I think the covers are supposed to be slipped over the wire before you hook the battery cables? They snap back in place to protect the wires from accidental shorting. I know you know that but others may not, just good practice for safety.
So far it’s totally silent. Even running the microwave for a few minutes to cook oatmeal. I’m sure the fans will kick on in the summer when I’m running the new air conditioner with it.
This spring/summer will be the true test of the Air Conditioner running off of the batteries/solar. (A/C Condensation collection system in the works as well). I have a couple of small electric heaters I’m testing on this system now. 175 watts @120VAC each. One in the front of the camper and one back by the bathroom. Keeping the inside temps 30° warmer than outside temps.
Wow. A lot of work. That is the problem with campers, no room to put things. I think I will buy the same inverter you have. I've only used modified sine wave inverters, & they have worked fine for me, but I like the remote switch on the Renogy. Anyway, looking good.
Yeah, we still have kids and dogs that travel with us so the back seat is occupied. I may install some type of custom rack for kayaks etc…. Not sure on design yet. I have a front hitch and a rear hitch that I put small racks on. Good for firewood, shovels, axe etc.
I’ll look into swapping to MC when the prices fall a bit. This 10awg NM-B wire is secured tight with clips every 18 inches. I’ll inspect it a few times per year to be sure it’s not rubbing through the outer jacket. The OEM romex is 20 years old this year. It all looks good.
That Renogy Inverter is a beefy unit! Tied in with your solar panels you are definitely good to go. I had a very similar 200 watt setup in our Wolf Pup Toy Hauler that we sold a couple of years ago but after looking at our Elkhorn setup I decided to simply have a small 300 watt inverter to only run our TV, Direct TV box, the King Quest Pro Automatic Satellite dish and our sound amplifier. All of 4 of those devices are wired together to a single 110v plug which I simply unplug from the small inverter mounted right next to a 110v receptacle and plug in to shore or on board generator power as needed. So for Christmas the Wife bought me a single 100 watt Renogy solar panel to be mounted to the roof and a waterproof Renogy solar controller that will maintain our single deep cell flooded battery and if necessary, we still have our Renogy 100 watt suitcase panels with a 12v plug on the camper battery box door to add that power if needed. That's our "poor man's" boondocking setup but it works on the cheap, {as we are retired and living on SSA only}. But whatever rig any of us have we all need to get out there and have fun as long as we can!
Yep, everyone has different power needs. I’m still working, (because I have to and because I really enjoy it 👍🏻) and for at least few more years will need an RV for work camping. I travel a lot in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada & California for my RV Inspection company and dry camping in my truck camper or in my car allows me to keep my expenses low and more money in my pocket. I enjoy testing different ideas for power resources etc that can help me be more efficient when traveling for business or for vacation.
Quick question… why are the battery cables double? We are installing a 3K PSW Renogy inverter but it didn’t come with any cables and just trying to figure out what those are and if we need them Vs the typical 10 gauge copper battery wires🤷♂️
Curious why you didnt, at the same time, put in a 30A auto transfer switch, so you dont have to manually unplug and plug to switch from shore power to inverter power. Also, im sure you isolated your battery charger when on inverter power. Love your videos, and methodology.
The camper was prewired for a generator so there is an auto transfer switch already installed. I ran the AC out to that transfer switch so when I power up my inverter or have shore power, it auto selects.
I’m going for efficiency and weight reduction. I have a few other videos explaining my overall heating/water/air conditioning system. I can run all of it using my solar array and batteries. Why I did not go with a Mini Split: Mini-split is expensive and honestly, it’s overkill for a camper this size. Mr. Cool Single-zone 9K btu is $900 and weighs nearly 100 lbs.
I thought about swapping my regular 900 watt microwave oven for an inverter microwave oven a couple of years ago. The issue for me was that the cycling of the power (magnetron cycling on & off every few seconds) can shorten the life of the batteries. (If boondocking and running off of house battery/inverter power). The cycling from 1200 watts (magnetron on) to 50-100 watts (magnetron off) every few seconds will cause damage to certain types of batteries.
@@randpamadventures8374 That’s awesome. What manufacturer? The Panasonic that I tried kept cycling power on/off every 5 seconds. Maybe I need to try another.
Panasonic NN-SN67KS I got it on Amazon. It fills the space as the one Lance put my camper. It actually bigger than I really need. But it fits prefect, I run it at power level 5 or 4
Quick unrelated question..I have the F350 (2006) as well. Not sure we have the same electrical system but I haven’t found a quick disconnect or the fuse to pull to stop the reverse warning horn from going off due to the camper hanging over the back end of the truck. What did you do? If you have that same system? Thanks again for all the great videos!
Mine has a button on the dash right next to the 4WD selector just above the power rear window switch. It’s marked “P” It can be seen at the forty-five second mark in this video ua-cam.com/video/QpXvGsBYZMQ/v-deo.html
No battery cables included with mine either. I purchased new cables with my batteries. I am running a 2000 watt pure sine inverter with their recommended 1/0awg cables. No issues so far.
I am doing a similar install on my lance 1191 with a victron multiplus 2000. On the DC side what did you do with the ground? It looks like you didn't use one?
For grounding, there’s a ground lug on the inverter. I have an 8 gauge cable that runs to the negative bus bar on the system. (That is connected to the campers OEM electrical panel which is connected to the trucks grounding through the 7-way plug.) I also tested and made sure all of my GFCI AC outlets are tripping with my tester. I’ll do a follow-up video on this.
I think the covers are supposed to be slipped over the wire before you hook the battery cables? They snap back in place to protect the wires from accidental shorting. I know you know that but others may not, just good practice for safety.
Boondocking is the best.
👍🏻
Fantastic way of doing things. I hope it's quieter than my Progressive Dynamics 1800 with dual fans that run high full time.
So far it’s totally silent. Even running the microwave for a few minutes to cook oatmeal. I’m sure the fans will kick on in the summer when I’m running the new air conditioner with it.
Now I understand the small window unit vs roof mount.
This spring/summer will be the true test of the Air Conditioner running off of the batteries/solar. (A/C Condensation collection system in the works as well).
I have a couple of small electric heaters I’m testing on this system now. 175 watts @120VAC each. One in the front of the camper and one back by the bathroom. Keeping the inside temps 30° warmer than outside temps.
May you never have to deal with the special hell that is Renogy's customer service.
Wow. A lot of work. That is the problem with campers, no room to put things. I think I will buy the same inverter you have. I've only used modified sine wave inverters, & they have worked fine for me, but I like the remote switch on the Renogy. Anyway, looking good.
You know you can take out your back seats and add a storage rack on top.
Yeah, we still have kids and dogs that travel with us so the back seat is occupied. I may install some type of custom rack for kayaks etc…. Not sure on design yet. I have a front hitch and a rear hitch that I put small racks on. Good for firewood, shovels, axe etc.
What are the sizes for those small lugs you used to hardwire those 3 wires to the inverter? Thanks
Loved the informative video. Can you tell me if the fan comes in alot? Just concerned about the noise over night with just a fridge running off it.
The high output terminals are tiny. I’m trying to find a good size connector. Did you use a spade?
Jesse, we need to cook
You need to be running mc cable not romex
I’ll look into swapping to MC when the prices fall a bit. This 10awg NM-B wire is secured tight with clips every 18 inches. I’ll inspect it a few times per year to be sure it’s not rubbing through the outer jacket. The OEM romex is 20 years old this year. It all looks good.
That Renogy Inverter is a beefy unit! Tied in with your solar panels you are definitely good to go. I had a very similar 200 watt setup in our Wolf Pup Toy Hauler that we sold a couple of years ago but after looking at our Elkhorn setup I decided to simply have a small 300 watt inverter to only run our TV, Direct TV box, the King Quest Pro Automatic Satellite dish and our sound amplifier. All of 4 of those devices are wired together to a single 110v plug which I simply unplug from the small inverter mounted right next to a 110v receptacle and plug in to shore or on board generator power as needed. So for Christmas the Wife bought me a single 100 watt Renogy solar panel to be mounted to the roof and a waterproof Renogy solar controller that will maintain our single deep cell flooded battery and if necessary, we still have our Renogy 100 watt suitcase panels with a 12v plug on the camper battery box door to add that power if needed. That's our "poor man's" boondocking setup but it works on the cheap, {as we are retired and living on SSA only}. But whatever rig any of us have we all need to get out there and have fun as long as we can!
Yep, everyone has different power needs. I’m still working, (because I have to and because I really enjoy it 👍🏻) and for at least few more years will need an RV for work camping. I travel a lot in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada & California for my RV Inspection company and dry camping in my truck camper or in my car allows me to keep my expenses low and more money in my pocket.
I enjoy testing different ideas for power resources etc that can help me be more efficient when traveling for business or for vacation.
Yes we all need to watch our budget!
@@covetthecamper2289 We have a another Brand ALFFAA same inverter.We can send to you review.Can you send me your email?
Quick question… why are the battery cables double? We are installing a 3K PSW Renogy inverter but it didn’t come with any cables and just trying to figure out what those are and if we need them Vs the typical 10 gauge copper battery wires🤷♂️
Curious why you didnt, at the same time, put in a 30A auto transfer switch, so you dont have to manually unplug and plug to switch from shore power to inverter power. Also, im sure you isolated your battery charger when on inverter power. Love your videos, and methodology.
The camper was prewired for a generator so there is an auto transfer switch already installed. I ran the AC out to that transfer switch so when I power up my inverter or have shore power, it auto selects.
@@covetthecamper2289 Thats How I did it too, simple safe and least intrusive.
go with a Mr. cool and run it on solar
I’m going for efficiency and weight reduction.
I have a few other videos explaining my overall heating/water/air conditioning system. I can run all of it using my solar array and batteries.
Why I did not go with a Mini Split:
Mini-split is expensive and honestly, it’s overkill for a camper this size.
Mr. Cool Single-zone 9K btu is $900 and weighs nearly 100 lbs.
I just replace my microwave with a inverter microwave now can control the watts the microwave is using
I thought about swapping my regular 900 watt microwave oven for an inverter microwave oven a couple of years ago. The issue for me was that the cycling of the power (magnetron cycling on & off every few seconds) can shorten the life of the batteries. (If boondocking and running off of house battery/inverter power). The cycling from 1200 watts (magnetron on) to 50-100 watts (magnetron off) every few seconds will cause damage to certain types of batteries.
I can run the watts down to 650 watts and it runs continuously by using the power level button. It uses 1% per min on my battery’s boondocking
@@randpamadventures8374
That’s awesome. What manufacturer? The Panasonic that I tried kept cycling power on/off every 5 seconds.
Maybe I need to try another.
Panasonic NN-SN67KS I got it on Amazon. It fills the space as the one Lance put my camper. It actually bigger than I really need. But it fits prefect, I run it at power level 5 or 4
@@randpamadventures8374
Great. Thanks for the info.
Quick unrelated question..I have the F350 (2006) as well. Not sure we have the same electrical system but I haven’t found a quick disconnect or the fuse to pull to stop the reverse warning horn from going off due to the camper hanging over the back end of the truck. What did you do? If you have that same system?
Thanks again for all the great videos!
Mine has a button on the dash right next to the 4WD selector just above the power rear window switch. It’s marked “P”
It can be seen at the forty-five second mark in this video
ua-cam.com/video/QpXvGsBYZMQ/v-deo.html
Did your Renogy come with the battery cables? My 3,000 did not, they said I needed 4/0 cables
No battery cables included with mine either.
I purchased new cables with my batteries. I am running a 2000 watt pure sine inverter with their recommended 1/0awg cables. No issues so far.
I am doing a similar install on my lance 1191 with a victron multiplus 2000. On the DC side what did you do with the ground? It looks like you didn't use one?
For grounding, there’s a ground lug on the inverter. I have an 8 gauge cable that runs to the negative bus bar on the system. (That is connected to the campers OEM electrical panel which is connected to the trucks grounding through the 7-way plug.)
I also tested and made sure all of my GFCI AC outlets are tripping with my tester. I’ll do a follow-up video on this.
@@covetthecamper2289Would also appreciate such a video as well!!!
What size fuse are you using on the DC input size of the inverter?
150A ANL fuse on the input side between the bus bar and the inverter.