100% RV Solar Mobile AC on the road - freezing at 59 degree

         Well folks can you really handle this 59 degrees freezing AC inside your RV - keep on dreaming, things only get this good with OverTheTopCargoTrailer. To boot it's all 100% FREE SOLAR AC - Heating & cooling. The air coming out of the unit is around 55 deg F - pretty cold. The outside unit will sit inside and quietly vent the heat out through the trailer side - fresh air or cool air will be sucked in from under the trailer or from the other side. The system will be mostly hidden & silent !!! The bottom 2 pictures are some folks who wanna show off their systems - but here we like things hidden. One is installed on the rear truck camper hitch & one on the front of an air Stream. Maybe this is where my crazy ideas come from.

Now cooled with 100% Solar Air Conditioning

A reader question : why did I use a certain type of mini split AC ?


     There are 3 basic types of mini splits, the basic ac cooling version only - runs full power on or off only, example 9,000 Btu on or Zero Btu when off. Type 2 has a heat pump - this allows the flow to be reversed and it now cools and heats both, basically it works between 32 deg up to 100 deg F. Type 3 is the INVERTER - this allows the compressor to run variable speed saving even more power. Example 9,000 Btu unit runs as low as 3,000 to 9,000 Btu range - depending on what it needs to maintain the temperature. LAST there is SEER rating, min required by law is 13 - the max of the most efficient units is SEER 27. I look at this number like MPG sort of. One more thing is low ambient operation - the best units heat down to minus -10F and will cool up to +131F ,  some also run on 120 volts and some on 240 volts, this gives you quite a selection of options - there are actually a few more, but lets keep it simple. ACTUALLY - the big secrete is to be honest, the mini split heats even better then it cools - which is funny as most folks see these as AC only.

Here it is 59 degrees F inside the trailer

The AC is installed above my bed, exactly where i want it

I'm getting great test data, much better then expected

Below is the temp install location, i'm testing that the AC works fine

before cutting large holes into the trailer sides

and or the trailer floor

Here is a fella who like to show off his AC

Mini split installed on a Air Stream trailer, 

worth $1,000 to you and $50 at the scrap yard to copper thief

"No Thanks" to the exterior install for me

This is install inside a bus bay with rear vents

Inside the bus bay, about like my set up

I left Dave a message to see how his unit is holding up

hopefully I will hear from him

http://davestruckcamper.blogspot.com/

       Since the AC will be enclosed and sucking air from the trailer sides and floor I thought it would be best to install additional mechanical ventilation - it just can't hurt as far as I'm concerned. I'm using a 8 amp auto radiator reversible fan rated to move about 900 CFM and it's very quiet. The fan is also installed with 2 fuses, one switch and is on a 10 amp pwm variable speed controller. Since the pwm controller gets quite hot it's installed below a fan to keep it nice and cool. The bottom picture is the exterior 12" cover - I may upgrade this to a 12 x 16" in the future. So far everything works great and is super quiet. I just need some quiet interior fans to help move the air around the trailer a little.

Closer to final location

8 amp auto radiator reversible fan rated to move about 900 CFM

I have now put this fan on a thermostat where it comes on at 92 F

vs running 5 hours straight when the AC is on.

Now the fan runs 75% less , only when needed

Outside fan view

10 amp pwm variable speed controller

being cooled by cabinet fan

Like magic - its all hidden & silent inside

Now cooled with 100% Solar Air Conditioning 

The Outback Mate3 and the Outback hub 4

       After a minor panic with the Mate3 appearing to be dead out of the box - Outback tech support Chris had me try a number of different cables. I tried 2 cables both worked with the hub - but not with the Mate3 , but it turns out trying a few more cat5 cables solved the problem. My only little Biach with this controller is that it's MEGA LARGE - and I would be happy if it was 75% smaller. However at $450 some bucks it does allow you to tweak just about anything under the sun. Below you can see the size of the Magnum controller - which size works just fine. Now I just need to read a 100 page guide book which details all the 1,000's of tweaks possible. Considering the size of this system - I wanna suck every watt possible. Stayed tuned for more programing details.

Above the small Magnum controller, the mate3 and the Hub

My first 5,000 solar watt daily record output

       This is really surprising and shocking to me, my panels are laying flat on the trailer roof 1,000 watts In panels - reading 4,900 watt or 04.9kwh -output top right side. I'm calling it 5,000 watts because I hade some shading and it took me about 1 hour to trim some tree branches loosing somewhere between 200-300 watts. It's really amazing to get 5 x panel output for flat laying panels in SF Bay area. Generally I was getting about 3 x panel wattage or less in output. Before talking it easy i was getting 1,800 to 2,600 watts in output. This just goes to show what a perfect setup can really produce. Below is the picture from the CC - otherwise to be honest I would need to call myself a liar. Stay tuned for more results as I discover them myself.

These past few days I have pretty much been getting 4.5 to 5 kw from my 1,000 watts in panels. I'm very pleased with the results so far, way beyond my expectations.

Lithium batteries hidden inside cabinet - now fully operational

         Here we go the 16kw / 16,000 watt mega battery system installed inside a standard 24" kitchen cabinet. There are even a few inches of room to spare. The cabinet floor was reinforced and should hold the weight without any problems. The entire system sits directly over the duel dexter axel to provide the smoothest possible ride. There is a 3" vent fan present - however it will most likely never be needed as these batteries don't produce hydrogen gas like the flooded units do. The batteries came inside a metal frame for easy lifting with a crane or forklift, I'm just using 2 strong 400 lbs straps to hold everything together just in case. 

        The lithium batteries have a different charging profile vs flooded batteries. Today I was able to add 4,000 watts solar power after having disconnected the solar for a few days. This part is really fun because none of the charge controllers or standard chargers are made for Lithium batteries - so that will remain the top secret - you may have buy my book to get an easy answer - I don't wanna give away the trade secret's for free, nobody made it that easy for me. I actually did offer to help a few people - but they weren't really that interested with my offer of help them set up their system - so I guess they like doing it their own way I would assume.

        It's sort of funny when you look at the trailer it looks so simple - everything is hidden inside all the cabinets, it's sort of like the Emperor dressed in Shepard's clothing. I guess it might be funny to cram all this stuff into a 1950's tin can vintage trailer one day. 

My solar charging is coming along pretty well, after much tweaking I am finding the setting that work quite well. None of this is in the CC books or comes with the batteries - so its mostly trail and error which involves lots of sitting around and watching what happens a few adjustments at a time. Yesterday I was able to determine that you get much more juice from your panels using Lithium batteries vs flooded batteries. Here is my post from another location, just for people who love flooded batteries.

Another reason flooded batteries SUK    

                                Since I just switched - I can now tell you 

if another person tells me how great their T105 

Golf Cart batteries are 

I will VOMIT ON YOU    

My old L16 Flooded 400 AH Surrette vs Lithium Max 

Flooded battery charge from solar panels 670 watts 

Lithium battery charge from solar panels 850 watts 

ONE HELL OF A DIFFERENCE 

- Flooded 670 vs 850 Lithium

Moral of the story  - your loosing 10-20% of your max possible solar charge output due to having junk batteries, another big secret no solar guy will ever tell you. 

Stay tuned for more.

        Transfer Efficiency of energy produced from renewable energy sources to storage batteries can significantly influence cost of the overall system.  Poor transfer efficiencies of lead acid require 20% larger solar installations when compared to LYP lithium storage systems. Lead acid batteries due to their high internal resistance have a transfer efficiency of 72 - 76% compared to 96% transfer efficiency of the LYP battery. A 50W, Solar panel installation can produce 400 whr of energy during an 8 hour period,  but only 304 whr of this energy will be stored by lead acid batteries, meanwhile a 40 watt solar panel installation with LYP batteries would store the same amount of energy during an eight hour period.

    

Do Dreams really come TRUE ?

Dreams really do come TRUE !!

               

                  Here is a picture of a very tearful goodbye

from my very best friend Ricky the Ebola Rat Master. 

7 Years and $1,400,000 bank fraud, 500+ visits from police and code enforcement, $13,000 unpaid electric bill, 1 arrest for city water thefts.
100,000 drug deals right in a school zone, ZERO arrests for that
2 years without any power, 2 years condemned house, turned a deplex into a 6 plex, 20 bums paying rent to live there, $50,000 in unpaid property taxes, 
$125,000 in code enforcement fines & 6 months free living after the bank foreclosure,
San Jose city has spent $250,000+ on services, fire , ambulance, free meals, police & code enforcement.
55 Count criminal inditement 2 years ago, the list goes on and on..... 



July 31st has become the new 4th of JULY for our street

     
     

How to disarm a 16,000 watt battery like MacGyver

           I sort of had the feeling I was disarming something dangerous- one wrong slip and ka-boom. Now for those of you who are a little nervous, you might wanna look away. Here comes the fun part, just remember don't drop a wrench or touch anything across the positive / negative bus bars. The best case is you might be blind after you see 4th of July fireworks.

Here is the battery & BMS that needs to be removed
for shipping it also sits inside a metal frame.
The gray tray & black box is the BMS
Left side has 800 amp fuse and contactor
The right wire is Negative
The left wire is Positive

Its so easy, flip a tiny switch and see 13.71 volts
100% charged would be 14 volts maybe
On this battery Bulk is 14.0 vdc
Absorb is 14.4 vdc
Float is 13.6 vdc

NO- EQUALIZE-REQUIRED
no water to refill

First switch the BMS off 'silver switch" & remove the negative to the BMS
the black button is the reset button

This works great with 1/2" or 13 mm socket

Step 2 remove the positive wire from the BMS

Step 3 unplug the wiring harness from the BMS

Remove the 12+ little wires from the battery circuit boards

In my case it was easier to get the black boards to pop off 

vs. unplugging each wire

and maybe break something

Finally remove the 4 bolts holding the BMS to the battery

this was a 6 mm allen wrench

Here we go BMS is removed - danger is mostly over

Last item remove the 9 bridges tying the 4 cells together

Finished for now

Stay tuned - removal of metal frame & reinstallation coming soon

If you want to know more details about a BMS click here:

If you need some BMS parts click here:

New 16kw Lithium Battery Power for 100% RV - Solar Powered HVAC

         Here is your first sneak peak at 

the new mega 16kw battery / power center. 

The cornerstone of a 100% solar HVAC system for Rv's - 

something that pretty much everyone agrees is impossible to do

         It's replacing a old 400 Ah Surrette L16 flooded battery - weight of which was 260 lbs - to get a lousy 2,000 to 2,500 watts 50-60% DOD per day. I fell into the same trap that all the other suckers who since 1865 bought flooded or AMG batteries - since that's 98% of the market, how was I to know it was really a $1,000 junk lead brick, money out the door. The new power centers weight is only 400 lbs but will provide up to 13,000 usable watts daily at 80% DOD for up to 3,000 cycles. If the sun stops working - I might live a few days longer then the rest of you :-) I figure if I use it for 10 years it will save me over $24,000 vs using a generator with gas or diesel to generate power as the cost of solar is free and to charge it on the grid will cost me $1.50 vs $13.00 running a generator or even worse being forced into a RV park at $40-$50 per night. The black box on top with the RED button and LOUD ALARM is the self destruct if you break into the trailer. You then only have 30 seconds to disarm the system "or" it might be part of the BMS - I forget which right now ! The last picture is the power center wrapped on a pallet in my truck bed. Stay tuned a more detailed report of exactly how it will power the OverTheTopCargoTrailer - HVAC mini split AC which is expected to hopefully arrive in the next 1-2 weeks. 

When the trailer is complete it will be able to heat at 10F and also cool at 110F 

parked in the full sun thanks to 100% solar power 

The era of the 100% solar powered RV 

- HVAC system has arrived