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School me on my solar system please!


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#1 joebob25

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Posted 02 May 2022 - 03:42 PM

Hi all!

 

My wife and I just bought an '18 FWC Hawk and we are stoked to get it out this summer! I'm a fairly handy guy with a background in the trades so I've been able to figure out most of the systems, make some minor repairs, wire the camper to the truck for running lights and charging, and even troubleshoot and replace the circuit board on the hotter heater. However my knowledge of electrical systems and anything solar is pretty limited. We're primarily interested in boon docking and being off the grid while we're in the camper. I know we have dual 6V batteries (they appear to be Deka deep cycle Intimidator batteries if that means anything) rated at 380AH combined.

 

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I have a few questions:

 

I've attached pictures the solar panels (we have 2) but I can't find any information on the panels themselves. Does anyone know the brand and likely watts of the system? They appear to be flexible panels that are attached to the roof with a bed of some type of sealant so maybe the information is on the bottom and I can't get to it. 

 

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What is the likelyhood of being able to camp for a week in good sunlight (we're in CO so we have LOTS of sunshine not days) with this system. We would want to use the fridge (85L from the factory at FWC), and heater on low most nights.

 

The other question I have is regarding the solar controller pictured below. It works well, but it never seems to think the batteries are completely charged. In full sun I have seen it charging as high as 20V around 7amps. The battery icon on the left never stops sequentially blinking from 1/2 to 3/4 to full indicating the system is charging. The battery is reading around 14.2V at this time which seems like a high voltage for the battery to be charging at for an extended period of time. Is it bad for the charger to keep cramming voltage into the battery at this level? I know the controller has functions to top off and maintain the batteries over time (and is smarter than I am), but it never seems to think the battery is actually full. I have the settings set to a sealed 12V system so I think that is all I need to do for the system to maintain it's self. Anyone have experience with this particular solar controller? I'm not sure if this an electrical system directly from FWC or not. There were different types of sealant used on the solar panels (making me think one was added after the fact) and the wood holding the batteries in place seems a little sloppy to have been done from the factory at FWC.

 

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#2 buckland

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Posted 02 May 2022 - 11:29 PM

I just did a cursory look at the set ups and I'd say it looks workable. The voltage display is Renogy, maybe the panels? (I have flex 100 W looks similar) I have a camp with AGM batteries  (7 years old) and they are on a 90 watt panel and seem to always read 14.2 down to 13. I'm no electrician but it seems you have a workable system. What is that unit strapped down on the top right corner in first photo ?


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#3 joebob25

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Posted 03 May 2022 - 07:19 PM

I just did a cursory look at the set ups and I'd say it looks workable. The voltage display is Renogy, maybe the panels? (I have flex 100 W looks similar) I have a camp with AGM batteries  (7 years old) and they are on a 90 watt panel and seem to always read 14.2 down to 13. I'm no electrician but it seems you have a workable system. What is that unit strapped down on the top right corner in first photo ?

It's a cheap 200w inverter, another reason I suspect the original owner had some aftermarket work done on the electrical system.


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#4 buckland

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Posted 03 May 2022 - 09:17 PM

Looks like it is all after market with some good and some 'questionable' . There is a lot to learn about one's camper electric. It would be wise to spend some time here on WTW in the electrical threads on Solar and batteries and you will learn a lot... or generate questions to ask to clarify what they are talking about. Basically you can have AGM (lead) batteries or LiFePo4 (lithium iron phosphate) batteries. 

Solar panels to a controller... then to the batteries (basically two types of controllers depending on your battery type). Inverters if you need to use 110V appliances but generally 12V ones will consume less energy. You cold take the batteries to a shop and have a load test which will determine their 'age' viability.  


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#5 BBZ

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Posted 04 May 2022 - 10:02 PM

Likely you have enough solar, but do you have enough battery to keep things going all night is the question?

 

 

I have 160 watts of solar on my roof, 200 ah of LiFePo4 (overkill, but they shipped 200ah instead of 100ah and it fit). 

 

I can run my fridge all night and the heater all night in very cold temps and only use about 15% of the battery.. if the sun is out it is usually recharged by noon..  


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#6 joebob25

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Posted 05 May 2022 - 12:56 AM

Likely you have enough solar, but do you have enough battery to keep things going all night is the question?

I have 160 watts of solar on my roof, 200 ah of LiFePo4 (overkill, but they shipped 200ah instead of 100ah and it fit).

I can run my fridge all night and the heater all night in very cold temps and only use about 15% of the battery.. if the sun is out it is usually recharged by noon..


Thanks for the reply!

From my limited research I’ve read that lithium has about 2x the capacity per AH due to the fact that you can discharge the batteries further without damaging them. If that’s the case then your 200AH of lithium is slightly more capable than my 380AH of AGM. If you can get through the night using only around 15% then I feel okay about my set up. After looking a bit more in depth it seems that the previous owner of my Hawk ripped out the factory system and added 2 6v batteries and another solar panel. Maybe he found the single 12v system with one panel wasn’t sufficient to meet his needs. I can see where he enlarged the compartment to make room for the 2 bigger batteries, and it looks like one solar panel was added at a later date.

Lots for me to learn, thanks for your input! We’re taking the camper out to my brother in law’s this weekend for a shakedown trip. I’m going to test the capacity and see how it holds up where we’ll have 120v available if we run out of juice!
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#7 Beach

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Posted 05 May 2022 - 02:54 PM

Contact Deka and find out the battery charging profile they recommend and check to see if the controller is set to it. 


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#8 Rawkrash

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Posted 24 May 2022 - 06:58 PM

[quote than my 380AH of AGM. [\quote]

If your 6V batteries are wired in series (100% chance that they are) you would add the voltages, but not the capacities.

If they’re a pair of 190’s , you would have 190AH at 12V by adding them. F they’re a pair of 380’s then you would have 380AH of capacity at 12V.

Then, being a lead/acid chemistry, you would want to figure out how deep of a discharge you are comfortable with, balancing service life considerations.
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#9 bsharp007

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Posted 27 May 2022 - 09:25 PM

To answer your question, you probably have ample power to run everything 24/7 with good sunshine.   Doesn't sound like you're running much of a load on the system....but WHEN you add an 85l 12 volt compressor fridge you will likely be adding your largest draw on your system.  I had good success with 200 watts of solar and 2 85 ah AGM batteries for MOST situations.  When I would run into trouble was during several days of cloudy weather and there would be a gradual draw down on the system that was hard to replace.  Until I added another portable 100 watt panel.  You might think about adding a battery monitor like the Victron 712 so you can better keep track of what's going into and out of your batteries.  Only around $200 and easy to install, your current solar charger isn't going to give you much info other than how much energy is going into the batteries.


Edited by bsharp007, 27 May 2022 - 09:25 PM.

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