My toy hauler thread

[supermanotorious]

Zion was AMAZING, we live in an beautiful and diverse country

at first I thought it was too much like Arizona, since we stay for a week, I take the first day to set up camp, level the hauler, etc, then relax, drink some beers, and unwind from the drive

as we started getting in to the hikes I became so impressed with how much water is in that canyon system and the life it supports, the Narrows were off limits due to high water but the oldest kid and I did Angels Landing- not gonna lie, scared the crap out of me but I didn't let her know that

the hauler did great although we struggled to keep the battery bank at a high level of charge, it's def time for solar panels, I'm thinking maybe one per pay check since I don't have a truck payment anymore

the cradle did fantastic, we went over some pretty rutted out dirt roads and an obnoxiously steep parking lot to sidewalk transition and the cradle never scraped the ground

the first day we actually couldn't camp in Zion, the sites were full, we stayed just outside the park at a pretty cool pay for camp site, a full moon made it that much cooler

so may goatheads on the ground there, I patched so many bicycle tube punctures that the tube is more patch than anything else, but I got it down to pit crew speed LOL

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Beautiful.
Don't ya just love goatheads...

 

[supermanotorious]

a few more pics

 

[supermanotorious]

ordered the rest of my solar panels which should be here tomorrow, today I'll be installing the charge controller and panel wiring, mo money mo problems.... taking the rig to Dogtown Lake this weekend

 

[supermanotorious]

I got the charge controller today and pre-wired it for the battery bank, all I'm waiting on is the monitor to arrive tomorrow, the shunt is ready to be installed which will complete the bank to charge controller circuit, still trying to decide what to do for the panels but for this weekend, they'll likely be on the ground, or sitting loose on the roof, better not forget to take them down before leaving camp!! Once the shunt is installed, I'll snap a few pics to post

 

[supermanotorious]

project about whipped my tail but the system is working! I have yet to mount the panels, thats another project for another day

 

[supermanotorious]

I am so impressed with these solar panels! I set them on the roof for our Dogtown campout and I dont believe the battery bank ever went below 90%. These panels even kick butt in the shade! At first, I did not realize the converter is frame grounded, so all the factory 12V applicances such as the radio, LP detectors, refrig control, etc were not being detected by the battery monitor. I moved the battery to frame ground to the load side of the shunt and wahlah- tracking all power usage now. I'll try to permanetly mount the panels this weekend but it looks like I'll need to fabricate the tilting mounts so that will take a little time.

 

[supermanotorious]

thought I would try out the Slim Shade. a clear door window product with pull down blinds/curtain thingy for keeping light and prying eyes out

I found it a PITA to install but not really worse than a standard door window install

I hate to say it, but I'll need to pull it off and try again someday since the tape I used is visible through the glass from the outside

 

[supermanotorious]

meh, I dunno if it's worth $90....

 

[supermanotorious]

still need to mount the panels and run the wires but I did score some XHHW 8ga for full sun exposure, I also relocated the charge controller for the shortest possible wire run to the shunt for the battery monitor

I finally got around to making some additional coutertop space which will go a long way, just need to put some wood sealant on it now, the picture doesn't make it look level but it is

 

[supermanotorious]

finally made brackets and installed the panels, I sure hope the brackets were worth the pita, my plan is to someday replace the hardware with knob bolts so I can tilt the panels

I decided to run series/parallel for higher output voltage since the 8ga run from the panels to the charge controller is about 25 feet

used 3/4" long 14ga stainless screws to attach the brackets to the roof and sealed the footings with Dicor, ran the wires down the refrigerator vent, one reason I drug my feet on this was not realizing the refrigerator vent is basically just an open channel from the roof to the service panel for the refrigerator, I had the wires then follow the refig drain hose to the bottom of the coach then ran them along the frame to the controller

 

[supermanotorious]

towed the rig to Winkelman Flats over the weekend and the panels held secure (phew). I brought my ladder to inspect the mounts periodically. now of course the sky was mostly overcast but the bank never went below 90% and was 100% when I got home

I'm not sure I configured the Victron BMV-700 properly. My batteries are Interstate RC105 Ah: 20 hr @ 210 and I have 4 of them wired in series/parallel, what do I enter for total/desired amp hour?

System Voltage: 6V + 6V = 12V
System Capacity = 210AH + 210AH = 420AH ? Well the monitor never shows this many amp hours available, even at rest, so my calculation must be wrong

 

[supermanotorious]

cant be sure but I think I've bent the frame of my Avalanche!

I've noticed the hitch getting progressively lower

 

[supermanotorious]

I didnt bend the frame, must've bent the hitch, and from what I've read its a huge POS, so I went with a 1,700 lb tongue weight hitch, WIN for me, lifted the tongue right back to where it's posed to be, trailer hooks don't fit it, need to use shackles

bound for the beach very soon!

 

[landuse]

Looks beefy

 

[supermanotorious]

if it's not one thing it's another

 

[landuse]

if it's not one thing it's another

Is that going to be a straight fitting replacement?

 

[supermanotorious]

yes, already done, Amazon to the rescue, I found out it is standard plumbing but plastic rather than metal to save weight

 

[supermanotorious]

The inverter was left on for a few months to test batteries and solar charging, burned up one of the 2 cooling fans and almost killed the other, luckily they are 12v and the size was easily found on Amazon