Posted by Eric Desrochers on March 24, 2007, 6:01 pm
Hello! I often asked for advice on here (and still do!) so I thought I
would now "give back" to the group by describing a working setup I
designed. This may prove to be useful for someone else!
The system was to be installed in a small RV, namely an 1974 Volkswagen
Westfalia. If you know those, you know that free space is a premium in
there! :)
I first started with an Optima Yellow Top (55 amps) as my starting
battery. The battery feeds the normal vehicle functions, the CD player
and a ham radio transmitter.
I then installed an Odyssey PC2150 AGM (100 amps) battery as an
auxiliary battery. We're talking of 75 lbs of lead. I called it "Da
monster"! :) It's fed from the main battery by the mean of an
intelligent solid state switch, an Hellroaring BIC-85150A. The link is
made of 8 gauge cable, fused at 60 amperes.
The camper equipment load is a Novakool 12 volts fridge (2 amps when
running, duty cycle estimated at 50%, so 1 Ah average). I also feed two
LED lamps (100 mA each) and a propane furnace (blower use 2 amps when
operating) and soon a medium capacity inverter (about 600 watts).
I have a small 120V intelligent, 3 stages charger for the places where
utility power is available. It's a Soneil constant current model, 7 aH.
The solar is made of a no name 85 watts panel and a Steca PR1515
intelligent charge controller.
I used this setup successfully on several trips and like it very much!
On one particular 6 days stationnary stay, I used less than half the
available Odyssey battery capacity. The Steca solar regulator have a
function to compute and log all the produced and consummed amps over a
period. Starting the stay with the amp counter resetted, the difference
between production and consumption for the 6 days was 50 amps, so half
the rated 100 amps of the battery was consummed. Still having hard ice
cream in the fridge after 6 days in a sunny field sure got me a lot of
attention from nearby camper friends!
The only issue so far is the Steca controller uses a weird "positive
ground" design. In clear, I cannot have a grounded load. No problem
with the LED fixture. The fridge is also floated from the body ground
because it's installed in a wooden cabinet. But it's a problem with the
furnace, which Is obviously grounded to body by the gas line and flue
vent. So I must feed it directly from the battery instead of the
"load" connection on the Steca. This make the calculation of total
consumption incomplete and imprecise. I'm still looking for an
affordable DC to DC converter/isolator to float the furnace.
You can look at pics of my setup at my web site. Sorry, texts are in
french but the pics are there anyway. Prices in CND $.
http://homepage.mac.com/dero72/bus/elwood_2006.html
I project to install a loud stereo in there and will be getting a second
Odyssey battery as my main battery in place of the Optima Yellow Top.
Regards,
--
Eric (Dero) Desrochers
http://homepage.mac.com/dero72
" Hiroshima 45, Tchernobyl 86, Windows 95 "
Posted by Paul M. Eldridge on March 24, 2007, 6:24 pm
Hi Eric,
On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 18:01:07 -0400, dero72@mac.com (Eric Desrochers)
wrote:
>Hello! I often asked for advice on here (and still do!) so I thought I
>would now "give back" to the group by describing a working setup I
>designed. This may prove to be useful for someone else! [....]
Very nicely done! Congratulations.
That rear mounted propane tank makes me a tad nervous, but I guess
there's really no way around it. I once witnessed the twisted
smouldering remains of a Winnebago (or something of its kind) on the
I5 just outside of Seattle and I suspect its propane tank(s) played a
key role in its untimely demise. <shudder>
Cheers,
Paul
Posted by Eric Desrochers on March 24, 2007, 9:02 pm
> Very nicely done! Congratulations.
Thanks!
> That rear mounted propane tank makes me a tad nervous, but I guess
> there's really no way around it.
It's legal to mount them in such a way, at least in my area. The only
restriction is it must be at least 45 inches off the ground. Mine is
just a tad lower than this. Shhhht! Don't tell the police! :)
I got the gas lines, connections and regulator professionnally
installed. They too whinned a little about my tank positionning but did
the job anyway. Height was not a problem, instead they thought it was
protruding too much off the side where it could be hit. Actually, the
tank is protruding way less than the conductor-side rear view mirror...
In the late 70s and early 80s, when there used to be a lot of Econoline
and ChevyVan campers on the road, such gas cylinder were common, often
in pairs, on the rear "barn" doors. I guess such mounting got out of
fashion, for fear of security or aesthetical reasons. Under the chassis
tanks are a lot of money and not every propane vendors are able/willing
to refill such tanks. Mine is always accepted everywhere if I
disconnect it first.
But it's possible I will install an under the chassis one someday
anyway.
Regards,
--
Eric (Dero) Desrochers
http://homepage.mac.com/dero72
" Hiroshima 45, Tchernobyl 86, Windows 95 "
Posted by Martin Riddle on March 25, 2007, 9:40 am
>> Very nicely done! Congratulations.
> Thanks!
>> That rear mounted propane tank makes me a tad nervous, but I guess
>> there's really no way around it.
> It's legal to mount them in such a way, at least in my area. The only
> restriction is it must be at least 45 inches off the ground. Mine is
> just a tad lower than this. Shhhht! Don't tell the police! :)
> I got the gas lines, connections and regulator professionnally
> installed. They too whinned a little about my tank positionning but did
> the job anyway. Height was not a problem, instead they thought it was
> protruding too much off the side where it could be hit. Actually, the
> tank is protruding way less than the conductor-side rear view mirror...
> In the late 70s and early 80s, when there used to be a lot of Econoline
> and ChevyVan campers on the road, such gas cylinder were common, often
> in pairs, on the rear "barn" doors. I guess such mounting got out of
> fashion, for fear of security or aesthetical reasons. Under the chassis
> tanks are a lot of money and not every propane vendors are able/willing
> to refill such tanks. Mine is always accepted everywhere if I
> disconnect it first.
> But it's possible I will install an under the chassis one someday
> anyway.
A spare tire carrier come to mind for a good rear mount.
Cheers
XML site map
>would now "give back" to the group by describing a working setup I
>designed. This may prove to be useful for someone else! [....]