Solar???
- Thread starter Mudrunner
- Start date
Monterorider
Adventurer
What do you mean? I've got solar panel that charged my battery enough to start engine and make it home with failed alternator. Of course didn't have electrical cooling fan otherwise I wouldn't. :snorkel:
off-roader
Expedition Leader
You mean incorporating a solar charger for the main battery?
Well I wasn't thinking main battery I was thinking for AUX battery like a deep cycle for running a fridge or just little electric things from time to time. I really want to set up my future montero so my family and I can do more than trunk camping at well known campsites. So I am just fishing for information. I have always wanted a rig for this kind of stuff. Go take off for a couple of weeks and take the "back roads" of the US.
off-roader
Expedition Leader
Ah, ok. I'm sure it's very doable. At the Expo Rally in Hollister Hills SVRA a couple of years ago, I saw a setup where someone had a FrontRunner Roof rack with a tray mounted underneath that housed a big solar array (18x36" or 24x48"?) which was used for charging his battery system through a charge controller. The whole setup was pretty slick. Only thing I didn't like was it was pretty much a permanent system. OK if you only use your rig for wheeling. Most of us though work for a living driving other cars for better fuel mileage. LOL.
That said, Grasscat has a simpler and far cheaper setup to keep his fridge running in camp. He uses a 2nd smaller deep cycle battery mounted in back to run his freezer fridge after hours. During the day, he runs the fridge & recharges the smaller battery via the rear 12v socket. Simple and very cost effective. I think it's like this because it was designed by an engineer tasked with finding a solution to a problem -vs- finding a 'sell-able' solution to a problem.
That said, Grasscat has a simpler and far cheaper setup to keep his fridge running in camp. He uses a 2nd smaller deep cycle battery mounted in back to run his freezer fridge after hours. During the day, he runs the fridge & recharges the smaller battery via the rear 12v socket. Simple and very cost effective. I think it's like this because it was designed by an engineer tasked with finding a solution to a problem -vs- finding a 'sell-able' solution to a problem.
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off-roader
Expedition Leader
I was thinking about it but no, not yet. I know some on the 'wire are but I don't recall who's had their alternator re-wired/wrapped. I know with some gen I's you could use an alternator from other rigs but I don't recall this being an option for the Gen II.
