We have been out boondocking. This sure is luxury camping and we are loving it. When we were home and plugged in, the display worked fine. We do not use the inverter while out camping as all our needs are taken care of with 12V. We also have the factory installed solar panel, but there is no info or any kind of controller that I am aware of. Here is the question. When we are not plugged in, the info panel does not light up unless the inverter is turned on. How am I supposed to tell the state of charge on the batteries without actually taking a voltmeter to the battery or using the inverter? Seems like the inverter display panel should work even if the inverter is not on? We will be heading out again this afternoon to our remote mining camp (the Foretravel is still out there)....
I installed a Victron BMV 600 battery monitor watch to the state of the house batteries.
It will tell me voltage, amps being used, current state of capacity (how many amps used since full), and estimate how mny hours I have to go based on current usage.
Not quite as handy as the Link 1000 (no string of leds - I have to ask) but thay don't make 'em any more
hth
I installed a Trimetric 2020 by Bogart Engineering ( TriMetric Battery System | Bogart Engineering (http://www.bogartengineering.com/products/TriMetric) ). Great monitor which we live by when we're boondocking.
For those of us (well, me, at least) in the throes of designing a solar power system on our coach the reports and links to battery status monitors are invaluable. I just bought two Siliken 240-watt/30volt solar panels at just over $1 a watt from Buy Solar Panels - Siliken Solar Panels, Enphase Inverters, Morningstar Charge (http://www.simpleray.com) as a beginning set.
I also bought - more or less on a whim - two flexible "strip" panels that are 112 inches long and 15-1/2 inches wide that are 68 watts (16.5 volts by 4.13 amps). These intrigued me for possible use on a patio awning and I figured that the price was low enough to experiment with. If nothing else I can install them on our little 21-foot, 1972 Streamline Princess trailer that I like to use when I go off on my own for a weekend of kayaking or fishing.
I would be very interested in reviews of these battery monitors as well as details of installation. In the old days all I had was a voltmeter which I had to watch closely.
Craig
On small wattage solar systems (small relative to the battery size) they typically don't install a charge controller since there's no risk of overcharging and burning up the batteries.
Using voltage to determine your battery level is considered to be too difficult and inaccurate for most boondockers. Most use a meter that measures amp-hours. I use the Trimetric like Dave. There's a lot to learn on this subject. A good source is: Poop Sheets by phred (http://www.phrannie.org/phredex.html) He hasn't updated it in years but the basic principles don't change.
JUst got back from my first long trip. We were out boondocking for 10 days at the mine we plan on spending much time this summer. We certainly learned a bunch about our GV. I bought one of the real cheap cigarette lighter voltage meters just to have something to go by. We need to get one of the above monitoring systems for sure. Dee and I are used to spending a long time in the boonies with pop-ups and have learned to be very frugal. We managed to still have 1/4 tank of fresh water and never really needed to run the generator. I don't know the output of the current single(possibly factory installed) solar panel, but it did pretty good keeping the batts up to 12.6 volts. I suspect as we use more and more of the features we now have, another panel will soon be added with a controller. I will study all the sources mentioned above and probably ask a few more questions. Once again I thank all of you for the great advice.......
Steve, I just took a look at your web site. I must say that I am very impressed with your artistic wares. There are some truly beautiful pieces there. Too bad Peggy and I are not really Jewelry people. The wood art is beautiful too. Steve, take a look.
Kent
Thank for the kind words about my craftsmanship! We have been meaning to get in touch with you about the Factory restoration work on your Foretravel. Dee and I are loving our new to us '94 and when she saw the picture of yours, restoration certainly came to mind. What was the work done on yours?
Steve,
The previous owner took the coach to the factory in 2009. He had a full body paint, J couch, drivers and passenger seat recovered in Ultra Leather, new window valences, couch pillows, bed spread, bed head board and bed skirt custom made. He had all of the Corian repolished, all of the woodwork polished and refinished as needed, carpets and ceiling cleaned and new lamp shades. He also had new dual pane windows installed all around and MCD Electric shades installed for the front windows as well as both gas furnaces replaced. For the chassis he installed all new Koni adjustable shocks and all new air bags. Cost in 2009 for work done at Foretravel was around $37,000 for which I have found receipts, not including the windows.
He also had a Xantrex 3000 inverter/charger, a new 26" Sony Bravia TV and all new tires installed. I have since had the roof painted, installed a hose and a 50 amp electric reel and a built-in surge protector. So we now have exactly the coach we want with no slide and no Aquahot to break the bank.
I think a full body paint at either Foretravel or Xtreme is now in the $20,000 range. The dual pane windows are one of the best additions and I think they run around $6000 installed. The bottom line is it would be very hard to recover your investment if you intend to resell your coach but if it is in good mechanical condition and you intend to keep it you cant find a better investment in a motorhome.
We feel very blessed to have this coach. The previous owner died in January of 2010. He new his time was limited when he had all of this work done but it was his dream coach too. I haven't seen another coach I would rather have than our 93/09 U300 as restored by John and Sandy Rosti of Brighton, CO.
Thanks for finally letting me sing their praises. They certainly deserves them.
Kent
It is spectacular looking..... you found a genuine winner!