this set up, thanks for sharing, maybe we will meet ya on the road someday.
Most excellent video. Most likely not going to be a near term project for our new 5th wheel. Already scheduled IS suspension upgrade, this one will have to wait. We are getting 215 watt factory solar. Going with (2) 6V batteries to start. I have read that 12V is much better for high load draws rather than 6V. I can run TV off of an much smaller invertor. In fact in our TT, I had a 150watt invertor, which ran the TV, media player and large hard drive. It wasn't happy when I added the laptop charger too :) Thank you for the detailed project review. But, did I see you reading a manual? LOL, your man card will be revoked. Ever have to work on a Mooney? Let me tell you, at 6'4", it takes a contortionist to work on that IP!
At the end of your video, you discuss settings. Charge Rate. You said Trojan said to set it for 80watts. I'm sure you meant 80% since the setting is a percentage of the max rate output. Also, it's not watts, it's amps. The charge rate is measured as a percentage of 100amps. So 80% is 80amp. However, with 4 batteries, that's only 20amps per battery in the string. Checking with Trojan, the battery should be charged at between 10% and 13% of it's 20 hour AH capacity. This battery is 225Ah, so 10% would be 22.5amps and 13% would be 29amps. Meaning a setting of 100% for 100amps would be a more accurate charge rate at 25amps per battery.
Yes.. I meant Amps... and 80% / 80 Amps are the same since it's a 100A charger. On charging, you have to consider that they are in series / parallel to get 12V. A 100A setting would be supplying 50A per set. You can only divide the Amperage for the batteries wired in parallel. I forget what the setting was as we have lithium now, but I called Trojan and they gave me the proper charge settings for our configuration at the time (4x6v wired for 12v).
Great job and super video! I have watched a few of these install videos and this was was one of the best. Most of them add solar at the same time which just makes it more complex. We have a fiver and the lithium is too rich for us as well. Thanks again !!
All depends on load. For what we use it for (coffee, TV, etc), it lasts all night and into the next day. But we haven't really pushed it to a full test. Will be doing that after I get our battery monitor installed and we film a power management video.
Great video. It amazes me that my 2008 Fleetwood gearbox came standard with a Magnum energy inverter but it wasn't even a option on my new Keystone Fuzion.
It is strange they aren't an option for GDRV either. Certainly easier to do the wiring when it's being built... They should have a "boondockers" package with upgraded batteries and inverter with optional solar.
Like you, we have a Grand Design product, in our case a Solitude that came with one lead/acid battery and the WFCO 55 A converter/charger. We do a lot of dry camping mostly up in B.C.'s lower mainland. Not having the news on television in the morning, our k-cup coffee maker or blow dryer is, quite frankly a first world problem, but so be it. I've done a lot of research but, not having too high an electrical aptitude, I've stalled. Watched your vid several times and wanted to get some advice. We added two Battle Born Lithiums and plan on adding another one for a total of three or 300 Ah. We have a portable Honda generator, EU 2000 and a portable Zamp Solar 230 W unit. I've narrowed the choice of inverter to either the Victron 3000w 50 A install kit sold by AM Solar or a 3000w Go Power Inverter which, by the way, is manufactured up here in Victoria, B.C. The Go Power works out to be slightly cheaper but I understand that it won't service both legs on the electrical service panel. The AM Solar kit is pretty complete but more expensive. They advertise that both 50 A legs on the panel are serviced. We don't plan on powering our A/C so feel that the 3000w will be more than enough. I know that you used the Go Power 2000w unit but wonder whether both legs are serviced? I can furnish you my phone number if replying makes it easier for you. Thanks for your videos. They've been really helpful.
Hi, Fred... The GoPower will service both legs. it just doesn't handle hybrid mode on both legs where it adds power to supplement shore or generator power on both legs. We recently replaced our 2000W inverter under warranty and they gave us a 3000W as a replacement. It's works great powering both legs. We've never tried to use hybrid mode anyway. Hope that helps!
Came back to watch this again Chad. Nice work! I am currently looking at the victron multiplusII. I like your thinking on the pass thru. We probably won't go big solar but we have an on board generator with autostart on our DRV. We only have to battle born lithium but may add at least 2 more. Thank you so much for your videos! You guys absolutely rock! Gator
Can you come do it for my rig 😬😜! I need it but just like you said about the time to install.. I don’t have the time but hopefully when we head to home base for the holidays then I’ll have the time! Thanks for the info!
Liked... for the great technical info... ....and also the cool references to Star Trek, Charlie Brown, and I Love Lucy... daaaaaaaaaaaaaamned we're old! Hope to see you guys on the road some day.
@@ChangingLanes ... keep doing what your doing... looking solid for 50. I'm right on your heels though so I try never to act my age... confuses mother time lol.
We like what you did, the video was awesome. My wife says all that tech mumbojumbo was guy talk in code for when and where the ultimate guy meet up is going to be because it sounded boring...lol yeah she is all mine and you can't have her...lol Thank you for taking the time in making this video and sharing. Safe travels
![🛠 Tools for Full Time RV Living! [RV Tools] Changing Lanes!](/img/n.gif)
⚠⚠⚠ NOTE! This inverter has been UPGRADED! See: ua-cam.com/video/g2g8dDxAumE/v-deo.html
I showed this video to my brother who is a Master Electrician. He sends his “kudo’s” and congratulations to you. You did an excellent job!!
Chad...you are simply AMAZING! I’ve got no clue what your professional background is (other than the generic “Navy”) but I’m always impressed with how calm, collected and generally supportive you are in every challenge you, Tara and Daisy are faced with. You are an inspiration.
Thanks! 😊 I was an Aviation Electronics Tech (AT)... so at least I do have some professional training on the electronics stuff.. LOL
I've watched so many videos on this topic, and this is the first one that actually covered everything in an comprehensive way about how each component works together. Thanks.
Thanks! Be sure to see our latest updates:
ua-cam.com/video/g2g8dDxAumE/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/hdtC2XZ8z-g/v-deo.html
An electronics genius . I wish I had this jack of all trades knowledge for the RV world .
The tip to use cable slack to guide the control cable saved me a ton of time.
Love this video!! I have an electrical engineering background so I can truly appreciate what you had to do through to make this happen!!!! Great work!
Man that is quite the process. Electrical is something most people know nothing about.
Please do not feel skeptical on being technical. I feel like you guys are the only channel that go this in depth with installs. Love that vids! Please don’t quit UA-cam!
Thanks for the encouragement, Douglas! And thanks for watching!
The fact you were able to explain exactly what you did with no notes is impressive. Wow. It's equally impressive how your wife was able to create this video piece by piece since it was all jibberish to her. Oh, love your cable management. That's the sign of a respectable IT guy. I'm also in IT so I appreciate that stuff. Well done video!
Thanks for watching! 😊
This is why I hire someone. Extremely impressed.
Boy I’m with you.. feeding the wire through the rig is the big challenge!
I only have a million questions, i saw the begining of this video when it first came out but I didnt understand much of it BUT I just bought a 3500w puresinewave and 470ah batts with solar panels and it makes sense now, your a genius !
I did this same thing about 15 years ago. Newer inverters and Lithium batteries are game changers. Darn pricey though, and you chose the value option on the batteries. One thing I would add is a shunt to keep tabs on the battery capacity. Nicely done.
Yea.. went cheaper on the batteries knowing those could be easily upgraded in place later. We already have the Victron BMV-712 (shunted) Battery Monitor - (amzn.to/2NUyGUS) sitting in the office ready to install when I get some free time. Of course there will be a video on that as well.
At least she’s honest... you don’t know what you don’t know and it’s cool
Bob is great...I have spoken to him many times with my own GP IC-2000....very helpful.
Bob is the MAN! Thanks for watching! Hope you check out the rest of our channel! 😊
I could never recreate this for fear of messing something up BUT I understood all of what you said and I appreciate that so much!
Excellent video. Thanks for all the minute details and tips. My husband just finished installing an IC 2000 in our Raptor 5th Wheel. He appreciated how detailed you were on your video. We follow you weekly and can't wait to get on the road ourselves. Thanks for your service and thanks for great instruction!
Congrats on the inverter install! That's a hell of a task off the list! LOL Thanks for following our journey! 😊
Hey Chad, Thanks for all your content. Good to see you putting that awesome electronics training to good use. Former AT here.
I love the way you planned this all out and executed it. Great explanation of everything too. Great job on the video. I enjoyed it... but I'm a geek, so....
Great video. Excellent finish work on your clean install with great tips and tricks. Many will find your detailed work very helpful. You're one handy dude. More importantly and rarely seen is an extremely detailed and smart install. One little tip is to add large washers to the thru bolts in the battery box. Large washer will help keep the bolts from ripping out of the box while cornering, hard braking, or bumpy travel by spreading the load and compressions over a larger area.
Tip 2) Many home, auto and DIY specific brick and mortar retailers rent or loan specialty tools. Check with your retailer before you buy any tool you're likely to use just once.
Cheers from Seattle!
Bro you are a real professional and one of the smartest people i have ever seen on UA-cam lol. Excellent work.
Thanks! 😊 . Don't give me a big head or I won't fit in the basement to do more work! 😎
You two are so precious. Love the information you put out…but especially the humor attached to it😂
Excellent video. I have a 397th too, and you explaining how to fish that wire is a huge time/frustration saver. Thank you.
Gotta run another wire through there soon for the battery monitor. LOL Hopefully it'll work again!
I am in the process of doing the same thing on my Travel Trailer but on a smaller scale. I have BB Batteries and all Victron components. Both are top quality. Your install looks fantastic.
For your followers, or anyone who actually heard what I heard (?), please let me be picky and correct one thing you said. Its the teacher mentality in me. You said that you cannot have 2 charging sources. Actually you can. But, you were talking about your original converter and the logic of leaving it in place but turned off. Which you did. The issue is not having 2 sources, rather two specific sources. The converter which shouldn't charge the batteries while running off AC provided by the new inverter which is getting its power from the same DC source. If that could be done, we would have perpetual "motion". However, two or more charging sources, such as converter OR inverter / charger and solar charge / controllers is perfectly okay... if consideration of settings is ah... ah... considered. Great entertainment for me stuck inside on a very hot Sunday after. Very nice work, Sir
These videos always get to me, there is a lot of good info but it always seems money is no object. Most people can’t afford to do half this stuff
Great call going with the welding cable. We’ve done that before on DC runs. Love it! Also, glad to see you using some Klein Tools.
You could put in an expandable solar system for less than the inverter! Great job on the install, excellent presentation.
Two different things. Solar charges batteries... The inverter lets us run the 120V AC side of the RV via the batteries.
Really enjoying your videos. My wife and I are looking at the full time RV lifestyle in two years when our youngest graduates and goes on to college. Love all your how to vids, and the office was a huge WIN for us.. We will both be working from the office while we travel. Thanks again and keep them coming.
Thanks for watching!
By the way, lots of earlier generation residential solar panels are around second-hand, you just need the roof space for larger panels and some heavy-duty mounts (Amazon). I picked up 4 280-watt Canada Power panels for $50 each on Facebook locally, used 3 for an off-grid battery/inverter project for my backyard shed/workshop and will use the fourth on the next (larger) fifth-wheel RV. The shed project enabled me to install a 30 amp plug, where I connect the RV while it is stored next to it to power up lighting and charge batteries while learning a lot about off-grid power for the future RV project. Great job by the way, great episode.
Great advice! Thanks!
First off I love all your video's They a Great, you give me a lot of ideas. As I watched you install your inverter system it brought back a lot of memoirs. I installed a Inverter in my 5th wheel in 2015 and installed everything you did but my inverter is a Xantrex Freedom SW Series 3012 | 3000 Watt Inverter/Charger and I installed a Zamp 450 watt solar system. Everything has been working great. I love my solar system. We boondock a lot. What's great about the solar is it charges as I drive down the freeways so when we get were we are going to camp my batt are all charged up. The only time I have to use my genset is when it is cloudy or I run the A/C.
We hope to do solar this year.. 👍🏼
This is virtually a timeless tutorial. Enjoyed it very much and big high five to you, Chad. Your planning and preparation made it step thru so logically and safely. So well done! 👍
Enjoyed your video. I just purchased a 38' 5'r and am moving out of the Class A. I had installed 1500W of solar on the Class A and will probably do the same on this one once we get everything else in place. Have a Magnum 3012 Hybrid and am planning on using it in the 5th wheel. As I already have the Magnum I am going to make a transfer box that will enable me to use half the panel for the Inverted loads while on batteries or the generator and the inverter will only function as a charger when hooked to utility power. I can rearrange loads in the panel to accomplish breakout this way without having to use separate breakout panel. I realize this will be a little out of balance leg to leg but the 2 AC units are the major items and they will run on one leg with no problem. This way I can do all wiring right at the 50A incoming line without needing to get to the distribution panel.
One thing I noted when following your video is the 17 Gallon Battery box you indicated will not fit the T105 Trojans. The next box up at home depot is the 27 Gal and it seems to be right. You might measure yours as I think it is the 27 gallon Tote unless HD used to have a 22.
Regardless really enjoy your videos. Keep em coming!
I think you're right.. must be the larger box. We've since upgraded to battleborn lithium and no longer need a box so we sold the box along with the batteries. Thanks for watching!
Not to be a nudge, but the RJ11 is a 2 wire connector, RJ14 is a four wire connector and the RJ25 is a six wire connector. The first two are the same width, the third is slightly larger and all are used in home telephone systems. The RJ45 is the eight wire connector, but only when used for data (aka ethernet) - if it's used for four phone lines, it becomes and RJ61 (even though it's the same plug....). (I work for a local telco after I retired from the Navy.)
Great video as always, and you've given me much to think about on my own inverter installation.
This is perfect for me…. I’m right in the middle of this same project. I’m going with Lithium but you’ve answered a couple questions I had, plus the location of your inverter is a game changer for me…. I was wondering where I’d locate mine and I think I may be able to do the same. Thank you so much for all the work that went into this production. High regards!
Super important to disconnect the Convertor. I just discovered mine was not disconnected. I had a steady 34amp draw with everything turned off. This draw was the convertor using the batteries to charge the batteries through the inverter. Endless loop.
Indeed! 👍🏼
Wow. What a lot of work but well worth it I'm sure. You obviously know what you're doing Chad. Good job
I just wanted to thank you both for all your informative videos. I’m researching all aspects of rv’ing ( not full time ) and have been binge watching you and a few others. Many thanks, safe & fun travels to you.
Welcome to our channel! 😊 Thanks for watching! 😊
Kudo's to you for an amazing job. I envy people with skills like yours. I'm 64 and don't know half of what you know about electrical. Now you can watch Lucy. Take care and be safe.
Wow what a complex job that install was. At least to a lay person. Great work on explaining what it was you did even though it was all over my head I enjoyed watching it. Thanks and keep up the great work.
Well put together. Love how you broke it down. I fit into the category of a little info is dangerous with electrical stuff. There always seems to be something else to know about that could cause harm or disaster with electrical. Just when I think I know enough to get started, someone starts talking about phase or sine wave... lol Keep the vids coming
I’m a master electrician own my own business what you just did there sir is pretty damn impressive bravo.
Thank you, Sir! Thanks for watching! Hope you check out the rest of our channel! 😊
Navy lost a smart dude. Great video.
Thanks, Doug!
Go Navy!!
You may have already addressed this. Go power recommends having the IC2000/3000 turned on before plugging it into shore power. They also have a built in transfer switch which will auto switch over when plugged in. The other thing I like is the power sharing, though it is only on leg 1. When plugged into a less than 50 amp source, you can dial down the input amps, so it will not over draw the source, and if it needs more, it can then borrow from the batteries. Thanks for the video, even if it was a year ago.
Very nice clean and well thought out install. You will find that running off those batteries will drain them pretty quick. Solar will help keep the batteries much happier. Solar has come way down in price so I don't think it will be as bad as you think especially if you're doing the install. Excellent video...thumbs up.
Yes! Solar and Lithium are in the future for sure! Love doing these projects myself too. What's that saying" The only way to know it's done right is.... 😊 Thanks for watching!
Great video. I will say be careful using your inverter when you’re away from shore power. The batteries will drain really fast and if you need to raise your landing gear and leave... it won’t happen.
They can just fire up the generator or plug in the 7pin to the truck ;)
Appreciate this video; did the same thing on my Voltage but recently sold it and purchased a Momentum and need to do it all again. This time, I'm also adding more solar, all Victron components (Inverter, Solar, BMS), and Battle Born Lithium batteries. One of the things I had not yet purchased was the EMS (been using the portable one) but have added it to the list. It's always good to see these type of installs on similar rigs and I like the way you used the 50A pass through to simplify the fuse box wiring.
That 50A passthru is awesome! Can't go wrong with Victron. We recently had a relay go bad in our 2K GoPower and they swapped it with the 3K no charge. We've also upgrades to 300Ah of battleborn and added the BMV-712 battery monitor. Solar maybe sometime before next summer.
I just checked the MultiPlus 3K hoping it could do the same but it doesn't appear to have that option; the second leg is only hot if the AC is connected. I'll have to pick and choose which items I want available from the inverter. Regarding solar, Arizona Wind and Sun is a good resource; just tell them what you are looking for and they will design a package for you that includes everything.
That's a real downside to that inverter, having to chose what to power and move things around. There are a couple of Magna inverters also that do 50A passthru.
You guys are awesome. The look on her face when your speaking about the legs and the 120v etc… lol
Awesome and a different approach then most I've seen. I like the way you broke it up into individual projects and did all the non-disruptive ones first. I have a 600A inverter just to run one or two outlets for TV, etc and it has been sitting in my garage for 2 years! LOL This may be the incentive I need.
Thanks, Eric! Had I not broken it into manageable project chunks, it would still be in the box. LOL
I don't even have a 50 Amps rig and this video kept me watching the entire time. That was amazing work Chad!!!
I also want to sincerely congratulate the five potatoes that disliked this video 😉
LOL! 🥔! Thanks, Eli! Surprised it's only 5. So many people out there who think DC should just stay DC and why am I playing god with electricity! LOL
We have a 2016 Momentum 397th. and I have been watching your you tube video. I am in the middle of installing solar, on it. When you install your solar you might look in to running your wires from the roof down through the cabinet in the master bed room, next to the bath room. That is where I am running mine, .
2018 and later, they provide a roof access panel and conduit to the basement area... 😊 What kind of panels / controller are you installing?
Where we Camp in the High Mountains of Montana. We use 2-200 wattSolar Panels with 8 Lithium Ion Deep CycleBatteries. Mostly just set-up for Hunting Camp or Lake Fishing. Rarely start the Onan and power everything without AC involved. Always have excess power for Late night movies or any and all lighting. Initially I used Sealed V-tanks & Sealed 8D Batteries. No off gases so I just removed the ventilation hoses and it worked well for the time. A lot of extra weight in the Sealed Batteries was eliminated in the Lithium Ion conversion. And I sold the Sealed batteries for Half Life as they have 10 year life span on average. Depending on cycles rates and keeping usage under 50% to lengthen over all life. Use low wattage everything to get more life.
8 Lithium! NICE! 6v or 12v? What's your total Ah with that? Very cool! Thanks for watching! 😊
Changing Lanes
Have you considered working with Grand Design to share your upgrade ideas?? Maybe they can prewire some of it “Prep”in some of there upcoming coaches. Just a thought. Not that it doesn’t look fun to do yourself. I have watched all your how to videos. They are awesome. That rig is bomb. If for some crazy reason you do a giveaway on it. I would love to be the first to put my name in the hat. My little family would enjoy the hell out of it. I would enjoy the upgrades!!!! I could only dream......Safe travels. Enjoy your videos!!!!
In fact, we have suggested a "boondocking package" to GDRV and they are working on it. 😎 We think it should be called the "Changing Lanes Boondocking Package", but I think they were working on this idea before we suggested it... 🤣
Thanks for watching, Ram! 😊
Oh this is great... adding to my list for before leaving home base.
Actually pretty motivating video you've made. After watching I started designing a system for my 2002 Jamboree. Much thanks to both of ya for posting.
Thanks for watching! Hope you check out the rest of our channel! 😊
@@ChangingLanes definitely will be watching
Outstanding install video! I didn't have a single question left unanswered. When I get my rig, I hope to do similar, using AGM batteries
Excellent! We hop to upgrade to Lithium some time this year... Thanks for watching, Clarence! Hope you check out the rest of our channel! 😊
Excellent video!! Much appreciated. You guys make a great couple!
I'm impressed!! That is so cool! Thanks for the video.
Another job accomplished. Fantastic work.
Well executed project.
Great video. Great clip of Doc Brown haha! I applaud your crimping comment. Those hydraulic crimper are expensive, but so worth it. Hope you are doing well during this strange time. Stay well and hope to see you guys on the road one day.
Awsome job on that battery box
Thank you for making the videos. I just discovered your channel searching for advice on how to do exactly what you have done here. I never thought of leaving the converter in my RV but I like that idea. We are taking a trip to Las Vegas and Pomona CA next month and will definitely be doing this upgrade before we go as we have the same frustration with making coffee in the morning and watching a movie at night when parked close to others at the racetrack or campground.
Thanks for watching! 😊 The 50A passthru is the only way to go! Good luck! 👍🏼
Tesla was right! (and they are a great band too!) - Edison's medicine ;) Great info! Looking forward to doing some power mods to our GD Imagine.
Best inverter install video I’ve seen. Very easy to understand. Great job!
Thanks! It was a definitely learning experience in coordinating a big project with minimal disruption. Thanks for watching! 😊
I am purchasing my first RV this year. I have really enjoyed your content. I like the concept but as you discussed some of the directions of the wires it got very confusing. The process of feeding the wires through with the "slack" in the wire I would like to clarify, you basically used the existing wire as your snake? Attached the new wires and I assume another string or something to retrieve the original wire? Seeing as this is almost 3 years later, what would you suggest to do now? I have not even picked my RV up yet, it is used but, your information has clarified items I need to inspect. Thank you.
Good job brother, I am hoping to get something like this done on my trailer soon. I have just been nervous and wanted to get as much information as possible before taking the project on. I work remote and this will allow my family and I to travel for longer. I currently just have one fold-able solar panel that keeps our batteries topped in addition to some battery generators for everything else. We don't like to asphalt camp.
Solar power is something that interests me but when it come time to seal the roof do the panels pose a pain in the process?
Also what are your thoughts about the portable solar panels that can be set out on the ground pointed at the sun?
Pros and cons to both I’m sure.
Input please!
Great videos !!!
Thanks very much!!!
Awesome install!!! Great video step by step a kid could follow! Thanks so much for all y’alls videos and the real deal!!!
Thanks for the great information, must be a former Navy Electricians Mate. Fair Winds & Follows Seas...wait, you’re full timing it, so I’ll stick to Ride Safe...from a FTCM(SW) USN(Ret).
Close! I was an AT. Thanks for watching!
This is my next project and you have answered several of my questions with this video. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Nice job and well planned out; love the idea of doing as much as possible without "killing" all coach power, then, it's minimal down-time (power-wise). Good work. Be Safe!
Thanks! If I had to do this all in one shot, the inverter might still be in a box. LOL Thanks for watching!
Wow! Lots of info! This is great! I really love your channel. My wife and I look forward to RVing full time at some point in the distant future. For now we enjoy lots of weekend camping in our 28’ travel trailer... when we go full time, we plan to upgrade the truck and get a 5th wheel toy hauler. It’ll be nice to have my HD Street Glide along with us!
Excellent presentation! Can't show this to my wife, she will want to change all our priorities! :)
LOL! It was a beast of a project, but so glad to have it in!
Awesome video guys!! The planning, execution and recording of this was great to watch. Thanks
Thanks, Rob! Hope you check out the rest of our channel! 😊
@@ChangingLanes We are :-) slowly working our way through all of them!
Good job dude....I've done it before with a Xantrex system....I think I like your system more than mine. I mentioned this upgrade to an rv salesman and he looked puzzled.
LOL! It's not hard to confuse some RV sales people when you get into the nitty gritty.
Pretty over the top. Pretty crazy. But an outstanding video, nonetheless.....great job, Chad. But I wouldn't recommend anyone try this unless you are a certified electrician. This is most definitely a "Pro-Skill Level" project.
What really surprises me is that this is not one of the options you can elect to have installed at the factory. I would think you should be able to purchase several large roof mounted solar panel arrays along with a massive battery bank and have it all professionally installed right at the factory where they could do this fairly easily. I would think anything that extends your boondocking timetable is a good thing.
Yes.. would be nice for sure!
Very nice job.
Ours came with a residential fridge, so they had an Inverter stock. But it wasn't plugged in to an outlet, it is hardwired near our ATS.
Yea.. fairly common to not have an inverter with the RV fridge. I'm curious about the wiring of the stock inverter with a residential fridge... Are any of your outlets or TVs powered when disconnected from shore power? Or does it just power the fridge?
@@ChangingLanes I'll have to test it out. I honestly don't know. We were told it was just for the fridge, but dealers aren't always right
@@ChangingLanes ours is a WFCO 1000w pure sine wave Inverter.
But I just realized there is 2 (+/-) 1/0ga battery cable, a copper ground, there is hardwired AC cable and also an outlet AC plug that is plugged into a single-gang AC outlet I didn't see before. The wiring isn't exactly easy to follow.
Our fuse/power center is closer to the rear of our Toyhauler near the axles, inside. Generator is same place as yours. Our batteries are above curbside level-up jack inside the small compartment up front. And our ATS and Inverter are inside the understorage behind the generator area.
Lol
LOL True story about the dealers. Let us know what you find out? Thanks!
@@ChangingLanes damn u and ur video.... LoL. Making me add to my to-do list.
Seriously though, thanks for the clear and informative video. Made me rethink this and I have low trust with the manufacturer.
My background is in 12volt electrical and I work in electronic manufacturing now. So this being done right is high on my personal priority. Definitely going to investigate more now :)
Damn son... You just blew my mind!
.
It is every interesting, but think not having a electric background I am with Tara, having a nap.
I geeked out on this latest video... I like the pass through 50 amp. We currently are in a 30 amp camper and I have all the equipment (Magnum Hybrid 3012) to install. Now we are looking at upgrading to different RV and its going to be 50 amp, and I am not crazy about doing a break out panel for the 30 Magnum. May sell equipment now and look at a 50 as well.
Full 50A Passthru is a HUGE benefit for installation and use simplicity. Thanks for watching!
I have been watching you guys for some time . Thanks for the inverter stuff. I have shore power and converter, but need to have it switch on its own . And I'm going to check out your batteries as well.
Awesome video, very helpful, my wife and I are getting ready to move into our cyclone full time, and I will be coming back to this later down the road to do this set up, thanks for sharing, maybe we will meet ya on the road someday.
Most excellent video. Most likely not going to be a near term project for our new 5th wheel. Already scheduled IS suspension upgrade, this one will have to wait. We are getting 215 watt factory solar. Going with (2) 6V batteries to start. I have read that 12V is much better for high load draws rather than 6V. I can run TV off of an much smaller invertor. In fact in our TT, I had a 150watt invertor, which ran the TV, media player and large hard drive. It wasn't happy when I added the laptop charger too :) Thank you for the detailed project review. But, did I see you reading a manual? LOL, your man card will be revoked. Ever have to work on a Mooney? Let me tell you, at 6'4", it takes a contortionist to work on that IP!
At the end of your video, you discuss settings. Charge Rate. You said Trojan said to set it for 80watts. I'm sure you meant 80% since the setting is a percentage of the max rate output. Also, it's not watts, it's amps. The charge rate is measured as a percentage of 100amps. So 80% is 80amp. However, with 4 batteries, that's only 20amps per battery in the string. Checking with Trojan, the battery should be charged at between 10% and 13% of it's 20 hour AH capacity. This battery is 225Ah, so 10% would be 22.5amps and 13% would be 29amps. Meaning a setting of 100% for 100amps would be a more accurate charge rate at 25amps per battery.
Yes.. I meant Amps... and 80% / 80 Amps are the same since it's a 100A charger. On charging, you have to consider that they are in series / parallel to get 12V. A 100A setting would be supplying 50A per set. You can only divide the Amperage for the batteries wired in parallel. I forget what the setting was as we have lithium now, but I called Trojan and they gave me the proper charge settings for our configuration at the time (4x6v wired for 12v).
Nice work and great video. And best of all, no leftover screws!
Great job and super video! I have watched a few of these install videos and this was was one of the best. Most of them add solar at the same time which just makes it more complex. We have a fiver and the lithium is too rich for us as well. Thanks again !!
DUDE!!! Friggen awesome! I'm gonna need to do this!! Very awesome!
How long can you run on that for?
Did you set up a trickle charge and a nominal float voltage? I would probably use VRLA batteries. Thanks again.
Thanks! We don't boondock often, but it's nice for when we do. Will likely do more boondocking next year out west. Thanks for watching!
All depends on load. For what we use it for (coffee, TV, etc), it lasts all night and into the next day. But we haven't really pushed it to a full test. Will be doing that after I get our battery monitor installed and we film a power management video.
Yet another Home run!
OK you are amazing at explaining, but this stuff is really over my head!
Great video. It amazes me that my 2008 Fleetwood gearbox came standard with a Magnum energy inverter but it wasn't even a option on my new Keystone Fuzion.
It is strange they aren't an option for GDRV either. Certainly easier to do the wiring when it's being built... They should have a "boondockers" package with upgraded batteries and inverter with optional solar.
I’m sure you probably know this but Solar is general far less expensive in the south west to buy and install. 👍👍👍. Nice video!
Did not know that! But now we do! Thanks for the tip and thanks for watching!
Like you, we have a Grand Design product, in our case a Solitude that came with one lead/acid battery and the WFCO 55 A converter/charger. We do a lot of dry camping mostly up in B.C.'s lower mainland. Not having the news on television in the morning, our k-cup coffee maker or blow dryer is, quite frankly a first world problem, but so be it.
I've done a lot of research but, not having too high an electrical aptitude, I've stalled. Watched your vid several times and wanted to get some advice. We added two Battle Born Lithiums and plan on adding another one for a total of three or 300 Ah. We have a portable Honda generator, EU 2000 and a portable Zamp Solar 230 W unit. I've narrowed the choice of inverter to either the Victron 3000w 50 A install kit sold by AM Solar or a 3000w Go Power Inverter which, by the way, is manufactured up here in Victoria, B.C. The Go Power works out to be slightly cheaper but I understand that it won't service both legs on the electrical service panel. The AM Solar kit is pretty complete but more expensive. They advertise that both 50 A legs on the panel are serviced. We don't plan on powering our A/C so feel that the 3000w will be more than enough.
I know that you used the Go Power 2000w unit but wonder whether both legs are serviced? I can furnish you my phone number if replying makes it easier for you. Thanks for your videos. They've been really helpful.
Hi, Fred... The GoPower will service both legs. it just doesn't handle hybrid mode on both legs where it adds power to supplement shore or generator power on both legs. We recently replaced our 2000W inverter under warranty and they gave us a 3000W as a replacement. It's works great powering both legs. We've never tried to use hybrid mode anyway. Hope that helps!
Came back to watch this again Chad. Nice work! I am currently looking at the victron multiplusII. I like your thinking on the pass thru. We probably won't go big solar but we have an on board generator with autostart on our DRV. We only have to battle born lithium but may add at least 2 more.
Thank you so much for your videos! You guys absolutely rock!
Gator
Thank you for the informative video. The amp draw for the coffee pot has to be worth it.
Can you come do it for my rig 😬😜! I need it but just like you said about the time to install.. I don’t have the time but hopefully when we head to home base for the holidays then I’ll have the time! Thanks for the info!
It's not too bad if you can figure out how to do it in steps where each step can be done in a day. Good luck! Thanks for watching!
Liked... for the great technical info... ....and also the cool references to Star Trek, Charlie Brown, and I Love Lucy... daaaaaaaaaaaaaamned we're old! Hope to see you guys on the road some day.
LOL! I still can't believe I turn FIFTY in a couple of weeks!
@@ChangingLanes ... keep doing what your doing... looking solid for 50. I'm right on your heels though so I try never to act my age... confuses mother time lol.
Very well done. Great explanations and reasoning. Clean work!
Great vid I’m sure u figured the Gopower
Inverter/ Charger has a built ATS
But probably didn’t hurt anything 👍🏼
We like what you did, the video was awesome. My wife says all that tech mumbojumbo was guy talk in code for when and where the ultimate guy meet up is going to be because it sounded boring...lol yeah she is all mine and you can't have her...lol
Thank you for taking the time in making this video and sharing. Safe travels
Thanks for watching, Angel! And, Happy Thanksgiving!