7 replies to this topic

[munchmeister]

I thought I would post the inaugural test of my Goal Zero charging system for my 2015 FWC Raven shell. The shell was pre-wired but had no house battery so Nathan's RV of Fort Collins installed an Interstate sealed, deep cycle, 75 amp hour battery and a powered Fantastic fan, a "key off" separator, and a small switched volt meter. I was primarily looking for the fan to keep the parked camper cool for my small traveling companions, as well as a way to keep this shell camper cooler in hot weather. I have had a Goal Zero Yeti 400 with 2 Boulder 30 PV panels to use for a small 12v fan and for charging small lights, camera batteries, smart phones, etc. so I had the GZ panels and wanted to use them to charge the new house battery. I got the cabling I had for my GZ Yeti 400 together and bought the GZ Guardian PWM charge controller. I hooked her up to the GZ Boulder 30s on a nice sunny Colorado day with the cords I had available, as pictured. I've since found the cable that goes from the Guardian controller to the SAE plug and the small SAE cords that are needed to plug it in, since FWC uses the Zamp SAE plug which reverses polarity. I had these items, just needed the GZ Guardian controller and went with GZ just to keep it all in the family. Better resale value if I ever decide to sell it. Well it was buzzing along quite well for a couple of hours and topped off the battery to full charge. The GZ controller has LEDs to tell you the SOC and when your battery is full! For a "starter" setup, it should keep me juiced for my needs until I decide if I need more. And I have my Yeti 400 for charging portable lights, iPhone, or running a laptop. I'll probably add to this system over the summer, with a PV panel up top, mounting to the Thule rack that the Raven has. Simple, n00b system but I'm happy so far ! 😁💪🏻

 

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[munchmeister]

Couple more photos. Fantastic fan and the small, switched voltmeter.

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[Vic Harder]

Nice and simple!

[Karlton]

Nice to see you got some solar installed. 

 

Cheers

[dustent]

Nice setup, looks like an good use of what you already had and what you needed to add some off-grid capabilities.

 

BTW - I'm your ex-neighbor with the Airstream. I've started stalking WTW after you inspired me to add a pop-up truck camper for a dedicated mobile office while we're on the road. I'll be posting more details, but I just picked up an ATC Panther for the Chevy and will be doing some solar/battery/seating mods right away. Cheers buddy, hope all is well. Let me know when you're heading down to TX to visit, I have a pool and it's warm down here already.

[munchmeister]

Nice setup, looks like an good use of what you already had and what you needed to add some off-grid capabilities.
 
BTW - I'm your ex-neighbor with the Airstream. I've started stalking WTW after you inspired me to add a pop-up truck camper for a dedicated mobile office while we're on the road. I'll be posting more details, but I just picked up an ATC Panther for the Chevy and will be doing some solar/battery/seating mods right away. Cheers buddy, hope all is well. Let me know when you're heading down to TX to visit, I have a pool and it's warm down here already.

Dusten you know this stuff better than me, man, so keep me on the path here! And keep me posted on your pop top adventures.

[So Cal Adventurer]

Keep your receipts for all GoalZero products!!!

 

I've had many friends with GoalZero products have them fail within a year.  Crazy because theyre probably the most expensive option out there.

 

It seems like a 50/50 split, some have great luck, some have nothing but problems.

 

Just a heads up, my .02

 

[munchmeister]

Goal Zero holding up so far.

 

May add a simple 12v cig plug socket to the battery posts. I've got a few of those small cig plug USB adapters that would allow charging USB items off the house battery and a small 12v fan that has the cig plug. KISS principle. At least for now. I'm a slow learner. 

 

 

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