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Unless it has a remote temperature sensor, my understanding is that charge controllers should always be mounted near the battery, since knowing the ambient temp near the battery is critical to getting the charge characteristics correct.

Not at the moment, but only because the first draft of my battery system was all "cheap and fast". I'm planning to do a solar upgrade (including a new solar charge controller), so I'll make the move to adding a battery monitor w/ shunt, etc. when I do that big rewiring. Currently I just have a...

Such a thing may exist, in that companies will build many things to fill a niche, but the problem is whether such a thing will fit your needs. The "all-in-one" packs tend to be cheaply made, and I worry that any such thing will not charge efficiently from a normal automotive 12v supply. (The...

My needs are slightly different, but similar. I've got an Odyssey PC2150 (100AH) AGM in my van. These batteries are notorious for needing big charge currents to get fully charged, so I'm using an IOTA DLS-45 with the IQ4 smart-charger. I've simply plugged this into a NOCO panel mount AC...

They did the same thing with a similar thread on another forum. Outreach!

Very cool. I wonder if there was some employee crossover between early GTRV/LuLu Island and Pleasure Way. The way the upper bunk board is "hinged" and hung from the pop-top with the seat-belt material w/ snaps is exactly the same as the boards on my 1995 LuLu Island donor camper. (Now on my...

Classic case of "get the right tool for the job". For woodcraft or hunting use, I'd prefer no serrations. There are too many operations where I want to use the base of the blade for control, and the serrations would be in the way. On the other hand, if I was working on a boat, I'd wanted a...

I think that's a GTRV Westy, not a Traverse. I know the Ad says Pleasure Way, but some of the construction details just scream GTRV to me. (As someone who has dissected a GTRV and transplanted many of the bits to another van.) Both companies did pop-top Ford vans, both companies have good...

Pick your budget. The MV-50 and variants is the "bang for the buck" leader. I run a Viar 400 for a bit more oomph, and I've been happy, but my tires are relatively small. If I was running huge tires, I'd insist on something with a continuous duty cycle rating and a much bigger CFM rating.

Outside dimensions? (Or a model # so I can look 'em up?) Thanks.

Great post, NeverEnough. One of the things I love about this site is the full spectrum of rigs and experiences.

I made new base rails to use with the Discount Van Truck swivel base.

Thank you for following protocol. Per forum rules 6.B, subsection 11: "All roof penetrations larger than 10" square must be accompanied by a selfie."

Alternatively to the 1/8" plug - get a good quality bluetooth adapter with RCA outs. My cars all still have full head-units, but with BT, the only time I use anything other than my phone is local radio (for traffic or local news), and the rare occasion when we get an audiobook on CD from the...

It will get you better range from the front, but think of radio signals like a bubble. (Or more accurately, "cartioid" - like the shape of an apple, where the stem is the antenna.) The fender and hood will block that part of the bubble, but the grill will let it pass. The radio waves won't...

Under the hood is definitely hurting you. It's basically inside a faraday cage, surrounded by the steel fenders, hood, etc.

Where are you? Austrialian-market Subarus can be had with a 2-speed t-case setup.

I was more thinking electrically. Not a great idea to connect a 60w panel in series w/ a 100w panel, as the current will be limited by the 60w panel. Similarly, if I went parallel, while the voltage output is nominally similar, I would think the current difference between the 60w panel and...

Bringing up a slightly-old thread to further interrogate the folks who answered "Fixed AND portable": What's your controller setup look like for this? I assume your portable panels are not necessarily equal in voltage and/or current output to your fixed panels, so do you use a 2nd controller...

Hoooooooly crap.