Going off grid.

[Rich W.]

I still think the 24 refers to battery size and not voltage. Different size batteries in 12 volt also include 27 and 31.

Definitely

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Glad to hear you got to the bottom of your issues.

 

[Degnr8]

So are you doing this intentionally? Just to see what people say? Or how little they know?

Nope. Honest mistake, I generally only use the multimeter for resistance. I just saw volts and put it in that. Didn't realize it was on AC. I did the same thing with the tow rig, it's 12V too

 

[TheLooks]

Phew, thanks for coming back in and saying that. I thought I was losing it for awhile. That may still be true....

 

[newboondocker]

Hello, can I jump in a minute please. I posted somewhere on this rvforum site that I am looking to boondock and wanted to know if anyone can help me. I have a 2016 24 ft Coachmen Freelander 21qb. Amazon has this does anyone know if this will work for me boondocking and watching tv and charging laptop? Thank you.

Solar Generator 300W Portable Power Station with 100W Foldable Solar Panel, 294Wh Lithium Battery, 120V/300W AC Outlet, Quiet Generators for Home, RV, Outdoor, Camping and Emergencies Use​

 

[newboondocker]

Oh I am also solar prepped and live in southern AZ. Sun 360/yr.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Hello, can I jump in a minute please. I posted somewhere on this rvforum site that I am looking to boondock and wanted to know if anyone can help me. I have a 2016 24 ft Coachmen Freelander 21qb. Amazon has this does anyone know if this will work for me boondocking and watching tv and charging laptop? Thank you.

Solar Generator 300W Portable Power Station with 100W Foldable Solar Panel, 294Wh Lithium Battery, 120V/300W AC Outlet, Quiet Generators for Home, RV, Outdoor, Camping and Emergencies Use​

Well a 24 amp hour battery falls a little short. Just talking to my neighbor about these things. He has a blue yetti. He couldn't tell me about the specs of the thing but he is happy to have it.

Personally, a system that doesn't have at least a 1000w inverter is a crap shoot.

Another friend wanted a solar generator built for him. He was sure 50 amp hours battery capacity would do him fine, so I made it for him. My history told me he would find 50ah wouldn't cut it, so I made it expandable. Next season he was up to 100ah, and he is now happy.

He has a chest type compressor fridge, and uses a blender, as he is vegetarian.

Another friend has a power pack with inverter built in. No solar, but he charges it up at my place every 3 or 4 days. He is full-timing it in a tent. All it is used for is keeping the phones charged up.

Those are 3 cases to draw on! I give you these examples because, my system sometimes make people believe I'm just pushing big, and have nothing to back my opinion.

It's fine to test the waters before you dive in. Just make sure you can expand your system without total replacement.

I'm in Quartzsite. What part of AZ are you in?

 

[newboondocker]

Thanks for the info. Yes I am testing the waters. I will not install anything on my roof before I know what I am doing. So schooling must come first. I am outside Casa Grande. You guys in Quartzsite are getting ready for a lot of fun if I read correctly. The Rv show coming soon. One day I will visit Quartzsite when I get my stuff together.

 

[Boat Bum]

With all sincerity, what is the attraction to Quartzsite, it looks to be hard scrabbled land with not much around?

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Thanks for the info. Yes I am testing the waters. I will not install anything on my roof before I know what I am doing. So schooling must come first. I am outside Casa Grande. You guys in Quartzsite are getting ready for a lot of fun if I read correctly. The Rv show coming soon. One day I will visit Quartzsite when I get my stuff together.

Santan solar has used panels, I have 3000w of them, with only 1500 hooked up. I am building a teardrop right now that will get one (250w) of the unused ones put on it for summer travels. That will run a bar fridge and instant pot.

I will use a harbor freight 3000w inverter I have laying around for the project. I picked up a return item Victron 100/50 solar controller from a BIN store on bell rd. There are lots of BIN stores in Phoenix, but they are mostly a way to waste time.

The inverter is overkill, and can't recall the cost. 1000w units are cheap. The controller was 50 bucks, as was the panel. Santan is just off the 202 at Gilbert. A PowMr controller is cheap enough on Amazon. You already have a battery.

You must make up your own mind, but your spending the money, and everybody's brother knows how to put the components together!

 

[Kevin D Pem]

With all sincerity, what is the attraction to Quartzsite, it looks to be hard scrabbled land with not much around?

Major attraction is weather! RTR going on right now. After that RV SHOW, then rock show!

I'm with you brother, I don't care for brown either, but you find travel friends here that last for a lifetime.

 

[Boat Bum]

but you find travel friends here that last for a lifetime.

fair enough...

 

[Rollin Ollen]

With all sincerity, what is the attraction to Quartzsite, it looks to be hard scrabbled land with not much around?

Other than the show (which I will not attend because I dislike large crowds) the only thing I can see is it offers is a place to buy groceries etc. I found the BLMs to be rocky and dirty and a lot more crowded than I like. Yuma, in my opinion offers better options but my favorite is (I shouldn't advertise) Blue Cloud just outside of Parker. I will wait to see who else replies to see what (if anything) I am missing.

Darrell

 

[RollingManCave]

Hi all. I'm a newbie here. I just bought an Econoline 350 super duty that I'm going to convert and am looking for a trailer. I've been looking into my options for off grid electricity. I notice everything still recommends batteries and inverters, but with solar generators being so much simpler, cheaper, and more compact I'm wondering why. What's the down side to solar generators?

Everyone has to go with what works for them. I have a small Class C Motorhome with limited space. I also like redundancy. I purchased a Pecron E3600. I took the slide out dinette seat legs off and placed one end on top of the Pecron. Perfect fit. I have the option to charge the 3600 wh capacity with one or two of the 600 watt arrays on the roof (I also have 1 120 and 1 450 watt portable solar panels (Redundancy). I can also plug it in and charge it off the gas generator at up to 1800 watts. I also have a dc to dc charger hooked up to it. This works great for high power items like microwave, coffee maker, solar birth with A/C and heat. Also works good on 12 volt items. Downside is it uses a lot of power to run it's 3600/7200 watt inverter. So I turn the A/C side off when not using.
This is where the Redundant 280ah Lithium comes in handy. I have a Victron MPPT hooked up to it for solar charging. A 100 amp converter hooked up to it for gas generator charging. It only has a 500 watt inverter hooked up to it for low power items that run often like my Starlink and 12 volt blanket. It fits under the slide out seat next to the Pecron. this has worked out very well for me durring my past 5 months on the road. Only future upgrade is to upgrade the Lead Acid coach battery to lithium and add a 300ah Lithium battery with a 1500 watt inverter to my collection for Boondocking. I read a lot of these posts and watched a lot of videos before going with what works best for me. Careful though, this setup, may or may not suck for you.